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The Chairman of the Aga Khan Group of Companies, Amyn Aga Khan, visited Kigali Genocide memorial on Wednesday to commemorate Genocide victims buried at the site.

The memorial is home to about 250,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

The Aga Khan, who was in the country on a two-day private visit, took time to join the staff of Kigali Serena Hotel to pay respect to Genocide victims. According to Denise Omany, the country sales and marketing manager at Serena.

“The Aga Khan arrived in the country on Tuesday evening for a two day private site visit to a few of his company’s investments in Rwanda, and he was scheduled to leave the country yesterday evening”.

The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) is a conglomerate of various firms, which have enterprises in media, tourism and hospitality, education, health, infrastructure, and industries.

Prince Aga Khan lays a wreath of flowers to honor the victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi. (Timothy Kisambira)

The Aga Khan owns Kigali Serena Hotel and Kivu Serena Hotel, plus Nation Media-Rwanda, which oversees KFM and The East African.

Shortly after the genocide memorial tour, Prince Aga Khan, called for an end to genocide atrocities around the world.

“These events must never be repeated anywhere else again,” Aga Khan wrote in the visitors’ book at Kigali Genocide memorial.

Mahmoud Jan Muhammad, The Managing Director of the Serena Group of Hotels in Africa told journalists that Prince Aga Khan was in Rwanda on an entirely private business trip which coincided with the commemoration week.

Prince Aga Khan signs the visitors book with a note that "these events [Genocide] must never be repeated anywhere else again".

“We were here on some other business and obviously we are here during the Genocide memorial week with our Chairman His Highness Aga Khan. We felt it was an opportunity for him to visit the Genocide memorial and pay respect to the victims,” Mahmoud said.

He added that visiting the memorial “is a very moving experience and I think what the government has done to put up this memorial is an excellent initiative, which is for all of us to learn lessons from the past. I hope and pray that no country will ever experience anything like this.”

Mahmoud said that during his visit to Rwanda, The Aga Khan looked into available business opportunities in Rwanda.

He said that Aga Khan firms have a number of investment openings they have on books already to invest in but are also open to other availed opportunities.

“This is just a site visit, but we regularly visit various government institutions including RDB and a number of key departments for business discussions.

Prince Aga Khan tours the Kigali Genocide Memorial. After witnessing the unthinkable horror that befell the Tutsi, he called for an end to genocide atrocities around the world.

Asked about what he thought about their investments in Rwanda, Mahmoud said, “We are happy with our investments so far. And we are always looking at available business openings. We have some initiatives on the books and we are always looking for new opportunities.”

He added that, “With excellent collaboration from the government that continues to encourage investors to look into a number of investment opportunities, we will grow—we are not a company that is just going to stop—and Rwanda has tremendous potential.”

Mahmoud said that, other board members of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development we here with their Chairman, The Aga Khan as they continue to look at the opportunities available for investment in various sectors in Rwanda.

“I am sure he will have dialogue with my other colleagues in infrastructure, industries, health and education sectors,” he added.