Yvonne Makolo: Kagame appoints female CEO for national carrier, RwandAir

Rwanda’s national carrier, RwandAir, has a substantive Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in the person of Yvonne Manzi Makolo.

Her appointment by President Paul Kagame was part of a cabinet reshuffle announced on Saturday. Until her elevation to the top seat, Makolo was the airline’s Deputy CEO in charge of Corporate Affairs.

Her appointment fills a vacancy that forced government to appoint Col. Chance Ndagano as Acting CEO following the departure of John Mirenge.

Makolo has previously worked in the private sector since returning to Rwanda from Canada where she lived and worked for a decade – she worked in IT as an application / web developer.

“I decided to move to Rwanda in 2003 where I worked with a World Bank project; an NGO called World Links, to computerize schools and train teachers on how to use computers. I joined MTN in 2006,” she told The New Times, a local daily in 2016.

She rose through the ranks at MTN-Rwanda to the position of Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at a point serving as acting CEO.

Yvonne Manzi Makolo appointed the new CEO of RwandAir

=>Former Deputy CEO at RwandAir
=>Former Chief Marketing Officer at MTN Rwanda
=>Former Web Developer in Canada pic.twitter.com/0qMR3iLCdp

— Povo News (@povonewsafrica) April 8, 2018

The New Times added in its report that her appointment coincides with a time the national carrier is planning expansion of its routes. RwandAir currently operates about 25 destinations across Africa Asia and Europe.

“Plans to launch direct flights to China are in the advanced stages, with the maiden flight scheduled for mid this year.

“The airline has also set its sight on flying to the US and Israel in addition to linking more Africa cities to its network,” the report added.