By Pierre FirtionPosted on 02-09-2019Modified on 02-09-2019 at 02:51

A new French chargé d'affaires with a very political profile arrived in July in Kigali while a project of a French-speaking cultural institute is in the cards and that the AFD intends to revive its action in the country.

His arrival in Kigali in the heart of summer went almost unnoticed. On July 10, Jérémie Blin succeeded Etienne de Souza as Chargé d'Affaires at the French Embassy.

More than just a technical change, this appointment has a real political dimension: the newcomer occupied until then the position of Deputy Director Central Africa at the Quai d'Orsay. His profile clearly reflects Paris' desire to accelerate the process of rapprochement with Kigali. Additional signs of this desire: not only Jérémie Blin arrived with an official letter from the French government but he will have by his side in the coming weeks a number 2. " He is ambassador level , " says a French diplomatic source for whom France " Found (in Kigali) a normal embassy device ".

Kagame supports the creation of a francophone cultural institute

From the moment of his arrival, the new chargé d'affaires began his first important task: the opening of a cultural institute not French but French speaking in the Rwandan capital. Belgians and Quebeckers will be associated with the project. An initiative favorably seen by the Rwandan authorities. President Kagame said he was in favor of such a project. The case has already been discussed between Jérémie Blin and the Rwandan authorities. " It would be a good initiative that would allow our cultural exchanges ," says one side Rwandan. French is an official language of Rwanda, some Rwandans are French-speaking. So, it would be important to develop this cultural cooperation . "

Jérémie Blin also announced in his first speech on July 14 to " concretize the re-engagement of the AFD " in the country. The French Development Agency, which had reduced its activities in Rwanda since 2015, now wants to revive its action in several sectors such as education, vocational training, digital, energy, health or sports. Rémy Rioux, the director general of the AFD, went to Kigali in June to talk with Paul Kagame about it.

→ Re-listen: Rémy Rioux, Director General of AFD: The Rwandan case

An ambassador for soon?

All these advances announce the upcoming appointment of a French ambassador on the spot? If on the Rwandan side, we say " ready to give approval as soon as possible ", the French executive, scalded by the memory of the renewed tension in 2009, does not want to rush things. Because this file also remains conditioned to the implementation of two measures announced by France on the occasion of the commemorations of the 25th anniversary of the genocide: the reinforcement of the judicial pole to continue in the Hexagon the presumed génocidaires and the progress of work of the commission of historians charged with analyzing the role of France during the genocide . The evolution of these two promises also depends on the future of the relationship between the two countries.

■ A new ambassador of Rwanda in Paris

In office in Paris since November 2009, Jacques Kabale will give way in September to François-Xavier Ngarambe. Ambassador in Switzerland, he was the permanent representative of Rwanda at the UN in Geneva. The former mayor of Kigali, Marie-Chantal Rwakazina, will succeed him.

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