Türkiye sees Rwanda as key East African partner: Envoy

Rwanda has become one of Türkiye’s key partners in East Africa and plays an important role in Ankara’s broader engagement with the continent, Türkiye’s ambassador to Kigali said Friday, highlighting growing cooperation in trade, defense, education and infrastructure.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) on the sidelines of the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Türkiye’s Ambassador to Rwanda Aslan Alper Yüksel said bilateral relations have expanded rapidly in recent years and are built on mutual trust and shared interests.

“Rwanda is not only a valuable partner in bilateral relations but also in terms of Türkiye’s outreach to East Africa,” Yüksel said.

He pointed to Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s visit to Türkiye last year at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a sign of the level reached in relations between the two countries.

Yüksel described Rwanda as one of Africa’s notable examples in governance, public administration, digital transformation, infrastructure development, environmental policy, women’s political participation, security and stability.

He said Rwanda’s performance in investment conditions and anti-corruption rankings also makes it an attractive destination for international partnerships.

“We see Rwanda as an important partner in East Africa because it prioritizes stability, focuses on reforms and is able to work in an integrated way with the international system,” he said.

According to Yüksel, economic cooperation remains a central pillar of the relationship, with Turkish private companies continuing to show interest in infrastructure and construction projects across Rwanda.

Defense industry cooperation has also emerged as one of the dynamic areas of engagement between the two countries, he added.

Yüksel said educational and cultural ties have strengthened as hundreds of Rwandan students pursue education in Türkiye either through Türkiye Scholarships or independently.

The ambassador also noted that some organizatons are providing Turkish-language education to a growing number of students at the University of Rwanda campus.

He added that Turkish Airlines’ daily flights contribute to the country’s international connectivity.

Yüksel said Türkiye’s broader Africa policy remains focused on peace, stability and development and supports Rwanda’s economic transformation.

Reflecting on Rwanda’s post-conflict recovery, he said the country had rebuilt itself after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi population, which claimed nearly 1 million lives.

The Rwandan genocide occurred between April 7 and July 15, 1994, during the Rwandan civil war. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed militias. The most widely accepted scholarly estimates are around 500,000 to 662,000 Tutsi deaths.

“Kigali’s emergence as a regional business, technology and innovation hub is no coincidence,” Yüksel said, noting that hosting the Africa CEO Forum for a third time reflects Rwanda’s growing regional role.

He added that Turkish investors could view Rwanda as a secure and favorable gateway to access the East African Community market and its hundreds of millions of consumers.

DAILYSABAH