The government of Rwanda has confirmed that President Paul Kagame will visit the Republic of France on September 12-13.
The upcoming official visit is the first by a Rwandan head of state since 1990.
According to the Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Minister, Louise Mushikiwabo, the visit is to strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries.
“President Kagame’s visit to France is a significant milestone in closer relations between our two countries. The visit will be an opportunity to discuss how France and Rwanda can continue to work together, particularly in business and investment, building on the progress Rwanda has made in the last 17 years.”
According to a press statement from the office of the Government Spokesperson, the trip follows the French President Nicholas Sarkozy’s visit to Rwanda in February 2010 that marked a major step forward in diplomatic relations with France, that were renewed at the end of 2009.
After meeting with President Sarkozy in Paris, President Kagame will meet with the French business community and speak at the French Institute of International Relations.
President Kagame will also meet with Rwandan community living in France.
In our article published earlier, the French ambassador to Rwanda had quoted, “Kagame’s visit to France should allow us to overcome a number of obstacles to normalization of relations between France and Rwanda”.
Leave a Reply