VILLAGE URUGWIRO - The visiting German Minister for Environmental Affairs and Renewable Energy, Sigmar Gabriel, has vowed to attract European businessmen to come and invest in the Rwandan energy sector.

He revealed this yesterday after meeting with President Paul Kagame at Village Urugwiro.

"Part of the reason I am here is to explore what can be done to attract investors from both Germany and across Europe to invest in Rwanda, especially in renewable energy,” Minister Gabriel said.

He said that the energy will be generated from solid waste, saying it was an environmentally friendly venture.

He added that he will discuss with government officials ways of how his government will work with Rwandans to promote afforestation to help combat environmental degradation which has hit the whole globe.

"We shall be discussing how we can make partnerships for possible investments in this sector and we are going to discuss with ministers the concrete project,” he said.

In the same vein, Germans will be working with Kigali City on a project to generate energy from the Nyanza waste collection facility.

The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Stanislas Kamanzi, who also attended the meeting with the President, said that the assistance offer stems from the existing relationship between Rwanda and Rhineland Palatinate, one of the states that make up the Federal Government of German.

Through cooperation with this state a solar energy plant, which is said to be the biggest in the region, was unveiled last year on Jali Hill.

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