EDITORIAL: CHAN, marketing Rwanda, opportunities for Rwandans

Tomorrow, the sporting half of the continent as well as parts of the world will have their eyes on Rwanda as the fourth edition of African Nations Championships (CHAN) kicks off at Amahoro National Stadium. There might not be enough words to tell all the significance of hosting CHAN, but there should be a way for Rwandans to get to know why and how they must all fully embrace the tournament. The opening ceremony alone will arguably be the biggest occasion for Rwanda to showcase its cultural endowment to the world as millions of viewers will be tuned in. What better way is there to market the country than this? While the live pictures can show what Rwanda is, it is the delegates who will be able to reflect the most of Rwanda in both still and video images, words and much more. For a continental tournament, CHAN will see hundreds of journalists spend two weeks in the country. Some of these journalists will only be in Rwanda for the first time. They have been reading about Rwanda in foreign media, reading accounts by people with ulterior motives. CHAN has offered them the ultimate moment to get a firsthand account of Rwanda and its people. What Rwandans would want these journalists to go back and tell the world is not just how Tuyisenge scored a great goal, but also how impressed they were by the hospitality of Rwandans, the beauty of the country and, above all, how they have managed to witness firsthand the transformation of the country and its people. But these things will not just happen from the blue. It takes efforts of everyone. As the government, security agencies, sports fraternity, leisure and hospitality operators and other businesses do their part to make CHAN tick, everyone else is a major shareholder whose enthusiasm during the two weeks is much welcome. This is a once in a lifetime event. Let’s all go out and make it the talk of the continent for many years to come.

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EDITORIAL: CHAN, marketing Rwanda, opportunities for Rwandans