WB commends Rwanda’s partnership

 

The newly appointed World Bank Country Director, Diariétou Gaye has expressed satisfaction with the existing cooperation and partnership between Rwanda and the World Bank Group.

“It is a pleasant job to work with the Government of Rwanda, we can see the result of our work on ground” Gaye said.

Gaye made the remarks while paying a courtesy call to Rwanda’s Prime Minister, Dr. Pierre Damien Habumuremyi this 22 May 2013. Gaye is the World Bank Country Director in charge of Rwanda, Kenya and Erithrea with her office in Nairobi.

Premier pointed out that the Government is committed to work closely with the World Bank for the benefit of the people of Rwanda and appreciated the good partnership and support of the World Bank that match with the Government priorities.

In a related development, the Minister Agnes Kalibata, who also received the World Bank representative at the ministry this May 21, 2013; congratulated and welcomed her to the support of the Ministry of Agriculture & Animal Resources. She expressed her enthusiasm for working closely together in the future.

World Bank has also maintained a long relationship with Rwanda, especially with the Ministry of Agriculture & Animal Resources. Two of its most notable support projects to the agriculture sector based in Rwanda are the Rural Sector Support Project (RSSP), which began in 2001, and the Land Husbandry, Water Harvesting, and Hillside Irrigation Project (LWH), started in 2010.

Because of these World Bank interventions and collaborations, over 6,500 hectares of marshlands have been rehabilitated or developed, and about 26,000 hectares of hillsides have been sustainably developed. Yields of various crops have improved drastically, and access to markets has been improved.

Rwanda has also proved it worth with a growing economy at the rate of 8% in the last five years according to its poverty reduction strategy, despite the shortfall in donor funding. The World Bank 2013 report on Doing Business in EAC released this May 2, ranked Rwanda as the most favorable place to do business and stated that it’s much easier and faster in Rwanda to register a business than it is in any of its neighbors in the East African Community (EAC) according

The World Bank Group mission to the Great Lakes region, the World Bank Group has also announced $1 billion in proposed new funding to help countries in the region to provide better health and education services, generate more cross-border trade, and fund hydroelectricity projects.