Government officials and development partners on Thursday, March 10 started two-day discussions on Rwanda’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and steps to a stronger economic recovery. The 18th Development Partners Retreat is being held in Rubavu District with the theme: “From Response to a Resilient Recovery to Covid-19”. It has drawn officials from government institutions and stakeholders in economic development, including multilateral institutions, international NGOs and private sector representatives. As he opened the retreat, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Uzziel Ndagijimana said they will review the economic situation after Covid-19 pandemic. “We are meeting physically for the first time since the start of the pandemic to discuss how we can work with our partners to recover stronger from the hardships of Covid-19,” Ndagijimana said. “We will be able to discuss thoroughly how Rwanda can build a resilient economy, going forward. We will also discuss the development of the agriculture sector with high productivity and which can deal with not only the Covid-19 pandemic but also climate change and other potential threats.” He added that collaboration with all the partners will be crucial in ensuring skills development and job creation as well as the engaging the private sector in regional and continental trade. The annual retreat presents an opportunity to chart together the role of development partners in the financing and implementation of government programs, especially the National Strategy for Transformation (NST1), which runs until 2024, and the Vision 2050. According to the development partners, Rwanda has done well in managing the Covid-19 pandemic, with over 60 percent population vaccinated and the economy now fully reopened. “Rwanda has one of the strongest coordination mechanisms in Africa; and the way we put together our joint efforts with a clear leadership has been very helpful in tackling the Covid-19,” Fodé Ndiaye, the United Nations Resident Coordinator, said. “As a theme of our discussion, we’re looking at how we can make sure that we have more quality growth that is aligned with the principle of inclusivity and living no one behind, which a motto of the Sustainable Development Goals.” Rolande Pryce, the World Bank Country Manager, said it is essential to have the retreat, at a time Rwanda’s economy is on the rebound. “What we are seeing now is a rebound and a very high GDP growth, from a contraction in 2020; we now see a potential 10.2 percent GDP growth in 2021,” she said. “As development partners, the private sector and the government we’re discussing the role each of us play to make that recovery more resilient and have that trend year after year.” Pryce said with the majority of the society employed in agriculture, there is need for modernization of the sector as well as job creation. “We have a lot of young people in Rwanda; now the question is how we can ensure that they are equipped to take on the jobs that we hope the government is going to create by bringing in foreign direct investment and having the private sector grow.”
