{The EU (European Union) has just made its final end-of-year budget support payment of €27.8 million to the Ministry of Finance. This is channeled to agriculture, social protection, rural roads and nutrition. }
With this payment, the total amount of EU grant aid paid to Rwanda during 2014 is €69 million. Two thirds of this amount takes the form of budget support, reflecting EU confidence in Rwanda’s financial management system.
EU ambassador to Rwanda, Michael Ryan, echoed this confidence: “This has been a good year for the EU’s partnership with Rwanda. We have consistently maintained our financial commitments to Rwanda, and the figures speak for themselves. ”
“We signed a new aid package a few months ago with Minister Gatete [Rwanda’s Minister of Finance et Economic Planning] for €460 million covering the next six years, to focus on energy, agriculture, governance and accountability. We aim to allocate 80% of this as budget support, in sectors worked out in full agreement with government. Let there be no misunderstanding. We align our assistance with government priorities”, he added.
Energy has become an area of strong interest. President Kagame of Rwanda and José Manuel Barroso, the former president of European Commission, signed an accord on sustainable energy co-operation in New York in September.
And last month, the EU and East Africa Community (EAC) states finally agreed a new, forward-looking economic partnership agreement.
This will give Rwanda, and the EU, a predictable, long term basis for trade, and lead to the gradual liberalisation of markets, with suitable safeguards for Rwandan producers. The trade pact is now to be ratified by the EAC.
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