France and Rwanda have agreed on a €400 million development partnership that will run until 2028.
The agreement worth more than Rwf557 billion was signed in Kigali on Saturday, April 6, by French Minister of Foreign Affairs Stephane Sejourné and his Rwandan counterpart Dr Vincent Biruta. It will support Rwanda’s health and environment sectors as well as training for the youth, the ministers said.
ALSO READ: Rwanda, France sign double taxation avoidance agreement
The two ministers also signed an air services agreement. Rwanda’s airline RwandAir operates three weekly flights to French capital Paris.
"The signing of these agreements is a new stone in the growing edifice of relations between France and Rwanda, and we welcome it,” Biruta told the media.
"I wish to reiterate Rwanda&039;s desire to deepen its partnership more in the future.”
Biruta said Rwanda-France relations "continue to grow every day and we can particularly highlight the growing cooperation through the work of the French Development Agency."
The French Development Agency (AFD) has been financing numerous projects since 2021, especially in the development of small and medium-sized businesses in renewable energies and digital transformation. Biruta added that Rwanda and France relations had improved through bilateral agreements, such as a double tax avoidance agreement signed in June 203 to support trade and investment between the two countries.
ALSO READ: RwandAir starts direct flight to Paris
Sejourné, who is in Rwanda for the 30th Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi said the French government was keen on supporting Rwanda&039;s development strategy. Between 2021 and 2023, France mobilised €500 million in support of Rwanda's development, according to the French embassy in Kigali.
The new development partnership will help in training of health personnel and supporting Rwanda's production of medicines, Sejourné said.
France will support Rwanda in having "a well-trained youth focused on new jobs and new opportunities with guarantees of equally sustainable and inclusive economic growth in the region," he said.
The French minister said his country would continue to help Rwanda in the delivery of justice to survivors of the Genocide against the Tutsi by "intensifying" investigation into Genocide suspects who are on French territory.