Brazil’s presence in Africa is guided by a clear conviction: our relationship with the continent is not only strategic, but also deeply rooted in shared history, culture, and aspirations for inclusive and sustainable development.

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It is with this spirit that the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil), together with Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is promoting a new mission to Africa, with agendas in Benin, Kenya, Rwanda, and Ethiopia.

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The central objective of this mission is to deepen Brazil’s relations with African countries through cooperation, dialogue, and mutually beneficial business opportunities. Brazil sees Africa not as a distant partner, but as a continent with which it shares historical ties, cultural affinities, and complementary economic strengths. Strengthening these connections is both a recognition of our common roots and a forward-looking strategy to build prosperity together.

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Rwanda holds a particularly meaningful place in this journey. Brazil and Rwanda established diplomatic relations in 1981, but 2025 marked a decisive new chapter. This is the first year in which Brazil has diplomatic representation in Kigali, following the presentation of credentials by Brazil’s first ambassador to Rwanda in September 2025. This step is strategic and symbolic: it signals Brazil’s long-term commitment to deepening political, economic, and institutional ties with the country.

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Rwanda today stands out as one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies and is widely recognized as one of the best places to do business on the continent. Agriculture and services continue to drive growth, while manufacturing and construction are steadily increasing their share of GDP. For Brazilian companies, this represents an environment of opportunity, innovation, and partnership.

Trade between Brazil and Rwanda already shows signs of diversification, although volumes remain modest. In 2025, Brazilian exports to Rwanda included oilseeds, soybean meal and other animal feed products, automotive parts, coffee extracts, among others. The low overall value of trade is not a limitation, but rather an invitation: it highlights the vast untapped potential for expanding and diversifying bilateral exchanges, particularly in agribusiness, infrastructure, machinery, services, and value-added industries.

This mission to Rwanda is part of a broader strategy to renew and expand Brazil’s commercial engagement with Africa. The process gained momentum following the Meeting of Trade Promotion Sectors (SECOMs) of Brazilian embassies across the continent and was reinforced by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s strong diplomatic and political re-engagement with Africa.

A major milestone was the Angola–Brazil Business Forum, held during President Lula’s State Visit to Angola in 2023. In 2024, ApexBrasil partnered with African trade promotion agencies from Angola, South Africa, Mozambique, and Tanzania to carry out the Brazil–Africa Solutions Mission in Johannesburg, generating R$104.8 million in immediate deals and projected business over the following 12 months. That same year, Brazil resumed its presence at major African trade fairs, including Africa’s Big 7, the Luanda International Fair, and the Mozambique International Fair.

Also in 2024, in partnership with Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Afro-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, ApexBrasil led a business mission to Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, and Tanzania. In 2025, this strategy continued with missions to West Africa Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal, and with new initiatives in North Africa, including Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco.

Within this broader context, Rwanda emerges as a key partner for the future. Brazil arrives with openness, respect, and enthusiasm, ready to learn, to cooperate, and to do business. For us, being present in Rwanda is always a pleasure and an honour. More than that, it is a shared opportunity to transform historical connections into concrete results for our people, our economies, and our common future.

Jorge Viana is the President of the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil).