Qatar has approved a draft agreement allowing Rwandan ordinary passport holders to enter the country without a visa, expanding a previous policy that limited visa-free stays to 30 days.
The decision was made during the Qatari Cabinet’s weekly meeting on Wednesday. Rwanda already grants visa-free entry to nationals of all African Union, Commonwealth, and La Francophonie member states, as well as East African Community nations.
The agreement comes as Rwandan President Paul Kagame visits Qatar, where he met Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha to discuss bilateral ties and cooperation in key sectors, including defense, security, and aviation.
Qatar Airways has an existing partnership with RwandAir and is investing in Rwanda’s $2 billion Bugesera International Airport, where it holds a 60% stake. The airport, set to be completed in 2028, will feature a 130,000-square-meter terminal with an initial capacity of eight million passengers per year, expected to increase to over 14 million in the following decades.