Minister Ndagijimana said construction of the Mamba-Rwabusoro-Rilima power line will continue, transmitting electricity that is generated from the Hakan power plant, located in Gisagara District.
Construction of the Kigoma-Ngozi power grid that interconnects Rwanda-Burundi, and Shango power grid that interconnects Rusumo-Bugesera will continue.
The government has also committed to providing electricity to 240 development sites and where important services are provided, including markets, educational institutions, and business centers.
In the 2020/21 budget, a project to provide electricity to the people across the country will be allocated Rwf 34.2 billion; the Kigoma-Ngozi power line project linking Rwanda and Burundi is worth Rwf9.9 billion.
Also set on the agenda are a project to build a power line connecting Rwanda to the Democratic Republic of Congo worth Rwf5.5 billion and Mamba-Rwabusoro-Rilima power line project worth Rwf 13.3 billion
Dr. Ndagijimana said that construction work on the KV 220 Mamba-Rwabusoro-Rilima power line with a length of 79.3 km and the 110 KV Bugesera-Gahanga power plant and its affiliates has reached 96.5%.
He added that the construction of a 119-kilometer pipeline with a capacity of 220 KV for Rusumo-Bugesera-Shango construction work is completed at 50%.
According to the Ministry, Rusumo cluster registered the highest number with 33, followed by Rusizi with 12 cases, Kigali recorded 7, Nyamasheke 4, and Rubavu 3.
The report also talks of a total of 11 new recoveries registered, taking the number of recoveries to 370.
The country’s testing capabilities have continued to improve with a total of 2, 287 tests conducted in the last 24hrs, bringing the total number of tests so far done to 113, 544.
The Director General of Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana said that among the categories of people who tested positive in Kigali were moto-taxi operators after two of them were identified in Kicukiro and Nyarugenge districts.
“Detecting new cases among this category confirms the fears we had earlier on the motorbikes being a risk factor,” Dr. Nsanzimana said.
The other cases in Kigali are linked to previously confirmed cases that were traced.
“We want to encourage people to continue being vigilant. These cases confirm to us that the virus is still among us. We need to continue taking precautions as we also work around the clock to trace and contain the spread,” Dr. Nsanzimana said.
Dr. Nsanzimana said that there are practical precautions that people can take on their part to minimize the risk, including observing social distancing measures and taking safety precautions, including those who use motos as a form of transport.
He also said that the movement of people from one place to another could be a major risk factor for transmission but experts are working to see if indeed there could be a province to province risk for transmission.
The fiscal policy in 2020/21 will be in line with COVID-19 economic recovery plan and National Strategy for Transformation (NST-1) priorities. The focus will be on increasing health-related spending to contain the epidemic and to strengthen the health system, scaling up social protection, strengthening the education sector, as well as supporting private sector through the Economic Recovery Fund.
{{Resources}}
The FY 2020-21 budget will be financed through domestic resources at Rwf 1,969.8 billion representing 60.7% of the entire budget. The remainder of the budget will be funded through external sources at Rwf 1,275.9 billion which accounts for 39.3% of the total budget. These include grants worth Rwf 492.5 billion and loans worth Rwf 783.4.
{{Expenditure}}
Government will spend Rwf 3,245.7 billion in 2020/21. Recurrent expenditure will take up Rwf 1,583.0 billion which accounts for 48.8% of the total budget.
Development projects are projected to consume up to Rwf 1,298.5 billion, which represents 40% of the total budget. Domestically financed projects are estimated at Rwf 703.4 billion, while externally financed projects are projected at Rwf 595.1 billion.
In addition, Net Lending has been allocated Rwf 306.5 billion which accounts for 9.4% of the total budget. Rwf 35.2 billion is allocated to payment of arrears and Rwf 22.6 billion reserved for accumulation of deposits to boost the Government reserves representing 1.1% and 0.7% of the total budget respectively.
“The share of recurrent budget in the total budget of 2020/2021 reduced by 2.6% compared to 2019/2020, while development budget and net lending increased by 2.6%. This confirms Government’s effort to contain recurrent expenditures and to focus on development spending,” Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning said.
{{NST-1 and Resources Allocation }}
Government’s expenditure policies in fiscal year 2020/21 are guided by National Strategy for Transformation priorities and objectives while ensuring appropriate allocation by promoting made in Rwanda to reduce trade deficit and build economic resilience.
To this end, the Economic Transformation pillar takes the lion’s share of the resources at Rwf 1,802 billion amounting to 55.5 % of the total budget. Social transformation will take up Rwf 960.4 billion (29.6%) while Transformational Governance is allocated Rwf 482.7 billion representing 14.9% of the total budget.
In line with NST-1 strategic objectives, some of the priority areas agreed during planning and budgeting consultations formed the basis for resource allocation in 2020/21fiscal year. These include:
Strengthening health system by increasing accessibility to quality health services for all
-* Increasing agriculture and livestock productivity
-* Strengthening Social Protection programs by scaling up coverage.
-* Promote employment through investment in public infrastructure.
-* Support businesses affected by COVID-19 to recover, boost their business and contribute to the national economic growth.
-* Support Made in Rwanda policy to reduce trade deficit and build economic resilience.
-* Promote digital infrastructure and technologies to improve service delivery
-* Improve access to quality education
-* Continue eradication of malnutrition and stunting
-* Strengthen disaster preparedness and management
The 2020/2021 draft finance law conforms to the 2020/21 – 2022/23 Budget Framework Paper that was presented to Parliament on May 21, 2020 and amended to reflect the recommended actions by the Parliament as submitted on June 5, 2020.
Rwanda’s fastest-growing service provider of Voice, Data, and Mobile Financial services has today partnered with online money transfer service WorldRemit to enable Airtel Money customers to receive remittances instantly to their Airtel Money wallets from World Remit users across the globe. Top countries include but not limited to: The United States, Canada, Belgium, United Kingdom, Australia, France, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, and Germany.
With this partnership, World Remit customers across the world now have the option of visiting the World Remit website, choosing Airtel Money as their preference, and follow the prompts. Commenting on the launch, Amit Chawla, Airtel Rwanda Managing Director said:
“We are excited about this partnership with World Remit as it allows our customers to receive money from their friends and family across the world at their comfort. This contributes to our drive to offer our customers the convenience of using their Airtel Money wallets to carry out their day to day activities. WorldRemit makes it easy to send money to Airtel Money accounts in Rwanda from more than 50 countries around the world. Just download the app or create your free account to start transferring money to family and friends in Rwanda today.”
“We are delighted to partner with Airtel Money to ensure that Rwandans can have access to financial support from their loved ones abroad. This is more important than ever with lockdown measures in place. This partnership allows us to give customers even more remittance options whilst continuing to provide a convenient, safe, and secure service.” said Carine Umurerwa Country Manager, Rwanda, WorldRemit.
Airtel Money enables users to perform local and international money transfers, make utility payments, save money in their mobile wallets, purchase airtime, and access a range of mobile financial products.
WorldRemit sends more money transfers to Mobile Money accounts than any other provider. Over half of WorldRemit’s money transfers to Africa are now received on Mobile Money accounts
Ngiriyambere Jean Baptiste from Gifurwe Village in Gifurwe Cell took out insurance from ‘Radiant Yacu Ltd’ in November 2019 and paid Rwf1000 per month via Mobile Money.
He was involved in a bicycle accident in June 2020 and was treated at Butare University Hospital, CHUB, where he spent 10 days. Radiant Yacu Ltd paid for his medical services as he had an accident insurance cover with Radiant.
“I got a text message on ‘Radiant Turikumwe’ for I had already subscribed for the cover. To join, I typed * 531 #, I read all the instructions and chose a thousand insurance,” a 26-year-old barber said.
He says it was after the accident that he realized the benefits of insurance, encouraging other residents to subscribe for the same.
{{How Radiant Yacu decided to visit Ngiriyambere}}
CEO of Radiant Yacu Ltd, Amb. Joseph Habineza told IGIHE that once they saw how a rural resident far from the City of Kigali thought of taking insurance, they decided to visit him and thank him for his membership.
Habineza added that another reason they visited him was to set an example for all Rwandans.
“Jean Baptiste is the first Rwandan to pay for our Radiant since we started,” he said.
{{The public is touched by the events}}
Some of Ngiriyambere’s neighbors were pleased with the way Radiant Yacu visited a resident in the village, demonstrating that a friend in need is a friend indeed.
Nyiranjyinshuti Espérance said she did not know about insurance but she is now aware and happy about it so she is going to subscribe with Radiant.
Ngiriyambere Jean Baptiste’s family members, including his father, Ahingereje Martin, and his wife, Jeannette Nyirahagenimana, also say that they were touched by the way Radiant Yacu Ltd helped him, so they are also going to insure themselves.
Amb. Joseph Habineza explained that Radiant has a spectrum of insurance products that cater to different categories of people, with premiums ranging from Rwf 500; 1000; 2000; 5000 or 10,000. When the affiliate as a medical problem and goes to the hospital and stays there for more than three days, he or she starts receiving the support.
Amb. Joseph Habineza emphasized that insurance is not just a reserve of well-to-do Rwandans, but all people can be brought in the loop with small subscriptions under Radiant Yacu.
Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Hamdun Twizeyimana, the Eastern region Police spokesperson said the maize was recovered from two suspected thieves; Emmanuel Nsanzimana, 28 and Innocent Fasasi, 30.
The two suspects were working for Sibomana as security guards at the store.
“Nsanzimana and Fasasi were both guards at the store, they stole the maize at different occasions and would hide it in the nearest homes,” said CIP Twizeyimana.
“Local residents realised that the two guards were stealthily taking the maize from the stores and informed the Police in Rilima. The victim wasn’t aware,” he further explained.
“With the help of the residents, Police arrested the two guards and recovered the maize.
We commend the residents for the ownership… not just being bystanders as the theft was going on but to fight and prevent it.”
The recovered maize was handed over to the owner.
Sibomana lauded the Police’s quick response to recover his goods and commended the residents’ responsiveness.
“I live in Kigali but I have my stores in Rilima. I wouldn’t have known anything had it not been the ownership of my neighbors in Rilima and I am thankful for that spirit of neighborhood watch,” said Sibomana.
Theft, under article 166 of the penal code, is punishable with an imprisonment of between one and two years, a fine of between Rwf1 million and Rwf2 million, a community service of not more than six months or one of these penalties.
Winners were nominated among the 15 finalists who participated in the “Impact Reimagined”; a bi-annual competition that helps to identify, to nurture and to invest in profit driven businesses whose products and services intend to deliver positive social impact.
Aqua Safi Ltd emerged the overall winner walked away with cash prizes worth Rwf2million for the first prize, while Ineza Bamboo Weaving became first runner-up and won Rwf1.5million for the second prize; Safe Santa Ltd, the second runner-up received Rwf1million for the third prize.
Eric Safari, the founder of Aqua Safi Ltd emerged as the best for inventing technology that will be used to conserve fish ecosystem by being able to detect the amount of toxic substance in water.
Safari said the technology uses a device that is inserted in the lakes to detect changes and in fish breeding environment and thus ultimately help to reduce the loss in fish productivity in the country.
“Aqua Safi has a device that has a real time dashboard. When you put it in a fish farm, it sends a short message (SMS) when the water threatens to turn acidic the farmer can take mitigation measures,” Safari said.
The device has the capacity to alert the fish farmer of any problem within the fish habitat and they have experimented with fish farmers in Bugesera and Nyanza districts, whose feedback has been positive.
Ineza Bamboo Weaving by Francine Iradukunda, will add value to bamboo trees that will be turned into cost effective but durable furniture.
Pierre Niyonzima of Safe Santa Ltd invented a device that can help detect LPG gas levels and prevent potential explosion.
The device with a real time dashboard sits on the gas cylinder and turns off any tank that leaks automatically and sends a SMS alert.
The Kigali city Vice Mayor in Charge of Socio-Economic Affairs, Nadine Gatsinzi Umutoni said that all these innovative inventions are a good opportunity for youth to build a better future for their country.
Through the 1000 Alternatives, the three winners are expected to be sponsored to take trips to Finland and Israel to meet and share ideas with like-minded startups.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is the German government’s central scientific institution in the field of biomedicine. It is one of the most influential bodies in Germany’s public health.
The report of the institute informs the Federal Government on the decision to take in regard of incoming travelers from Rwanda.
For travelers entering the Federal Republic of Germany that have been in a risk area at any time within the last 14 days prior to entry are obliged to be quarantined by the responsible federal states.
According to the Institute, the classification as a risk area is based on joint analysis and the decision by the Federal Ministry of Health, the Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
They are charged with three counts of felony, misappropriation of public funds, unlawful public procurement and conspiracy to commit fraud.
The charges against the defendants allege that they procured and sold a commercial building to the government of Rwanda at Rwf 9,850,000,000 yet the value of the said commercial building had been established at Rwf 7,600,000,000.
The house was also reportedly purchased without the knowledge of the Rwanda Public Procurement Authority, even before negotiations between the suppliers and the bidders were carried out.
