Country profile · East Africa
Rwanda
Rwanda is a small, crowded country of about 14 million people in central Africa. Paul Kagame has led it since the 1994 genocide, in which between 800,000 and more than a million people, most of them Tutsi, were killed. UN experts say Rwandan troops fight alongside rebels in eastern Congo, and in March 2026 the United States sanctioned Rwanda's army.
Where Rwanda ranks
All rankings →Which alliances is Rwanda in?
All alliances →Who runs Rwanda?
President Paul Kagame was born on October 23, 1957. He commanded the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the rebel army that invaded from Uganda in 1990 and ended the genocide in July 1994. He then became vice president and defense minister, and parliament chose him as president in April 2000. Kagame has won four elections since, the last on July 15, 2024 with 99.18% of the vote. Two critics, Victoire Ingabire and Diane Rwigara, were barred from running. A referendum in December 2015 lets him stay in office until 2034. The RPF and its allies hold 37 of the 53 seats elected by party in the lower house (chart). Prime Minister Justin Nsengiyumva has run the cabinet since July 2025. Freedom House rates Rwanda "Not Free", with 21 points out of 100. Ingabire was arrested in June 2025 and has been on trial in Kigali since June 2026, with no verdict yet.
- RPF and five allied parties 37
- Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party 10
- Three other parties 6
Photo (October 2024): Reinis Inkēns / Saeima, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
Who are Rwanda's allies and rivals?
Rwanda's relations with its neighbors center on the war in eastern Congo. DR Congo accuses Rwanda of backing the M23 rebels and filed a case against it at the International Court of Justice in June 2026. Burundi, whose troops fight beside Congo's army, has kept its border with Rwanda closed since January 2024. Uganda is closer. Its army chief called ties "stronger and warmer than ever" during a visit to Kigali in July 2026. The United States brokered a peace deal that President Paul Kagame and Congo's President Tshisekedi signed in Washington on December 4, 2025. On March 2, 2026 the US Treasury sanctioned Rwanda's army and four of its commanders and demanded their withdrawal from Congo. Rwanda cut ties with Belgium, the former colonial power, in March 2025 and restored them on September 22, 2026. Qatar hosts talks between Congo and the rebels. About 4,000 Rwandan troops guard Mozambique's gas region, and only Nepal and India sent more UN peacekeepers in July 2026.
Allies and partners
Rivals and tensions
DR CongoAccuses Rwanda of backing M23; case at the ICJ
BurundiBorder closed since January 2024- FDLRHutu armed group in Congo founded by genocide fugitives
- Goma Congolese city taken by the M23 on January 27, 2025. Shelling killed 16 people across the border in Rwanda.
- Rubaya Coltan mines held by the M23. UN experts say over 120 tonnes a month were smuggled to Rwanda in 2024.
- Bukavu Capital of Congo's South Kivu province. The M23 took it on February 16, 2025.
- Kigali The capital. Rwanda plans a Formula One race near its new airport south of the city in the early 2030s.
- Rwanda
- Partner
- Rival
Who does Rwanda trade with?
Rwanda exported goods worth about $2.27 billion in 2025 and imported $5.54 billion (National Institute of Statistics). DR Congo is the largest buyer if re-exports are counted (chart). Most of what Rwanda sends there is goods it first imported, such as food and fuel. Gold was Rwanda's biggest export in 2024, worth about $1.5 billion and mostly sold to the United Arab Emirates. Gold exports collapsed in 2025. Exports of tin, tungsten and tantalum ores grew by 46%. Rwanda is the world's second-largest producer of tantalum, after Congo (USGS). UN experts say large amounts of coltan, the ore of tantalum, are smuggled from M23-held mines in Congo and mixed into Rwanda's exports. In June 2026 the United States sanctioned a Rwandan gold refinery and three mining companies over minerals moved from Congo. Tourism earned $685 million in 2025, and a permit to see mountain gorillas costs $1,500. The economy grew 9.4% in 2025, but prices in towns rose 17.2% in the year to September 2026.
Sells to
Share of Rwanda's exports
- DR Congo39.5%
United Arab Emirates25.7%
China7.2%
Luxembourg2.4%
United States1.9%
Buys from
Share of Rwanda's imports
- China23.4%
Tanzania11.0%
India8.7%
Kenya7.5%- United Arab Emirates6.5%
Goods, 2025, as reported by Rwanda, including re-exports. UN Comtrade.
Why are Rwandan troops in Congo?
Rwanda says it must defend itself against the FDLR, a Hutu armed group in eastern Congo. The FDLR was founded in 2000 by soldiers and militiamen who fled after the genocide. UN experts estimated it had 3,500 to 4,500 fighters in June 2026. The experts say Congo's army has fought alongside it. Congo and the United Nations say Rwanda backs the M23 rebels. The M23 took Goma on January 27, 2025 and Bukavu on February 16, 2025. UN experts counted 3,000 to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers in Congo in 2024 and 6,000 to 7,000 in December 2025. The experts said Rwanda effectively controls the M23. Rwanda denies backing the group and calls its presence "defensive measures". Under the Washington deal, Rwanda is to lift these measures as Congo disarms the FDLR. By October 2026 neither had happened. On October 2, 2026 the UN Security Council demanded Rwanda's immediate withdrawal. Fighting in Congo killed 9,172 people in 2025, the most in Africa after Sudan (chart).
Burkina Faso
What happened in Rwanda in 1994?
On April 6, 1994 a plane carrying Rwanda's President Habyarimana was shot down over Kigali. The genocide began the next day. In about 100 days, between 800,000 and more than a million people were killed, most of them Tutsi, along with Hutu who opposed the killing. Rwanda's government counts 1,074,017 victims, 93.7% of them Tutsi. The killing ended when the RPF rebels, led by Paul Kagame, took Kigali on July 4 and declared a ceasefire on July 18. Belgium had ruled Rwanda from 1916 until independence in 1962. In the 1959 Hutu revolution many Tutsi fled abroad. A UN tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania, indicted 93 people before it closed in 2015. Village courts called gacaca handled about 1.96 million cases. Every April 7 Rwanda begins 100 days of mourning, called Kwibuka. A French commission found in 2021 that France bore "heavy and overwhelming responsibilities". In June 2026 Kagame and France's President Macron opened a genocide memorial in Paris.