ICF to boost energy sector

The Minister of State for Energy and Water, Eng. Albert Butare, Saturday explained how the energy and power sectors are going to grossly benefit from the Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF) support. This was revealed during the meeting at Serena Hotel which was aimed at creating a Power Sector Advisory Committee (PSAC) that will be charged with overseeing the activities and providing technical advise to the sector. During his address to the press, Butare commended the technical and financial commitments ICF has rendered to Rwanda, especially the energy and power sectors. “The facility fund has come at a time when we need it most, given the energy and power generation projects we are involved in. This facility will help us a lot both in building capacity and meeting the mega expenses involved,” said Butare. The prime objective outlined in the 3 year project is to provide support to the Rwandan government in the implementation of power and energy sector projects, and to strengthen the government’s bidding, contracting and other related negotiations with the private sector involved in power projects. Butare pointed out that it was important to meet stakeholders who included officials from ICF, World Bank and others, to form a committee which will guide the actions and targets of the project. The creation of this committee follows an agreement which was sighed between ICF and the Rwandan Government in October 2008 which saw the three-year power project kick off. Various organizations and countries around the world contribute to the ICF fund. This particular project was funded by World Bank and the Government of The Kingdom of Netherlands. Among the key areas to be serviced in the energy sector by this grant include commissioning of external expertise on development of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and training, implementation of an energy information system, provision of institutional support to develop public private partnerships, among others. The Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF) is a fund that was established to assist African countries in creating a favourable environment for doing business. Ends