‘Rwanda is not secure for refugees’, they said, but that is a fallacy that Sudanese refugees currently settled in Rwanda dispel with ease, following a civil war in their country that broke out last year in April, displacing over eight million people.

For the Sudanese refugees who ended up in Rwanda, like millions of others who fled from the fighting between two rival factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), finding life and settling in the country is something they cannot take for granted.

In Rwanda, they have been able to settle in with their families and establish businesses to sustain themselves as they wait for the conflict, which began on April 15, 2023, to relent so that they can go back home and reunite with their loved ones.

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It is a tough call, with the majority of them being separated from their relatives or even not knowing where they are, or whether they are still alive or dead but those in Rwanda say they are relieved they found a safe place to call home.

Abdelhadi Arieg, 34, a mother of two, is a former banker who fled Khartoum after fighting broke out between the two warring sides, forcing her to flee her home and job for her dear life. After a long journey, she arrived in Rwanda, where she started picking up pieces.

"Back in Sudan, I was working in a bank but today, I am operating a beauty salon here in Rwanda. I arrived in Rwanda eight months ago. I came with my two children. The rest of my family stayed behind. It was difficult for them to leave,”

"We thank Allah we got here safely. It was not easy. When I got here, I moved around and noticed that Rwanda is a beautiful and fast-developing country. I am happy that my children are here,” Arieg says.

After settling in, she looked for what to do and the easiest option was to register a company and start a beauty and hair salon.

For Arieg, securing her young family from the conflict which has claimed the lives of more than 13,000 people and displaced millions of others, no other country would have offered her that than Rwanda.

ALSO READ: UN says extremely concerned by conflicts immediate long-term impact to people in Sudan, region

Starting out, she says she had seen that the salon business was thriving in Sudan and in Rwanda too. Arieg set out to do something unique, investing in brand new equipment and improved services.

Today, Hala salon located at Gisimenti – a popular business and entertainment hub in Kigali, is visited by people of all kinds and she employs Rwandans and her country-mates. Most importantly, she says starting a business in Rwanda was an easy process.

"I love Rwanda because it is not just safe but it is also hospitable. People here are helpful. When you get a challenge, people are willing to help, including the leadership,”

"I have travelled to different countries but Rwanda is the safest country I have been to. Rwanda is different from many African countries. The vision, the people and the conducive environment are everything,” Arieg says.

She hopes her other family members, including mother, father and brothers who are in Egypt, can join her, God willing.

Her dream is to remain in Rwanda for a foreseeable future, to expand her business or even get a job in the bank as she was before or join import and export business, if the resources allow.

Currently, Arieg is more than happy she could find peace in Rwanda and also be able to work. She also says the country doesn’t limit opportunities for anyone, regardless of their nationality, as long as they are contributing to national development.

Similarly, Fatima Hassan, 29, a graduate in optometry and visual science, fled the war in her home country and came to Rwanda, where together with Arieg, they joined forces to start the salon.

Back home, she had also pursued courses in cosmetic mounding -the art of making creams and soaps, as well as courses in therapy like facial, HydraFacial and microneedling, among others. In Sudan, she had her own beauty salon before the crisis broke out.

When she arrived in Rwanda, she explored business opportunities and that is how she partnered with Arieg, with her focusing on the area she specialised in, which is facial beauty.

"I arrived in August last year. When I got here, I married my Sudanese boyfriend, and at the same time started looking for business opportunities, which is how I ended up here in this partnership,” Hassan says.

It was her first time in Rwanda. When the war started, they left their homes to seek life somewhere safe and after struggling to exit the country, she eventually settled in Rwanda and it has been a relief all through.

Some of her family members, including her mother and two sisters, were only able to join her in January this year after a long winding journey.

"I'm looking forward to doing my own business. There are a lot of opportunities here. Now that my family is here, we are looking to do a family business or something,”

"It is easy to register and start a business here. Rwanda is the safest country and the business and investment opportunities are great here. It is easy to have your own brand or your own business,” she says.

For now, Hassan is looking to stay in Rwanda and focus on rebuilding her life from scratch. She feels safe and what she does is highly demanded because there are not so many people involved in making beauty products such as soaps, body creams and perfumes.

"Rwanda is a beautiful country. The nature, the green land, you also see beautiful and lovely people. I like it here,” she states.

"In Sudan, I had my own products which were better and different from others on the market. I think I can make the same here,” she says, adding that the training and skills she got give her a good opportunity to replicate her business here.

She also believes that in future she can start something like a training centre in Rwanda to pass on these skills to other women to do the same because that would be her contribution to the development of women and the country in general.

Hassan says she is looking to partner with fellow Sudanese and Rwandans to establish this centre which will equip young women with skills to venture into cosmetic and beauty product manufacturing because these are highly demanded.

Today, most people want to take care of their faces and skin but they do not have a variety of quality natural products to choose from.

She also advises clients who visit them on the best way to take care of the skin, by avoiding bleaching and lightening products that can damage one’s skin complexion. Hassan advises people to stick to natural products and oils.

At the salon, Hassan says they use natural branded products and encourage people to do the same. What really makes her happy is that it was easy to start out doing what she loves and wants without any impediments.

An engineer turned farmer, chef

For many, Rwanda is not just a country to seek refuge or asylum but rather a country with opportunities. Engineer Adil Hassan Abdelmagid Mohamed is yet another Sudanese who deliberately chose to settle in Rwanda.

Unlike the two ladies, Mohamed came to Rwanda via Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), nearly one year ago, to explore business and investment opportunities.

"I targeted Rwanda because of the education for my children. I heard that investment opportunities were going up in Rwanda and the country is very safe and secure and for that reason I chose Rwanda,” Mohamed says.

When he arrived in Rwanda, he enrolled his children in different schools and his eldest daughter, who is also an architectural engineer by profession, got a job in the country.

The simple things that have made Mohamed fall in love with Rwanda include ‘fresh air and nice views’ and today he encourages his friends and family to also come and start business in Rwanda.

"When you are ready to make any investment here, the government is willing to help you. They show you the right way. The first time I came here, I went to Rwanda Development Board (RDB), they showed me how to start and how to go about everything,”

"Whenever I needed any clarification, I would go to them and they would show me the right way to go,” he says.

Mohamed was able to open his two businesses last year – a restaurant in Kigali and a farm in Rwamagana District.

"I have already harvested maize which I sold on the market and got good profit. My restaurant is for fast food and Sudanese food,” he says, adding that he started with fast food but later noticed that with the Sudanese community in Rwanda, adding Sudanese food would get him more clients.

He was the first to open a restaurant specializing in Sudanese food, but today on the same street he operates, eight more have opened but he is not worried of competition.

At the restaurant, he oversees his staff as they make pizzas and burgers for clients on the move and for deliveries. He puts quality and taste over everything. Rwandans quickly fell in love with his idea of fast food.

Mohamed slams those who say that Rwanda is not safe for refugees or anyone for that matter, saying that those who say that really don’t have an understanding of the country.

"Starting with the idea of investment, if you have money and you want to invest in a safe and secure country, you can choose Rwanda. Even if you are outside, you can register your business with RDB and get your certificate,”

"It is online and it is free. This is a good thing,” he says, adding that elsewhere he lived, it was not easy to acquire a trading license as it is in Rwanda.

Mohamed was lucky that at the time the war broke out his family was living in Dubai but back home everyone he knew lost people and assets. The situation is dire but hopefully will end soon.

Majority of the people would be willing to go back home if the conflict in Sudan relents but for now, Rwanda is providing a safe haven for many Sudanese as the conflict carries on.

"Everyone lost something. We lost men and women, properties, we lost our country. All these things such as cars and houses can be earned back but the most important thing, we need now is to get back our country,” the 57-year-old says.

Mohamed says that learning from Rwanda’s history, especially the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, he believes they can go back home and rebuild, just as Rwanda did and today it is the safest and most welcoming country in Africa.

He is grateful that Rwanda has given him an opportunity to pursue his business interests and today he is looking to venture more into agriculture because Rwanda has all the weather requirements to support commercial farming.

Beyond crops, he is looking to go into large scale poultry and livestock farming simply because the market for food commodities is readily available, whether it is for local consumption or export.

For Mohamed, Rwanda became a home away from home and he has never regretted the decision to move here from the UAE.

Meanwhile, Gisimenti Car-Free Zone is home to more than eight Sudanese bars and eateries, and a cultural night that happens on Saturdays. There are also several businesses including hotels, run by Sudanese in Kigali.