International sports lawyer Rwego Ngarambe, 30, was appointed Minister of State for Sports in December, as part of a new team tasked by President Paul Kagame to turn sports into a revenue-generating sector and a talent-driven business. Ngarambe is no stranger to the Ministry of Sports, having previously served as Director General for Sports Development. In that role, he led initiatives to nurture grassroots talent and promote excellence across various sports. Times Sport sat down with him for an exclusive interview where he shared his thoughts about advancing Rwanda’s sports industry, and positioning the country as a global sports player. Read the excerpts: First, let's talk about the potential of sports in Rwanda. To what extent do you think it has the power to play a role in the country’s transformation? I always highlight the fact that in the aftermath of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, one of the major events that took place in this country was a football match. That shows the power of sports. Taking a country from darkness to a much brighter future where people can get along and start to build life together; start to get on their journey of heading somewhere much greater. So, sports in Rwanda; sports in Africa has been doing that for so many decades. You have heard of Didier Drogba's story in Ivory Coast. Even if we go much farther in Brazil, you know what Pelé was able to do through football. We have heard of other cases where football ignited wars. But sports, because of its power, brings people together. So its potential in this country, where we made it a culture, is tremendous. In every corner of sports, starting from athletes, technical personnel associated with athletes and sports, and the whole ecosystem gravitating towards sports is full of potential that we have yet to tap into. But as a country, we are ready to unlock all those opportunities for people to see the potential and benefit from the great things that can come out of sports. What are the strategies that are being put in place to make sports an economically viable sector in Rwanda? Starting from an angle of sports development, for example, you have talent development, where you need capable technical personnel, ranging from coaches and other people associated with that. And then you need infrastructure, and you also have to build a sports industry that is backed up by data; by science so that we head in the right direction, being able to channel resources the right way possible. So, the economic viability of our sports industry will depend on those four pillars. How much are we investing in talent development? – in nurturing them, in giving them what's necessary from the grassroots level up to when they can be eligible to get into the elite market or the professional market? How are we investing in their coaching? How are we investing in their nutrition? How are we investing in physiotherapy? How are we investing in every small layer associated with building elite athletes? This leads to another component of the infrastructure around sports, and all those other sectors that are needed to boost sports as an industry. So the potential is enormous and it is just there to be tapped into. And this is the strategy that Rwanda is using right now, to open doors for investors in these fields. People have started nurturing talents, they have started bringing in new technologies to help athletes, to help coaches, to help clubs and federations grow and aim for much greater achievements. Recently the ministry talked about the Isonga programme, which aims at nurturing talent in schools. Tell us how this will work, and if there more of such programmes coming up. Isonga is inspired by what Rwanda has been able to achieve back in the days, back in 2009 to 2011, when the U17 national team was able to qualify for the FIFA World Cup for the U17s. Isonga today is intended to be the flagship youth development programme. We wanted to make it more inclusive and intentional about which sports disciplines we want to develop. We have reached some potential back in the days. For example, we went to the (U17) World Cup and then what? There has to be a continuity. In Isonga, we are dealing with schools. This is because schools, in a country like ours, remain the ideal platform where you need to develop talents, but also give them that opportunity to keep on working on their academics. We have six disciplines: football, volleyball, basketball, handball, athletics and cycling. And we intend to nurture those talents to make them elite professionals. We intend to have Isonga being that bridge from grassroots to professional careers. Some sports have started to benefit from this programme. For example, in handball, they have been able to recruit players that participated in the U18 competition in Ethiopia. We still have a long way to go. We still have standards to upgrade when it comes to infrastructure, equipment, and the quality of coaching. But our aim is really to make it a strong foundation of sports development in the country. We have other initiatives in the pipeline. I can tell you about tennis, I can tell you about some martial arts programmes that are being conducted in schools. They have been fully established and started to show fruits of what they are doing. The potential is enormous. The ministry also recently hinted at a partnership with FIFA to build 10 sports facilities in Rwanda. Can you tell us where these facilities will be established and their capacity? It is part of the ongoing programme of FIFA for School. It was communicated in July last year that there will be close to 1,000 football pitches built around the world. In Africa, you have four countries, Rwanda being one of them. We have 10 pitches to be built in this first phase. They will be built in schools as the programme is mainly meant for schools. Do you have any particular sports event that you would really want Rwanda to host? Why not the Olympics since that's one of the biggest sports events in the world that brings the whole world's attention to one area. So if you ask me what I dream of seeing Rwanda hosting, I would say the Olympics. But as Rwanda keeps on aiming to becoming the sports hub of Africa and the world, we are capable of hosting anything. We have shown the potential; we have shown the capabilities of hosting different events. This year we are hosting the World Championship in cycling. Any event that we can get our hands on, I think we have what it takes to aim for that and make it successful. Let's talk about the performance of local clubs and national teams. Looking at how they have been faring, have we recognised our top priority sports disciplines? And what are we doing so that we just don’t compete but win as well? You have touched on an important component. Let's not compete for the sake of competing! And let's be able to say, this particular sports discipline is a priority because of how much success it is bringing to the country. It is a challenge for us as the Ministry of Sports, as anyone in the sports industry, clubs, and federations. I think the one who will be a priority is the one who is able to keep on producing talent that can be exported to other markets, the one who will go on to represent the country and bring gold medals, the one who will stay consistent in how they are established and governed, and how they are open for business and making it easier for investors to come and help this industry grow. Sports is one of the industries in the country that is kind of still behind, but that has enormous potential. So I think the one who wants to be a priority will be the one that is open to make all those things happen for the greater good of the country. Where do you see Rwanda in the next, let's say, 20 years in the context of sports? I see a country where athletes are thriving, are winning at the international level, and are in major leagues all over the world. I see Rwanda being a country where local leagues are able to have elite talents playing locally, and are able to be leagues that produce money, attract TV broadcasters and big brands. I see us really becoming that hub of sports that is like a machine – a machine that produces wealth, that produces great talent. I want us to be a sports industry that is built on integrity. Let's not hear about doping, let's not hear about age cheating, let's not hear about all those things that come and hinder the greatness of what sports can be. So in 20 years from now, I see a sports industry that is really a pillar of the greatness that Rwanda is going to achieve. This year we are hosting the World Cycling Championship. How prepared are we and how do you rate the chance of our riders? Rwanda has put all efforts into making this event and these competitions become very successful. We are on the right track. Public entities, private entities, both local and international experts are on board to make this a success. I can say that we are on good track, but also we should not miss the opportunity to make things better here and there. But generally we are very ready and we welcome the world to Kigali in September or even before that, for those who can come and enjoy the beauty of Rwanda and see the other opportunities they can tap into. We also call upon businesses, private investors, or anyone who is willing to be associated with this great event that is taking place on the continent for the first time in the history of World Cycling Championships. On the question of Team Rwanda, they are ready. They will compete as anyone; they are getting in shape. They will be competing in all categories – men and women, seniors and juniors. But it's also even more exciting because of what comes after. As a country, they will have hosted the world championships. I mean all eyes will be on us after the championships. So, we are also thinking ahead and preparing them for what is next. They are ready to compete, to give their best, that's what they always do. We are behind them, we are with them and we are ready to still push them or accompany them to what comes after the World Championships.
