Kigali in final talks with Qatar over RwandAir equity

The Rwandan government is in "final talks" with Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad Int'l) over the sale of a 49% stake in RwandAir, Rwanda's Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Uzziel Ndagijimana has said. Eager to invest in untapped markets, the Gulf carrier has been courting the East African state since 2019 over its upcoming Bugesera International Airport project, set to open next year, as well as the state-owned airline. "We are in the final stages of negotiations, and the carrier will be stronger due to the larger number of aircraft and greater resources," Ndagijimana told Jeune Afrique, without elaborating. The minister conceded that while Rwandair was not a profitable airline, it was a significant economic driver enabling tourism and trade. The airline's 2019 accounts lodged with the US DoT in February show it registered an overall loss of US$26.2m in 2019 against revenue of US$221.4m. Its loss in 2018 amounted to US$61.9m. So far, its only profit was in 2014 with a modest US$2.82m surplus.<br/>