EU commits Rwf400bn to Rwanda's devt agenda

The government has signed a National Indicative Programme (NIP) with the European Union which will see the country receive a grant of Euro 460 million (about Rwf407 billion) to help implement its develoment blueprint. The grant agreement was yesterday signed by Finance and Economic Planning minister Claver Gatete on behalf of the government, and European Union Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs in Brussels, Belgium. The money will be disbursed between 2015 and 2020 in three sectors; energy, agriculture and accountable governance. In the previous grant from the EU Development Fund (2008-2013), Rwanda received Euro 290 million. The minister said the support is crucial in accelerating Rwanda’s development targets. “This support will focus on critical sectors that have an impact on Rwanda’s development. We are committed to ensuring that it contributes to the socio-economic wellbeing of Rwandans. Our ambitions are big, but this requires funding and we thank all our partners who support us and we assure you that you will see the impact that this cooperation will produce,” Gatete said at the signing. Euro 200 million (about Rwf174.4 billion) will go to the energy sector to support power generation, access to energy for urban and rural households, energy efficiency and reduction of diesel and biomass dependency. A similar amount has been earmarked for agriculture development to improve food and nutrition security among rural households, support agricultural intensification and develop inclusive value chains. Accountable governance sector will receive Euro 40 million to strengthen public accountability and democratic governance and ensuring efficient, effective and accountable use of public resources. The rest will be distributed evenly to the civil society and relevant government institutions involved in managing the programme. ‘Will to progress’ Piebalgs said Rwanda’s development efforts are real and palpable and that the country had the will to progress. “With today’s support, the EU is rewarding the vision and commitment shown by the Rwandan government. It rests on the expectations that the country will remain a good performer across all dimensions of governance and maintain a problem-solving approach to the security challenges that threaten the Great Lakes region,” Piebalgs said. Speaking to The New Times, Michael Ryan, the head of the EU delegation to Rwanda, said a large portion of the funds will be disbursed through Budget Support. “About 80 per cent of the amount will go to the Treasury but be allocated in policy areas,” Ryan said. He said in the selection of priority areas that the funds would be allocated, the EU had jointly planned and agreed with government under the framework of how donors share their aid provision in certain sectors. “The priority areas were inspired by the country’s ambitions as outlined in the second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction strategy and Vision 2020,” the head of the EU delegation said. Audit reports Ryan said by giving Budget Support to the level of 80 per cent, it was a sign of the good management they had witnessed in the past. “We also have the European parliament who audit what the European Commission does with EU taxpayers’ money and programmes are being constantly evaluated and monitored. In all these, Rwanda has had a reputation of being one of the top performers in the European aid programmes,” Ryan added. Among the outcomes they will look out for at the end of the term would be better sourcing of energy and more access to energy and upgrading from subsistence agriculture to more market-oriented agriculture and export base. Achim Tillessen, the head of cooperation at the EU office in Kigali, said there had been previous cooperation with the government during previous grants, especially during the general Budget Support through the Millennium Development Goals contract and were satisfied with the funds administration. “We agree on specific programmes then disburse funds to the Treasury at agreed intervals, mostly at the beginning of a fiscal year depending on the planned programmes,” Tillessen said.The last grant (2008 to 2013) was general budget support through the Millennium Development Goals with 60 per cent of the funding going to Rwanda’s first Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy. Other priority areas were rural development and infrastructure with additional funds going to areas such as governance, trade support and technical cooperation facility. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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EU commits Rwf400bn to Rwanda's devt agenda