Rwanda’s sports fever, a pillar of development or sportswashing?

Rwanda’s sports fever, a pillar of development or sportswashing?

There is a link between Arsenal, Paris Saint Germain, and Bayern Munich, three of the world’s biggest soccer teams: they all have sponsorship deals with the Rwandan government to promote the small African country as a tourist destination. On players’ shirts and advertising hoardings, the Visit Rwanda logo is highly visible in European stadiums. The same slogan has been appearing everywhere for four years at the Basketball Africa League playoffs (an NBA franchise), which have been held in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, since 2021. Kigali will host the road cycling world championship next year and, in the medium term, aspires to stage a much more ambitious event: if negotiations are successful, the first Formula 1 Grand Prix to take place on African soil since the South African Grand Prix was last held in 1993.

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