Efforts to reform the World Trade Organization collapsed late Sunday after deep divisions between the United States and Brazil over digital trade rules prevented ministers from reaching a final agreement.

Rwanda has called for urgent reforms to make global trade more inclusive and responsive to the needs of developing countries, as ministers gather to reshape the future of the multilateral trading system.

The Director-General of the World Trade Organization has warned that the global trading system is undergoing a fundamental shift, urging countries to adapt to a rapidly changing economic and geopolitical landscape.

Rwanda is set to benefit from a newly approved $37 million fund aimed at supporting trade development among least developed and developing countries.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Prudence Sebahizi, has spoken out on the impact of recently imposed United States tariffs on different countries, noting that while the new measures affect Rwanda with 10% on imports, their scale remains relatively moderate compared to previous charges.

Rwanda’s imports declined sharply in the third quarter of 2025, falling by more than 21 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the latest Formal External Trade in Goods report released by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR).

Construction of the Parklane Center, a 25-storey mixed-use tower that will reshape the city’s skyline, officially began on Thursday with the laying of the foundation stone beside the iconic Kigali Convention Centre.

The National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) has reported that total investment commitments in Rwanda reached $3.27 billion in 2024, almost double the $1.67 billion recorded in 2017. This strong performance contributed to the creation of 51,635 new jobs in a single year.

Congolese refugees living in Rwandan camps held peaceful demonstrations on January 1, 2026, to protest remarks made by Maj Gen Sylvain Ekenge, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), which they condemned as hate speech. The protesters called for international legal action against the senior military official.

The Chamber of Deputies has endorsed a loan agreement between the Government of Rwanda and the Export–Import Bank of China (Exim Bank of China) to finance an irrigation project in Giseke Sector, Gisagara District.