Rwanda is one of five beneficiaries of a Euro 2 billion grant from the European Union that will be used to woo private investments into sustainable energy projects.

The grant was jointly signed yesterday in New York by EU Commission president José Manuel Barroso, President Paul Kagame and heads of state from the other beneficiary countries, including Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia and Togo.

Rwanda’s portion of the fund, which was unknown by press time, will be managed by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and will be reserved for private investors with worthwhile energy development projects.

"The grant looks at attracting more investment. Suppose there is a local or foreign company that seeks to invest Euro 2 million in sustainable energy, their project will be assessed and, if approved, the Ministry of Finance will provide a certain percentage of the funds required,”

Prudence Uwabakurikiza, the information officer at the EU Delegation to Rwanda, told The New Times yesterday.

The grant comes as a "reward” to the five nations, which were selected because of their "political commitment” and "clear energy policies” that seek to increase access to electricity.

"Rwanda has made access to energy a priority for her social and economic transformation and this ambition is backed up by a strong political will,” said Amb. Michael Ryan, the head of the European Union Delegation to Rwanda.

"Today’s [yesterday] signing is a manifestation of EU unwavering support towards realisation of a vision and commitment of the Government of Rwanda to ensure access to energy for all.”

Rwanda and the other beneficiaries consume the largest portion of EU’s total grant of 3.3 billion Euros, dedicated to sustainable energy projects worldwide for a period of six years between 2014 and 2020.

Ahead of the signing yesterday, President Barroso said: "Sustainable energy is essential for fuelling growth and development. Two years ago, at the EU Sustainable Energy for All Summit in Brussels, I therefore proposed the ambitious target of helping developing countries to provide access to sustainable energy services to 500 million people by 2030.”

"I am delighted that we are now joining forces with European and African countries that have decided to take the lead in the fight against energy poverty.”

A fortnight ago, Rwanda and EU signed a deal worth Euro 200 million to support energy generation for urban and rural households and reduction of diesel and biomass dependency.

The EU is still engaged in a number of Rwanda’s energy projects, including, solar installations in 300 rural schools and households in the Eastern Province, regional geothermal explorations, as well as co-financing Rukarara II micro hydropower plant.

Only 18 per cent of Rwanda’s population accesses electricity – the government intends to increase that to 70 per cent by 2017.

Total electricity generation stands at 110MW, mainly from hydropower. The government targets to increase this to 563MW by 2017, aided by several projects in methane hydro, peat and solar.