Rwanda: Summit of Commonwealth Heads of State and Government opens in Kigali

Boris Johnson shakes hands with Paul Kagame ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of State and Government meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, June 23, 2002. AP - Dan Kitwood

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This Friday, June 24, representatives of Commonwealth countries will meet in Kigali.

It is the official opening this morning of the meeting of heads of state and government of this organization which includes 54 countries, including 19 Africans.

This is the first such summit in four years.

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With our correspondent in Kigali,

Laure Broulard

The event had been postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic and many presidents and prime ministers attended.

►Also read

: Boris Johnson in Kigali for the Commonwealth summit in the midst of controversy over the migration agreement

Boris Johnson arrived in Kigali on Thursday June 23 and was quick to defend his

migration partnership

with Rwanda, a project condemned by the UN and human rights organizations.

“ 

Critics should keep an open mind

 ,” the British prime minister told reporters after visiting a school in Kigali.

Boris Johnson also broached the subject during a one-on-one interview with President Paul Kagame.

In Camera Discussions

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Nigerian Muhammadu Buhari are also present in Kigali.

On the agenda are discussions behind closed doors, officially on sustainable development and the recovery of the economies of the Commonwealth countries after the coronavirus crisis and in the context of the war in Ukraine, discussions prepared yesterday by a meeting of ministers Foreign Affairs of Commonwealth countries.

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  • Rwanda

  • UK

  • Commonwealth

  • Boris Johnson

  • Paul Kagame