The City of Kigali is ready to receive and host delegates coming in for the week-long 49th African Development Bank Annual Meetings slated for May 19-23. 

Mayor Fidel Ndayisaba told The New Times that preparations had been made and everything is in place for the capital to receive the 3,500 delegates from about 77 countries who are expected to attend the meetings. 

He said the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning had secured conference halls for the meetings and arrangements had been made to secure accommodation for the delegates. 

The mayor added that arrangement for the delegates’ logistics around the city to and fro their hotels to the conference and for those who would like to tour the city were also in order. 

However, the hospitality industry is set to be the busiest during the meeting.

 "We expect an increase in volume of business activity not only in the hospitality industry, but also in other sectors. The city’s economic activity is set to increase and we encourage business operators to treat the guests in accordance with the esteemed Rwandan culture,” Ndayisaba said. 

He said Kigali has previously hosted major international conferences that had gone on smoothly and they expected the same for the AfDB conference. 

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According to the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and hoteliers association, private villas have also been secured to ensure delegates have a comfortable stay. 

Faustin Karasira, from RDB’s tourism and conservation division, said the organisers are keen to ensure that all the accommodation options meet international standards. 

"We have identified potential private villas that could provide us with about 600 extra rooms to cater for guests expected for the continental event,” he said. 

Karasira added that RDB recently conducted a joint inspection of all the hotels earmarked for the events and service providers to gauge their preparedness. 

"The results of the joint inspection are promising. We are emphasising to stakeholders, especially in hotels sub-sector, to equip their staff with the required skills, install faster Internet services and ensure hygiene,” he said.

Emmanuel Werabe, the head of quality and standards at RDB, told this paper yesterday that they are in consultations with stakeholders to ensure that all goes according to plan 

"We are working with all the actors involved in transport, airport authorities, security agencies and other key players to ensure the event is a success,” Werabe said.