Rwanda and Pakistan Sign Trade Cooperation Agreement in Kigali

Rwanda and Pakistan signed a bilateral Trade Cooperation Agreement in Kigali on 25 September 2026, aiming to expand trade and investment ties between the two countries, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan and other regional outlets.

Signed at an Investment Forum

The agreement was signed by Rwanda’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Antoine Kajangwe, and Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Rwanda, Naeem Khan, during the two-day Rwanda-Pakistan Investment Forum 2026, held 23-24 September in Kigali and attended by government officials, investors and business leaders from both countries. The deal is intended to diversify traded products, strengthen private-sector partnerships, and lay groundwork for a future preferential trade agreement and, eventually, a free trade agreement. Kajangwe said the framework would “encourage production in both countries, expand trade in locally produced goods and strengthen supply chains,” while Khan pointed to coffee, tea, information technology, agriculture and education as areas of potential cooperation, highlighting Rwandan exports such as avocados, beans, lentils and pulses.

Modest but Growing Trade Ties

Bilateral trade between the two countries reached $236.4 million between 2023 and 2025, according to figures cited at the forum, with Rwanda recording seven Pakistani investment projects worth more than $2 million during that period. The agreement also covers cooperation in trade facilitation, information-sharing on investment opportunities, and stronger links between Rwanda’s Private Sector Federation and Pakistani chambers of commerce, with Rwandan officials identifying agro-processing, textiles, pharmaceuticals and tourism as priority sectors for Pakistani investment.

Why It Matters

The agreement reflects a wider pattern of South-South economic diplomacy, as countries across Africa and South Asia seek to diversify trading partners beyond traditional Western and Chinese markets. For Rwanda, which has positioned itself as a regional hub for trade and investment in East Africa, and for Pakistan, which has signalled interest in deeper African market access, the deal is a modest but concrete step toward broader economic cooperation between the two regions.