Qatar strengthens relations with Rwanda.

Introduction

On 21 April 2019, the Emir of Qatar Sheik Tamim bin Hamad al Thani undertook a three days official visit to Rwanda and Nigeria. These visits are part of Qatar’s continued attempts to strengthen engagement with Africa after the blockade. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Egypt have been leading a political and economic blockade against. Qatar since 2017. Since assuming power in 2013, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al has embarked on a series of tours and investments in Africa and pledged to spend at least $800 million in development projects across the continent. (1). Rwanda is a small East African country that came into prominence in 1994 following a genocide that left between half a million to a million deaths. Since the election of President Paul Kagame Rwanda has made serious sociopolitical and economic strides. It has been very forthright on issues impacting women and children health as this paper will demonstrate later. Secondly, the country has moved faster than most in the world in addressing gender inequalities within its political structures, including parliament. It is the first country in the world with a female majority in parliament. There are 61.3% women in Lower House of and 38.5% Upper House of parliament. Rwanda has also been proactive in fostering national cohesion after the genocide; it has abolished and banned ethnic identity of any kind preferring to refer to its people as Rwandans. The economy has also shown strong signs of growth during the past few years. Real GDP growth reached 6.1% in 2017 and was estimated at 7.2% in 2018, supported by strong growth in services (4.1%) and industry (1.5%), particularly manufacturing (2)

Qatar has been very active in Africa, particularly after the blockade as already stated above. Whereas in the past many African countries were treated as “deserving welfare countries” by many countries in the Arab world, the trend set by Qatar emphasizes business with African countries and encourages equal partnership, “gone are days of handing over of bags full of USD to African political elite, the plan moving forward is diplomacy through business”. (3). The strategy of Qatar in Africa moving forward is diplomacy through business investments. Qatar hopes this strategy will guarantee long-term relationships with the people of Africa instead of only benefiting influential individuals, mostly political elites. Rwanda is one of the first beneficiaries, the successes the country has made it very attractive to investors. However, notwithstanding these successes, the prioritization of Rwanda by Qatar, while many prominent countries in politics in Africa wait in anticipation of Qatar’s substantial investments, has triggered debates in many circles in Africa. This paper will argue that the economic and sociopolitical successes of Rwanda made the country attractive to investors. Furthermore, after the blockade of Qatar led by its neighbors and Egypt, the reactions and readiness of some of the of African countries to join the blockade have inspired a change of political attitude towards Africa. Qatar has learned that numbers matter in international politics, particularly at multilateral platforms. Establishing strong relations with Africa is critical for Qatar as regional alliances diminish.

Why Rwanda?

Through Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Qatar continues to explore more investments around the world. According to the Institute of International Finance, the QIA has assets amounting to 112 Billion USD making it the 12th most precious wealth fund in the world. In January 2019 QIA injected 200 million USD in investment on Airtel Africa, the second largest telecom in the continent. Airtel Africa has a customer base of more than 94 million in the continent. Furthermore, with an estimated reserve of nearly $300bn, the wealth fund has invested heavily in the agriculture sector, Doha seeing Africa’s fertile arable land as the solution to food self-sufficiency (4). Since assuming power in 2013, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad has embarked on a series of tours and investments in Africa and pledged to spend at least $800 million in development projects across the continent (5).

Rwanda’s socio-political and economic climate has become attractive to foreign investments

Rwanda is landlocked with a high density of young population, most of whom in rural areas. The Rwandan economy is based on agriculture, mostly subsistence and tourism. It is one of the two countries in the world with a large population of mountain gorillas; they are the main tourists’ attraction. Rwanda’s tourism industry contributes to 12.7 percent of the country’s GDP, supporting 132,000 jobs (6). Rwanda troubled past has harmed the country, including investment decisions over the years. In 1994 while Mandela’s euphoria and first democratic elections were taking place in South Africa, thousands of people were massacred in ethnopolitical violence between Hutus and Tutsi tribes in Rwanda. The election of President Paul Kagame in April 2000 introduced new political prospects for the country. Since then, Rwanda’s political misfortunes have gradually turned into achievements. It has managed to push for gender equity in parliament, achieving over 50% representation of women in its national parliament as earlier stated. Rwanda has also over the past years managed to achieve that environment through various government interventions. The economy is projected to grow at 7.8% in 2019 and 8.0% in 2020, supported by export growth resulting from the Made in Rwanda policy, continued public investments such as the Bugesera airport, and the country’s strong record of implementing reforms to achieve its long term development goals (7). In February 2019, Paula Ingabire, Rwanda’s minister for information and communications technology (ICT) and innovation, announced that a smartphone manufacturing plant would be opened in Rwanda by Mara Corporation, making it the first country in Africa to manufacture full-scale phones locally.

President Paul Kagame visited Qatar on 15 November 2018. It was the first visit by the Rwandan President to the state of Qatar. On 27 April 2019 Sheik Tamim bin Hamad reciprocated by visiting Rwanda. Meetings during these visits have culminated into several economic and political agreements between the two countries. The two countries signed agreements on air services, promotion, and protection of mutual investments and memorandum of understanding on economic, trade and technical co-operation accord.

Moreover, the country has made serious inroads on child-care and women health and reproductive rights something once again attractive to Qatar, which continues to advocate for children’s well being. Rwanda has made significant progress in improving the health of women and children and is on the fast track in 2013 to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 (to reduce child mortality) and 5a (to reduce maternal mortality) (8). Qatar supports several women and children’s programs, including Educate a Child Program spearheaded by Qatar Airways. Qatar Airways partnered with Educate a Child in 2013 with objectives of providing primary education to millions of children, not in school.

Qatar continues to expand its alliances in Africa following the blockade

The blockade of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt caught Qatar and many countries around the world by surprise. The sudden termination of the food supply in particular by its neighbors was a wake –up call for Qatar. The blockade has exposed Qatar’s vulnerability concerning the food supply, amongst other things. It has since decided to intensify its partnerships with countries that could assist in this regard for its future needs. Rwanda has arable land, a perfect place for Qatar as it continues to look at securing its future food supply.

Furthermore, Qatar is one of the fastest growing economies in the world; consequently, it is facing a large-scale influx of expatriate workers. Limited land availability, chronic water scarcity, and constraints in agricultural growth have led to growing concerns about food security. Agriculture plays a strategic role in the nation’s food security. Qatar imports over 90% of its food requirements due to the scarcity of irrigation water, poor quality soils, and the inhibitions due to climatic conditions (9). Moreover, the reaction of some African countries to the blockade triggered a new reality in Qatar, i.e. the country had to engage in a diplomatic charm offensive in Africa. Several African countries joined the blockade, including, Senegal, Chad, and Mauritania. Rwanda did not join the blockade against Qatar in 2017 notwithstanding pressures from the blockading nations.

Conclusion

Rwanda is relatively new in its engagement with the Arab world compared to many of its, particularly Kenya. Rwanda has excellent investment potential and young human resources. Qatar’s growing economy needs human resources. It also needs to diversify its investment away from the energy sector. The country is also desperately in need of putting its food security plan in place. Rwanda has arable land for this purpose. Secondly, the new partnership between Qatar and Rwanda is essential at this point as the country continues to build alliances with Africa and the African Union (AU). Egypt, one of the leading blockading countries, assumed the chair of the AU in 2019. It is most likely to lobby against Qatar within the AU. Qatar will have to intensify its effort to counter such effort within the organization and indeed, Africa. Importantly, however, is that, whereas in past Africa only benefited from Arab philanthropy mainly from Saudi Arabia. Many regard Qatar’s dealings in Africa very positive; they are regarded as rectification of a somewhat historical skewed relationship between the Arab countries and Africa. It promotes business interactions and consequently equality, long-term benefit for the people of Africa, and fighting corruption. Africa is not a country; it a continent consisting of 54 nations with equal voting rights at all multilateral platforms. Qatar soft power has seen a growing appetite in hosting world sporting tournaments for an example. The country needs international support in realizing those objectives. Ignoring Africa has cost many Arab countries at multilateral levels, African votes and support matter irrespective economic positioning. The number of countries that decided to join the blockade, albeit small, poor African countries, exerted pressure on Qatar. Their numbers somehow legitimized the blockade. It was not the names of countries involved that mattered ultimately; it was numbers that mattered, at least in the early stages of the blockade (10).

In conclusion, the widespread suppression of political expression and dissent in Rwanda has added to the debate regarding Qatar’s prioritization of Rwanda. Rwandan opposition leader Diane Rwigara was accused of inciting insurrection and forgery after challenging president Kagame in 2017 elections. She is facing 22 years in prison if convicted. Moreover, President Paul Kagame changed the constitution, consequently extending his presidential term. The controversial vote on the country’s constitution means that Kagame, 58, can stand again in 2017 after his second mandate ends. In effect, it authorizes him to stand for another term of seven years and two more after that of five each, meaning that Kagame could be in power until 2034 (11). Africa has always complained about global investment ignoring human rights violations in the continent. Civil society would like to see those fundamental violating rights punished by international investors.

Reference

1. Ivan R. Mugisha, The East African, Rwanda and Qatar sign aviation, tourism deals, https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/business/Rwanda-and-Qatar-sign-aviation-tourism-deals/2560-5090406-6vvau8z/index.html, 23 May 2019 (2)
2. 2. African Development Bank, Rwanda Economic Outlook, https://www.afdb.org/en/countries/east-africa/rwanda/rwanda-economic-outlook/, 23 May 2019 (3)
3. 3. Interview Qatar diplomat, Doha, 20 April 2019 (4)
4. 4. Nabil Ennasri, Middle East Eye, What is Qatar doing in West Africa?, https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/what-qatar-doing-west-africa, 23 May 2019 (1)
5. 5. Abid, The East African (8)
6. 6. Hugh Morris, The Telegraph, Rwanda, fresh from its deal with Arsenal announces surge in UK visitors, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/africa/rwanda/articles/rwanda-increase-uk-visitors-arsenal/, 23 May 2019 (5)
7. 7. Ibid, African Development Bank (6)
8. 8. Rwanda Ministry of Health, Success factors for women’s and children’s health, https://www.who.int/pmnch/knowledge/publications/rwanda_country_report.pdf, 23 May 2019 (9)
9. 9. Surya Suresh, EcoMENA, Food Security in Qatar, https://www.ecomena.org/food-security-qatar/, 23 May 2019 (10)
10. 10. Interview, Qatar Diplomat, Doha, 20 April 2019 (11)
11. 11. The Guardian, Rwanda votes to give resident Paul Kagame right to rule until 2034, Rwanda votes to give President Paul Kagame right to rule until 2034, May 2019 (7)