{Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has visited East Africa’s largest solar power plant on Thursday in his role as Patron of the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI). The Rwamagana plant will generate energy for over 15,000 Rwandan households, adding almost 6% to the country’s total energy supply.}
The plant is located on land owned by Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, whose mission is to care for Rwanda’s most vulnerable children orphaned before and after the Rwandan genocide. The village is leasing land to house the solar facility, the fees from which will help pay for a portion of the Village’s charitable expenses.
The plant in Rwamagana is one the first major projects to benefit from the work of the Strategic Capacity Building Initiative (SCBI) – a pioneering partnership between the Government of Rwanda and AGI.- a pioneering partnership between the Government of Rwanda and AGI. SCBI pairs young Rwandan civil servants with established experts who together tackle key development issues including power generation, farmer productivity and securing inward investment.
AGI has worked with the Government of Rwanda since 2008. Our team has been providing support to central institutions within the Government of Rwanda such as the Presidency, the Prime Minister’s Office, the National Capacity Building Secretariat (NCBS) and the Ministries of Finance, Agriculture and Infrastructure. We are supporting the systems and structures of effective government, so that the lives of millions of Rwandans who live in poverty can be improved.
Tony Blair said:
“This is an important development. In today’s world, if you’ve got electricity, you’ve got a connection to the world. The moment you’ve got that everything else becomes enabled.
“The plant means thousands of Rwandan families now have access to power, which will allow them to do things many of us globally take for granted. It also further demonstrates the progress Rwanda is making and how – through successful partnerships – vital programmes of reform can be implemented.”
Hon. Minister James Musoni, Minister of Infrastructure, said:
“Electricity is an essential driver of Rwanda’s future development. Access to affordable and sustainable quality energy solutions will lift national productivity and be key to the achievement of Rwanda’s growth targets.”
Chaim Motzen, Gigawatt Global Managing Director and Co-Founder and who led the development of the project, said:
“Our project proves the viability of financing and building large-scale solar fields in sub-Saharan Africa, and we hope that this solar field serves as a catalyst for many more sustainable energy projects in the region. The speed with which this project was completed is a tribute to the strength of the Rwandan government’s institutions and their laser-focus on increasing Rwanda’s generation capacity as well as to the nimbleness of our team and partners which spanned eight countries.”
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