Avellon Williams
KINGSTON, JAMAICA – His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, is scheduled to arrive in Jamaica on Wednesday, April 13 for a three-day state visit.
During his visit to Jamaica, the president is expected to meet with Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen and Prime Minister Andrew Holness, among other government officials.
In a statement, the Prime Minister’s office said the visit of President Kagame to Jamaica, which coincides with the 60th anniversary of Jamaica’s independence, presents a substantial opportunity for deepening bilateral ties between the two countries.
It was noted by the OPM that the visit would also strengthen the relationship between the CARICOM region and the African continent, which has developed steadily in recent years.
Paul Kagame has been the Rwandan president since 2000. He is the nation’s sixth president. The 64-year-old served as both Vice President and Minister of Defence under Former President Pasteur Bizimungu, who served from 1994 to 2000.
During his re-elections in 2010 and 2017, President Kagame promised to continue the stability and economic growth he had brought to Rwanda following the 1994 genocide where 800,000 people were killed.
Since he took office, Rwanda has seen unprecedented socio-economic and political progress, peace, stability, as well as social cohesion.
It has a population of approximately 12.3 million, 50 percent of whom are under the age of 20. Its economy is one of the fastest-growing in the world, growing at an annual rate of about eight percent.
A major reason for this is the development of key sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, education, health, tourism, and information and communications technology (ICT).
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) states that Rwanda earns the majority of its foreign exchange through mining, tourism, coffee, and tea.
It is argued that continuous growth in these sectors is crucial to economic development as well as poverty reduction.
Rwanda is an East African country that borders Uganda to the north, Tanzania to the east, Burundi to the south, and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the west. This country’s capital is Kigali.
Rwanda’s main language is Kinyarwanda, but English, French, and Kiswahili are also official languages. Among the cultural arts in this country are music and dance, such as Umushayayo and Intore.
Being a landlocked country with a total area of 26,338 kilometers squared, it is nicknamed the Land of a Thousand Hills.
The country is home to five volcanoes and six main water bodies, with vegetation ranging from a dense equatorial forest in the northwest to tropical savannah in the east.
