The three-year partnership deal between Rwanda and English football club, Arsenal purportedly worth UK£30 million (US$37 million) that was signed in May 2018 is proving to bring great returns than harm as initially criticized. According to the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), the sleeve sponsorship with Arsenal FC, aimed at promoting the ‘Visit Rwanda’ brand has resulted in benefits valued at UK£36 million (US$44 million) in just one year of the signed three years and lifted overall tourism numbers by 8%.
The earlier investment in promoting Rwanda’s tourism brand was initially criticized by many with claims that the funds could have been better spent by the government in the country itself rather than on one of the Premier league’s biggest and wealthiest teams.
Some fuming critics took it to social media accusing Rwanda of ploughing crucial developmental aid into the coffers of an English football club.
However, these were bashed out by the ‘better informed’ who were affirmative about the government’s decision claiming it was a great venture worth investing in.
This went on for over the past months, a matter that caught up with the major parties in the deal. This forced the right full parties to come up and comment about the government pattern-ship with a football club.
The head of RDB’s tourism department, Belise Kariza while commenting about the patternship said, “Before the partnership was signed, 71% of the millions of Arsenal fans worldwide did not consider Rwanda a tourist destination, at the end of the first year of the partnership, half of them considered Rwanda a destination to visit”
“In terms of overall value, the partnership so far, in year one, is worth £36 million (over Rwf 36 bn). This number is based on TV viewership and social media. We can definitely say it has paid off,” he vividly added.
These statistics were according to statistics by Nielsen, Blinkfire Analytics and research agency Hall and Partners.
The social media fracas couldn’t keep the main man, the president mum and in one of his tweets, President Paul Kagame says:
“Critics say that this is not how we should invest our money. In a very short time, I want to tell you that we have more or less made what we have spent more or less profitable, and that we expect much more.”
This comes in as Rwanda is heavily banking on a tourism bonanza to develop its economy. In particular, the country is betting on high-end travel (thanks to the mountain gorillas of the Volcanoes National Park) and hosting conferences.These activities generate nearly €430 million per year, amounting to nearly 5.47% of Rwanda’s GDP (€7.6 billion in 2017, according to the latest IMF figures).
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