Newly appointed foreign affairs minister Olivier Nduhungirehe had a telephone call with his Tanzanian counterpart January Makamba on Thursday, June 13, in which the latter congratulated him on being entrusted by President Paul Kagame for "this important role" as well as committed to work closely together to strengthen relations between "our friendly countries."

President Kagame made changes in Cabinet and in government agencies on Wednesday, appointing Nduhungirehe - Rwanda's Ambassador to The Netherlands - the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, replacing Dr Vincent Biruta.

In a post on X, Makamba said: "I congratulated him on being entrusted by H.E @PaulKagame for this important role. We committed to work closely together to strengthen relations between our friendly countries."

Nduhungirehe responded thanking Makamba for his call "and for your warm wishes."

He added: "Tanzania and Rwanda are indeed friendly countries, and I highly value our relations and economic ties. I pledged to work with you to strengthen those relations, as well as our East African Community (EAC)."

In March, Rwanda's outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Vincent Biruta, and Makamba committed to boosting the two countries' bilateral ties in various sectors including trade, energy and infrastructure.

Makamba who was then in Rwanda for a four-day working visit, said Tanzania would "continue to make it easier for Rwanda to use the port of Dar es Salam for its international trade."

About 80 per cent of Rwanda's imports pass through Dar es Salam port.

Makamba said Tanzania would improve the construction of its road network, especially the 92 kilometres of highway from Rusahunga to Rusumo, to facilitate the transport of goods between the two countries.