President Paul Kagame on Friday received credentials from nine new diplomatic envoys accredited to Rwanda at Village Urugwiro in Kigali. The envoys include Kevin Colgan, Ireland’s ambassador to Rwanda, Katarina Zuffa Leligdonova, Slovak Republic’s ambassador to Rwanda, Andrii Pravednyk, Ukraine’s ambassador to Rwanda, Canada’s ambassador to Rwanda, Christopher Thornley, Isatu Aminata Bundu, Sierra Leone’s ambassador to Rwanda, Jaspal Singh, ambassador of Singapore in Rwanda, Michael Ian Upton, New Zealand’s ambassador to Rwanda, Abdi Muhamoud Eybe, Djibouti’s ambassador to Rwanda, and Monica de Greiff Lindo, Columbia’s ambassador to Rwanda. The envoys reiterated their commitment to further strengthen the respective countries’ cooperation with Rwanda, with emphasis on economic and political ties. While addressing the media, Colgan said that both Rwanda and Ireland have seen the need to invest in different sectors like technology and pharmaceuticals among others which will help both countries to develop. “My priorities are developing economic trade and cultural links with Rwanda over the next three to four years. It’s important that countries benefit equally from one and another,” he added. The ambassador also highlighted that Ireland will host an economic forum in July, and he hopes that some Rwandans will attend and tell the Rwandan story. Zuffa, Slovak’s ambassador to Rwanda, said that both countries have similarities and among them is women empowerment, mitigation of climate change, as well as trade, noting that she considers Rwanda to be a great partner in all the three areas. She further indicated that there is a group of Slovakian entrepreneurs who are coming to Rwanda in mid-May to explore potential cooperation in trade and investments in the process of strengthening ties between both countries. “I am sure that this event will definitely allow both Ukraine and Rwanda to start a new page of bilateral cooperation,” Ukraine’s ambassador to Rwanda, Andrii Pravednyk said, adding that, “we will be able to develop people to people contacts for Ukrainians to know Rwanda better, and Rwandans to know Ukraine better”. The ambassador also noted that Ukraine is ready to welcome young Rwandans who will be able to resume their studies in Ukraine after the war. Isatu Aminata Bundu, Sierra Leone’s envoy to Rwanda noted that she would work to continue strengthening bilateral relations, with specific focus on the agreements signed during the previous visit of Sierra Leone’s president, Julius Maada Bio, to Rwanda. For Singh, envoy of Singapore to Rwanda, both countries have built a strong relationship and he intends to build on the relationship to further cooperation in various areas of interest such as cyber security, digital processing, digital services, fintech, among others. Like the rest, Abdi Muhamoud Eybe, Djibouti’s ambassador to Rwanda, told the media that he is committed to strengthen the ties, especially economic cooperation, that unite both countries. In his term of office, he said, he will look to resume bilateral meetings after over two years without taking place over covid-19 protocols in order to strengthen bilateral ties of both countries and reach greater heights. According to Monica de Greiff Lindo, Columbia’s ambassador to Rwanda resident in Kenya, this is a bigger opportunity to strengthen the relationship of both countries which have a lot in common like peacekeeping and peace building. “We have more than two million immigrants from Venezuela and that’s something that we can share with what Rwanda has done in the past with immigrants. It’s something that really touches our hearts and we are going to learn from each other,” she said.
