Michael Olugbode in Abuja
The Rwandan government has waived entry visas for Nigerians, other Africans and members of the Commonwealth in order to promote the ease of doing business and attract investors into the Central/Eastern African country.
Speaking at the commemoration of Rwanda’s 29th anniversary celebration and liberation day in Abuja on Tuesday, the country’s Charge D’Affaires in Nigeria, Mr. Vianney Rubagumya, said: “In a bid to widen tourism and spur trade and investment, Rwanda has waived entry visas to visitors from all over Africa, the Commonwealth, and la Francophonie nations.
“The move complements the ease of doing business strides and popularity as a preferred Conference destination.”
He also disclosed that Rwanda is in advanced stages of expanding the operations of the Kigali International Financial Centre, which is poised to dispense innovative world-class services.
According to the envoy, “29 years after, ‘Liberation’ is still in process. At the forefront of the leadership agenda of H.E President Paul Kagame, animated by the ‘Vision 2050’, is the commitment to consolidate and sustain the journey towards self-reliance by ensuring holistic economic emancipation, as well as effective and accountable systems of governance.
“In this process of Liberation, Rwanda counts on her citizens of course, but also on her friends and partners. I therefore take this opportunity to commend the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the immense support during the transformation journey and the excellent bilateral cooperation.”
He stressed that President Kagame’s attendance at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s inauguration on May 29, 2023 was an affirmation of the strong bond between Nigeria and Rwanda.
He said: “Both countries are increasing cooperation, including in parliamentary diplomacy, defence and security, aviation, governance, sectoral peer-to-peer exchange, and trade and investment.
“Rwanda’s renaissance, is conceived around three major choices, which H.E President Paul Kagame pointed out in his 7th April 2014 speech: Unity, Accountability, and Thinking Big.
“Based on those fundamental choices, Rwanda decisively embarked on structural socio-economic and political reforms, which have been guiding the transformational process. In this connection, some of the significant milestones, include: reduced poverty levels between 1994 and 2018 from 78% to 30%, respectively; increased life expectancy from 51 to 69 years in the last two decades; 2nd best performer in the ease of doing business in Africa; 4th top troop contributing country to the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping
operations.”
The Nigerian representative at the anniversary celebration, Samson Itegboje, assured the Rwandan government of continued support towards building Rwandan economy.
