The sponsorship is a bid to promote tourism in the central East African nation, but with the World Bank’s projections showing that 51 percent of Rwandans live in extreme poverty, critics have slammed the multimillion dollar deal.
Arsenal announced the three-year tourism partnership in the lead up to the start of the Premier League season — but neither side has confirmed exactly just how much it cost.
“The media has been speculating around £30 million but what I can tell you it’s not £30 million, it’s less than that,” CEO of the Rwanda Development Board, Clare Akamanzi, told CNN.
It appears the investment stems from the country’s president, Paul Kagame, who describes himself as a “committed fan” of his “beloved club Arsenal” — a devotion shared by many Rwandans.
The country hopes to convert the money spent on the deal into tourism dollars.
The logo will appear on all first team, Under-23 and Arsenal Women’s shirts.
“Thirty five million people (will be) viewing their (Arsenal’s) shirts every single day,” Akamanzi said.
‘That’s fairly obscene’
However, critics say the money should have been spent alleviating the chronic poverty in the country.
“I think when millions of Rwandans are living on less than a pound a day ($1.28), that’s fairly obscene,” UK Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen told CNN. “The public have a right to know how our aid budget is being spent, and the people of Rwanda have a right to know how their president is spending their money.”
Rwandan Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Olivier Nduhungirehe responded to criticism by saying, “for those other MPs, it’s none of their business. I will repeat that, it’s none of their business.”
In May, Akamanzi responded to critics on Twitter who say the money Rwanda has earned through tourism should have been invested into the community.
“For those asking if tourism promotion funds should have been used for water or electricity, let me break it down for you: Infrastructure is imported,” she tweeted. “Tourism is our #1 forex earner. The more Rwanda earns from tourism, the more we can invest in our people. That’s the connection.”
Watch the video above to find out more about Arsenal’s ‘Visit Rwanda’ deal
CNN’s Kara Fox and Edward Kiernan contributed to this report from Kigali.
