Kigali, 17th October 2019- The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) in collaboration with the Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) has hosted a one-day business summit to explore investment opportunities that would forge partnership in Rwanda’s growing infrastructure.

The Minister of Infrastructure and the guest of honor, Honorable Claver Gatete, acknowledged and thanked the management of BRD and DBSA for choosing Rwanda to host the Summit that triggers more economic cooperation between Rwanda and DBSA in terms of financing development projects. He emphasizes the role of infrastructure in driving the country’s economic growth. In Rwanda, infrastructure development takes a big chunk of the national budget. However, to achieve universal access to electricity, water, and sanitation by 2024 as well as improved road network and sustainable urbanization requires much more.

Currently, 83.5% of the infrastructure development is financed by the government and this is not sustainable, therefore partnership with financial institutions and the role of private sector are prioritized to accelerate sector growth.

Minister Gatete called upon institutions to share experiences on the strategies and mechanisms to partner with DBSA on the financing modalities.

The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) is a leading development finance institution working across the African continent. It aims to establish relationships with Rwanda in order to be able to fund key infrastructure projects in Transport, Energy, and ICT. With a clear mandate and strategy, the financial institution plays a catalytic role in delivering developmental infrastructure through strategic partnerships and by crowding in third party investors to offer integrated infrastructure solutions across the infrastructure value chain including planning, project preparation, financing, project implementation, and maintenance.

Rwanda is well known for its commitment to finding innovative ways to encourage private sector investment in the country.

The Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) has been a strategic partner for the country’s development by availing financing and advisory services to impactful entrepreneurs in key priorities. With this objective, the bank provides short, medium and long term funding for businesses, which significantly facilitates the emergence of a strong private sector and contributes to infrastructure development.

DBSA was established in 1983 and has a strong record of supporting regional development and integration, aimed at facilitating trade in Africa by investing in infrastructure projects in sub-Sahara Africa.