Over 3,000 Rwandans and friends of Rwanda are expected to attend the sixth edition of Rwanda Day, scheduled Saturday, September 20, in the US city of Atlanta, Georgia.
Over 3,000 Rwandans and friends of Rwanda are expected to attend the sixth edition of Rwanda Day, scheduled Saturday, September 20, in the US city of Atlanta, Georgia.
Rwanda Day events have since become a platform for strategic networking and closing business deals between government officials, businesses and the Diaspora community.
This year’s event is expected to help forge new partnerships that would help fast-track the country’s development.
The Atlanta event will be held under the theme; "Agaciro: Our Choice”, in celebration of the country’s 20 years of liberation.
Delegates will have the opportunity to discuss solutions to underlying challenges to the nation’s progress, Parfait Gahamanyi, the Director General of Rwandan Community Abroad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, said yesterday.
"Rwanda Day 2014 will be preceded by a business forum on September 19, during which local investors will meet their counterparts in the Diaspora to discuss Rwanda’s investment climate.
From the forum, we are optimistic that new ventures and partnerships will be formed,” Gahamanyi told journalists in Kigali yesterday.
"On the main day, there will be two discussions. One will be on youth employment and entrepreneurship, after which, participants will discuss the issue of global dignity, and how Rwanda can work with the rest of the world to promote dignity.”
The event will climax with a keynote address by President Paul Kagame as well as a Question and Answer interactive session.
President Kagame Speech at Rwanda Day - Toronto, 28 September 2013. Source: Paul Kagame/YouTube
Gahamanyi said there is a significant population of Rwandans living and working in Atlanta, and it was upon their request that this year’s Rwanda Day edition was taken to the American city.
"Cities that host Rwanda Day are not decided by government. It is always held in a city upon request from the Diaspora residing there. That is why previous editions have been held in cities with large communities of Rwandan Diaspora, such as Paris, Toronto, London and Chicago,” Gahamanyi said.
Delegates at last year’s Rwanda Day in Toronto. The sixth edition is due September 20. (File)
"The leaders of those cities are very supportive and always facilitate travel arrangements for anyone who wants to attend.”
He said he was optimistic that Africa and Asia will also host Rwanda Day events in the future.
"Rwandans are in every country because of our history. The Diaspora is, therefore, very important and government uses the day to showcase opportunities and the country’s progress since the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi,” he said.
According to the foreign affairs ministry, it is during such events that many Rwandans living abroad make decisions to return home to partake in the country’s development process.
Even those who have not physically returned, some of them have bought land back home so as to have a physical address in Rwanda, he said.
Rwanda Day events have also helped boost remittances to the country significantly, he added.In 2010 before the introduction of Rwanda Day events, remittances stood at around $65 million a year, but it has since almost doubled, to US$110 in 2011.