The government of Rwanda, on May 31, signed a financing agreement with the African Development Fund (ADF) worth $200 million (approx. Rwf260 billion) to finance development projects in the country.

The ADF guarantee-backed financing will be provided by JPMorgan Chase, an American multinational finance company, for different projects according to Rwanda’s Environmental Safeguards (ESG) Framework.

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Uzziel Ndagijimana, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning and Solomon Quaynor, Vice-President for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization at the African Development Bank, signed the agreement on behalf of both parties.

The ADF is the concessional window of the African Development Bank Group which attracted $9.8 billion in funds in its latest 16th replenishment in 2022 covering three years’ cycle.

In April, AfDB deepened its partnership with one of the world&039;s largest banks, JP Morgan, with particular interest in trade, the private sector, and project funding operations.

"We are also very interested in providing long-term financing, as far as possible in local currencies, provided we have a guarantee from the bank [AfDB],” said Olivier Eweck, Head of the Public Sector for Sub-Saharan Africa at the time.

The US Bank currently works with the Bank Group on capital market transactions, by leveraging the bank’s guarantee instruments to increase funding to eligible African countries, particularly low-income states.

Rwanda is among the first countries to tap into the initiative.

The agreement is among others signed in Nairobi, Kenya on the sidelines of the AfDB Annual Meeting 2024, including the Kigali Innovation City implementation agreement, a financing agreement of $20 million from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) to support the rehabilitation of Muhanga-Nyange road, and partnership discussion with OPEC Fund.