Rwanda Convention Bureau (RCB) CEO Janet Karemera has highlighted the factors that make Rwanda a leading and competitive destination for global events, meetings and conferences.
In May, Rwanda moved up one slot to become the second most popular destination for association conferences in Africa, according to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), a global community for the international association and meetings industry.
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The country has hosted prominent international events, including the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the African Union Summit, and the GSMA Mobile Conference, in addition to being home for the Basketball Africa League (BAL), an annual continental competition supported by the NBA.
RCB works to promote Rwanda as a premier destination for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE), offering comprehensive assistance, information, and neutral advice to organisers.
Speaking on a local podcast on Sunday, September 22, Karemera outlined several key factors contributing to Rwanda's appeal as a MICE hub, emphasising the government's policies and the readiness of the private sector actors who are involved in the industry.
"Some of our unique selling points, as we would call it, are what the government of Rwanda has done from a foundation," she said, giving an example of the country's Visa regime which allows visitors to have a Visa on arrival.
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"For some people, the Visa fees are even waived. If you are from the African Union, from the Francophonie community, from the Commonwealth, you are able to get your Visa fees waived. So, that allows a lot of people across the world to be able to come to Rwanda," she noted.
She further emphasised Rwanda's comprehensive approach to hosting events, which includes not only world-class infrastructure but also the ability to provide good content and top speakers.
"We have a state-of-the-art conference centre - the Kigali Convention Centre; we have the BK Arena if you want sports; and we now have the stadium - Amahoro Stadium, that was just renovated and refurbished, and increased its capacity to 45, 000 people," she said.
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Rwanda's growing ecosystem of Professional Conference Organisers (PCOs) also plays a pivotal role, Karemera said, mentioning that in 2015-2016, there were only about three or four active PCOs, but today there are around 25, able to handle a wide-range of services be it corporate, government, or sports-related.
She also praised Kigali as a beautiful, clean, safe and easy to go around city.
