Rwanda, Nordic Baltic countries seek to strengthen cooperation

Meeting under the second Rwanda-Nordic and Baltic Business Forum, the event runs from Monday through Wednesday with discussions centered on education, innovation, trade, and sustainable development, according to organizers.

Dag Sjoogren, Swedish ambassador to Rwanda described the country as remarkable place, with its history, steady and rapid development, its true spirit of innovation curves, and levels of ambition which he said are hard to find anywhere else.

As a testament to your staggering ambition, you scored extremely high in all sorts of measurements in the World Bank's Business Ready Report of 2025, he said.

“Your progress in digitalization, fintech, investment facilitation and more well complements what Sweden has to offer. I hope that this forum will help us in identifying new opportunities where Nordic-Baltic expertise and Rwandan ambition can complement one another.”

Speaking at the opening, Jean-Guy Afrika, the Chief Executive Officer of Rwanda Development Board (RDB), said that despite the distance, Rwanda and the Nordic and Baltic countries share a remarkable convergence of values, priorities, and ambition.

“We are united by a belief in good governance, a commitment to innovation, women empowerment and gender equality, conservation, and a clear understanding that sustainable, long-term value creation is the only path to enduring prosperity,” he said, adding that shared perspective is the basis on which credible and lasting commercial partnerships are built.

Africa noted that the forum presented an opportunity to advance practical cooperation, to identify concrete areas of partnership, and to lay the foundation for investments that will create value on both sides.

The Chairperson of the Rwanda Private Sector Federation Jeanne Francoise Mubiligi said the forum offered a platform to build partnerships that could transform opportunities into concrete investments and business ventures. Enditem