Macron is the first French leader since 2010 to visit Rwanda, which has long accused France of being complicit in the mass killings of 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis between April and July 1994.
In March, the French government accepted the conclusions of a commission of historians, which accused France of being "blind" to the Hutu regime’s preparation of the massacres. The report said that France bore “serious and overwhelming” responsibility for the genocide.
On a visit to France last week, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who led the Tutsi rebellion that ended the genocide, said the report had paved the way for the two countries to have "a good relationship."
The last French president to visit Rwanda was Nicolas Sarkozy, who admitted that France made "serious mistakes" and had a "form of blindness" during the genocide.
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Some would like France to go further, and apologise. They will be listening closely to Macron - who has presented himself as someone not afraid to admit to past wrongs - as he gives a speech Thursday at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, the final resting place for over 250,000 genocide victims.
Officials say Macron could use the visit to fill the ambassador post in Rwanda, which has been vacant since 2015.
