Kigali Mayor Samuel Dusengiyumva speaks in an interview with The Korea Herald in Busan. (Sanjay Kumar/ The Korea Herald)
“We see a lot of tourism coming to Busan. They are expecting 3.5 million tourists this year, so we can learn from them and see how to make the experience for our tourists much better and more enjoyable,” Dusengiyumva told The Korea Herald in an interview, noting Busan’s urban planning, infrastructure, and ICT-driven development.
While Kigali is located inland, the mayor said the Rwandan capital could still draw inspiration from Busan’s “resilience, openness to business, and technological innovation.”
Busan and Kigali are similar in area — pproximately 770 square kilometers and 730 square kilometers, respectively — but Busan’s population is significantly larger, with about 3.4 million residents compared to Kigali’s 1.76 million. Both cities share hilly, mountainous urban landscapes.
“Busan is a very clean city — beautiful surroundings, flowers, clean buildings, and orderly people. Kigali, too, has been ranked as Africa’s cleanest city for several years and as one of the safest cities in the world. We can learn from each other,” he said.
According to the Tourism Promotion Organization for Asia Pacific Cities (TPO), Kigali has expressed interest in becoming the organization’s first African member, signaling a growing partnership between Busan and the Rwandan capital.
“Rwanda is known as one of the best countries for doing business in Africa, and we look forward to collaborating with Busan in that area as well — especially in tourism,” the mayor said.
High time to invest in Rwanda
“The African continent is moving fast, and Rwanda is at its heart. The place to be in Africa is Rwanda, and the place to invest in Rwanda is Kigali,” he said, referring to over 100,000 construction permit requests received by the city last year.
Kigali is experiencing a boom in development and has a youthful population, he told The Korea Herald, encouraging Korean investors to explore opportunities in the country.
The mayor also recalled discussions at the Korea-Africa Summit, highlighting Rwanda as a safe, transparent, and fast-growing investment destination with strong opportunities in real estate, tourism and supply chains.
He urged Korean companies, especially those from Busan, to engage with Africa’s major business events, emphasizing the continent’s readiness for investment.
Asked about perceptions that Africa is “far away” from Korea, the mayor cited limited people-to-people contact in the past as one of the main reasons such views persist.
“Sister-city agreements are a good opportunity for people to get to know each other,” he said.
“We hope to connect our citizens through the leadership of both cities,” Dusengiyumva said.
Smart cities and digital innovation
Dusengiyumva considers smart cities a shared focus between Rwanda and Korea, and he expressed a desire to work with Busan on smart city and AI initiatives.
“Busan’s progress in digital twins and AI integration is impressive. Kigali is already digitizing many of its services — 100 percent of construction permits are now processed online,” he said.
According to Dusengiyumva, Kigali leverages satellite imagery and drones for inspections and plans to adopt Busan’s integrated urban systems for improved water and infrastructure management.
The city is also developing Kigali Innovation City, a hub for academia, technology and investment.
“This is a landmark project for Rwanda — a place where science, education and industry come together to produce real, market-driven innovation,” said Dusengiyumva.
“We invite Busan investors to join this journey.”
Author:
MANZI
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