Regarding cooperation between the two countries, Ambassador Anfré indicated that they will realize the Francophone Cultural Center recently opened by President Macron in Kigali, for the development and exchange of cultural knowledge between the two countries.
He also said that the French Agency for International Development (AFD) would open a branch in Rwanda later this year, replacing the existing small office under the supervision of the Kenyan branch.The center’s objective, Anfré said, would be to “implement the projects included in the agreement signed during President Macron’s visit to Kigali”.
The fact that Macron calculated how the two countries have good relations, Anfré says, is a very solid basis.”I think President Macron’s publicity at the Mountain Memorial is important so that we can work together today and in the future,” he said.He wants more French investors in Rwanda.
Macron’s visit to Rwanda seems to have been preceded by a positive atmosphere between traders and investors from both countries.So far, large French companies have started investing in Rwanda. For example, UGolf Duval Great Lakes Ltd has pledged to partner with Rwanda in the management and production of a new golf course in Nyarutarama, valued at Frw 34.5 billion.”
I think that with the end of the Covid-19 crisis, the cooperation between Rwanda and France will increase significantly compared to the current situation,” he said.”My main responsibility is to continue the route calculated by the two heads of state when Emmanuel Macron came and to be the mediator,” he said. on both sides France and Rwanda have a long-standing relationship as they have been independent since 1962.
Relations deteriorated after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi due to their denial of their role in the genocide.The coming to power of President Emmanuel Macron created a positive atmosphere as he accepted humility and recognized his country’s role in the genocide and expressed his willingness to welcome them into the new relationship in development on both sides.Two weeks ago, the new French Ambassador to Rwanda, Antoine Anfré, presented President Paul Kagame with the credentials to represent his country in Rwanda.
He is the long-awaited Ambassador to the country after six years without an Ambassador to Rwanda, due to the often tense atmosphere in relations between the two countries due to his role in the genocide against the Tutsi.Antoine Anfré came to the fore because in May 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron visited Rwanda for the first time, admitting that his country had behaved badly in the history of the genocide against the Tutsi.
While the atmosphere is starting to improve on both sides, Ambassador Anfré has high expectations for her, especially in terms of trade and investment cooperation which seemed to have fallen asleep in recent years.During his first press conference on Tuesday, August 10, 2021 in Kigali, he said he was well aware that his tenure was difficult as Rwanda’s recent 1990s had now radically changed.
“I think it will be difficult for me to live in this region, but Rwanda is a transformed country with a lot of young people,” he said. This means that I will have to study carefully and get to know the new Rwanda and the region as a whole. I remember Uganda in the 1980s, Rwanda in the 1990s, Kenya in the 2000s, but now it is 2021. Africa is making rapid progress, so I have to know the truth of the matter.
“The center is also modernizing the modern buildings of Kimihurura, known as Minijust. The building will have 140 rooms. There will be a specialty store, a modern clinic, a department store and it is expected that the French company Carrefour will operate there as well.The Vivendi Group, a subsidiary of Bolloré Holdings of Cyrille Bolloré, has agreed to invest $ 40 million in various activities to be held at the Kigali Cultural Village in Rebero in the Kicukiro district.
Ambassador Antoine Anfré said one of his concerns was to continue to attract French investors.”My role as ambassador is to promote economic and trade cooperation between Rwanda and France, particularly in the development of French investments in this country, where Rwanda has a large market,” he said.
The best thing about Rwanda is that it has a positive image, and when you do something that works well in Rwanda, it becomes a model in Africa and elsewhere. “However, he said that his country’s government would not block investors or force them to come to Rwanda, but as an ambassador, he would seduce them by explaining to them all the opportunities that present themselves.
“France is no longer a country which orders private companies to come and invest in Rwanda, but we can organize visits or meetings by telling them: ‘In Rwanda there is a certain way, there are reliable partners, good laws, good tax methods, and then we ask the banks to lend them to invest in Rwanda.He also indicated that on the Rwandan side, there were requests “to show that there is a will to welcome French partners, who are fighting for the development of foreign investments, then French companies will come”.
France is also concerned about productive opportunities such as in the education sector where they will contribute to the teaching of French, which is in the development of the sport as if the Paris Saint Germain team had a contract with the government of Rwanda to promote and promote the sport or to open a football department for young people in the district of Huye.
Anfré also said that there are opportunities in other sectors such as agriculture, animal husbandry and more. Millecollinesinfos.com
