New energy funding to light 5000 homes

The government has signed a Euro 4 million deal (about Rwf3.5 billion) with the Kingdom of Netherlands to support the electricity access rollout programme.The funds are expected to connect more than 5,200 households to national grid, representing two per cent of the total households, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Kampeta Sayinzoga, said.Speaking after the signing ceremony in Kigali, yesterday, Sayinzoga, also the Secretary to the Treasury, said the project will start early December and be completed by June 2014.“Energy is a key component for industrial growth which will play a key role in creation of job opportunities as prescribed by the Second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS2) agenda,” Sayinzoga said.She siad the overall contribution of the Dutch government toward the energy sector has hit approximately Euro33.9 (about Rwf30 billion).Leaon Cuelenaere, the Dutch ambassador to Rwanda, affirmed the Kingdom of Netherlands’ commitment to supporting Rwanda’s development programmes.“We are so proud to support Rwanda because of its clear vision; we also do believe that energy is one of those key areas that must be supported if the country must attain economic sustainability,” Cuelenaere said.Currently, only 16 per cent of Rwandan households are connected to electricity. However, government has a plan to connect more than 70 per cent households to the national grid by 2018.The Director-General of Energy Holding Compan (formerly under the general agency, Energy Water and Sanitation Authority), Ntare Karitanyi, said the grant is a big boost that will help in achieving the target of generating 563 megawatts by 2018.“Our production capacity is at 110 megawatts. However, we want to increase it to 563 megawatts by 2018. The vision is there and with such kind of support we will be able to bring that ambition home,” Karitanyi said.The Ministry of Infrastructure statistics indicate that the country needs investments worth about $3 billion to increase access to electricity from 17 per cent to 70 per cent by 2018 and access to water from 74 per cent to 100 per cent.

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New energy funding to light 5000 homes