On April 18, Paul Kagame completed a tour of West Africa that took him to Patrick Talon, Umaro Sissoco Embalo AND Mamadi Doumbouya. A trip dedicated to business, but which also included a strong security dimension.
Training of the Presidential Guard
In Bissau, Paul Kagame met Umaro Sissoco Embaló, with whom he maintains good relations. In last November, the president of Guinea-Bissau also traveled to Kigali and Kinshasa to meet with his Rwandan and Congolese counterparts Felix Tshisekedi, in conflict since the resurgence of the M23 rebellion in eastern DRC.
After discussing cooperation in education or health, Paul Kagame and Umaro Sissoco Embaló agreed to continue the training provided by the Rwandan army to Guinea-Bissau's presidential guard. According to our information, fifty members of this unit responsible for closely protecting the Head of State have already been trained in Kigali, with the Rwandan army.
Already in Cotonou, the Rwandan president and his Beninese host discussed the issue of security. Both have materialized discussions that have been going on for several months around military and logistical collaboration face the increasingly strong jihadist threat in the north of the country, through the signing of a defense agreement. The content of this document has not been leaked, but Paul Kagame and Patrice Talon have raised the possibility of a deployment of Rwandan troops on Beninese soil as part of the fight against terrorism.
Rwanda, a major contributor to peacekeeping missions in Africa, is increasingly engaged in military cooperation on the continent. Kigali, which already deploys troops in the Central African Republic and Mozambique, is gradually imposing its army as a product export strategic.
