Browsing: Rwanda

• Rwanda will receive two loans amounting to $180 million from the African Development Bank 
• The funds will support a major energy project that will extend electricity access to rural areas and reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• It entails the construction of over 1,000 km of medium voltage and 3,300 km of low voltage lines to boost last-mile access
• The project is expected to connect 77,470 households to the electricity network for the first time and connect 75 schools, eight health centres and 65 administration centres

Rwanda will receive two loans amounting to $180 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to co-finance a major energy project that will extend electricity access to rural areas and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In a statement seen by The Exchange Africa, the AfDB said the new funding follows the approval for $84.2 million made in May 2021 for the same project.

According to the lender, …

• Rwandan Nationals travelling to Angola will not be required to have visas after the two countries have signed a new agreement
• On Friday, April 15, 2022, Rwanda and Angola signed nine cooperation agreements in different sectors
• “The government of Rwanda is committed to cementing bilateral cooperation with the government of Angola and working together in addressing regional, continental and global challenges that affect our countries,”

Travelling to Angola from Rwanda has been made easy! Rwandan Nationals travelling to Angola will not be required to have visas after the two countries have signed a new agreement to facilitate such.

On Friday, April 15, 2022, Rwanda and Angola signed nine cooperation agreements in different sectors, including:

• Agriculture and livestock
• Local administration
• Health
• Mineral resources
• Oil and gas
• Trade and investment
• Double taxation avoidance
• Extradition 
• legal assistance and transfer of convicted persons.

The discussions took place in Kigali, Rwanda, with a high-level delegation …

The International Monetary Fund projects that Rwanda will post 7 per cent growth in 2022

• Rwanda weathered the Covid-19 pandemic to hit double-digit growth of 10.3 per cent for 2021 
• Rwanda’s life expectancy has risen from 49 in 2000 to 66.6 in 2017, while extreme poverty fell from 40 per cent to 16 per cent

The economic growth in East Africa is expected to flourish with the admission of the DRC to the East African Community (EAC).

This move increases the region’s bargaining power and has offered an alternative port of entry that will facilitate international trade. It has also turned the focus to the region and its economic impact on the continent and the world at large.

Among the seven countries in East Africa, Rwanda has reported the most rapid economic growth in the region.

Over the years, Rwanda has endeared itself to the donor community: a nation where …

To push and advocate to circular economy uptake around the globe, the European Union (EU) launched the SWITCH to Circular Economy Value Chains project. The SWITCH to Green (S2G) project is designed to accelerate the uptake of circular practices.

SWITCH aims to improve the business environment and targets value chain actors to increase awareness as the basis to facilitate transformation.

“The overall objective is to support the circular economy transition, thereby contributing to sustainable growth, low carbon and climate resilient development, decent jobs’ creation, and safer, healthier and pollution-free environment,”

The project is designed to deliver tools and services to support the overall coherence and coordination of the EU international partnerships in the green circular economy model. The SWITCH to Green Facility experts work to provide direct support in integrating the Circular Economy across the related value chains from the producers to the final consumers.…

In October 2021 Nigeria became the first country in Africa and of among few in the world to issue a digital currency that was dubbed ‘eNaira’.

Financial experts say the digital currency issued by central banks cut transaction costs and increase financial inclusion.

Maurice Muhiza Rwamigabo, Head of Exploration & Coordinator at the Accelerator Lab (an innovation and technology lab) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Rwanda, said in an opinion article titled ‘Should Rwanda adopt a national digital currency?’ that if Rwanda wants to restructure its financial system and position itself as an important player in the future global economy, it should systematically assess and take the steps needed to develop its own Central Bank Digital CBDC. 

“A CBDC would offer Rwandans a safe, free, and easy alternative to cash. It would expand financial inclusion by enabling more of the unbanked population to participate in the formal …

The CET maximum rate was a realization by the EAC Secretariat on the proposed Common External Tariff (CET) rates of 30 per cent, 33 per cent and 35 per cent classified under the fourth (maximum) band, which include textiles, iron, steel and motor vehicles.

The East African Business Council (EABC) urges the partner states- Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan- to adopt the maximum CET tariff trade to spur industrialization and strengthen the regional value chain.

In 2020, the total intra-EAC trade stood at 11.8 per cent, amounting to US$6.39 billion. The proposed 35 per cent tariff is set to boost the trade between EAC member states to US$6.4 billion.…

Tanzania Railway Investment

In the most recent development, an additional 282km of the railway are been constructed to connect Tanzania and Burundi giving the latter access to East Africa’s biggest and busiest port.

The construction is an extension of the already laid down Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Tanzania. The two governments have signed an agreement that paves way for new rail to be laid at a sum of US$900 million.

What does this extension mean for Burundi and how will it benefit Tanzania?  

Apart from the obvious economic benefits, lets first consider the small towns through which the railway snakes. From Tanzania’s little town of Uvinza in Kigoma region to the bustling capital city of Gitega in Burundi, the railway is expected to spark life, rejuvenate slowed businesses and build new people relations.

None said it better than Burundian Minister for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning Domitien Ndihokubwayo who …

• EAC Secretariat Secretary-General Peter Mathuki has hailed the governments of the Republic of Rwanda and the Republic of Uganda for their efforts ahead of the reopening of the Gatuna-Katuna border post
• He said the reopening would strengthen bilateral ties between the two EAC Partner States, which will revitalise social, economic and political relations
• Mathuki added that the border would also promote peace and security across the region

The EAC Secretariat has lauded Rwanda and Uganda for their efforts to reopen the Gatuna-Katuna border post on 31st January 2022.

In a statement seen by The Exchange Africa, EAC Secretary General Peter Mathuki hailed the move terming it as a boost to regional integration.

The move, he added, would strengthen bilateral ties between the two EAC Partner States, which will revitalise social, economic and political relations.

“Reopening this strategic trade route is in line with the EAC Common Market Protocol and will …

• Extracts from Lake Kivu are sustainable as it would take centuries to exhaust the gas already accumulated in the lake.
• Darchambeau says that an explosion of Lake Kivu would present a risk to over two million people in both Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• The Rwandan government made a US$400 million concession agreement with Gasmeth Energy to process and compress the methane gas onshore to create compressed natural gas (CNG).

Rwanda has come up with an invention of its kind, The KivuWatt power station. The energy producer lies somewhere between a renewable and non-renewable source of energy. (Phentermine)

For thousands of years, volcanic activity in Lake Kivu has caused a massive accumulation of carbon dioxide and methane to dissolve in the depths of the water. The Engineers of the KivuWatt company have discovered a way to generate electricity from the lake.

There are only three such …

The Maputo daily Noticias wrote after the SADC summit that a budgetary allocation of US$29.5 million has been set aside for the three-month extension, after high-level consultations and this would mean until at least mid-April.

The SAMIM extension set from mid-January.

Addressing the opening session of the summit, the current SADC Chairperson, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera, urged regional bloc member states to stick together and ensure that SAMIM remains multidimensional and comprehensive.…