The economy will maintain a steady growth if external partners encourage private sector actors in their respective countries to come and explore investment opportunities in Rwanda.

Amb. Claver Gatete, the minister for finance and economic planning, said this at the opening of the Eleventh Development Partners Retreat that began yesterday in Rubavu District.

The annual retreat brings together officials from government, bilateral and multilateral development partners, agencies and missions, private sector as well as local and international non-governmental organisations.

Gatete said since 1994, development partners have participated in Rwanda’s transformation together through giving grants and loans within Development Partner Coordination Group (DPCG) adding that their technical assistance which is commendable.

However, he added that the current national economy is growing bigger and needs Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) for it to sustainably grow.

The minister further called for special focus on employment, particularly for the youth.

"Our youth employment programme should be done methodically to ensure that our young people have the right skills and the private sector is involved in job creation initiatives,” Minister Gatete said.

"We have seen so many of you making extra efforts of saying, ‘let’s have also the other partners the private sector’ and you can have a role so that we can have that third component which is very critical for us to be able to continue to grow the economy.”

He said the retreat was an opportunity for participants to assess the challenges and also to see how to go about them, looking at the strategy and how to implement that kind of strategy.

Broader scope

While the retreat previously discussed only funding, Gatate said, the time had come for them to discuss the whole global economy, the challenges they are facing, the policy to put in place and the structure reform to undertake together.

"That is why we are looking at you as not only people who represent your countries but as people who have experience and who can help contribute intellectually to the development of our economy,” Gatete said.

Peter Malnak, the Usaid Mission Director and Development Partners Co-chair, said: "We are excited to review progress on the second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRSII), offer insights on how we can best support these efforts, and ensure that we align our priorities with your nation’s priorities.”

He echoed Gatete’s call to ensure that the approach to development is sustainable, with a particular focus on employment for youth.

"Donors understand the potential for this "demographic dividend” and stand firmly committed to supporting youth for Rwanda’s stability and future growth,” Malnak said.

Lamin Manneh, the UN resident coordinator, said transformational capacity development was crucial and should be brought to help fast-track progress in implementing EDPRSII.

"Rwanda has demonstrated transformational change in the past and needs to take it more widely and deeply into the fabric of doing business, whether in the public or private sector, from managing investments, to leveraging diverse resources of public and private finance,” Manneh said.

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