Rwandan President: A unified African market requires clear and predictable standards

Written by Ziad Abdel Fattah:

Rwandan President Paul Kagami The establishment of a unified African market depends primarily on the existence of clear, predictable, and consistently applied rules and standards across different jurisdictions, noting that the institutions tasked with leading this work already exist and deserve support and strengthening.

In his speech at the «African Aerospace Conference and Exhibition 2026», Kagame explained that the same principle applies to visa policies, which should be designed to promote ease of movement and communication between peoples.

Rwanda removes several visa obstacles

The Rwandan president noted that his country had removed a number of visa-related obstacles in order to encourage visitors to come, connect, and discover available opportunities, stressing that this decision was “the right step” that had a positive impact on the national economy.

Kagame added that experience has proven that openness and cooperation are key drivers of economic development, noting that Rwanda has witnessed a remarkable increase in trade activity, growth in the tourism sector, and expansion of air connectivity networks after adopting more open policies.

Air connectivity between countries is a gateway to significant investment opportunities.

The Rwandan president stressed that no region in the world has been able to unleash its full potential while still suffering from fragmentation and isolation, emphasizing that strengthening air connectivity between countries constitutes a wide gateway to great economic and investment opportunities.

Kagame concluded by emphasizing that developing the aviation sector and enhancing connectivity between African countries are a key pillar for supporting regional integration and accelerating the pace of development on the continent, calling for the adoption of more flexible and open policies to promote the movement of people, goods and investments.

In another context, the Nyamata Genocide Memorial, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of Rwanda’s most prominent national memorial sites, erected around an old Catholic church located about 30 kilometers south of the capital, Kigali.

The site commemorates one of the bloodiest genocides of 1994, in which an estimated 50,000 people were killed in the Nyamata church area, including about 15,000 who died inside the church itself between April 16 and 18 of that year.

Read more: Nyamata Monument in Rwanda: The story of one of the world's bloodiest events