President Kagame on Monday afternoon visited Imperial College London, where he was met by the Rector, Sir Roy Anderson and Professor Baron Peter Piot, Director of the Global Health Institute. President Kagame toured key facilities and witnessed the signing of a historical partnership agreement between the university and the Government of Rwanda.
The agreement signed by the university’s Rector and Rwanda’s Ambassador to the UK, Claver Gatete, will see collaboration between Imperial College and Rwandan institutions in the areas of education, training and research with particular emphasis on health, science and technology health, science and technology; higher education, capacity building in various areas including doctoral and postdoctoral training, as well as academic and research exchange.
Imperial College has established relationships with institutions in Asia and Latin America, but this the first substantive engagement of its kind with an African country. Implementation of the agreement is to start immediately and Rwandan delegation comprising representatives of the medical establishment and institutions of higher learning is set to visit Imperial College shortly.
During his visit to Imperial College, President Kagame led by Lord Darzi, Professor of Surgery at Imperial College and the Institute of Cancer Research, toured the Energy Futures Lab where research is ongoing to develop new solar cell technologies approaches to convert solar energy. He also visited the Robotics Surgery Suite to view simulated surgery for training surgeons, using virtual reality and robotic technologies.
President Kagame completes his working visit to London today and is scheduled to arrive in Egypt tomorrow to begin a four-day official visit at the invitation of President Hosni Mubarak. Following the official visit President Kagame in his capacity as Chair of the EAC Summit, will at the weekend address the China-Africa Forum to be held in Sharm El Sheikh.