World Bank priorities for Rwanda outlined

The World Bank is committed to working with the government towards economic development and poverty reduction, the new country representative to Rwanda, Carolyn Turk, said yesterday.Turk, who replaced Omowunmi Mimi Ladipo, made the remarks in an interview with The New Times after paying a courtesy call to Prime Minister Dr Pierre Damien Habumuremyi in his office at Kimihurura.She said as a new bank manager her focus would be on agriculture, transport sector and energy which she said were key pillars and fundamental in the economic development of the country.“We are going to work with the government through using the support we have in achieving the economic development of the country. Using our new strategy, my main focus is transport, especially feeder roads and agriculture, where we support the farmers on new agricultural techniques,” she said.The new country manager disclosed that in their discussion with the Premier, the head of government highlighted different areas that needed support, citing agriculture and other sectors. The British national has worked for the Bank for fourteen years in different countries in Eastern Europe, central Asia and East Asia.Meanwhile, the World Bank President Jim Yong Kim yesterday said he wants the institution to become ‘solutions bank’ that can work with partners and help “bend the arc of history” to eliminate extreme poverty.“Let me be clear: when I say we will be a solutions bank, I do not mean to suggest that we have ready-made solutions for every development problem. We do not, nor is this our goal,” said Kim.“Through decades of development work I’ve learned that the best solutions to economic and social problems often lie with the individuals and communities coping with these challenges in their daily life. They have been my greatest teachers. We must listen to and act on their insights.”Speaking to the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund at the Bank/Fund Annual Meeting in Tokyo, Kim noted that knowledge now flows “from entrepreneurs in Delhi to citizens in rural Mexico to civil society in Lagos to policymakers in Sarajevo”.With the World Bank’s global reach, Kim stated that the Bank is ideally positioned to connect and convene multiple stakeholders from around the world, brokering knowledge exchange across institutional boundaries.“A solutions bank will be more focused on delivery than ever before. During an era of constrained resources and daunting challenges, this is what both our donors and our clients demand,” he said. Kim observed that ongoing economic and financial instability in Europe continues to threaten growth and jobs in developing countries.Surging food prices are stretching the budgets of the poorest. And many countries in the Middle East are embarking on perhaps their most important transitions in generations.He cautioned that support for development can fade in the face of other priorities, but he emphasized that with over one billion people living in extreme poverty and 200 million unemployed, now is not the time for countries or institutions to go their own way or focus only on their own narrow interests. “At the World Bank Group we often talk about dreaming of a world free of poverty, the motto inscribed in the entrance of our headquarters. Well, it is time to move from dreaming of a world free of poverty to achieving it. It is time to bend the arc of history. With global solidarity underpinned by a relentless drive for results, we can, we must, and we will end poverty and build shared prosperity.”

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World Bank priorities for Rwanda outlined