By H.E. Dr. Diane Gashumba, Ambassador of the Republic of Rwanda to the Nordic Countries

In Rwanda, before we gather the harvest, we pause. Umuganura, our National Harvest festival, is not simply a celebration of what the fields have yielded. It is a moment of reckoning and gratitude: we take stock of the season’s labour, we honour the hands that worked the soil, we share the first fruits with the community, and only then do we set our intentions for the season ahead. A harvest is never an accident. It is the reward of seeds planted with care, tended through uncertain weather, and trusted to grow.

As the Embassy of Rwanda to the Nordic Countries approaches its twentieth year — our doors opened in Stockholm in 2007 — I find no better lens through which to view these two decades than Umuganura. Because what we mark next year is, in every sense, a harvest.

The seeds we planted together

When Rwanda established its Embassy in Stockholm, we came with a story that much of the world still did not fully understand, and with a conviction that partnership, not aid alone, would define our future. The soil was promising, but the work was patient. Diplomacy, like farming, does not reward those in a hurry.

Two decades on, the fields have yielded more than we could have promised at the outset.

Consider the ties in education and research, perhaps our most quietly transformative harvest. What began as an emergency research fund for a university recovering from the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi has grown into one of the most substantial higher-education partnerships Rwanda holds anywhere in the world. Today, more than one hundred Rwandan doctoral scholars have been trained or are training in Sweden, and the University of Rwanda collaborates with a network of leading Nordic institutions. These are not statistics. They are ministers, professors, engineers and researchers now shaping Rwanda’s transformation — a generation whose expertise was cultivated through this partnership and planted back into Rwandan soil.

Consider, too, the harvest in enterprise and innovation. Rwanda was chosen as the site of Norrsken House Kigali, the first hub the Norrsken Foundation built outside Sweden and today one of the largest entrepreneurship hubs in East Africa. It is a fitting symbol of what the Nordic relationship has become: not a transfer of charity, but a shared bet on ideas, on young founders, and on Rwanda as a place where the future is being built. Around it has grown a widening circle of Nordic companies and investors who have moved from curiosity to commitment, and business forums that have become fixtures of the Rwanda–Nordic calendar.

And consider the diplomatic harvest that ripened just last year. In August 2025, the Kingdom of Denmark opened a full, resident Embassy in Kigali — its first permanent diplomatic mission in Rwanda. A Danish flag now flying permanently in Kigali is the clearest possible proof of how far patient cultivation can carry two nations. It joins Sweden, whose reciprocal Embassy in Kigali has anchored our oldest Nordic friendship, in giving Rwanda a resident Nordic presence at home.

These are the fruits I can name in an article. The fuller basket includes the memoranda of understanding that now frame our political and trade cooperation across the region; the growth in Nordic visitors discovering Rwanda’s hills; the remittances and investments flowing from an engaged, ambitious diaspora; and the forums and quiet conversations that rarely make headlines but hold the whole structure together.

The hands that worked the soil

No harvest belongs to one farmer. Umuganura is, above all, a communal act, and so is this one.

This harvest belongs to our diaspora: the Rwandan communities across Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland who have carried their country close even while living far from its hills, who commemorate together, celebrate together, and mentor one another’s children in Kinyarwanda and in Rwandan values — and who have become active builders of the relationship rather than distant observers of it. These talented communities honour and contribute to both their host countries and their home country.

Rwanda’s leadership has always invested first and foremost in its people — Rwandans wherever they are — and this commitment is clearly reflected in the vibrant work of our communities across the Nordic region. The leadership of RCA, Ibuka, Urukundo and the Rwandan Women Associations — in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden — along with other diaspora initiatives, has been central in keeping Rwandans connected to their nation while strengthening ties with Nordic societies.

This is a dynamic ecosystem that strengthens Rwanda–Nordic cooperation, unites Rwandans, and affirms that wherever Rwandans live, they remain an essential part of the nation’s journey.

This harvest also belongs to our Friends of Rwanda: the individuals and associations across five countries who chose to understand Rwanda, to visit it, to invest in it, and to speak for it. It belongs to the Nordic governments, universities, companies, and civil society partners who saw Rwanda as a serious and reliable partner. And it belongs to the officers of this Embassy, past and present, whose steady work over twenty years turned goodwill into structure.

The season ahead

Rwanda’s Umuganura — the national day of harvest, gratitude and renewal — resonates strongly with similar traditions across the Nordic region, where communities also celebrate unity, abundance and cultural heritage.

In Sweden, Midsommar brings people together around shared harvest symbolism and collective well-being. Denmark’s Høstfest reflects appreciation for community and agricultural bounty. Finland’s Kekri, historically a harvest and renewal festival, mirrors the spirit of giving thanks and strengthening social bonds. Norway’s autumn Høsttakkefest similarly honours gratitude and communal resilience, while Iceland’s Réttir, the annual sheep-rounding tradition, reinforces togetherness and stewardship of shared resources.

These Nordic celebrations, each rooted in community and renewal, offer meaningful parallels to Umuganura, creating a cultural bridge that underscores the values of unity, gratitude and collective progress.

Umuganura is a harvest; it is not an ending. The point of taking stock is to plant again, wiser than before.

With two decades of strong diplomatic ties, Rwanda’s own horizon is clear. Our Vision 2050 charts a path to upper-middle-income status and, ultimately, to high-income status — carried in this period by our National Strategy for Transformation. The Nordic partnership is uniquely suited to that journey. These are nations that lead the world in green energy, the circular economy, digital governance and social innovation, and that share Rwanda’s own premium on transparency, results and gender equality. Our task now is to convert two decades of trust into the next decade of tangible investment, knowledge transfer and shared prosperity.

To carry that momentum forward, we intend to reflect on more than two decades of cooperation and shared values — not with a single celebration, but with a year of reflection woven through everything we do — and to leave behind something more durable than a date on a calendar. We will work to knit our wide network of diaspora, Friends of Rwanda and Nordic partners into a standing platform for the relationship’s next chapter: a space where those who have built these ties over twenty years help shape the twenty years to come.

That is the spirit of Umuganura. We gather the first fruits, we give thanks to every hand that helped grow them, and we return the best of the seed to the ground.

As August ushers in the Nordic season of preparing the soil for the next cycle of growth, it offers a fitting moment to reflect on more than two decades of Rwanda–Nordic cooperation and the progress we have cultivated together. This transition reminds us to appreciate the foundations we have laid — in green growth, digital innovation, education and skills, gender equality and good governance — all central pillars of Rwanda’s Vision 2050.

As our Minister of Foreign Affairs has recently reminded us, Rwanda’s diplomacy is ultimately about improving the lives of Rwandans, ensuring that every partnership contributes to our security, prosperity and development. — Honourable Minister Nduhungirehe

Guided by this clarity of purpose, we look to the coming years with renewed resolve. Together, we will prepare new ground, deepen cooperation in areas of shared vision and mutual interest, and cultivate opportunities that will shape the next chapter of Rwanda–Nordic partnership. The work we begin now will continue to strengthen our ties and advance the collective progress we aspire to.

For our next seasons together, we look ahead with purpose: we will continue to build from strong foundations in areas of shared vision, values and mutual interest, nurturing the partnerships that will shape the next chapter of Rwanda–Nordic cooperation.

For more than twenty years, we have been grateful to Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland for believing in Rwanda — and for helping us build both a nation and a partnership.