Burundi expands diplomacy with China and Brazil

Burundi is broadening its international outreach after two high-level diplomatic engagements underscored closer ties with both China and Brazil, highlighting a more active foreign policy under President Évariste Ndayishimiye. In one of the latest moves, Burundi’s ruling CNDD-FDD held talks with China’s Communist Party through a meeting in Bujumbura between secretary-general Révérien Ndikuriyo and Chinese ambassador Zhu Kewei, according to a Burundi Forum report.

The meeting focused on strengthening long-standing ties between the two parties, with discussions framed around governance, development, sovereignty and continued cooperation. The engagement came just days after Zhu Kewei formally presented copies of her credentials in Burundi, confirming the start of her diplomatic mission in Bujumbura.

That China-facing track has been matched by a broader South-South diplomatic push. On the sidelines of the CELAC-Africa Forum in Bogotá, Ndayishimiye met Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to discuss relations between Brazil, Burundi and the African Union, as reported by Burundi Forum’s second article. The Bogotá forum itself was presented by Colombia as a platform to deepen cooperation between Africa and Latin America.

Taken together, the two meetings suggest Burundi is trying to diversify its diplomatic reach through both party-to-party channels and state-level partnerships. That broader profile is also reinforced by Ndayishimiye’s current role as African Union chair for 2026, which gives his international engagements added continental weight.

Rather than pointing to any immediate new agreement, the back-to-back contacts indicate a steady effort by Bujumbura to position itself more visibly in South-South diplomacy, linking bilateral outreach with wider African and cross-regional engagement.