ALL AFRICAN roads lead to Kigali this week, and for the whole of next week the city will be abuzz with thousands of delegates to the annual meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB). The meetings are also significant as the Bank will be celebrating its 50th anniversary and it will therefore be a crucial test to the local service industry. There will be no single hotel room available for non-AfDB delegates, private villas and apartments have also been gobbled up. That is good news for the hospitality industry, but it comes with a catch: they will have to live up to it. As Rwanda is moving towards being a top conferences and meetings venue of choice, the AfDB meeting should serve as an important litmus test. Those who stand to gain from the fact that the conference is being held on home ground should not just focus on the financial rewards. They should strive to impress upon the delegates that Rwanda has all it takes; in terms of high quality services, security and a welcoming and helpful atmosphere. It would also be a parting gift to our countryman, Donald Kaberuka, whose successful two-term tenure at the head of the Bank comes to an end next year. Local players should leave a signature to prove that the newly created Rwanda Convention Bureau, specifically charged with marketing the country as a conference destination, was long overdue.
