EU pledges support to EDPRS II

European Union’s envoy for Africa, Nick Westcott, has said that the EU will be proud to contribute to Rwanda’s second phase of the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS II), which was launched earlier this week. Westcott made the remarks after a two day visit to the country where he toured several developmental projects funded by the EU and later held talks with top government officials on a wide range of international and regional political issues. “The EU has had a fruitful partnership with the government of Rwanda and developing partners in the country; I was truly impressed by the progress Rwanda has made in the past ten years, Rwanda’s five year development plan is impressive and I am happy to announce that we will contribute to it through our usual partnership” Westcott noted. Westcott is the Managing Director for Africa in the European External Service (EEAS), a department set up by the EU three years ago to serve as a foreign arm of the European Union.Currently, the EU’s financial aid to Rwanda stands at 50 million Euros annually, and partly funds the land registration process and infrastructure development. “We are soon starting discussions with all developing partners to come up with ways of sharing responsibilities in future development initiatives,” Westcott said. In a related development, under article 8 of the Cotonou Agreement which calls for political dialogue and consultation, Westcott, held talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo, and the Minister of Justice Tharcisse Karugarama. “We discussed issues related to the media, the penal code, the law against genocide ideology and others,” said Westcott.Regarding the business environment in Rwanda, the EU envoy said the country’s favourable business environment has to be backed by regional integration so as to attract investors. “If investors are confident that they will easily access the neighbouring market, then investments will go up. That is why Rwanda needs to push for regional integration,” he emphasised.

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EU pledges support to EDPRS II