The meeting came on the sidelines of Abdelatty’s current visit to Rwanda to participate in the inauguration ceremony of Rwandan President Paul Kagame in the capital Kigali.

The top diplomat welcomed the Rwandan side’s decision to allocate a logistics zone to Egypt, aiming to "facilitate Egyptian companies and investments' access to the promising Rwandan market."

He noted that this comes within the framework of Egypt’s efforts in addressing the urgent needs of the Rwandan market in various sectors.

The foreign minister conveyed Egypt's aspiration to advance relations with Rwanda in a way that meets the ambitions of both countries, particularly in the economic and investment sectors.

For his part, the Rwandan foreign minister emphasized the importance of boosting investments and trade exchanges between the two countries, noting that this is the main driver of relations between Egypt and Rwanda.

Nduhungirehe also stressed the need to elevate the relationship between the two countries, regionally and internationally.

He expressed gratitude for Egypt's substantial support in establishing the Magdi Yacoub Rwanda-Egypt Heart Centre, which is set to be the first dedicated cardiac hospital in Rwanda and the sub-Saharan region.

Egyptian-Rwandan relations
 

The relationship between Egypt and Rwanda is particularly significant as they have common interests and concerns on both regional and international levels.

Both countries are members of several regional organizations and initiatives, including the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and are among the Nile Basin countries.

During his meeting with his Rwandan counterpart, Abdelatty emphasized that President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi focuses on Egyptian-African relations, particularly with the Nile Basin countries as they share a common destiny. 

He also expressed Egypt's readiness to elevate the political dialogue level with Rwanda and revive the work of the Joint Committee to strengthen bilateral relations and open new avenues for cooperation. 

Egypt was one of the first countries to recognize Rwanda’s independence from the Belgian occupation in 1962 and to establish an embassy in Kigali in 1976. Despite the civil war in Rwanda in 1994, Egypt was the only country that had not closed its embassy.

Egyptian-Rwandan Joint Committee was established in September 1989, according to the State Information Service (SIS).

Economic relations
 

Egyptian-Rwandan economic relations enjoy the advantages of the COMESA.

With its 21 member states, a population of 655 million, a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $1.1 trillion, and a global export/import trade in goods of $449 billion, COMESA forms a major marketplace for internal and external trading.

According to COMESA's 2023 statistics, Egypt is the top GDP contributor among its members, with $395.9 billion, while Rwanda ranks 13th with $14 billion.

Egypt also leads as the top intra-COMESA exporter, with $4.1 billion, while Rwanda is fourth with $982 million. In intra-COMESA importing, Egypt ranks second with $1.5 billion, and Rwanda is sixth with $855 million.

The two countries are engaged in the Victoria-Mediterranean naval linkage project, which aims to achieve regional integration and connect the Nile Basin countries. Launched in 2013, this project is one of the regional initiatives supported by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Presidential Infrastructure Development Initiative.

During his visit to Kigali in February, Egypt's Minister of Transport Kamel El-Wazir stated that this project would enhance intra-regional trade among the participating countries and stimulate tourism, increasing national income for Nile Basin countries.

Concerning its role in the regional integration of Nile Basin countries, Egypt's former irrigation minister Mohamed Abdel-Ati noted that the naval project would include a navigation route, a road, a railway, an electric connection, and an information cable to achieve the comprehensive development of the Nile Basin countries.

The two nations are members of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement — the world’s largest free-trade area — which was signed in Rwanda in 2018 and entered into force in 2019 during Egypt's presidency of the African Union (AU).

The AfCFTA, which created a market of 1.2 billion people, is the eighth-largest economic bloc in the world. It has a combined GDP of $3 trillion that is expected to more than double by 2050, according to the AU.

According to the UN COMTRADE database on international trade, Egypt's exports to Rwanda were $67.32 million in 2023, while imports from Rwanda recorded $437.08 thousand.