I couldn’t see a topic for this on the forum so far, so I thought I’d set one up and share some general advice from my brief time in Rwanda, focusing on Kigali as that’s where I spent most of my time.
In comparison to other countries in East Africa, there is fantastic Mastercard ATM support in Kigali. I used ATMs there roughly every day for about 2 weeks, and only had an issue once with an ATM not accepting Mastercard.
It’s also worth noting that the maximum currency denomination in Rwanda is 5,000Rfr (which is about £5), and doesn’t have all that much buying power (ie 8,000Rfr is roughly the cost of a sit down dinner with a drink), so in Kigali, I’d advice going to the ATM little and often unless you want your wallet to swell like a balloon.
Paying by card is possible in certain high end shops and restaurants in Kigali (not sure about the rest of Rwanda), but in general it’s best to assume you can’t pay by card when going anywhere in Kigali, so always bring enough cash if you’re going somewhere more rural.
I’ll update this thread if I can think of anything else useful, and happy travelling!
