KIGALI — Benin’s president Romuald Wadagni began a two-day official visit to Rwanda on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, his first diplomatic trip of this kind since taking office in May. The visit brought the Beninese head of state to the heart of the Rwandan capital, where he was received by his counterpart Paul Kagame. Among the highlights of the trip is a moment of remembrance at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Gisozi, honouring the victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

On arrival in Kigali, Romuald Wadagni and his delegation were greeted by crowds who came out to acknowledge the new Beninese president’s first official visit to Rwanda. The head of state was then received at Urugwiro Village, the seat of the Rwandan presidency, by Paul Kagame.

That summit meeting was the main event of the first day. It comes as Cotonou and Kigali seek to deepen their relations across several fields. The two countries already have cooperation frameworks covering information and communication technologies, modernisation of public services, urban planning, agriculture, and peace and security.

A highly symbolic stop at Gisozi

Beyond political and institutional exchanges, Romuald Wadagni’s trip carries a particular memorial dimension. The Beninese president is due to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial in the Gisozi district, where the remains of more than 250,000 victims of the genocide against the Tutsi rest. The site serves as a place of remembrance, an education centre and a space for preserving memory.

The 1994 genocide killed more than a million people in about a hundred days, according to Rwandan authorities. The annual commemorations, known as Kwibuka, have since occupied a central place in Rwanda’s national life. They aim to preserve the memory of the victims, pass the history on to new generations and recall the lessons of that tragedy.

The Gisozi Memorial holds a special place in that system. Inaugurated in 2004, it houses exhibitions devoted to the genocide, archives, survivors’ testimonies and a space dedicated to child victims. It is also the burial site of hundreds of thousands of people.

For the Beninese president, the expected tribute at Gisozi is therefore set to fit into the protocol of high-level official visits to Rwanda, while giving a human dimension to this diplomatic trip.

Kagame and Wadagni, a summit meeting

The meeting between Paul Kagame and Romuald Wadagni comes a few months after the Beninese president’s inauguration. Rwanda was represented at that ceremony by its prime minister, Justin Nsengiyumva — a sign, according to Rwandan authorities, of the importance attached to relations between the two countries. Kigali at the time stressed the growing nature of the ties between Rwanda and Benin.

This visit therefore allows the two leaders to continue a dialogue already under way at the institutional level. Discussions are expected to focus on ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation and encourage new partnerships.

The African context could also give the exchanges a broader reach. Rwanda and Benin are each, in their own way, engaged in policies of economic transformation, administrative modernisation and infrastructure development. Kigali in particular highlights investment, entrepreneurship and digital technologies among the pillars of its development policy.

A visit between memory and cooperation

The decision to include the Gisozi Memorial in the visit programme gives the trip a particular tone. In contemporary Rwanda, memorial sites are not solely devoted to remembering victims: they also contribute to historical transmission and to raising awareness of the consequences of discrimination and mass violence.

The Gisozi site in particular keeps testimonies, documents and archives related to the genocide. The Genocide Archive of Rwanda, housed within the memorial, brings together documents from survivors and partner organisations.

For Kigali, the memory of the genocide thus remains closely tied to the notions of national unity, reconciliation and prevention of mass violence. For foreign visitors, passing through Gisozi is traditionally a solemn moment, marked by remembrance before the tombs and the testimonies preserved on the site.

Romuald Wadagni’s visit therefore sits at the crossroads of two dimensions: strengthening relations between Benin and Rwanda, and acknowledging the memory of a tragedy that continues to shape Rwandan society deeply.

After this first day devoted in particular to the official welcome and exchanges with Paul Kagame, the rest of the stay is expected to allow the Beninese president to pursue discussions with Rwandan authorities. The two-day visit is thus set to lay the foundations for a new chapter in relations between Cotonou and Kigali, against the backdrop of a stated desire to consolidate political ties and cooperation between the two states.

By Maimouna Kaboré — Editor-in-Chief