Japan set to issue loans to Rwanda

The government of Japan is set to begin issuing Official Development Assistance (ODA) loans (Yen Loan) to Rwanda for the first time in 26 years. The ODA loans are given out by the Japanese government to support developing countries above a certain income level to finance their development efforts at low interest and mostly with bearable repayment periods. The announcement was made by Tomio Sakamoto, the Charge d’Affaires at the Japanese Embassy in Rwanda on Tuesday evening, at an event to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Japan International Corporation Agency in Rwanda. Sakamoto said the loans will be provided jointly with the African Development Bank. “It will be the first time the government of Japan will issue the ODA loans to Rwanda in 26 years, the loan will be provided jointly with AfDB and will be used to rehabilitate the Rusumo-Kayonza road,” he said. The amount of the loan is yet to be disclosed. Rwanda’s eligibility to the loan was considered last year during the 11th Annual Policy Dialogue on the Japanese Official Development Assistance to Rwanda, after noting positive and tangible results of development assistance. Japan’s support to Rwanda over the years has been mostly through JICA which has supported national development through technical assistance and grant aid. Among the areas the agency has been supporting in Rwanda are; energy, transport, water and sanitation; human resource development, private sector development among others. The Representative of the agency in the country, Takahiro Moriya, said over the past 10-years, the country has made positive use of the development assistance, emerging as one of the top performers in the Millennium Development Goals. Moriya said the partnership between the two countries has grown over the years consequently improving the lives of citizens. He noted that Rwanda reached out to Japan to offer support and encouragement following a devastating earthquake in March 2011. “Even under such a terrible situation, the partnership between these two countries did not end,” Moriya said. Moriya said the two countries will continue to strengthen their partnership. “The 10th anniversary does not mean a conclusion of JICA’s operations in Rwanda, but a milestone upon which to build a new era,” he said. Christian Rwakunda, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure, thanked the Japanese government for the support over the years, saying it had played a major role in the development of Rwanda.

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Japan set to issue loans to Rwanda