President Paul Kagame received letters of credence from 11 newly accredited envoys, at Village Urugwiro, on Wednesday, November 27.

The new envoys include Ambassador Sahak Sargsyan of Armenia, High Commissioner Jenny Isabella Da Rin of Australia, Ambassador Jeanne Crauser of Luxembourg, and Ambassador Mirko Giulietti of Switzerland.

Others are Ambassador Lincoln G. Downer of Jamaica, Ambassador Nadeska Imara Cuthbert Carlson of Nicaragua, the High Commissioner Savvas Vladimirou of Cyprus, and Patricio Alberto Aguirre Vacchieri of Chile.

Othe envoys include Dag Sjoogren of Sweden, Brigadier General Mamary Camara of Mali, and Ernest Yaw Amporful, the High Commissioner of Ghana to Rwanda; the trio will be resident in Kigali.

The new envoys pledged to work towards improving the existing bilateral ties between Rwanda and their respective countries while exploring new areas of cooperation.

The incoming Swedish envoy said he comes "to boost the already thriving bilateral ties between Rwanda and Sweden because this country (Rwanda) is our valuable partner.”

He maintained that both countries are set to prioritize shared interests, particularly in the areas of digitalization, climate action, and health.

According to him, Rwanda, and Sweden boast cordial relations backed by several bilateral agreements signed previously.

Just recently, the two countries signed an MoU to develop a bilateral cooperation agreement that would enable Sweden to finance emission reduction projects in Rwanda.

Jamaica’s Downer said "Rwanda is a brother country,” adding that, "my job is to reiterate this commitment as witnessed by our leaders and deepen the relations with Rwanda.”

Downer said that Rwanda and Jamaica have so far signed two bilateral agreements including on political consultation and tourism.

"We now need to operationalize both memoranda and it is for me now to meet with the players in Rwanda to develop a plan of action so that we can accomplish our strategic objectives.”

According to Downer, Jamaica has a lot to offer in the area of tourism – to which Rwanda is an aspiring hub in the East African Community.

"That is one of our leading foreign exchange earners but also in the area of logistics as Jamaica has positioned as a logistics hub in the Caribbean.”

Vladimirou of Cyprus said he looked forward to the development of the bilateral cooperation. He said he already planned for a bilateral meeting with the foreign affairs minister of Cyprus and his Rwandan counterpart.

"The main areas of interest are fintech and agri-tech. But as you may know, Rwanda is strategically positioned in Africa and we can see the prospects of our businesses here.”

Vladimirou also touched on a potential bilateral agreement in the offing on student exchange, which he said was being planned in partnership with Rwanda’s Ministry of Education.

"I see the growing interest of students from all over Africa, including Rwanda, who want to study in Cyprus and this is something we are going to work on with your Minister (of Education).”

The Nicaraguan envoy said she was grateful to be in Rwanda, saying that both countries share a history of brotherhood.

"We are here to deepen that friendliness in different aspects like agriculture, education, tourism, and generally help each other.”

She added; "We are both on the journey of development and our priority is the people. And that's what we are here for.”

Like Rwanda, Amb. Carlson said that Nicaragua has a history of struggles, which has largely contributed to the country’s resilience.

"Nicaragua is a very big country by land, our main source income is agriculture, and a bit of mining, friendly people as Rwanda, and you can see the similarities. One of the things that has impressed me most is the cleanliness, women empowerment, and equity in Rwanda and this is something as Nicaragua we are fortunate to implicate for the betterness of our people.”

Ghana’s Amporful said he was honoured to be the country’s first resident Ambassador to Rwanda, adding that the development signals a major milestone in the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"During my tenure, I look forward to enhancing the economic and trade relations between our two countries.”

Amb. Amporful maintained that Rwanda and Ghana have witnessed growth in the two countries' trade volume, thanks in large part to the cooperation framework put in place.

"My vision is to establish something like a Ghana trade mission to facilitate small-scale farmers from Ghana on the Rwandan market.”

Ambassador Jeanne Crauser of Luxembourg echoed similar sentiments, citing that she was "pleased” to be the first Ambassador of her country to Rwanda.

"I am eager to deepen the bilateral cooperation between both countries.”

Luxembourg and Rwanda, she said, enjoy cordial relations mainly in the fields of education, climate resilience, and adaptation, as well as innovation.

"Those are three areas where we are already having cooperation projects but these will not be the only areas of cooperation. It is the beginning of even greater ties.”

"We are eager to help Rwanda and continue its economic transformation journey like it did in the last thirty years.”

Capacity building

Armenia’s Sahak Sargsyan revealed that his country is mulling ways to implement two projects in the effort of human capital development, particularly in the areas of Artificial Intelligence and robotics.

"There are a couple of projects that are envisaged to be implemented in partnership with the Rwandan government, and Armenian organizations.”

He explained that Armenia has committed to setting up an advanced STEM lab in Rwanda, where students in the fields of science and technology will be equipped with advanced knowledge in emerging technologies.

"This will work in the form of an after-school programme of children below 18 years of age, where they will be trained in skills before they are admitted to the university.”

The second project is an AI foundation where Armenian experts in the field of AI will be nurturing aspiring students in the field of AI.

On education, he said, Armenia had pledged to facilitate the exchange programmes including Armenian lecturers coming to Rwanda.

While Armenia is relatively new to the Sub-Saharan region, Amb. Sargsyan pointed out that the country has a strong historical presence in the East Africa region.

"So, we are trying to rewrite our strong ties with African countries starting with Rwanda because we share multiple similarities.”