In Rwanda, sport is a strong source of unity and the propelling force for national reconciliation. For over two decades, sport has been an integral part of social relations following the 1994 genocide that occurred in the central African country. To many Rwandans, sport is more than a physical activity designed to provide enjoyment to participants and spectators. Apart from shoring up social relations among the citizenry, sport has continued to bring international recognition to Rwanda as a result of its participation in international sporting activities.
Before President Paul Kagame took the reins of power in Rwanda, the key challenges facing the country’s sports industry were limited financial capacity and inadequate sports infrastructural facilities. Moreover, there was a weak link between the government and the private sector slowing down the pace of development of sport in the country. This was due to lack of motivation for private sector to come on board, coupled with perceived lack of confidence in the sports management system.
Shortly after the sports-loving Kagame assumed control in the country nicknamed as the “land of a thousand hills” in the year 2000, he launched ambitious national developmental programmes aimed at uniting the Rwandan people and the key in this vision was national reconciliation through sport. Women’s soccer, for example, was first introduced in the country in 1994 as a way to help the war survivors to cope with trauma. Today, Rwanda holds the African record for the number of female football players certified by FIFA.
In a bid to burnish the international image and diversify the economy of the country, the Kagame-led government has continued to solicit and attract new and increased investment in sport from private sector. The heavy investment through sports partnership with clubs like Arsenal Football Club in England and France-based Paris Saint-Germain Football Club is a quantum leap for the country.
In 2018, Visit Rwanda became Arsenal’s official Tourism Partner and its first shirt sleeve partner. Consequently, the Visit Rwanda logo features on the left sleeve of all Arsenal’s teams for the duration of the exciting partnership. According to Rwanda tourist board, the Arsenal shirt is seen 35 million times a day globally and the North London club is one of the most watched teams around the world, enabling the Visit Rwanda to be seen in football-loving nations around the world and helping its drive to be an even more successful tourism and investment destination.
Until 2025, the PSG community and the world will have a unique opportunity to experience Rwanda’s breath-taking beauty, creative culture, innovative environment, modern and distinctive Made in Rwanda products through unprecedented and creative communications. The partnership will also convey Rwanda’s openness to welcome business partnerships from France and across the world. As part of the partnership, a Paris Saint-Germain Football Academy was established in 2020 in Huye, Rwanda’s southern province.
This £10 million-per-year sponsorship agreement guarantees the Rwandan government with football’s wealthiest clubs to promote their tourist board’s message ‘Visit Rwanda’ and attract football developmental partnerships from both clubs. As part of the partnership, Arsenal and PSG players from the men’s and women’s teams will visit Rwanda while the clubs’ coaches will host coaching camps to support the development of the game for boys and girls in the country. In addition, the clubs also have training programmes with Rwandan footballers which have been yielding positive results.
On August 27 2023 Rwanda also signed a five-year football development and tourism promotion partnership with a German football club, Bayern Munich. The partnership, unveiled during FC Bayern’s first home game of the season, will see the club work specifically with Rwanda’s Ministry of Sports to set up a football academy to strengthen the development of football in the country.
To achieve the national objective of taking sport to the required level, one of the goals of the Rwanda Sports Development Policy is stated to leverage the development of sports in the country as a significant opportunity for economic generation through hosting of international sporting events. As a result, the 30th edition of the FIBA AfroBasket 2021, a men’s basketball continental championship of Africa was hosted by Rwanda for the first time. In addition, the 2025 UCI Road World Championship will be held in Kigali from September 20 to 25. This will be the first time that the championship will be held in Africa.
There is also huge investment and the development of sports infrastructure across the country. The facilities include $104 million for a 10,000-seat basketball hall, $16 million for a golf course inaugurated in 2021 in Kigali, and $165 million budgeted for the ongoing construction of the National Stadium, which is expected to expand from 25,000 to 45,000 seats by 2024.
The resolve of the Rwandan government to adhere to the task of initiating sporting revolution in the country is resoundingly visible through various sports deals all over the country. For instance, there is a Tony Football Excellence Programme (TFEP), and an Israeli sports project to boost football development among young talented footballers in Rwanda which was launched by the renowned Israeli sports investor Yonat Miriam Listenberg in partnership with the Rwandan government in June 2022.
Football for Schools (F4S) programme, a project run by FIFA, in collaboration with UNESCO was launched by the French World Cup winner, Youri Djorkaeff in Kigali and Rwanda became the 50th country to join this scheme. The programme aims to make football more accessible to both boys and girls around the world by incorporating football activities into the education system.
The partnership between Rwanda Football Federation (FERWAFA) and Fédération Rwandaise du Sport Scolaire (FRSS) to develop the inter-schools football competitions from primary to secondary school levels is also yielding brilliant outcomes. The two institutions signed a five-year partnership deal where FERWAFA will help with technical support like training coaches and football clinics for young talented players.
Inter-school games have produced some of the country’s top football players. Some of the schools which have in the past produced good athletes and footballers are ASPEJ of Rwamagana, Group Scolaire de Gahini, Inyemeramihigo of Gisenyi, Mutenderi of Kibungo, among others.
There are also many football nurseries like Irerero football academy Umujyi wa Kigali, Rwanda; Gasabo Gorillas football academy where raw talents are nurtured.
There is also the Ishami Foundation which has worked with Coaches Across Continents to train more than 600 community impact football coaches in Rwanda. Its activities are centred around flagship football tournament like Play2Remember and the development of future plans.
Play2Remember is an annual football tournament taking place in the UK and Rwanda with the goal to remember genocide survivors while promoting reconciliation and togetherness through sport. In Rwanda, Play2Remember is designed to create a sociable space for camaraderie and fun where people can share, and learn from each other’s stories, in a way that promotes togetherness and collective social action.
Cricket has also been described as one of the fastest growing sports in Rwanda.
In Basketball too, Rwanda’s basketball federation has been a member of the International Basketball Federation since 1977. Prior to 2000, the Rwanda national basketball team was little known outside the country, but since the mid-2000s has grown in prominence on the African stage. The men’s team have qualified for the final stages of the African Basketball Championship four times in a row since 2007.
Tour du Rwanda, the cycling competition organized by the Rwanda Cycling Federation (FERWACY) is also gradually becoming a race where cyclists can expect to gain fame.
Several names on the local scene have in the last two decades registered high performance and have become the talk of the community.
“Visit Rwanda” is clearly a clever, eye-catching message designed as a double entendre to attract the attention of the world to Rwanda’s tourism and a call to the whole of Africa to learn about result-oriented sports programmes.
You need to “Visit Rwanda” to behold the marvels in sports development in the “land of a thousand hills”.
References:
- Visit Rwanda signs major PSG sponsorship, rivals existing Arsenal deal, by Matthew Glendinning, December 4, 2019
- Aglietti, Stephanie (11 September 2014). “Rwanda cricket, growing a game of hope”
- Gourevitch, Philip (27 July 2012). “From Rwanda to London, with a Bicycle”
- The New Times Rwanda 2007 – 2022
- Collin Millar, Daily Mirror February 2022
- Eddie Nsabimana, The New Times Kigali, August 2022
- R Sallaoui et al. Int J Sports Med. 2007 Jul.
- Carlin, John (13 July 2003). “Rwanda’s magic moment”. The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
Contributions and editing: Bimbo Ajayi.
