The Ambassador of Germany to Rwanda Peter Fahrenholtz ( L ) and Rwanda’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Claver Gatete ( R) holding talks in Kigali
The Federal Republic of Germany and Rwanda and are holding inter-government consultations aimed at jointly evaluating the status of cooperation between the two countries.
The two-day consultations which commenced on June 17, 2014 will partly focus on determining the achievements of development cooperation phase (2011 and 2013).
The talks will also tackle and strategize future relations between the two countries.
Under the 2011-2013 development cooperation phase, Germany pledged €60 million support to Rwanda, of which €41.5 million were earmarked for Financial Cooperation and €18.5 million euros for Technical Cooperation.
The Ambassador of Germany to Rwanda Peter Fahrenholtz acknowledged Rwanda’s achievements in improving the lives of Rwandans through championing an inclusive growth plan reflected in Vision 2020 and the medium term development strategy, EDPRS2.
“Our Development cooperation is the cornerstone of our relations and Germany will remain a reliable partner to Rwanda,” Ambassador Fahrenholtz pledged.
The Federal Republic of Germany is an important partner, occupying fifth position in the list of donor countries.
Just a few months later after aid cut by donor countries in 2012, it was Germany that first lifted the sanctions after acknowledging that Rwanda played a positive role in the regional negotiations on the DRC peace process
This however pushed the Germany’s development minister at the time, Dirk Niebel, to ensure that from then on German financial aid would be channeled directly to individual projects and no longer into the Rwandan budget.
Some of the German support comes from the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate whose partnership with Rwanda goes back more than 30 years.
Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Claver Gatete acknowledged Germany’s participation in the Rwanda’s Development aspirations. “I am happy to note that Germany intervention currently focuses on key development domains which are Rwanda’s top priority,” Minister Gatete said.
Under the existing Donor Division of Labor, the German government is active in interventions such as decentralization, education (TVET), Private Sector development, youth employment and financial sector. It also provides support to the Public Finance Management basket fund.
Division of labor is a government-led streamlining of aid delivery that ensures development assistance is not overcrowded in some sectors while others receive little or no assistance.
Ms. Kirsten Garaycochea, the head of the Germany Delegation in Rwanda for the consultations retreated Rwanda’s ambitious development achievements ranging from poverty reduction, promotion of investments, private sector development as well as achievement of Millennium Development Goals.
“Rwanda has registered impressive development achievement in the past 20 years and we look forward to be part of this journey,” Ms. Garaycochea said.