{"id":2000110561,"date":"2026-04-30T12:34:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T10:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/?p=2000110561"},"modified":"2026-04-30T12:34:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T10:34:36","slug":"president-kagame-reaffirms-solidarity-with-saudi-arabia-in-message-to-crown-prince","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/president-kagame-reaffirms-solidarity-with-saudi-arabia-in-message-to-crown-prince\/","title":{"rendered":"President Kagame reaffirms solidarity with Saudi Arabia in message to Crown Prince"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The message was delivered during a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Riyadh between Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and Rwanda\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Olivier Nduhungirehe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his message, President Kagame expressed Rwanda\u2019s solidarity with Saudi Arabia amid evolving regional circumstances, according to the Saudi Foreign Ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Middle East region has, in recent months, been experiencing heightened geopolitical tensions and security challenges, marked by escalating regional frictions involving Iran, Israel, and the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These developments have unfolded alongside the ongoing Israel\u2013Palestine conflict and the war in Gaza, rising instability in the Red Sea affecting maritime security, and broader tensions involving Iran and several Gulf states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collectively, these dynamics have continued to strain regional stability, disrupt key shipping routes, and impact international trade and energy flows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, during the recent meeting, the two ministers also discussed bilateral relations between Rwanda and Saudi Arabia and reviewed a number of issues of common interest aimed at further strengthening cooperation between the two countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The meeting was attended by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Waleed Elkhereiji, Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Ambassador Dr. Saud Al-Sati, and Director General of the General Administration for African Affairs Saqr Al-Qurashi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rwanda and Saudi Arabia continue to cooperate on major infrastructure projects, including healthcare facilities, energy systems, and road development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saudi Arabia previously extended a $42 million loan to Rwanda for the construction of road projects covering a total of 150 kilometres, including the Nyagatare\u2013Base\u2013Rukomo and Huye\u2013Kitabi roads, which were officially inaugurated last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bilateral trade between the two countries has also grown steadily in recent years. Between 2022 and 2025, Saudi Arabia ranked among the leading destinations for Rwandan exports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data from the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) indicates that Rwandan exports to Saudi Arabia reached $1.2 billion between the first and third quarters of 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February 2025, Saudi Arabia\u2019s Foreign Trade Authority (FSC) and Rwanda\u2019s Private Sector Federation (PSF) established a joint commission aimed at strengthening trade cooperation between the two countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission is expected to support the expansion of trade and investment flows, as well as enhance cultural cooperation between the two sides, according to officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The message was delivered during a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Riyadh between Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and Rwanda\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Olivier Nduhungirehe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The most recent publicly reported engagement between President Kagame and Mohammed bin Salman took place in October 2025.

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has received a written message from President Paul Kagame of the Republic of Rwanda, in which he reaffirmed Rwanda\u2019s solidarity with the Kingdom in light of the current situation in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000110563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[151,69],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000110561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-48","tag-editors-choice","tag-homehighlights","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000110563,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/g4r_j9vxyaafkm4-93a63-a844f.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":666,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/g4r_j9vxyaafkm4-93a63-a844f.jpg","width":150,"height":100},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/g4r_j9vxyaafkm4-93a63-a844f.jpg","width":300,"height":200},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/g4r_j9vxyaafkm4-93a63-a844f.jpg","width":768,"height":511},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/g4r_j9vxyaafkm4-93a63-a844f.jpg","width":1000,"height":666},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/g4r_j9vxyaafkm4-93a63-a844f.jpg","width":1000,"height":666}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000110561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000110561"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000110561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000110568,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000110561\/revisions\/2000110568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000110563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000110561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000110561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000110561"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000110561"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000110561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}