Rwanda/France Relationship: is Financial Support Enough to Overcome Genocide Responsibility?

France and Rwanda have been in a diplomatic row surrounding the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 for years as Paris refused to apologise for its role in the genocide, denying any involvement.

It is not the first time the country struggles to confront its colonialist past, having denied for years the systematic use of torture during the Algerian war, despite revelations by former high ranked army officials.

However it seems that eight years after the tragedy, Rwanda is ready to push aside France's responsibility and move on to consolidate its renewed friendship with one of its the former colonial masters.

Rwandan president Paul Kagame and Nicolas Sarkozy have staged a delicate diplomatic encounter in Paris on Monday, with Sarkozy welcoming his African counterpart to the Elysee Palace on the second day of his three-day trip to the French capital, the first since his government accused Paris of complicity in the massacre of 800,000 ethnic Tutsis.

Kagame has now announced he would no longer seek a French apology but instead wants to work at establishing a closer relationship, which after the deal came in the form of France doubling its development assistance from $31 million per year to $58 million.

As trade ties are on the rise, Sarkozy's office also confirmed France would help Rwanda develop geothermal and methane gas energy projects before hinting at the will to build a Franco-Rwandan cultural centre in Kigaliin the next few months.

"This is a new stage in the process of normalisation between the two countries, based on dialogue and mutual respect," the Elysee said, in a statement.

On the other hand, Kagame described the visit as "Really the whole purpose is to find ways of overcoming our differences over the past and going forward with a better relationship for the future."

"I'm happy to be here, and so far so good ... I'm happy," he added. "I asked for more trade, more partnership. The French are free to come and invest in Rwanda, in tourism, in general infrastructure and so on and so forth.

"And Rwandans are happy to come and do business in France," he said.

Sarkozy had already revealed his intention to better his relationship with Rwanda last year, during a visit to Kigali but only acknowledged Paris had a "kind of blindness" to the genocide.

The two countries have blamed each other for years with a French investigating judge accusing Kagame's government of downing the former Rwandan president's plane, in which two French pilots also died, while an official Rwandan report accused French officials of complicity in mass murder and rape and in training Hutu militias.

While rights groups have accused Kagame of becoming more and more authoritarian, his latest move proves that as the government looks for investors, beneficial political alliances have the priority over the former will to force colonial power confront their past.