Rwanda and Belgium, on January 30, signed a cooperation agreement worth €95 million (approx. Rwf131 billion) to be injected into priority sectors of the country’s development.

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Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Uzziel Ndagijimana, alongside Heidy Rombouts, Director General of Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation, signed on behalf of both countries.

The cooperation programme strategically allocates resources across key sectors including agriculture, urbanisation, health, as well as public finance management.

The development, according to the ministry, is a continuation of the socioeconomic impact created by the ongoing cooperation programme (2019-2024) and complements another ongoing bilateral cooperation programme on decent work and social protection (2022-2027).

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Ndagijimana said the partnership between both countries has consistently delivered tangible progress across diverse sectors of engagement.

"The latest programme represents a crucial stride forward, reaffirming our dedication to vital sectors such as agriculture, health, urbanisation, and public finance management—a cornerstone for Rwanda’s socio-economic advancement.”

He added that there has been improvement across the target sectors throughout the implementation of previous programmes, and many lessons learnt that they built on to enter the new partnership.

In the health sector, the five-year programme will have a particular focus on sexual and reproductive health, and the fight against gender-based violence. In the agriculture sector, it will increase access to and the consumption of quality food for the growing population through the development of sustainable, resilient and inclusive agricultural value chains.

Additionally, in urbanisation, the programme will support the development of sustainable and attractive satellite cities by enhancing the living conditions of its population, especially the most vulnerable.

Rombouts noted that while the partnership comes as a continuation of the impact created in the mentioned sectors, they will also look at the innovation sector to combat common challenges such as climate change.

"Success, results and impacts are never achieved alone. We can only bring to the table because you are setting the table and I think we can only have results thanks to your leadership,” she said.

She added there will also be continued partnerships across other areas such as social protection and decent work, championing European initiatives in the country, and other programmes such as the African Medicine Agency, and the development of a BioNTech manufacturing plant, among others.

Enabel, the development agency of the Belgian federal government, is in charge of implementing the different areas of bilateral cooperation in Rwanda.