The summit was preceded by the 45th extraordinary meeting of the EAC Council of Ministers.
The summit left regional presidents giving consent for the conclusion of negotiations that will see the Democratic Republic of Congo join the East African Community (EAC).
“The summit directed the Council to expeditiously commence and conclude negotiations with the DRC for admission to the East African Community and report to the next summit,” reads part of a communique released after the meeting.
The Heads of State also directed the EAC Secretariat to make a report on proposals to amend sections of the EAC Treaty that deal with the quorum at meetings.
“The summit considered the proposal to amend rule 11 of the rules of procedure for the summit of the heads of state or government and directed the Secretariat to convene an extraordinary meeting of the sectoral council on legal and judicial affairs to deliberate and advise on this proposal for consideration by the next summit which shall consider and conclude on this matter.”
The DRC applied for admission into East African Community in June 2019.
Today’s meeting, led by EAC Chair President Uhuru Kenyatta also observed a moment of silence in honour of former Tanzania President John Magafuli, who died in March 2021.
Other Heads of State present at the summit include; Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Samia Suluhu (Tanzania), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda).
Burundi was represented by Vice President Prosper Bazombanza, Deng Kuol (also Minister of EAC Affairs) represented South Sudan.
Kagame met with his counterpart in Paris on Monday 20th December 2021 following his counterpart’s maiden visit to Rwanda in May 2021.
On his visit to Rwanda, Macron visited Kigali Genocide Memorial where he paid tribute to over 250,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi and admitted his country’s responsibility during the Genocide.
He also participated in a joint press conference with his host, President Paul Kagame, visited Tumba College of Technology where a Department of Mechatronics will be set up through a partnership with French Agency for Development (AFD).
On the same day, Macron visited Gikondo Health Center before officiating the launch of French Cultural Center located near Kigali Convention Center, Kimihurura Sector, Gasabo District.
On Thursday night, Macron and Kagame watched quarter-finals of the inaugural season of Basketball Africa League (BAL) during which Patriots BBC representing Rwanda beat Ferroviário de Maputo representing Mozambique 73-71 at Kigali Arena.
Among others, his visit left various agreements signed between both countries. The pacts include a framework for bilateral cooperation signed between French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian and Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vincent Biruta.
The two countries signed an agreement for sports and talent development which saw Rwanda receiving €1.5 million (approximately Rwf1.84 billion) for sport and talent development.
Rwanda’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana also signed a Euro 60 million financing agreement with Rémy Rioux the Director-General of French Agency for Development (AFD).
His coming to Rwanda is considered a major milestone to turning a new page for both countries relations blurred by France’s failure to admit its role during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
Rwanda, France diplomatic relations date back in 1962 after obtaining Independence.
The new measures announced through a communiqué released by the Office of Prime Minister, follow the upsurge in COVID-19 cases particularly in the City of Kigali.
Among others, wedding related receptions are prohibited while traditional, civil and religious weddings should not exceed 40 persons.
The communiqué also reads that public transport will continue with buses operating at full capacity with seated passengers only. It is recommended that windows remain opened for proper ventilation.
For public transport to and from the City of Kigali, bus operators must ensure that all passengers are vaccinated.
Bars will continue to resume gradually, in adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures and will operate with 50% occupancy limit.
All services held at places of worship should not exceed 30% maximum occupancy while attendees must be fully vaccinated.
The council was scheduled on 22nd December 2021 at Kigali Convention Centre.
The decision follows the confirmation of new COVID-19 variant dubbed ‘Omicron’ and strict measures implemented to contain the spread of the virus.
As per current directives, movements are prohibited from 10p.m to 4a.m while all businesses must close by 9p.m.
Physical meetings are allowed to continue without exceeding 50% occupancy while participants are urged to present negative COVID-19 test results.
Two days following the release of new directives on 17th December 2021, Rwanda confirmed 383 new COVID-19 cases including 283 from Kigali City.
On 18th December, the Minister of Health, Dr. Daniel Ngamije attributed the rise in cases to Omicron variant noting that the country needs to implement stringent measures to contain the pandemic.
IGIHE has learnt that the latter is among major reasons that triggered the adjournment of Umushyikirano.
The council was expected to bring together government officials, parliamentarians, Rwandans within the country and abroad among others.
The 18th National Dialogue Council cancelled in 2020 was scheduled on 16th December 2020. It was cancelled by the cabinet meeting held on 14th December which also postponed all national events.
During the council, the president delivers ‘State of the Nation’ address.
Umushyikirano is Kinyarwanda’s equivalent of ‘dialogue’. During the dialogue, participants exchange ideas, share experiences, peer review and question each other. Today Umushyikirano is known as the National Dialogue Council.
As part of efforts to reconstruct Rwanda and nurture a shared national identity, the Government of Rwanda drew on aspects of Rwandan culture and traditional practices to enrich and adapt its development programs to the country’s needs and context.
The result is a set of Home Grown Solutions – culturally owned practices translated into sustainable development programs. One of these Home Grown Solutions is Umushyikirano.
Governed by the Rwandan Constitution (Article 168), Umushyikirano is a forum where participants debate issues relating to the state of the nation, the state of local government and national unity.
The Office of the Prime Minister is responsible for the overall co-ordination of Umushyikirano.
The new measures are imposed following the emergence of new variant of COVID-19 dubbed Omicron. On Thursday, Rwanda registered 125 new COVID-19 cases which increased to 153 on the next day.
The communiqué released by the Office of Prime Minister shows that all businesses must close by 9p.m.
Concerts and live band entertainment have been suspended. Traditional, civil and religious weddings related reception as well as other social gatherings should not exceed 30% of venue capacity or exceed 75 persons.
Among others; events conducted in homes should not exceed 20 persons while local authorities must be informed 7 days before the event.
Kagame is among Heads of State and Government from across Africa who attended the summit scheduled on 17th and 18th December 2021.
As he held talks with his counterpart, Kagame was accompanied by officials including the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr. Vincent Biruta.
The bilateral meeting held ahead of the 3rd Africa-Turkey Partnership Summit, revolved around strengthening cooperation between Rwanda and Turkey.
Rwanda and Turkey have been enjoying friendly relations. Turkish Embassy in Kigali started its functions in December 2014 while Rwanda’s Embassy in Ankara was opened in August 2013.
In September 2021, Minister Biruta visited Turkey where he met with his counterpart, and signed memoranda of understanding on cooperation in the areas of sports, education and industry.
At the time, Dr. Biruta interacted with Turkish businesspeople and commended the country’s contribution to Rwanda’s response to COVID-19.
In 2019, both countries’ bilateral trade volume stood at US$32.4 million and US$81 million in 2021.
Through Türkiye Scholarships Programme, 35 students from Rwanda received opportunities to pursue studies in Turkey in 2019/2020.
So far, 182 Rwandan students have been granted scholarship to study in Turkey since 1992.
Both countries also enjoy cooperation in the areas of security. In 2020, Rwanda National Police (RNP) and Turkey National Police (TNP) agreed to strengthen cooperation in varied policing disciplines especially in areas of capacity building.
The two Police institutions renewed the commitment when Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dan Munyuza visited Turkey at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart, Dr. Mehmet Aktas to enhance the existing cooperation between the two police forces.
In 2015, the Governments of Rwanda and Turkey signed security agreements to reinforce the existing bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
Also signed in the same event held in Ankara, was a memorandum of understanding between Police institutions of the two countries to cooperate in areas of training, focusing on counter terrorism, cybercrimes, Special Forces training and Training of Trainers (ToT) courses, among others.
Col Gatarayiha once served as the Director General of Rwanda Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration for three years.
The Minister of Defence has also promoted Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and other ranks including four Warrant Officer II promoted to Warrant Officer I.
Among others, 14 NCOs have been promoted from Sergeant Major to Warrant Officer II while 10 Staff Sergeants have been promoted to Sergeant Major.
The Minister has also elevated 225 from Sergeant to Staff Sergeant, 2836 from Corporal to Sergeant and 12690 from Private to Corporal.
As per figures released by the National Institute of Statistics (NISR), the service sector remained the main contributor with 48% of GDP followed by agriculture with 23% and industry with 21% of DGP while the remaining 7% is attributed to net tax on products.
Rwanda and the rest of the world continued to experience COVID-19 effects in 2021.
According to NISR, the economy was affected by several measures taken to limit spread of the pandemic, leading to negative GDP growth, in the second, third and fourth quarters in 2020. However, economic recovery measures were put in place leading the GDP to grow by 3.5% and 20.6% in Q1 and Q3 in 2021 respectively.
In the third quarter of 2021, the GDP grew by 10.1 percent compared to the same quarter in 2020.
NISR shows that most economic activities have recovered to pre-Covid-19 levels except few such as hotels and restaurants, transport activities, administrative and support services.
On the third quarter, the agriculture sector grew by 6%, industry by 12% while services grew by 11%.
In agriculture, food crops grew by 6% due to a good harvest of agricultural season B and C of 2021. The production of export crops increased by 2% due to an increase of 4.7% in the production of coffee and 9.1% in the production of tea.
In industry, construction activities increased by 15%, manufacturing activities grew by 7% due to a 6% in the increase in the production of processed foods and 32% increase in manufacturing of non-metallic products. Mining and quarrying increased by 30%.
In service sector, transport grew by 19%, hotels and restaurants grew by 62% following a decrease of 55% in the third quarter of 2020. Education activities grew by 140% compared to the same quarter of 2020 where schools were partially closed.
Financial services activities grew by 11%, information and telecommunication services grew by 14% while human health and social work activities increased by 5%.
The Smart Education Project aims to improve Rwanda’s education ICT infrastructure by building an education platform system and establishing a dedicated networks system, provide a solid foundation for digital teaching, education resources sharing, and teaching methods innovation and the education level improvement for Rwandan citizens.
Speaking after the signing of the framework agreement, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana said: “This support will contribute to Rwanda’s National Transformation Strategy with a particular focus on building a knowledge-based economy through providing quality education for all”.
Commenting on the development, the Ambassador of the Peoples’ Republic of China to Rwanda, Mr. Rao Hongwei said: “As Rwanda continues to place ICT at the center of education, China is more than happy to be part and offer our concrete help. I firmly believe that the Smart Education Project will contribute to the betterment of digital infrastructure in Rwanda’s education sector and provide a solid foundation for teaching and learning based on data and information. It will create a strong impetus to the development of education in a quality and balanced way, to the cultivation of talents, and ultimately to Rwanda’s social economic development”.
The Government of Rwanda through the Ministry of Education is embarking on promotion of digital learning by increasing the number of schools connected to affordable internet connectivity and setting up a cost effective education content sharing system through “Smart Education”.
The project scope will focus on three main areas. These are dedicated education network, education data center as well smart campus and school network. The Project will connect 63 universities and higher learning institutions, and 1,437 schools from pre-primary to secondary and TVET schools.
China continues to be a strong development partner to Rwanda through continued support and cooperation in major sectors of the economy namely Transport, Agriculture, Health, Education and construction of Office buildings, among others.
The Hydroponic System is a system of growing crops without soil, often called soilless farming. In hydroponic farming and hydroponic systems, the soil is replaced with nutrient-rich water.
YEAN in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation is conducting a pilot phase on a soilless farming-hydroponic farming system that is believed to be more efficient and productive on a small land.
The CEO of YEAN, Etienne Niyigaba has told IGIHE that this farming system helps farmers to yield big on a small area with a sustainable investment.
“Every committed farmer with enough or a small budget can make it depending on exploited land size. Besides, it is very promising for high yields,” he said.
“We work with the Mastercard Foundation for the pilot phase of this project in Rwanda, implementing capacity building programs among the youth equipping them with the necessary skills to embrace the farming system. Creating innovations in agriculture should go hand in hand with job creation and venturing into market-oriented agriculture,” Niyigaba observed.
As he explained, they are currently working together on the “Rwanda Hydroponic Project” to promote the hydroponic technology that could provide opportunities for job creation, climate change adaptation, and food security for the Rwandan youth.”
Cecile Niyireba, an agronomist at YEAN, has said that working with the institution has improved her skills in advanced practices of soilless farming shared with other farmers.
“We also trained the youth on best ways to yield high on a small land,” she noted.
A student at the University of Lay Adventists of Kigali (UNILAK), Gentille Uwimbabazi pledged to make good use of acquired skills.
“We have been familiar with crops grown on soil but the new farming system is very unique and interesting. As a university student who benefitted from the training, I have developed interest in applying the farming method because it has proven to be successful and produces high yields,” she revealed.
Dioscore Shikama, the CEO of Food Bundles, a company that supplies agricultural produce explained that buyers are delighted with the quality and natural taste of food products obtained from such farming systems.
Through this project, YEAN and Uruhimbi Kageyo Cooperative (UKC) built demonstration fields where farmers are acquainted with best techniques in horticulture and the growing of fodder. So far, the project has trained 50 youth of whom 70% are female.
Agriculture accounts for 31 percent of Rwanda’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and remains the main source of income for the majority of Rwandans occupying 70% of the labor. The youth constituting the majority of Rwanda’s population are strongly encouraged to tap into opportunities available in the sector to spur their economic growth and contribute to national development.
{{About the Mastercard Foundation}}
The Mastercard Foundation works with visionary organizations to enable young people in Africa and in Indigenous communities in Canada to access dignified and fulfilling work.
It is one of the largest, private foundations in the world with a mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion to create an inclusive and equitable world. The Foundation was created by Mastercard in 2006 as an independent organization with its own Board of Directors and management. For more information on the Foundation, please visit: www.mastercardfdn.org
