By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Qatar Airways is closing deals to become the biggest shareholder of the Rwanda flag carrier, RwandAir by July, the Chief Executive of RwandAir, Yvonne Makolo has announced.
“It’s been going on for a while, we have been discussing it for almost five years. So, now, we’re really at the tail-end of it,” Makolo told the Financial Times on Saturday.
Qatar and Rwanda have been working on a deal which would give the Gulf nation’s airline a 49 per cent stake of RwandAir, Makolo added but the sum is not disclosed.
Qatar Airways declined to comment, while RwandAir did not immediately respond to a request for further comment on the development.
Earlier this year, Qatar Airways Chief Executuve Officer, Badr Mohammed Al Meer said that Qatar Airways will soon announce an investment in an airline in southern Africa.
Heritage Times HT reports that in December 2019, Qatar Airways and the Rwandan government signed an investment partnership in which the Middle Eastern carrier agreed to take a 60% stake in the new Bugesera airport in east of Kigali, a project worth nearly $1.3bn and initially scheduled for completion in 2020.
