This is my first time experiencing New Year in Kigali as well as celebrating the beginning of this new partnership between Brazil and Rwanda. Diplomatic relations between our countries were established in 1981, but only at the end of 2023 did the governments in Kigali and Brasília decide to open their respective embassies in both capitals in order to strengthen the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.
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The Embassy of Rwanda in Brasília was opened in 2024, while the Embassy of Brazil in Kigali began its activities on June 1, 2025.
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A little over seven months have now passed, and during this period it has become entirely clear to me that the decision to establish our embassy in Rwanda was fully justified--the only one opened in Africa during the current administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. During this time, some of the main topics that will shape the bilateral agenda between our countries have become evident--cooperation in agriculture, the environment, education, and culture, among others.
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In these few months, in addition to missions from KIFC, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Environment, to Brazil, we were able to welcome to Kigali several distinguished visitors, including two female rectors from some of Brazil's most important universities, senior officials from the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and significant economic actors from industry, tourism, agribusiness, and the telecommunications sector. All of them left Kigali with the same feeling that struck me when I arrived in the city: this is a country with which we very much want to do business and build partnerships--the institutional dialogue is agile and forward-looking, and the environment, whether regulatory and business-related or human and social, is among the most pleasant.
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Thus, in light of this still brief but already very encouraging history, the beginning of 2026 allows us to share some of our goals and projects. In the very first days of February, we will host the first Brazilian business mission to Rwanda, with around 50 entrepreneurs from multiple sectors. I also believe this will be the first opportunity for a significant number of businesswomen and businessmen from both countries to meet and discuss joint opportunities. The path ahead is challenging, as very little is known about Brazil in Rwanda, just as Rwanda remains an entirely new destination for Brazilian entrepreneurs. But the path is made by walking--that is, at some point we must begin this journey and bring our two countries closer together.
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Next, still in the first months of the year, the first undergraduate and graduate students who will initiate academic cooperation between Brazil and Rwanda should be selected. Brazilian universities have made available more than a hundred slots for undergraduate, Master's and PhD Rwandan students. Some will travel to Brazil during the first semester, and others from July onwards. Academic cooperation is an area that particularly excites me because we need to develop together--within our universities and think tanks, as well as our research and development centres--a shared vision of opportunities and a record of achievements capable of demonstrating that Rwanda and Brazil are part of the Global South, with common challenges to which we must apply jointly constructed solutions. In difficult times, marked by a reduction in the space for international cooperation and the dialogue that underpins it, we must persevere in building a rules-based world order.
The calendar for 2026 is marked by many events, including the FIFA World Cup--when, I believe, some Rwandans also become a little Brazilian--but I would like to single out the cultural agenda, as it lies at the very essence of our identities. Brazil, whose art goes far beyond its five-time world champion football team, wishes to bring to Rwanda its music--our carnival and our strong African-rooted cultural influence--as well as our literature, with the translation into Kinyarwanda of a first Brazilian book, perhaps a children's book.
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This is especially meaningful given that books by authors such as Scholastique Mukasonga and Gaël Faye have already been translated into Portuguese and are now well-established names at Brazilian literary festivals.
There is much to be done. Let us get to work. I am especially encouraged by already sensing that, among the public and authorities of Rwanda, I have partners who are equally enthusiastic. Let us move forward together!
Irene Vida Gala is the Ambassador of Brazil to Rwanda.
