Rwanda Preps for 2014 AfDB Meetings

The annual meetings theme this year is “The next 50 Years: The Africa we want” and participants will look towards the next half century and what the continent hopes to achieve.

The event will be attended by Heads of State, Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from the Bank’s 54 regional member countries (RMCs), and will attract more than 2,500 delegates representing multilateral finance institutions, development agencies, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, civil society and the media.

Claver Gatete, Rwandan Minister of Finance and Economic Planning said, “Rwanda is honored to host the function. This landmark occasion, which also coincides with the 20th commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsi, is a testament of our long standing cooperation with the Bank”.

The African Development Bank has supported Rwanda since 1974, and been central to Rwanda’s economic recovery.

“The Bank’s interventions in infrastructure, agriculture and rural development, and human capital development have contributed to our structural transformation efforts,” said Minister Gatete.

“With total commitment of close to US $400 million, the Bank’s support is aligned with Rwanda’s Vision 2020 that aims to get Rwanda to a middle income economy by 2020, by improving its competitiveness while ensuring unity and inclusive growth and development. AfDB’s contribution in the sectors of sanitation, transport agriculture, private development and education seek to ensure that Rwanda achieves its developmental goals.”

The Bank’s President Dr. Donald Kaberuka said, “The AfDB is proud to be part of Rwanda’s quest for economic transformation. The Bank’s new Ten-Year Strategy is very relevant to what Rwanda is trying to achieve – inclusive growth, ensuring that this growth is sustainable through a gradual transition to green growth and a robust human capital development”.

The Annual Meetings come amidst the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the AfDB Group, with focus now turned to growth that translates into transformation all the while addressing challenges in infrastructure, particularly in energy.

“Today, that growth must be translated into transformation. That means that there must not be only a growth in GDP, but a transformation of our economies in order to be able to create jobs, rise in the value chain, and be part of international trade,” said Dr. Kaberuka.

AfDB recognizes that Rwanda has averaged 8 percent economic growth since 2000, demonstrating a healthy resilience in the face of adverse global economic conditions.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, a multilateral development finance institution, was established in 1964 to promote social and economic development in Africa.

Its mandate is to support poverty reduction and promote inclusive and sustainable growth for its regional member countries through its lending and non-lending activities including policy advisory services.

Source: Chimpreports

UM– USEKE.RW