President Paul Kagame on Friday, June 16, received Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank’s Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa, and they discussed Rwanda’s electrification drive, among other topics.
“They discussed the exponential growth in electrification across the country and the World Bank plan to prioritise private sector investment and poverty reduction,” the Office of the President tweeted.
As of November 2022, more than 70 per cent of Rwandan households were connected to electricity, according to Rwanda Energy Group (REG). The number has risen from a modest two per cent in 2000. The government targets to connect all households to electricity by 2024.
One of the largest development partners of Rwanda, the World Bank maintains key support in various sectors including infrastructure, agriculture, education, skills development, and social protection, among others.
The energy sector is among those supported by the World Bank. In 2017, the Rwandan government and the bank signed a $375 million programme.
Kwakwa, who has been in the country for days, visited various World Bank-funded development projects in different parts of the country.
Earlier on Friday she met with Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente.
A former World Bank country manager in Rwanda from 2007-2009, Kwakwa commends the country for establishing itself as a “leader in innovation and technology.”
“[Rwanda] is one of the first nations in Africa to launch the delivery of critical medical supplies via drones, which has become important to overcoming geographical barriers and increasing efficiency in the distribution of medical supplies,” she wrote in an op-ed article published in The New Times earlier this week.
She noted, “The speed with which Rwanda has achieved major transformations […] is evidence that much more can be done to tackle remaining challenges and realise the country’s development aspirations.”