Kigali The first businesses were established in Kigali that year by Greek and Indian merchants, with assistance from Baganda and Swahili people. Items traded included cloth and beads. However, commercial activity was limited and there were only around 30 firms in the city by 1914. Kandt also opened government-run schools in Kigali, which began educating Tutsi students. Belgian forces took control of Rwanda and Burundi in 1916, during World War I, and were granted sovereignty by a League of Nations mandate in 1919.. In early 1917, Belgium attempted to assert direct rule on the colony, placing King Musinga under arrest and
African Continental Free Trade Area 8-9 March 2018 the African Union Ministers of Trade approved the draft. At the extraordinary Summit of the Assembly of the African Union on 21 March in Kigali the Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area was signed, along with the Kigali Declaration and the Protocol of Free Movement. Other countries who signed the Kigali declaration, including South Africa and Namibia, are expected to sign the agreement during the AU summit in July. Negotiations will continue in 2018 with Phase II, including policies of investment, competition and intellectual property rights. On the January 2020 AU Assembly negotiations are envisaged