Kigali, 04 November, 2010
President Kagame today officially opened the two-day biennial Development Partners Meeting at Serena Kigali Hotel. In his address to an audience of around 250 that included representatives from the World Bank, the IMF, the UN and African Development Bank, President Kagame thanked the country’s development partners for the invaluable continued support they’ve given Rwanda and noted that increased direct budget support was producing better results than ever before.
President Kagame called for a radical rethink in the way aid is delivered to Rwanda with the country’s citizens driving development and the private sector playing a greater role than ever before. “Building truly reciprocal relationships that actually deliver development and improve the lives of all Rwandans, in the knowledge that Rwanda will only develop if we are at the centre of that development and if we drive it,” the President said.
President Kagame emphasized that the country’s belief in good governance and the active participation of its citizens meant that there is need to respect the will of the Rwandan people, hence the need for aid to be properly targeted and aligned to the development needs and priorities as defined by the country, enabling the government to use aid more effectively and achieve more impact.
The President acknowledged that the Government of Rwanda wasn’t the only partner which was accountable to its citizens but said that “accountability is a two-way street that balances the legitimate interests of the donor and the aspirations of our countries to reduce poverty and promote development.”
President Kagame reiterated his belief that business and trade hold the key to Rwanda’s economic growth and social transformation. He welcomed the news that the World Bank ‘Doing Business Report’ had ranked Rwanda the 2nd fastest reformer and said the result strengthened Rwanda’s resolve to continue reform and go even further.