USD 400m has been earmarked for the national electricity rollout programme and the funds are  ready to be released pending normal donor disbursement procedures.

This was revealed Monday by the State Minister for Energy, Dr. Albert Butare.

"We are looking for all the pledges to really be effective, before the end of this year. Commitments have been made, no going back, it is now only the procedures for disbursement which are left.”

In the national electricity access roundtable held in Kigali last March, government and donors committed to developing the country’s energy sector, then pledging USD 228m.

"We are not worried about the funding. The issue is preparations for the thorough and effective implementation.”

The Minister noted that commitments from a number of actors, for instance one from the Netherlands (about Euros 30m) would be signed for and availed probably this week.

Dr. Butare notes, the consortiums from the Arab banks like the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) are in the country in a related mission.

"They are all here, they have sent their experts for project appraisals and agreed together that they are contributing thirty million dollars,” Dr. Butare said, adding that the World Bank group has also committed about USD 70m. 

The State Minister explained that during the appraisal of the project, donors normally look at the readiness of the recipient – for instance, the pertinent mechanisms put in place, and these too are ready.

"We have put in place the project management unit, which is based in Electrogaz, we have hired an expert in charge of that team. We are preparing the procurement documents and everything so that when the monies are released, with no objections, let’s say sometime in September or October, we start implementation.”

Dr. Butare reiterated government’s commitment as well, noting that it had pledged US$ 10 m every year.

In March, the Water and Electricity public utility, Electrogaz, also pledged "about” $27m.

According to a current study, over 60 percent of the population lives within the accessible range of five kilometers from the on hand electricity network with 110,000 total connections (6 percent).

Rwanda has set the target of connecting 350,000 (16 percent) homes by the year 2012 and by 2020, it is hoped that 820, 000 (36 percent) of the population will be connected.

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