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The BFP reveals a Rwf 7,032.5 billion budget for 2025/26, marking a 21% surge from the prior year’s revised Frw 5,816.4 billion.

Aligned with the National Strategy for Transformation (NST2) and Vision 2050, the budget prioritizes sustainable development and includes funding for key projects like the Bugesera airport, RwandAir expansion, and recovery efforts from the COVID-19 pandemic, May 2023 floods, and Marburg disease outbreak.

The government projects Rwf 4,105.2 billion in domestic revenue (Frw 3,628.0 billion from taxes and Frw 477.2 billion from other sources), Frw 585.2 billion in external grants, and Frw 2,151.9 billion in loans to finance the budget.

Expenditure is divided into Frw 4,395.1 billion for recurrent costs, such as salaries, and Frw 2,637.4 billion for capital investments.

On May 8, 2025, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Yusuf Murangwa presented the BFP, noting a Rwf 1,216.1 billion budget increase driven by accelerated construction of the Bugesera airport, RwandAir expansion, and new pension policies.

Launched in 2017, the Bugesera airport’s first phase is slated for completion by 2027, with a capacity of 7 million passengers annually and employment for over 6,000 people.

Qatar Airways, holding a 60% stake, supports the project, which is now 25–30% complete.

Key infrastructure, including runways and drainage systems, is finished, with construction now focusing on vertical structures.

The airport’s full completion by 2032 will enable it to serve 14 million passengers yearly.

Antwerp joined other Belgian cities—Brussels, Liège, Namur, Bruges, and Ottignies-Louvain-La-Neuve—that have held remembrance events this year.

The commemoration began with a “Walk to Remember” from Marnixplaats in Antwerp, leading to the DIVA Museum. The evening continued with a remembrance ceremony in the district of Ekeren, in the province of Antwerp.

Speaking at the event, Steve Rugamba, President of the Rwandan Community in Antwerp, highlighted the long history of persecution against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

“From 1959 to 1994, Tutsi in Rwanda were systematically dehumanized. They were excluded, persecuted, displaced, and killed—portrayed as pests, like cockroaches or snakes, as evil to be eradicated. Children grew up believing some people were not worthy of life.

“And then, in just a hundred days, words became actions. Over a million people were brutally slaughtered. No one was spared—not a child, not a mother, not a grandparent,” he said.

Rugamba emphasized that remembrance is not just about the tragic events of 1994 but also about acknowledging the decades of silence, propaganda, and systemic discrimination that led to it.

“We commemorate not out of habit, but out of duty—because we refuse to forget. To remember is to acknowledge, to learn, and to warn. We pay tribute to the victims and to the survivors, whose very existence is a form of resistance.”

He praised the resilience of survivors, noting their strength in rebuilding lives and communities despite deep emotional and physical wounds.

“Their ability to live with dignity, raise families, and pursue truth, even after such horror, proves that human dignity cannot be destroyed—even by hatred passed down through generations.”

Rugamba also called on young people to take up the mantle of remembrance: “You, the youth of today and tomorrow, are not only heirs of this history—you are its guardians. Remembering means understanding how fear, division, and silence can lead to barbarity. Let ‘Never Again’ be more than a slogan. Let it be a commitment and a call to action.”

The event featured a powerful testimony from Umunyana Claudette, who spoke of the discrimination she faced before 1994, the suffering she endured during the genocide—including rape and the loss of relatives—and how she survived despite deep physical and emotional trauma.

Umunyana also shared a message of hope and healing, explaining how she chose to rise above hatred and raise her children in love, refusing to let a dark past define her future.

Mutabazi Eugène, President of Ibuka-Belgium, reiterated the importance of remembrance and made a symbolic appeal for historical justice.

“One important and powerful step that will allow us to fully and truthfully rebuild ourselves is for King Yuhi Musinga, who is kept in the Tervuren Museum in Belgium, to be returned to the Shyerezo memorial, to the land of his ancestors,” he stated.

Gunther Vanpraet, Honorary Consul of Rwanda in Antwerp, stressed the importance of commemorating the victims and reaffirmed solidarity with survivors of the genocide.

Commemorative activities across Belgium began on April 7, 2024, and are scheduled to continue in other cities including Mons, Charleroi, Tournai, and Leuven.

Walk to remember in Antwerp

Commemoration talks

karirima@igihe.com

The annual summit brings together over 2,000 participants from more than 70 countries for two days of high-level discussions, debates, and networking sessions aimed at accelerating the private sector’s role in Africa’s development.

On Monday morning, President Kagame is expected to join a distinguished panel of African leaders, including President Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal, President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani of Mauritania, and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, for the forum’s official opening ceremony.

Later, President Kagame will contribute to a presidential panel discussion on “Policies, Practices and Personalities Fit for the New World Order.”

The session will focus on how African leadership can adapt to a shifting global landscape, where transactional geopolitics are becoming the norm, limiting traditional avenues of international cooperation for many African nations.

Held under the theme “Africa in a Transactional World: Can a New Deal Between State and Private Sector Deliver the Continent a Winning Hand?”, this year’s forum emphasises the need for stronger collaboration between African governments and the private sector to unlock inclusive economic growth and resilience.

Other prominent speakers at the 2025 edition include President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa of Tanzania, Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah of Guinea, and Côte d’Ivoire’s own Prime Minister Robert Beugré Mambé, among others.

The Africa CEO Forum, founded in 2012, has become a vital platform for shaping Africa’s economic agenda, fostering dialogue between public and private sector actors, and promoting cross-border investment opportunities.

The 2024 edition of the Africa CEO Forum took place in Kigali, Rwanda, from May 16 to 17. Building on the success of that summit, Rwanda has once again been selected to host the 2026 edition of the summit.

The step was taken following a ceasefire agreement between the two countries reached on Saturday.

In a statement on Monday, the state-owned Airports Authority of India said the 32 airports that were closed for civilian aircraft operations till 0529 hours local time of May 15 are now available for operations with immediate effect.

The closure of these airports across northern and western parts of the country was announced after a military conflict that began last week between the two neighbours.

The move follows what Algerian authorities called “serious and repeated violations” by the French side, including the appointment of diplomatic and consular staff without prior notification or formal accreditation, in violation of international norms and bilateral agreements.

According to APS, Algerian authorities recently identified at least 15 French employees assigned to missions in Algeria without completing the required procedures. Some had previously held service passports and were later issued diplomatic passports to ease their entry into the country.

Among the 15 were two officials from France’s Interior Ministry, reportedly dispatched to take over the duties of 12 embassy staff expelled by Algeria last month after being declared personae non gratae.

Algeria condemned the appointments, citing broader strains in bilateral ties, including repeated denials of entry to Algerian diplomatic passport holders by France and prolonged delays in accrediting Algerian consuls-general assigned to Paris and Marseille, along with seven other consular officials.

In response, Algeria has demanded the “immediate expulsion” of all French personnel appointed under what it called “irregular” conditions and their prompt return to France.

This marks the second expulsion of French diplomatic staff in less than a month. On April 14, Algeria ordered the removal of 12 French embassy employees following the detention of an Algerian consular officer in France — a move that prompted reciprocal action from Paris.

The expulsion came as the diplomatic rift between Algiers and Paris has deepened in recent months due to disagreements over immigration issues and policies, historical grievances, and France’s backing of Morocco in disputes over Western Sahara, among others.