ST. LOUIS — A key governmental official from the east African nation of Rwanda says he hopes his recent visit here will be a first step toward establishing trade and other connections with the St. Louis region.
“For many, this is the first contact we are making,” Francis Gatare, CEO of the Rwanda Development Board, said in an interview. “It’s exploratory, a sharing of opportunities.”
Gatare, whose four-day stay ended Tuesday, met with officials with Bayer and other area businesses and organizations such as BioSTL, which aims to spur life sciences startups.
Connections also were made with Washington University and St. Louis University. He was hosted by the Clayton-based World Trade Center St. Louis.
Gatare met with Mayor Tishaura O. Jones at St. Louis City Hall and discussed the possibility of adding the Rwandan capital of Kigali as St. Louis’ 17th sister city. A St. Louis trade mission to Rwanda also could be in the works, Gatare said.
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Tim Nowak, the World Trade Center’s executive director, said Gatare became interested in St. Louis while talking with two St. Louisans at the World Travel and Tourism Council’s annual global summit in Kigali last year.
They are Arnold Donald, the retired CEO of the Carnival Corp. cruise line and a former tourism council chairman, and Rodney Boyd, a Jefferson City lobbyist who accompanied Donald to the Kigali event.
One stop here for Gatare involved an existing St. Louis-Rwanda tie, at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in Creve Coeur.
There Gatare checked in with researchers who have been working for several years with Rwanda and other African nations on developing a new disease-resistant variety of cassava, a major crop on that continent.
“It’s remarkable work they do there,” he said.
Cassava is a major food in parts of Africa and has been threatened by cassava brown streak disease, which can destroy entire fields.
Nigel Taylor’s team has genetically engineered a disease-resistant variety of cassava and in 2021 was cleared by the government in Kenya for national performance trials in that country — another step toward eventual regulatory approval and commercial use.
Taylor said his team began working with Rwanda a few years ago.
“Our hope is that the Rwandan government will invest in this product,” he said. “They’re already investing in a way. Their employees in the agricultural system are working with it. We’re using their land to do field trials.”
Taylor noted that Gatare in his post is part of Rwanda’s Cabinet. “He’s aware of us; that was very valuable,” he said.
Taylor said Gatare also asked about other technologies, such as developing drought-resistant crops.
Gatare, 56, said it’s too soon to know exactly what trade connections might develop with the St. Louis area. But he said he envisioned that deals could eventually come about with area companies that finance businesses or supply equipment in various fields.
View life in St. Louis through the Post-Dispatch photographers' lenses. Edited by Jenna Jones.
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Economic official from Rwanda visits St. Louis area, envisions trade connections - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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