Arriving in Kigali on May 27 for a two-day visit, Emmanuel Macron focused his trip on the memorial aspect through a speech delivered this day, in the morning, at the Tutsi genocide memorial in the Gisozi neighborhood. The French president in particular recognized the responsibility – but not the complicity – of France in this tragedy while asking the victims and their descendants to “know how to forgive”.
But this visit is also seen in an economic light, as evidenced by the delegation accompanying the French head of state. In addition to the director general of the French Development Agency (AFD), Rémi Rioux, who must sign several agreements during his stay, several personalities joined this visit. This is the case of Franco-Ivorian Tidjane Thiam, who serves as advisor to President Paul Kagamé at the head of his new company Rwanda Finance Limited.
Other bosses, especially start-ups, are present such as Vincent Rouaix, CEO of GFI-Inetum, a company specializing in digital services; Fabien Felli, Chairman of the Management Board of Poma, a cable transport company; Annemijn Perrin, President of Digital Skills Foundation, digital skills training center; Stéphane Lelux, CEO of the Tactis-Innopolis group, an engineering consulting company; Christian Leroux, secretary general of M2i Lifesciences, a company specializing in sustainable technologies for agriculture and science, or Amine Karray, CEO of ATM Innov.
Among the members of the institutional delegation are Makhtar Diop, CEO of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Alain Le Roy, Emmanuel Macron’s special envoy for the Africa-Covid initiative; Louise Mushikiwabo, Secretary General of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) and Pascale Vareille, Head of International Relations at the University of Paris-Saclay.
