Qatar Airways in talks to buy 49% stake in RwandAir

"We are very tough negotiators - we will take our time to negotiate," said Qatar Airways chief executive officer, Akbar al-Baker

He added RwandAir is ‘attractive because of its location, the stability of the country, and the very favourable business environment that exists in that country.’ 

The announcement follows an agreement signed by Qatar Airways in December to take a 60% stake in the new Kigali airport, which Al Baker said will have capacity for 10 million passengers.

According to the government statement issued at the signing of the deal, the partnership features three agreements to build, own, and operate the state-of-the-art facility.

“In Africa there is a big demand for air travel and today Africa is very poorly connected, so we always look at opportunities in our field to do investments similar to what we have done in the past,” said Al Baker.