The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) has signed a $20 million soft loan to improve the electricity network in the Republic of Rwanda.

The agreement was signed by Sultan bin Abdulrahman Al-Marshad, CEO of SFD with the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of the Republic of Rwanda, Mr. Ndagijimana Uzziel, in Kigali.

The SFD-funded project aims to build an electric network of medium- and low-voltage lines and power distribution transformers to connect to homes and governmental and social services in Rwanda’s Kamonia region.

The project is part of the comprehensive program to provide and upgrade the quality of electric services at the lowest costs in the republic’s underprivileged areas, benefiting more than 60,000 people.

It also seeks to enhance economic, industrial, and agricultural growth by providing direct and indirect job opportunities and enhancing the living standards and development in the Central African country.

During the signing ceremony, Mr. Al-Marshad underscored the project’s contributions to improving the electric power infrastructure and enhancing sustainable social and economic development in the country and commended the 47-year SFD-Rwanda relationship.

Mr. Uzziel explained that the project will contribute to enhancing the percentage of electricity coverage in the Kamunia region, which currently stands at 58.9 percent, and will increase access to electricity by 6.8 percent, consequently enhancing economic and social development. Mr. Uzziel further added that the project falls within the government’s efforts to reach 100 percent electricity coverage by 2024.

Mr. Al-Marshad also visited the 200-bed King Faisal Hospital in Kigali, which was funded by the SFD in 1986 and started operating in 1993.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia pays special attention to supporting development in Rwanda, and since 1976 and through the SDF, it has extended 11 developmental loans to the country at a total value of $121 million.