Editor

Friday 26, 2010, Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of France visited Rwanda for four hours in a gesture aimed at mending the three year standoff between the two countries.

The visit ended the bad blood that has brewed between France and Rwanda since the RPF removed the Juvenal Habyarimana regime in 1994.

Habyarimana was among France’s blue-eyed boys advancing their interests in Africa. During his (Habyarimana) regime, France used to supply some of the machinery to the military. Rwandans also used to drive French vehicles but for the last 15 years, these cars have slowly disappeared from the streets  and have since been replaced by Japanese models. 

Therefore when Kagame and Sarkozy shook hands in Kigali last week, it was a sigh of relief for both Rwandans and the French.

The two countries need each other to deepen bilateral trade and investment. For instance, Rwanda is part of the larger East African Community (EAC) with a market of over 120 million people.

The EAC has been pooling resources to fund some multi-billion dollar projects like roads, energy, health and other infrastructure developments and therefore, France sees Rwanda as a positive link to to the East African market.

French companies could possible win some of these juicy contracts and Rwanda’s central location in Africa makes it a worthy investment destination.

The country could be an important distribution centre for French made products. Kigali International Airport is  accessible from any corner of  Africa, it takes an average of 4 hours to reach the furthest point east or west of the continent. This is a unique selling point for France’s business strategy in Rwanda.

Coupled with peace, a good investment climate and the EAC factor, France finds Rwanda a country ideal to further trade ties. Rwanda too, as a developing economy also has a lot to gain from France. In 2006 France registered a GDP of US$2.2 trillion. Therefore France could be a large consumer of Rwandan/EAC products. But it is also a boon to Rwanda for the transfer of science and technology, tourism, trade and sport.

Therefore, the rapprochement was good, timely and a welcome development for international relations.