President Kagame welcomes Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda for state visit to Rwanda.
Poland has officially become one of Rwanda’s top ten export destinations in 2024, marking a noticeable entry into Rwanda’s primary trade partners.
It reflects the success of a rapidly maturing bilateral relationship.
This latest shift, confirmed by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) in its Q4 2024 External Trade in Goods Report, highlights both diplomatic momentum and concrete economic outcomes.
The breakthrough follows a landmark state visit in February 2024 by Polish President Andrzej Duda and First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda, who were received in Kigali for a three-day official mission.
During the visit, on February 7, the governments of Rwanda and Poland signed two key cooperation agreements.
The first focused on bilateral trade and economic cooperation, while the second centered on collaboration in green technologies, environmental engineering, energy efficiency, and geology.
Both heads of state—President Paul Kagame and President Duda—joined a business roundtable alongside Rwandan and Polish business leaders to discuss practical pathways for implementing these agreements.
The results have been swift and significant. According to official figures, Rwanda’s exports to Poland totaled US$ 47.01 million in Q2 2024, increased to US$ 51.03 million in Q3, and remained steady at US$ 47.53 million in Q4, making Poland one of Rwanda’s top export destinations by the end of the year.
This performance stands in stark contrast to 2023, where Poland did not feature among Rwanda’s top ten export markets.
The main commodities exported to Poland include raw tin, which is widely used in the electronics and automotive sectors, as well as coffee and tea, two of Rwanda’s signature agricultural exports.
The transformation in trade rankings underscores Rwanda’s broader strategy to diversify its export portfolio beyond the African continent.
Alongside Poland, Luxembourg and Thailand also made their first appearances in Rwanda’s top ten export destinations in 2024, displacing Pakistan, Ethiopia, and Singapore, which had previously held strong positions in 2023.
Despite these changes, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remained Rwanda’s top two export destinations.
The UAE continued to dominate, accounting for over 65% of Rwanda’s total exports in Q4 2024. These exports are largely comprised of high-value commodities, especially gold and other precious minerals.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, meanwhile, remained Rwanda’s most significant re-export partner. In Q4 2024 alone, re-exports to the DRC reached US$ 166.32 million, representing a 10.91% year-on-year increase from Q4 2023.
Rwanda re-exports to DRC a wide range of goods including mineral fuels, machinery, food and live animals, and manufactured articles. The DRC’s role in Rwanda’s economy is unique—it is not only a regional partner but also a destination for products that Rwanda imports, processes, and sends back across the border.
The resilience of this trade relationship has continued despite geopolitical tensions in the region, suggesting a robust underlying commercial interdependence between the two countries.
Another noteworthy trade partner is Burundi, even though the southern neighbor has closed it’s land border.
Although the volumes are smaller compared to the DRC, Burundi remains critical for border trade and cross-regional distribution. In Q4 2024, re-exports to Burundi amounted to US$ 3.00 million.
The goods traded with Burundi are predominantly everyday consumer products, fuels, and agricultural inputs, illustrating the importance of functional trade corridors in the Great Lakes region.
In terms of overall performance, Rwanda’s total exports in Q4 2024 reached US$ 854.73 million, which represents a 53% increase compared to the same quarter in 2023.
Much of this growth was driven by high-value sectors such as “Other commodities & transactions not elsewhere specified,” which accounted for US$ 428.15 million, and by the substantial growth in domestic exports of “Animals and vegetable oils, fats & waxes” and “Machinery and transport equipment,” which surged to US$ 23.40 million and US$ 16.87 million respectively in Q4.
Rwanda’s trade with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) also soared, with exports increasing by 65.10% year-on-year.
However, the entry of Poland as a top trading partner—outside of traditional African economic blocs—signals a widening of Rwanda’s global trade horizon.
The Polish state visit and resulting agreements appear to have laid the groundwork for more sustainable and strategic cooperation. With high-level attention, targeted agreements, and rising export volumes, Poland’s presence in Rwanda’s economic landscape is set to expand further.
