The Bahamas, an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea, covers a land area of 13,878 km² and has a coastline of 3,542 km. To put it in perspective, this land area is approximately 112% of the area of Sydney. The Bahamas is the 28th largest country in the Americas and ranks 161st worldwide in terms of area.

On July 10th, 1973, after 300 years of being a colony, the Bahamas peacefully transitioned to nationhood by becoming an independent nation. Since then, July 10th has been observed as a national holiday across the archipelago and in Bahamian foreign missions.

Before gaining independence, the Bahamas was a British colony and is currently a member country of the Commonwealth, to which Rwanda has also been a member since 2009. President Kagame’s visit to the Caribbean countries followed his attendance at the 45th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Trinidad and Tobago.

During his visit, President Kagame engaged in various meetings and discussions. On July 5th, he held talks with Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados, discussing the progress made in operationalizing key areas of cooperation agreed upon during President Kagame’s previous visit to Barbados last year.

President Kagame also met with Prime Minister Dr. Ariel Henry of Haiti to discuss potential solutions for addressing the security challenges impeding Haiti’s progress, particularly in the aftermath of the murder of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.

Among others, President Kagame had a meeting with Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica to review the progress of bilateral agreements signed during his visit to Jamaica in April of the previous year.

As a special guest, President Kagame joined Caribbean leaders in Port of Spain for a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago at the Diplomatic Center, located at the Prime Minister’s residence.