Last week we talked loosely about my new addiction–the Kigali Convention Center. I named myself the chief Convention Center reporter and people confirmed.

And naturally ever since then, and partly because in that article I described myself as the chief Convention Center snoop, a two-legged encyclopedia on the same, people have been flooding me with requests to say whatever else it is that I claim to know of the place. 

Well, you think I’m a coward? 

For starters, the dome shape of the main conference facility looks like a large ostrich egg that has been washed in clear ash-Grey Sadolin paint. 

When the night falls, this dome assumes the look of a giant ostrich egg that has been dipped in Grey Ameki Color paint and then ribboned with lights. 

But let’s look at the bigger picture here: The Convention Center is and will, for many years to come, epitomize and embody the country’s ambitious MICE tourism strategy. 

But KCC alone can’t cater to all of the country’s MICE expectations, so let’s come up with a few useful other options. 

Look at it in terms of the other support sectors and infrastructure and tourist attractions that the MICE delegates would have to vanish to after their fruitful deliberations and debates in the conference arena beneath the giant ostrich egg…

M-Peace Plaza

Also known as Makuza Peace Plaza after the owner, Bertin Makuza. You could also call it MPP, although this option stands the risk of being misconstrued for a Printing and Publishing firm. 

MPP also sounds close to ‘Most Valuable Player’, so let’s stick with M-Peace Plaza and Makuza Peace Plaza. 

With the exception of the Kigali Convention Center, this is by far the largest (and grandest) mixed use commercial development in Rwanda. Everything about it reeks of ‘nu-age’. 

With Makuza’s Plaza, the Kigali City Tower (KCT), Grand Pension Plaza and UTC/Nakumatt become old news.

Nyabugogo

The country’s commuter travel hub. Here, buses and mini buses plying local and regional routes depart and arrive as coolly as one would never imagine of a typical African commercial/transport hub. 

True, Nyabugogo does not deviate much from your usual African bus transport hub in terms of the air and look –it is the orderliness and cleanliness that set it apart. 

In fact, commuting through Nyabugogo to a first time visitor to Rwanda is much like accessing the country’s border entry points from a neighboring country; both experiences give such a visitor a vivid picture of what to expect in the rest of the country.

Nyarugenge round about

Also known as the Tigo round about: With its trademark –a water fountain that juts and sprinkles and never goes to sleep for a single hour of the day, this used to be one of the most important soft landmarks in Kigali. 

That is until the Kigali Convention Complex came up on the other side of town and raised the profile of the KBC roundabout a thousand fold.