Rwanda the New African Sports Destination

Rwanda also known as the land of a thousand hills is progressively becoming a sports event destination of choice in Africa. 

Most recently Rwanda hosted the 73rd FIFA congress on 16th March 2023, playing host to around 2000 delegates from 211-members in the   association. All the football leaders met in Kigali for the congress and other activities aligned for the world class infrastructure.

Rwanda has been investing in sports infrastructure for the past few years and hosting events including staging the recent Tour Du Rwanda, a 2.1 category Union Cyclist International (UCI)Race.

The country's aim is to earn 800 million dollars in sports tourism by next year. In 2021 Rwanda invested around 160,000 dollars to upgrade the Amahoro stadium by increasing its capacity from 25,000 to 45,000 which is set to be completed by next year.

Patrice Motsepe, the confederation president, awarded president Kagame and King Mohammed the fifth of Morocco with the outstanding achievement award for the purpose of their contribution in advancing African football.

The award was presented in an event that was attended by Rwanda’s sports officials, CAF member association, CAF executive committee president together with all other football leaders across the world.

President Kagame also contained on the role of football in reuniting Rwandans against the genocide against Tutsi that happened in 1994. In addition, FIFA president Gianni Infantiano is to be elected for a third term since taking office in 2016.

The country also unveiled 1.3 million dollars in 2017 cricket stadium in Kigali and in 2019 opened the BK arena which contains up to 10,000 seats costing a total of 104 million dollars. The above investments enabled Rwanda to host the inaugural Basketball Africa league that involved the top African teams. The BK arena hosted the 2021 men’s volleyball African Championships and the African Women Volleyball Championship.

In addition, the country also made a 16-million-dollar investment in the 18-hole golf course in Kigali, which was officially opened in 2021. The UCI gave the East Africa nations the rights to host the 96-year-old world event, Road World Champions in 2025 after the country depicted good development in cycling. The championships will involve 11 events, this will be the first time the event will be held in Africa.