The Democratic Republic of Congo has called on Arsenal FC, Paris Saint-Germain, and FC Bayern Munich to end their sponsorship agreements with the “Visit Rwanda” tourism campaign, as tensions with Rwanda escalate toward a potential full-scale war.
According to United Nations officials, Rwandan troops aided the M23 rebel group in capturing the strategic city of Goma in eastern Congo last week and continue to expand their territorial control. The ongoing conflict has resulted in over 700 deaths and 2,800 injuries, displacing millions over the past three years. Rwandan President Paul Kagame denies any involvement.
“Countless lives have been lost; rape, murder, and theft prevail,” Congo’s Foreign Minister, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, wrote in a letter to the three clubs, as cited in an emailed statement. “Your sponsor is directly responsible for this misery.”
Rwanda first partnered with Arsenal in 2018 as the club’s official sleeve sponsor, followed by similar deals with PSG and Bayern Munich. These sponsorships promote Rwandan tourism and products while also involving club members in coaching sessions within the country. Rwanda’s latest agreement with Arsenal, signed in 2021, was valued at approximately £40 million (€48 million), according to SportsPro.
Despite its troubled past, Rwanda is often regarded as a development success story. Thirty years after the 1994 genocide—where at least 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed under an ethnic Hutu-led government—the country has rebuilt its economy.
The M23 rebel group claims to be protecting Tutsis in Congo and fighting against a Hutu rebel faction with ties to the perpetrators of the genocide.
Meanwhile, Rwanda’s tourism industry, particularly its gorilla reserves, has flourished. The International Monetary Fund projects that tourism revenues will exceed €579 million in 2024.
Congo, however, alleges that Rwanda’s economic growth is partly fueled by the illicit trafficking of minerals from eastern Congo, a region abundant in tin, gold, and tantalum ore—critical components in portable electronics.
“Rather than supporting the DRC’s economic development, Rwanda’s profits from this theft may instead be funding expensive sponsorships of European football clubs,” the Congolese government asserted in its statement.
