26-YEAR-OLD DISMAS RUKUNDO, on Monday night, travelled to Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to represent Rwanda at the 2021 edition of the Mister Africa International contest.

He is among the 18 finalists who were announced to contest for the finals slated for September 16.

Preliminaries were conducted online before the top 20 contestants were contacted to compete in the finals. 18 of them confirmed their participation.

The last Rwandan to win the continental title was Jean de Dieu Ntabanganyimana, best known as Jay Rwanda, who won the crown for the 2017 edition in a grand finale held in Lagos, Nigeria.

"You go into this kind of competition when you feel you are capable of doing it. I did not get a chance to talk to Jay Rwanda to learn the secret he used to win the competition in the past but I am confident that I can contest for it and win,” He said.

He said that he has been preparing for the grand finale for some months as he looks to follow Jay Rwanda’s lead and take the crown home.

"Everyone who is in this competition is a candidate for this year’s crown. Despite the pandemic, I did all I could to prepare for the contest, I see myself standing a chance to win this year’s crown,” he added.

During the competition, contestants will present their projects which, among others, will help them score key points to win the crown.

As a university graduate in Tourism from the University of Tourism, Technology and Business Studies (UTB), Rukundo has chosen to develop a project around cultural tourism within Africa which he expects to present during the contest.

"Through the project, I want to work with youth to promote cultural tourism within Africa. I did a project around tourism because I am a graduate in Tourism and I want to promote tourism based on culture because it is a big element from which the country gets identity,” he explained.

Rukundo has ample experience in pageants, having previously participated in Mr UTB Kigali Campus where he came as first runner-up and Mr Elegancy Rwanda.  

"With this experience, I hope I have enough packages that can give me confidence to impress Mr. Africa,” he said.

The winner of this year’s edition will be announced during a grand finale slated for September 16. He will replace Nigeria’s Big Brother Naija Emmanuel Umoh Junior, who holds the crown since 2019. The 2020 edition did not take place due to the covid-19 pandemic.