Arsenal extends Visit Rwanda sleeve sponsorship deal in 2021

In 2021, Arsenal and the Rwanda Development Board, the country's state agency for investment and tourism, extended the Visit Rwanda partnership. The London club had first put the slogan on its shirt sleeves in 2018, making it one of the first Premier League clubs to carry a national tourism brand in that way.

The deal was part of a wider strategy by Rwanda to raise its profile among travellers and investors through top-level European football. Paris Saint-Germain, the French champions, agreed a similar partnership in 2019, and further clubs followed later. The campaign aimed to present Rwanda as a destination for wildlife tourism, such as gorilla trekking, and for business events.

The arrangement drew criticism. Human rights groups and some commentators argued that the spending, reportedly worth millions of pounds a year, gave Rwanda's government a positive image abroad while concerns about political freedoms persisted. Rwandan officials defended it as an investment that increased visitor numbers and revenue.

The deal became a reference point for how smaller states use sport sponsorship as national branding, a model now echoed by other countries and, at a much smaller scale, by amateur clubs.