Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente(R) and his Guinean counterpart
Rwanda’s Prime Minister, Dr. Édouard Ngirente, on July 17, met with his Guinea counterpart-Amadou Oury Bah to further discuss practical ways of strengthening the existing bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
Rwanda and Guinea have for years had relatively mutual friendship, but the bilateral relations were revamped two years ago with both sides opening embassies in their counterpart state.
PM Bah is in Rwanda for the Africa CEO Forum 2024 used the opportunity to fast track this relationship which also witnessed the signing of a cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Agriculture and livestock promotion.
“We are here to discuss a follow up on how to strengthen the bilateral cooperation which was stressed by both Heads of States (Rwanda and Guinea),” said PM Bah.
Bah also stated that he impressed by Rwanda’s resilience and development into the future following the tragedy that befell the country 30 years ago- during 1994 Genocide against Tutsi that claimed over a million lives.
Bah said that Guinea wants to learn from Rwanda, particularly its resilience among citizens.
“I would also like to salute Rwanda for their resilience to rebuild this country. Based on our history of conflict, we are looking at Rwanda as a country of reference for us to also courageously attain economic development and sustainability,” Bah said.
Rwanda’s Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Ildephonse Musafiri revealed that under the signed MoU, both countries will focus on agriculture and livestock research and Guinea agreed to offer prime agricultural land to Rwanda which will be used to grow strategic crops.
“We agreed on implementing this immediately and this is the beginning of discussions and if all goes well, Guinea has fertile land for growing maize, cassava. So, we will consider initial land assessment and infrastructure in order to start implementation,” Musafiri said.
Musafiri also revealed that both PMs discussed education cooperation in which Guinea will learn from Rwanda’s model; but noted that doors are open between both countries for investment- which urgently needs to be implemented on both sides.
We want things to come from words to action and start immediately,” Musafiri said and noted that this will be an opportunity for Rwanda’s private sector to invest in Guinea.
The Guinea PM’s visit comes shortly after President Paul Kagame, this week also met with President Mamadi Doumbouya in Conakry, Guinea; following on from the one in April 2023 during which a joint commission was established to promote agriculture, digitalization, education, mining and security.
The two Heads of State held a tête-à-tête meeting, discussing ways to strengthen existing productive bilateral cooperation between Rwanda and Guinea in various sectors including digitization, trade, and investments.
President Doumbouya was also in Kigali for a state visit in January 2024 where both presidents expressed interest in furthering the existing bilateral relations.
Meeting International Finance Bosses:
PM Ngirente also met with heads of international and continental finance institutions who are also in Rwanda for the 2024 Africa CEO Forum which is underway in Kigali for two days.
Ngirente met with Makhtar Diop, the Managing Director of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and co-organizer of the two-days Africa CEO Forum.
Diop also yesterday met with President Paul Kagame to discuss the existing good collaboration between IFC and Rwanda in key growth-driving sectors.
Rwanda aspires to become one of the key financial centers in Africa and has set up policy and infrastructure- the Kigali International Finance Centre- which has entered into different partnerships with other institutions to build its capacity.
Ngirente also received Samaila Zubairu, CEO of Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).
