Republic of Rwanda

Supporting Rwanda’s ambition to become a regional hub for producing pharmaceutical products. Our action focuses on:

• Regulatory strengthening for lifesaving, quality products: supporting the national regulator, the Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority, to effectively regulate the market and ensure quality and safety of products by providing laboratory equipment and ensuring capacity building through twinning, an exchange of expertise between Rwanda and EU Member States.
• Boosting skills and jobs: supporting Technical Vocational Education and Training programmes to ensure the skills needed in the pharmaceutical sector and local value chains are available in the country. The EU and Rwanda launched a Master of Science and PhD programme in biotechnology in partnership with European universities.
• Fostering research and innovation: strengthening local research and development, including through cooperation with European research institutes’ clinical trials. It will nurture the right environment for start-ups through a biotech accelerator and seed fund. 

Transforming the country’s agricultural sector towards sustainable and inclusive agriculture systems while ensuring environmental protection and biodiversity conservation. Our efforts focus on: 

• Inclusive and sustainable value chains: supporting the development of a variety of value chains including horticulture, fruits, aquaculture, fishery, and small livestock, while boosting the required skills for women and youth
• Kigali Wholesales Market: supporting the construction of the Kigali Wholesale Market, the first market of this kind in Eastern Africa and key in making Rwanda a distribution hub for fresh produces in the region.

Promoting Rwanda’s efforts in nurturing sustainable and resilient value chains for critical raw materials. 

The EU and Rwanda signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a strategic partnership on critical raw materials in February 2024. It is the framework to support Rwanda in formalising and professionalising its artisanal mining sector, to improve compliance with international standards and due diligence, providing a basis to engage with the country on the governance, transparency and traceability of raw materials and promote regional value chains, in line with the EU Great Lakes Strategy.

Fostering sustainable and inclusive urbanisation by focusing on:

• Informal settlements: upgrading informal settlements in Kigali, including measures for flood prevention.
• Modernising urban mobility: re-designing and reconstructing the central bus station, creating dedicated bus lanes, and implementing of intelligent traffic systems, as part of the Mombasa-Kisangani strategic corridor.
• Improving satellite cities: using smart city tools in Rwamagana and Nyamata.

Supporting the Government’s economic development strategy, aimed at diversifying the economy towards high productivity knowledge-based sectors, by investing in education, technical and vocational skills. Improving access to, and quality of early childhood development by constructing pre-primary classrooms across the country.

Improving access to energy through the construction of low- and medium-voltage networks, rehabilitating and upgrading distribution networks, and supporting the construction of a transmission line to the Ruzizi III regional hydro power plant.

Promoting sustainable development and environmental protection through biodiversity conservation and sustainable resource management. Our efforts focus on:

• Supporting the NaturAfrica initiative, an EU regional programme, to conserve key landscapes.
• Implementing the TAKIWAMA programme, part of the TEI initiative, to enhance integrated water management in the Tanganyika Lake and Kivu Basin.

Enhancing transport infrastructure and efficient and safe connectivity. The EU is supporting Rwanda on the governance of road transport and conducting a pre-feasibility study on the Northern corridor railway and a multimodal transport solution with waterborne transport on Lake Victoria and the Akagera river as part of the Mombasa-Kisangani transport corridor.

To boost the digital transformation, our efforts focus on:

• Digitalising justice services to enhance efficiency.
• Upgrading Rwanda’s Food And Drugs Authority (FDA) systems to strengthen healthcare.
• Investing in digital health solutions like a traceability and verification system.
• Implementing innovative digital tools in agriculture.
• Exploring potential satellite-related projects, including microsatellite missions and training.
• Advancing green data centres and developing ICT and digital skills to support entrepreneurship and urbanisation.
• Fostering digital employment through Hanga Hubs, an open space for young entrepreneurs and innovators.

Putting more emphasis on public accountability and citizen participation in decision-making processes. Our efforts focus on:

• Supporting voices and accountability, democratic participation and civil society, Rule of Law, Human Rights and ending violence against women and girls.
• Strengthening economic governance to promote investment and a conducive business environment.