President Kagame Meets Nigerian Counterpart

President Paul Kagame on Monday, January 13, met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria, who is in Abu Dhabi for the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. Both heads of state are attending the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in the United Arab Emirates. President Kagame arrived in Abu Dhabi on Monday and was welcomed by Sheikh Shakhboot Nahyan Al Nahyan, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. President Bola Tinubu, via his X account, highlighted that he had a meaningful conversation with President Kagame. "This evening, on the eve of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, I had meaningf

President Paul Kagame on Monday, January 13, met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria, who is in Abu Dhabi for the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. Both heads of state are attending the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in the United Arab Emirates. President Kagame arrived in Abu Dhabi on Monday and was welcomed by Sheikh Shakhboot Nahyan Al Nahyan, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. President Bola Tinubu, via his X account, highlighted that he had a meaningful conversation with President Kagame. "This evening, on the eve of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, I had meaningful conversations with Rwandan President Paul Kagame," Tinubu posted on his X account.

According to the Nigerian High Commission in Kigali, Nigeria and Rwanda have maintained warm and cordial relations since Rwanda’s independence in 1962. There are various agreements between the two countries at different stages of implementation, including the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) and the Technical Aid Corps (TAC), both of which are fully implemented. Under the TAC scheme, several groups of volunteers have been deployed to Rwanda since the agreement was signed in 2001. Meanwhile, BASA has facilitated multiple RwandAir flights per week to Abuja and Lagos. The Military and Police Training Agreement has also been successfully implemented, enabling cooperation in military training. This includes training for RDF officers at Nigeria's National Defence College and Junior Command Staff courses, as well as Nigerian Defence Force officers participating in the Senior Command Course in Rwanda. In trade relations, there is a notable presence of Nigerian businesses operating in Rwanda, particularly Access Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank in the financial sector. Relations between the two countries have been further strengthened through high-level exchange visits. In education, the two nations also cooperate. In December 2022, the Rwanda TVET Board (RTB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigerian National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the Rwanda Cooperation Initiative (RCI). This MoU provides a framework for collaboration in fostering technical skills development.