Sebastian Kurz, the Federal Chancellor of Austria is expected in Rwanda later this week on a state visit. This was confirmed by the new Austrian Ambassador to Rwanda, Christian Fellner after presenting his credentials to President Paul Kagame on Wednesday. “On Friday, my head of government Sebastian Kurz is going to visit Kigali. The two (with President Kagame) are going to discuss an upcoming event in Vienna,” the envoy said. Sebastian is currently the rotating chair of the Council of the European Union (EU). Fellner highlighted that Kurz will come with a business delegation, parliamentarians and other high-level members of Austria government. The business delegation, he noted, will represent medical and energy fields as well as those that are involved in manufacturing of cable cars, and that they will visit different places to get a sense of available opportunities. Vienna will, on December 18, host the High-Level Forum Africa-Europe that will be co-chaired by President Kagame and his counterpart Sebastian Kurz. It will bring together heads of state and government, foreign affairs ministers, and CEOs of major global companies, among other participants. The High‑Level Forum will provide space to reflect and act on what needs to be done to secure prosperity and competitiveness on both continents as well as to deepen the relationship between Africa and Europe in all its aspects with a specific focus on taking cooperation to the digital age. It will run under the theme, “Taking cooperation to the digital age”. Deliberations will focus on, among other things, financial technologies, precision agriculture, the skills, qualifications and the digital potential, successful private financing of start‑ups, and sustainable energy access. According to the organisers, the Forum will feature a business to business (B2B) platform, where entrepreneurs and innovators from both continents have the opportunity to network and to exchange their concepts and solutions for the digital age.
