Rwanda, Nigeria Foreign Affairs Ministers Discuss Strengthening Cooperation

Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Olivier Nduhungirehe, held a fruitful discussion via telephone on Thursday, January 30, with Amb.Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. Rwanda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation posted on its X page that the ministers discussed further strengthening cooperation between Rwanda and Nigeria at both bilateral and multilateral levels. Earlier this month, on January 13, President Paul Kagame met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria. Both heads of state attended the Abu Dhabi S

Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Olivier Nduhungirehe, held a fruitful discussion via telephone on Thursday, January 30, with Amb.Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. Rwanda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation posted on its X page that the ministers discussed further strengthening cooperation between Rwanda and Nigeria at both bilateral and multilateral levels. Earlier this month, on January 13, President Paul Kagame met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria. Both heads of state attended the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in the United Arab Emirates. During that time, 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 in mid-January. 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. The two nations also cooperate in education. 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. Relations between the two countries have been further strengthened through high-level exchange visits.