Nestled in the hills of the hip Nyarutarama locality in Kigali, Rwanda, is a small bungalow.
Inside it is the Indian Club House, where Indian expats sip chai and snack on spicy onion fritters.
On a recent visit, the men were seen challenging one another to games of badminton and pool, while the women practised their dance routines for the Indian Independence Day celebrations.
Old 1980s Bollywood hits played in the background, and kitschy posters of the Taj Mahal adorned the walls.
Indian expats looking to move beyond their borders have found an unlikely home in the East African country.
While there has been a small Indian community in Rwanda for decades, a new wave of Indians has been setting roots in the country over the past five years, some migrating from other African nations.
In 2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Rwanda’s capital Kigali for the first time, following which the Indian High Commission was established there and several Memorandums of Understanding signed between the two countries.
These factors helped put Rwanda on the map for Indians looking to live elsewhere.
The Indian High Commission in Kigali pegs the number of Indians in Rwanda at around 3,000, but the numbers are climbing, according to Rwanda-India Entrepreneurship Development Centre advisor Piyush Sinha.
“Indians are attracted to Rwanda because it is peaceful and has a stable business environment and good leadership,” he said, adding that trading, services and healthcare are some of the areas in which Indians have established their foothold in the Rwandan market.
With direct access to other countries in East Africa, Indian businesses are drawn to Rwanda because they see it as a hub for the region.
Mr Pasupuleti Siva Kalyan, 29, moved to Rwanda six years ago from Andhra Pradesh to help his brother manage their manufacturing and procurement company. “We saw an untapped potential in the Rwandan market, so we decided to expand here,” he said.
One of Kigali’s largest hospitals, the Wiwo Speciality Hospital, is owned and managed by a team of Indian professionals. Located near the central business district, it has a team of four full-time Indian doctors and two visiting doctors who shuttle between the two countries.
Sensing that there was a shortage of quality healthcare facilities in Rwanda, the group set up Wiwo in 2017, according to the hospital’s chief operating officer Anees Ahmed.
“We did not want to promote medical tourism, for patients to travel to India for treatment, so we set up a facility here to cater to these patients,” said the 50-year-old, adding that patients from east-Africa countries are willing to travel to Rwanda for medical services.
Indians living in other countries in Africa have also been moving to Rwanda because it is safer, cleaner and less corrupt.
Mr Dinesh Parwani, managing director of agricultural firm ETG Inputs, moved his family to Rwanda after 12 years in Tanzania and three years in Zambia, as Rwanda’s security trumps that of the other two countries.
Now, in addition to a sizeable temple and the celebration of Indian festivities, there are at least 15 popular Indian restaurants in the city.
Khana Khazana executive chef Digpal Singh Rana said the locals have developed a soft spot for Indian dishes such as chicken tikka masala and chicken lollipop.
“But we have to tone down the spices,” said the 42-year-old, who left Dehradun in India in 2009 to move to Rwanda.
Aditi Bharade is a journalism student at Nanyang Technological University’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information. This report was part of the school’s Going Overseas For Advanced Reporting programme.
