Available records indicate that Rwanda-Poland relations date as far back as 1962. The December 2022 three-day working visit in Rwanda of Poland’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pawel Jabłoński and his high-level delegation reaffirmed the two countries’ commitment to further strengthen bilateral relations.
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But the February 6-8 visit to Rwanda by President Andrzej Duda of Poland and First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda takes things to a higher level, further strengthening bilateral relations. It is the first visit to Rwanda by a Polish President. Among other things, President Duda and his host, President Paul Kagame, witnessed the signing of agreements on trade and economic cooperation, and in the fields of green technologies, environmental engineering, geology, and energy efficiency.
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Here are some milestones in Rwanda-Poland relations:
July 1962: Diplomatic relations between Poland and Rwanda are established. From the 1960s to 2017, the Polish Ambassador to Kenya was accredited in Rwanda. Later, from from 2018, the Polish Ambassador to Tanzania was accredited in Rwanda.
June 30, 2003: Rwanda’s then Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation Charles Murigande visits Poland.
September 2009: Poland’s then Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski visits Rwanda and takes part in the official opening of the school and education center for visually impaired children in Kibeho, Nyaruguru District, Southern Province. The school – run by the Franciscan Sisters Servants of the Cross from Laski, in Poland – was constructed and furnished by the Polish Government.
At the time, Sikorski said: "The centre we have opened today in Kibeho is the starting point of our relations with Rwanda. It is a gesture of solidarity and a mark of Poland’s engagement in Rwanda and Africa in general as well as a sign of our commitment to development in Africa.”
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January 17-18, 2013: Poland’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz visits Rwanda.
She said: "Our biggest development project in Rwanda and sub-Sahara Africa is in education. We very much hope that the centre for blind children will expand in years to come and more children could be admitted to the school.”
The $1.3m (Rwf820m) school for the blind, built to accommodate more than 100 blind children below 15 at primary education level, was then the biggest project under the Polish assistance programme on the continent.
2015: In Rwanda, a film about the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, "Birds Sing in Kigali", is shot.
April 2018: Minister of Foreign Affairs Jacek Czaputowicz conducts political consultations with then Minister of State in Rwanda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Olivier Nduhungirehe. The talks concerned Poland&039;s activity on the forum of the UN Security Council in the context of solving problems in Africa.
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During the visit, Czaputowicz visited Kigali Genocide Memorial, where he paid tribute to the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. During the ceremony attended by representatives of international courts and tribunals, the Polish minister also presented the Rafał Lemkin International Prize to the Aegis Trust organization, which commemorates the victims of crimes committed during the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda.
Raphael Lemkin (1900-1959) was a Polish lawyer of Jewish descent. Best known for coining the word genocide and initiating the Genocide Convention in 1944, he coined the term genocide (genocidium), which he defined in his book "The Axis Rule in Occupied Europe.”
September 2019: Poland’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Marcin Przydacz visits Rwanda. During the visit, Przydacz conducted political consultations with Rwanda’s then Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Olivier Nduhungirehe, and visited the Center in Kibeho. During the bilateral talks on ways to enhance ties between Rwanda and Poland, both sides agreed to expand bilateral cooperation in economic, trade and Investment fields. They also agreed to enhance collaboration on the multilateral level regarding issues of common interest.
February 2020: A group of about 10 investors and Members of Parliament from Poland visit Rwanda to explore investment opportunities in the agriculture sector, among others, on the invitation of the Rwanda Development Board.
June 2021: Rwanda opens first ever diplomatic mission in Warsaw. On June 12, 2021, Prof. Anastase Shyaka, the former Minister of Local Government, is announced as the first Ambassador of Rwanda based in Poland.
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May 11, 2021: In Poland, Ministers of Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau and Vincent Biruta sign MoU between the Ministry of Education and Science of Poland and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Rwanda on cooperation in the field of higher education.
October 2021: Poland’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Marcin Przydacz takes part in the EU-Africa ministerial meeting in Kigali.
March 22, 2022: The Ambassador of Rwanda, Prof. Anastase Shyaka, visits the Military University of Technology in Poland to explore opportunities and possibilities of having exchange programmes between the University and Rwandan higher learning military institutions.
October 10-15, 2022: A delegation of the Polish Sejm and Senate participates in the 145th session of the IPU in Kigali.
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December 1, 2022: Embassy of Poland in Rwanda is established with its seat in Kigali, thereby bolstering diplomatic relations between the two countries.
December 4-6, 2022: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Paweł Jabłoński pays official visit to Rwanda. He meets Prime Minister Édouard Ngirente and takes part, together with Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta, in political and economic consultations. The visit was also attended by Polish deputy ministers: of Finance – Artur Soboń and of Development and Technology – Grzegorz Piechowiak.
December 5, 2022: Polish-Rwandan Business Forum is held in Kigali and attended by around 150 Polish and Rwandan companies and institutions.
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December 5, 2022: Rwanda and Poland Ministers sign an agreement on defence industries cooperation and discuss ways of strengthening defence cooperation.
July 17, 2023: Rwanda’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and Poland’s Ministry of Finance sign Tax Solidarity Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at improving efficiency of Rwanda's tax system by reducing the tax gap, combating tax avoidance, tax evasion and digitalizing tax administration. The MoU provided a solid ground for sharing knowledge, information and best practices regarding tax management.
October 26, 2023: Rwanda and Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), a Polish development bank, sign a financing agreement of €23 million (approx. Rwf29.9 billion). The long-term loan is to used to purchase a milk cooling system from a Polish manufacturer, Faspol, after the export contract for the delivery of milk cooling installation with additional equipment and construction components is concluded between the Faspol and Rwanda Agriculture Board.
February 6, 2024: Polish President Andrzej Duda and his wife Agata Kornhauser-Duda arrive in Kigali for a state visit to strengthen bilateral cooperation in various existing fields.
February 7, 2024: The government of Rwanda and Poland sign two cooperation agreements; one on bilateral trade and economic cooperation, and another on cooperation in the field of green technologies, environmental engineering, geology and energy efficiency. Later, Polish President Andrzej Duda and his host President Paul Kagame also join a roundtable discussion with Polish and Rwandan business leaders aimed at streamlining the implementation of the signed agreements and other economic projects between the two nations.
President Duda invites President Kagame to visit Poland.
February 8, 2024: The President and First Lady of Poland tour the School and Education Centre for Visually Impaired Children in Kibeho, Southern Province, and the Rwandan-Polish Mining Company, LuNa Smelter, in Kigali, as they wrap up their three-day state visit in the country.