Rwanda and Belgium yesterday signed two bilateral development agreements, worth €14.3 million, aimed at helping government improve institutional capacity and expertise within priority sectors, especially energy and health services.

The Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Claver Gatete, and Amb. Arnout Pauwels, Belgium envoy to Rwanda, signed the financing agreements on behalf of their respective parties, at the Ministry offices, in Kigali, yesterday afternoon.

One agreement related to a flexible financing tool, dubbed ‘Study and Expertise Fund’ (SEF), through which Belgium will finance studies and expertise within priority sectors identified under the Rwanda-Belgium cooperation; these include energy, decentralisation and health.

The fund, with an initial Euro 710, 000 will be co-managed by the Finance ministry and Belgium Technical Cooperation (BTC), and will run for 48 months.

Reliable electricity supply

The second agreement signed will also see Belgium finance Rwanda’s efforts to improve ‘access to reliable on-grid electricity supply for households and priority public institutions.’

At least 6873 households are expected to benefit from the funding initiative in form of being connected to the national grid for electricity supply.

"This grant will help us improve access to reliable on-grid electricity supply as a requirement for Rwanda’s development,” Minister Gatete said shortly after the agreement was signed.

In his remarks, Ambassador Pauwels said his country is committed to supporting Rwanda to improve its capacity and expertise in priority sectors such as energy and health.

The target group beneficiaries include households, enterprises, and public infrastructure such as health facilities, schools and administrative offices; these will be connected to the national grid, using the Belgium funds.

According to Minister Gatete, the total budget of the project amounts to Euro13.65 million to which Rwanda will contribute Eur1.65 million while the balance of Euro12 milion will be from the Belgium Kingdom.

Transmission line extension

The agreement implementation, to be undertaken by BTC, will be supervised by Rwanda Energy Group (REG) and Chief Executive Officer Jean Bosco Mugiraneza welcomed the development noting that it will help get more Rwandans on the national grid.

"We shall focus on extension of the transmission network to ensure that more Rwandans, especially those in the country’s rural areas, get connected to the national grid,” said REG’s Mugiraneza.

Rwanda has over 2.4 million households and only 520, 000 of them, accounting for 24 per cent, are currently hooked to the national grid.

Although this number may appear small compared to an access to electricity target of over 70 per cent by 2018, it has actually grown fast, from 50, 000 household connections or 3 per cent, in 1994.

But as more and more Rwandan households get connected to the national grid, the Achilles heels is in power generation, as demand surges, especially during peak hours, the supply capacity is stretched.

However, Minister Gatete said yesterday that he is confident that several major energy projects currently in the pipeline, some of which are nearing maturity, will ensure there is ample production to boost the supply capacity to serve the growing numbers on the grid.

Already, this year, those efforts have been boosted by the coming on grid of the 25mw KivuWatt project whose testing has been successfully completed and now awaits certification by an independent engineer before the government and ContourGlobal can flag off commercial operations of the plant.

"That is likely to be in January next year but the plant is already operating and generating 25mw to the national grid,” said Mugiraneza.

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