Rwanda has for the second time in a row topped the World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) ranking for sub-Saharan Africa, scoring 4.0 points out of a possible 6.

Rwanda’s score is above the average sub-Saharan score of 3.2. Rwanda also scored a joint top ranking alongside Samoa for all countries that receive International Development Assistance (IDA) from the World Bank.

"This is good news for us. It is a clear indication of confidence that World Bank has in Rwanda’s policies and systems. It shows that we are steering the country in the right direction in terms of poverty eradication and sustainable inclusive growth,” the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning Claver Gatete said.

CPIA is one of World Bank tools aimed at assessing how a country’s present policies and institutional framework foster poverty reduction, sustainable growth and the effective use of development assistance resources.

The World Bank assesses 16 indicators which are grouped into four clusters namely: Economic Management, Structural Policies, Policies of Inclusion and Equity as well as Public Sector Management and Institution. For each of the 16 criteria, countries are rated on a scale of 1 (low) to 6 (high).

Higher CPIA scores indicate confidence in country systems, act as point of reference for rating institutions and are used as benchmark for international investors a donors.

At the sub-Saharan level, Rwanda was followed by Cape Verde, Kenya and Senegal all which had a 3.8 score.

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