Kigali of what is now Rwanda were the Twa, a group of aboriginal pygmy hunter-gatherers who settled the area between 8000 and 3000 BC and remain in the country today. They were followed between 700 BC and 1500 AD by a number of Bantu groups, including the Hutu and Tutsi, who began clearing forests for agriculture. According to oral history the Kingdom of Rwanda was founded in the 14th century on the shores of Lake Muhazi, around east of modern Kigali. At that time Rwanda was a small state in a loose confederation with larger and more powerful neighbours, Bugesera 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