Rwanda and Tanzania have moved to expand their bilateral ties to new horizons, further consolidating the historical cooperation between the two neighbours. The two countries signed four fresh agreements Monday, August 2, on Day I of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s first visit to Rwanda since she assumed office earlier this year. The new pacts in the areas of ICT, education, healthcare and immigration add to the already existing bilateral agreements in other sectors such as infrastructure. Hassan became the first Tanzanian female president in March 2021 and has since visited all four East African Community partner states that share a border with her country, signalling a desire to work closely with the rest of the region to promote trade and cooperation. Now, Tanzania is not only a key trading partner of Rwanda, but its port of Dar-es-Salaam is the gateway for some 90 per cent of Rwanda’s imports and exports. But the two countries are also jointly implementing critical projects such as the highly-awaited Standard Gauge Railway Line between Isaka and Kigali that would connect Rwanda to Dar, and Regional Rusumo Hydroelectric Power Project. The Covid-19 pandemic will have derailed some of these initiatives but President Hassan’s visit should help inject much-needed fresh momentum into different projects and programmes that the two countries have been working on together, whether bilaterally or with other regional countries and partners. From a regional perspective, Tanzania is not only a major player in the central corridor, which serves Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo, among others, but it’s also instrumental to EAC’s bid for meaningful integration and, therefore, President Hassan’s active engagement with the neighbours is a welcome gesture. Yes, there are still persisting challenges, especially in the area of trade and investment, but there is hope that a solution will come sooner rather than later and all parties involved should seize on the latest diplomatic developments to continue engaging and making a case for an improved business environment overall.
