Qatar Airways is significantly expanding its investment and commitment to Rwanda and looking to acquire a stake in a Southern African airline, the Gulf carrier’s CEO Badr Mohammed Al Meer revealed recently.
In addition to its planned 49% stake in RwandAir, the Qatari airline will take a 60% ownership in the new $1.3 billion Bugesera International Airport currently under construction near Kigali. Al Meer said Qatar Airways aims to fill a gap in its African network by announcing an investment in a Southern African airline in the coming months.
The moves position Qatar Airways to capitalise on Rwanda’s strategic location at the heart of Africa and the country’s emerging role as a regional aviation hub. With its rapidly growing economy driven by services, finance and tourism, Rwanda represents an attractive market for the airline’s expansion ambitions on the continent.
Analysts view the investments as a smart play by Qatar, allowing it to gain a foothold in the infrastructurally underdeveloped but promising African aviation sector before competitors. Partnering with the small but expanding RwandAir could help Qatar Airways project greater influence across Africa as the new Bugesera Airport becomes a potential continental hub.
The airline likely also sees upside in Rwanda’s relatively limited economic entanglement with China compared to other African nations. The former war-torn country has transformed into one of the continent’s brightest economic success stories in recent decades.