President Kagame has appointed Ernest Nsabimana as the new Minister of Infrastructure, according to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday, January 31.

Claver Gatete who was at the helm of the ministry for almost four years has been appointed the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Rwanda to the United Nations headquarters in New York.

In the same ministry, Patricia Uwase who was the Permanent Secretary from September 2018, has been named State Minister.

Who is Nsabimana?

The new Minister of Infrastructure is an expert in transportation infrastructure such as highway, airport and railway engineering as well as urban planning.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Rwanda and a PhD in the same course from Kyung Hee University in South Korea.

Nsabimana became the principal of IPRC Karongi in 2018, and later the Vice Mayor in charge of Urbanization and Infrastructure in the City of Kigali since August 2019.

In December 2020, he was appointed as the new Director General of Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA), replacing Patrick Nyirishema.

On the other hand, Ambassador Gatete was the Minister of Finance and Economic planning before assuming the infrastructure docket.

Prior to his cabinet positions, he was the Central bank’s governor, a position he assumed after a tour of duty as Rwanda's high commissioner to the United Kingdom.

In New York, Gatete will replace Valentine Rugwabiza.