President Paul Kagame on Friday morning held a meeting with American President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. The meeting reviewed the bilateral relations between the countries and discussed issues of interest to the African Union including peace and security, counterterrorism, U.S.-Africa trade, and African Union reform. Addressing the press after the meeting, President Kagame said that the continent was looking forward to productive work relations with the United States. “We are looking forward to working with the United States at the level of the African Union where we are carrying out reforms. That helps in cooperation with the United States and it will be beneficial when we are organized,” Kagame said. President Kagame observed that many of the world’s fastest-growing economies are in Africa, and commended President Trump for the United States’ attention to the importance of economic development on the continent. From the ties with the United States, Kagame said that Rwanda had benefited in multiple aspects including peace keeping operations, trade, investments and tourism among others. “Rwanda has benefitted tremendously from the support of the United States in many areas. Whether it is in peace support operations we have carried out in different parts of the world, we have had the United States on our side supporting us. They have supported our economy in trade, investments. We see a lot of tourists from the United States coming to Rwanda,” he said. The two leaders reaffirmed the pre-eminence of mutual understanding and agreed to work together to identify further ways to enhance strategic partnerships. While in Davos, President Kagame has held bilateral talks with leaders from all across the world from political, business and civil society backgrounds.
