Coronavirus has hit Qatar very hard, leading to the suspension of all international flights to the country. This will no doubt throw a spanner in Qatari investments in Rwanda.
Qatar is hit hard by the Coronavirus outbreak. The 401 people in Qatar infected by Covid19 translates into 139.2 total cases per one million population. By contrast, China’s 80,849 infected people translate into 56.2 total cases per one million. To address this growing outbreak, Qatar has suspended all incoming International flights. General Paul Kagame should worry less about the scrapping of the Commonwealth meeting in Kigali in June and more about developments in Qatar. After taking a 60% stake in Rwanda’s new international airport in December 2020, the Qatar government acquired a 49% stake in RwandAir in February 2020. With these purchases, Qatar Airways aims to use the new international airport and RwandAir to sharply increase air traffic from the African countries to Qatar. Qatar Airways’ aircraft could fly under RwandAir flight numbers. Suddenly, there is a problem — the coronavirus. Stay tuned.
