Windhoek, 21 August 2019 - President Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame on Tuesday concluded a three-day visit to Namibia, with the two countries expressing renewed commitment to strengthen bilateral cooperation and increase opportunities for their people.

Speaking at a State Banquet hosted in their honor by President Geingob and First Lady Geingos, President Kagame reiterated that Rwanda and Namibia share a lot in their history and therefore have to reinforce the cooperation.

“Struggle and sacrifice mark the history of both Namibia and Rwanda. Reclaiming our sovereignty and dignity came at a very high price.It is therefore natural for us to work to deepen the bilateral relations between our two countries, in terms of trade, investment, and development. Namibia and Rwanda will be cooperating much more closely, in a variety of ways going forward," President Kagame said.

Addressing members of the press alongside President Geingob, President Kagame emphasised that Rwanda’s and Africa’s development efforts are not meant to impress anyone but to serve their people's needs.  

 “(...) it originates from stereotypes and prejudices out there. It's as if Africans can't do fine, they must be doing things that must be validated by others, somewhere. We don’t need any validation, we want to do things that benefit us, that put us in a place where we want to be” President Kagame added.

Also during the visit to Namibia, First Lady Mrs Jeannette Kagame,  First Ladies Jeannette Kagame and Monica Geingos, attended the Be Free Nation Building Public Lecture, at the Nampower Convention Centre, where they  joined youth, members of government, leaders of the academia, among other stakeholders under the theme “Rebuilding the Identity of a Post-Conflict Society’.

Namibia and Rwanda enjoy bilateral cooperation in the areas of security. The two countries' Police institutions signed a Memorandum of Understanding in November 2015. 

End.