President Paul Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to attend the 4th Tana High Level Forum on Security in Africa.
The security forum is an annual gathering where African leaders and stakeholders engage and explore security solutions for the continent.
This year’s forum will be held under the theme; “Secularism and politicized Faith.”
The gathering in Addis is happening at a time the continent is engulfed in a series of security threats including; Boko Haram terror in West Africa which has killed hundreds and abducted others including more than 200 school girls.
Then Alshabab attacks in Kenya, where more than 600 have been killed in the past few years, including the recent killing of 147 university students at Garrisa College in the north of the country.
About 5000 Burundians have also fled into Rwanda running from political violence in Burundi ahead of this year’s presidential elections.
A migrant being attacked by South Africans in Durban. several migrants have been lynched and forced to leave the country
As the leaders discuss, the ongoing xenophobic attacks in South Africa have sent shock waves across the continent, where seven people, especially Somalis and Ethiopians, have been killed and their businesses looted.
In North Africa, the continent is also experiencing a spillover effects of the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorism.
On top of the agenda, FDLR militias in DR-Congo, largely responsible for the 1994 genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda, will be Rwanda’s top concern.
The militias have distabilised the region and President Kagame said earlier this year that, “We have been with FDLR for over a decade now and what has been playing out relating to the militia has not been helpful at all.”
Meanwhile, President Kagame will be in Ethiopia for four days.
Rwanda and Ethiopia enjoy good diplomatic and economic relations. The Stae House said on Thursday morning that President Kagame will spend the first two days discussing bilateral cooperation with Prime Minister Hailemariam and other top officials.
Kagame is also scheduled to meet Ethiopia’s business community.
Rwanda’s Trade Minister, Francois Kanimba told KTPress that the two countries recently signed trade agreement to “facilitate, strengthen and expand trade between the two countries.”
Earlier this year, President Kagame said that the Horn of African nation is a valued partner of Rwanda. He was attending Ethiopia’s 40th anniversary of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
Al shabab militants based in somalia have launched several attacks in Kenya and Uganda.
