The West's love affair with Rwanda

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Rwanda makes people disappear, has no opposition and a long-standing president who does not tolerate contradiction. Why western democracies are still keen on doing business with Rwanda.

Kigali, capital of Rwanda, is one of the most modern cities in Africa

On March 16th in Kigali everything revolves around hosting the 73rd FIFA Congress. The focus of the football spectacle is Gianni Infantino, Secretary General of World Football Association. He is running for re-election unopposed – observers agree: Infantino has the FIFA post firmly in his hands.

However, the hosting of the congress in Rwanda caused a stir. The human rights organization Equidem described Rwanda as “one of the most repressive states in Africa” ​​and accused FIFA of “legitimizing a regime that is accused of indefinitely imprisoning and torturing activists just because they speak their minds say”. And Human Rights Watch describes the country as a state that “targets those perceived as threats to the government”.

International community lenient

It's not just FIFA that is turning a blind eye to Rwanda's authoritarian tendencies. Great Britain, for example, chose Rwanda as a partner in its much-criticized plan to return asylum seekers who arrive illegally to the island to the East African country – a consideration with which it is not alone.

BioNTech wants to be the first country in Africa to produce mRNA vaccines in Rwanda

And while Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development says that political opponents of President Paul Kagame “are repeatedly kidnapped and illegally detained”, six mobile vaccine production plants from German pharmaceutical giant BioNTech arrived in Rwanda on Monday – the first deliveries ;this species to Africa. Rwanda has been tasked with distributing the vaccines to the 55 members of the African Union.

The country that can do it all

Why is the West willing to ignore Rwanda's human rights record? Kampala-based independent researcher Frederick Golooba Mutebi describes Western politics in Rwanda as contradictory: “They talk almost constantly about Rwanda's human rights record, but can not help but notice Rwanda's ability to appreciate very effectively managing the resources it receives from international organizations and development partners,” Mutebi told DW.

Rwanda successfully positioned itself as a very trustworthy international partner after the 1994 genocide, British East Africa expert Phil Clark told DW. “Many international organizations and states want to be associated with this very convincing history of reconstruction be brought,” said Clark.

Rwanda was the first country in the world to had a female majority in Parliament

These partners include the US, which is the largest contributor to Rwanda's healthcare sector. In 2021, the United States provided US$147 million in foreign aid, making it Rwanda's largest bilateral donor.

Good infrastructure in place

Rwanda also gives the impression that international aid is used particularly effectively. The country has built up a good infrastructure and invested in the education and health systems. Rwanda was the first country in the world to have a female majority in Parliament. The cities are safe, the streets clean and the public service well organized.

Behind these visible developments is a well-structured ruling party. The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) has its own companies and controls many aspects of everyday Rwandan life – which is by no means uncontroversial.

Rwanda's capital, Kigali, stands for successful development

Golooba Mutebi, however, denies that the human rights situation in Rwanda is worse than in neighboring countries. He describes Rwanda's political system as one that “prioritises consensus building over competition”. This method has often been criticized as authoritarian because it rejects multi-party democracy, he says.

Rwanda's independent path is also crucial for Claire Akamanzi, executive director of the Rwanda Development Board, which coordinates the government's activities in attracting international investors: Rwandans are “determined to refute attempts to tell us who we are and what we should or should not do to improve our lives,” she writes.

Rwanda between “sportswashing” and pragmatism

Rwanda is increasingly accused of using sporting events to distract international audiences from problematic human rights issues. Through its “Visit Rwanda” partnerships with soccer giants Arsenal FC and Paris St. Germain, and with basketball league NBA Africa the country gains international visibility. It will also be the first African country to host the UCI Road Cycling World Championships in 2025.

The London football club Arsenal FC advertises with the slogan “Visit Rwanda”

But the term “sportswashing” is controversial: Critics like Claire Akamanzi in Kigali say it is “used almost exclusively by commentators in the West and used against countries in the Global South”. For his part, Brit Phil Clark sees the focus on sport as simply an example of the Rwandan government's pragmatic approach to foreign partnerships. In order to survive, the small landlocked country has relied on making itself useful to powerful global players to do, through migration agreements and peacekeeping – but also through sport.

The Kagame factor

One explanation for Rwanda's rapid rise lies in the person of Paul Kagame. The 65-year-old has been president since 2000 – longer than his counterparts in the West. He has ruled de facto since ending the genocide with the RPF's invasion of Kigali in 1994. The ambitious ex-rebel, military and politician is considered astute and knows how to play Western nations off against each other.

President Paul Kagame is considered perceptive and does not tolerate dissent

For example, formerly Francophone Rwanda joined the British Commonwealth in 2009, simultaneously ending a diplomatic blockade with France. Despite numerous criticisms, Western politicians are reacting positively to Kagame's impressive personality. “Kagame is a master of the international game,” said Clark. “Sometimes his critics overlook that. He is able to convey a very clear sense of leadership.”

Rwanda's effective military and “unacceptable” interference

Rwanda, a stable country in the fragile Great Lakes region, is repeatedly criticized for fueling insecurity in neighboring countries and thus securing access to valuable raw materials. In the much larger Democratic Republic of the Congo, the M23 rebel group has recently conquered large parts of North Kivu province. Nicolas de Rivière, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations, told reporters: “It is clear that Rwanda supports the M23. It is also clear that there are incursions by the Rwandan regular army in North Kivu and that this is also unacceptable.”

The M23 rebel group also owes its triumph to Rwandan support

The same military, however, is used in other circles Revered across Africa as a fighting force that can quickly bring peace and stability, from Darfur to Mozambique, Clark said. And the West also relies on Rwanda's army, which is capable of restoring order in regional conflicts.

International donors are aware of this, says Clark: “These two realities exist side by side and they are coming to terms with it because there are some very tangible benefits in a very undemocratic environment.”

Golooba Mutebi is unsure whether Kagame's style of foreign policy or partnership-building can outlast him . A lot will depend on whether Kagame's successor “thinks just as visionary, forward-thinking and unconventionally,” he tells DW.