Rwanda's government says President Paul Kagame will attend a convention in Chicago on Friday and Saturday for the Rwanda diaspora.

A statement from the Rwandan Foreign Ministry says more than 3,000 Rwandans living in North America plan to attend the convention in the United States.

It says the gathering will focus on the progress Rwanda has made more than 17 years after the country's 1994 genocide.

The ministry says the convention will also examine investment and employment opportunities as well as education and land access in Rwanda and across East Africa.

President Kagame is widely credited with helping to end Rwanda's 1994 genocide and bringing stability to the country. Some rights groups, however, say his government has instituted a climate of repression, including restrictions on free speech.

During Rwanda's 1994 genocide, extremist Hutus killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.