KIGALI - The Government of Rwanda will today sign three agreements with the World Bank (WB) which will see the bank finance different government programs to the tune of $116.5 million.

According to Finance and Economic Planning Minister John
Rwangombwa, the financing agreements to be signed today include the second emergency and demobilization project to be implemented at a cost of $8m.

The on-going 2nd phase to demobilize members of armed groups of Rwandan origin and members of the Rwandan Defence Forces is jointly implemented by both the Government and donors.

The project targets demobilizing an estimated 5,500 members of armed groups, 4,000 RDF soldiers and provide reinsertion support for those demobilized along with approximately 10,000 family members of armed groups.

It also aims at providing social and economic reintegration assistance to the newly demobilized as well as up to 400 previous beneficiaries who did not receive support, with emphasis on children and the severely disabled.

Also to be boosted is the Land Husbandry, Water Harvesting, and Hillside Irrigation Project set to receive $34m from the World Bank.

The money was secured by the Government last year to expand farming land by using the abundant hills that cover the biggest part of the country.

Rwanda has about 1.5million hectares of arable land but 90 percent of it is found on hillsides, according to the World Bank, the biggest single donor agency to the country’s agriculture sector.

Arable land on hillsides constitutes the vast majority of the total agricultural land in the country, but erosion costs the country 1.4 million tons of fertile soils per year.

The money will employ "a watershed approach to introduce sustainable land husbandry measures for hillside agriculture on selected sites and will develop hillside irrigation for sub-sections of each site”, the Bank said in a statement. 

Also to be signed is the Electricity Access Scale-up and Sector-Wide Approach Development Project which will receive $70m from the bank.

The funds will be used to expand electricity distribution and rural electrification programmes.

"The Government will also sign Memorandums of Understanding with different development partners on the Public Financial Management (PFM) Reforms strategy and also with the United Nations Gender Equitable Local Development,” Rwangombwa said.

The MoU will set a framework for establishing a basket fund where donors will make commitments to support of PFM reforms.

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