President Paul Kagame says Rwanda could soon partner with a major football club, marking the third deal after that of Arsenal and Paris St.Germain. Kagame hinted at the signing of the new deal during a press conference on Wednesday that was attended by local and foreign journalists, at Village Urugwiro but did not reveal which team Rwanda is in talks with. Rwanda currently partners with English Football club, Arsenal as well as France’s Paris St.Germain, both of which Kagame said have returned impressive dividends based on tourism through the ‘Visit Rwanda’ campaign. For Arsenal, he said, “we have had a very good partnership, in fact it gets better with time.” He added that the return is assessed through several metrics including calculating the number of people who visit Rwanda, getting to know the country, and investing in Rwanda all based on the partnership. “So it surpasses by far what we invested in this partnership ourselves, we are getting more, by a big factor.” Kagame also dismissed prejudice of some who criticise the partnership, citing that Rwanda was not in position to waste its resources in vain. “Of course the better Arsenal performs towards getting the ultimate price it brings more dividends. Imagine if we (arsenal fans) become the champions in this season, we will be reaping a lot. That is how it works, we have the same arrangement with PSG, and there are a few variations but more or less the same,” he said. “We are having another one coming up with another famous football team,” he added, “when you see us going after one after another we know what we are pursuing, and that's not to lose money.” In 2021, the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) announced that three years after the launch of the ‘Visit Rwanda’ campaign aimed at promoting the country as a world class tourism destination, return on investment had more than doubled, a trend that is expected to continue due to a number of factors. One of the reasons for the projection at the time, was the recent transfer of legendary footballer Lionel Messi to French football giants Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). The Paris based club, is one of the Visit Rwanda Partners, under a deal of displaying the ‘Visit Rwanda’ logo on the back of PSG training kits, pre-game warm up kits and also displayed on the women’s-club shirt sleeves. Other sports partnership deals include that of English Football Club, Arsenal as well as the most recent National Basketball Association (NBA).
