Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu was in Rwanda’s Kigali on Thursday, as part of his five-nation Africa tour. Answering reporters’ questions at a press conference with his Rwandan counterpart Vincent Biruta, Çavuşoğlu hailed the success of a grain deal it mediated in cooperation with the United Nations.
The minister said more than 17 million tons of grain were shipped so far as part of the deal and 5 million among them were directly delivered to sub-Saharan African countries. “More than 60% of the grain was delivered to countries with low and middle income. As a matter of fact, this was our priority (while brokering the deal),” he said.
Türkiye, the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine signed the landmark Türkiye-brokered agreement in Istanbul to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which had been paused due to the war that started in February.
Thanks to Turkish efforts, the landmark deal was extended for another 120 days, starting Nov. 19.
Ukraine and Russia are both among the world’s largest grain producers and exporters. Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports following its invasion threatened to cause a global food crisis earlier this year, which was mitigated by the Turkish-brokered deal that unblocked Ukrainian shipments at the end of July.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan repeatedly called for the shipment of grain first to countries needing it more, particularly in Africa.
Ankara in recent years improved its relations with African countries. Çavuşoğlu said at the press conference that they discussed their relations with his Rwandan counterpart in a wide array of fields, from the economy, investment, energy, defense to culture and education.
He said they wanted to activate a political consultation mechanism and attached importance to a friendship group between the two countries’ Parliaments.
The minister added that commercial and economic ties between their countries rapidly developed, highlighting a fivefold increase in bilateral trade volume in the past three years. “Both sides have work to do to increase the volume more and make it more balanced,” he said. Çavuşoğlu said Turkish investments in Rwanda reached about $500 million and made up 13% of foreign investments in Rwanda, referring to projects by Turkish companies in the tourism, energy and construction sectors. He thanked the Rwandan government for its trust and support of Turkish firms.
He stated that Turkish Airlines (THY) now had daily flights between Istanbul and Kigali and they also wanted to expand their cooperation in education. He noted that Türkiye granted Türkiye Scholarships to more than 185 Rwandan students and their Diplomacy Academy trained more than 100 Rwandan diplomats. He said the Yunus Emre Institute (YEE) of Türkiye opened an office in Rwanda and a center at a campus of Rwanda University. He said they were happy with the rising popularity of Turkish language learning in Rwanda.
Çavuşoğlu also thanked Rwanda for support in Türkiye’s fight against the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), hailing measures Rwanda took against FETÖ's presence in the country.
For his part, Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta said they already had multiple agreements with Türkiye and they signed additional deals and memorandum of understanding between the two countries during Çavuşoğlu’s visit including one for the establishment of a branch of Türkiye’s Maarif Foundation in Rwanda. “Agreements are the basis for taking our cooperation to a more efficient level,” he said.
