Rwanda’s Ambassador to Jordan, Williams Nkurunziza, on Sunday presented his credentials to King Abdullah II Bin Al-Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, to begin his diplomatic duties in the country.

Nkurunziza is resident in Ankara, Turkey.

"The presentation of letters of credence by the envoy marked a historic moment in Rwanda-Jordan relations as he is Rwanda’s first-ever envoy to be accredited to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,” reads part of a statement from the embassy.

Shortly after presenting his letters, Nkurunziza held a brief meeting with King Abdullah at the Royal Hashemite Court, a meeting that was attended by the Jordanian foreign minister and expatriates.

The king highlighted the importance for collaboration and deepening cooperation between Rwanda and Jordan in various areas ranging from peacekeeping to economy, defence and security as well as enhancing trade relations between the two countries, it says.

He shared Jordan’s plans to increase its presence in Africa by opening up new embassies as well as enhancing commercial relations on the continent.

‘Jordan interested’

Specifically, King Al-Hussein expressed interest in seeing high-level engagements between the two countries and said he hopes that President Kagame will visit Jordan in the near future.

Welcoming Jordan’s increased engagements in Africa, Amb. Nkurunziza noted that Rwanda looks forward to the day that Jordan will open its embassy in Kigali.

So far, in sub-Saharan Africa, Jordan only has embassies in South Africa and Kenya with plans afoot for new ones in Ethiopia and Nigeria.

Amb. Nkurunziza is scheduled to meet the Jordanian minister for industry, trade and supply, the minister for information, communication and technology as well as the minister for finance to explore areas of economic and technical cooperation.

He will also meet officials from Amman Chamber of Commerce and business personalities in Jordan to share with them Rwanda’s propositions for trade and investments.

Jordan is a middle income economy with GDP of $40 billion and GDP per capita of $11,000. Its economy is mainly driven by industry, at 30 per cent, and services, at 65 per cent.

Key industries are textils, pharmaceuticals, construction, food processing, furniture and tourism.

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