RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is providing a soft loan of $20 million to fund an electricity project in Rwanda that would help boost the country’s social and economic development, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday. 

The agreement was signed between the Saudi Fund for Development’s CEO Sultan Al-Marshad and Rwanda’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Ndagijimana Uzziel in the capital, Kigali. 

The aim is to build a network of medium- and low-voltage lines and power distribution transformers for homes and government social services in Rwanda’s Kamonyi region. 

It is expected that more than 60,000 people in the African country will benefit from the electricity provision. It would also enhance various job creation projects in agriculture and other industries. 

During the signing ceremony, Al-Marshad said the project would improve Rwanda’s electricity infrastructure and enhance sustainable social and economic development in the country. He said the SFD has been working effectively with Rwanda for the past 47 years. 

“Based on the development cooperation between the two sides, we hope that this project will be a tributary of development and will benefit Rwanda and its people in growth and prosperity, toward achieving the goals of sustainable development.” 

Uzziel said electricity provision in the Kamonyi region, currently at 58.9 percent, would be boosted by 6.8 percent, which would enhance economic and social development. 

He said the government wants to reach 100 percent electricity coverage by 2024. 

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. 

Saudi Arabia has supported Rwanda since 1976, and through the SDF has extended 11 developmental loans worth $121 million to the country for various vital projects.