Theme: Rwanda

The National Basketball Association (NBA) removed Rwanda’s army team, the Armée Patriotique Rwandaise (APR), from the Basketball Africa League (BAL) because of US sanctions imposed on the country in March. Mark Tatum wrote that APR would remain “ineligible to compete in the BAL while these sanctions remain in effect”. Last week, the US also imposed new sanctions on Rwanda’s defense ministry over its support for the M23 rebel group, which controls parts of eastern DR Congo.

South Africa and Rwanda will lose their duty-free access to the US market after being excluded from the AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) program, according to France 24. With the program ending, South Africa is bracing for some job losses.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Monday that Washington intends to suspend South Africa and Rwanda from duty-free access to the US market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), with South Africa as the largest beneficiary, exporting about 1.7 billion dollars in goods in 2025, citing barriers to US trade and investment, corruption and threats to US national security and foreign policy interests, as well as South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice — the South African government said it had received 60 days’ advance notice of the withdrawal of benefits effective January 1, 2027, with Trade Minister Parks Tau saying the decision does not define the broader relationship between the two countries and that a solution will depend on both sides’ willingness to engage, and that about 10% of exports to the US entered under AGOA in 2025, down from 28% in 2024.

United States President Donald Trump notified Congress of his intention to remove Rwanda and South Africa from the AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) preferential trade program from January 1, 2027, citing barriers to American trade and investment and national security and foreign policy concerns in the region. An annual review found that both governments engage in practices inconsistent with the eligibility criteria, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Monday that Washington intends to suspend South Africa and Rwanda from duty-free access to the US market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), according to Reuters.

Rwanda has released at least 533 people convicted of crimes during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi after they completed their prison sentences, Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said on Friday. National Unity and Civic Engagement Minister Jean Damascene Bizimana said the group underwent rehabilitation training before release to prepare them for reintegration into society. More than 100,000 people were convicted of crimes committed during the 1994 genocide, according to TRT World.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) foreign minister told AFP on Thursday that US sanctions on Rwanda were justified, because Kigali had failed to withdraw its troops from Congolese territory as pledged, in an article republished by the Hindustan Times. The United States imposed sanctions on Wednesday on Rwanda’s defense ministry and a financial institution in the country over their alleged ties to the armed group M23 fighting in the DRC.

The US Treasury sanctioned Rwanda's Ministry of Defense and the Zigama Credit and Savings Society, a Rwandan financial institution that, according to the department, played a key role in facilitating Rwanda's support for the March 23 Movement (M23) and its political wing, the Congo River Alliance. According to the BBC, the Treasury says the Rwandan ministry directed thousands of troops to fight alongside M23 in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), providing weapons, equipment, logistics and training.

Robert Kabera, a former sergeant major in the Rwandan army who became an outspoken critic of President Paul Kagame, was found beheaded in neighbouring Uganda, the BBC reported. The remains of Kabera, who served in the Rwandan army before fleeing in 2020, were discovered on Saturday in a bush in the Kamengo area, according to the Associated Press, in text republished by CP24.

Former president Joseph Kabila announced on October 12, in Goma, a new political-military alliance with the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group, according to France 24. The deal was presented at a joint press conference at his residence in Goma, a city under the group’s control since January 2025, and Kabila leads the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN), according to Deutsche Welle.

Former Democratic Republic of the Congo president Joseph Kabila will lead a new political-military movement with the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group, according to France 24. The alliance was presented at a joint press conference at Kabila’s residence in Goma. The Associated Press reported that Kabila launched on Monday a new political and military coalition of groups opposed to the current government.