Rwanda’s Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente and his Mauritius counterpart at the inauguration of the hydro electricity plant
Rwanda’s Prime Minister, Édouard Ngirente and his Mauritius counterpart Pravind Kumar K. Jugnauth have jointly inaugurated a hydropower plant which will contribute 5.5megawatts to the country’s electricity demand and protect the environment.
The hydro project, ‘Mushishito-Rukarara V’ located in in Nyamagabe District tapping on Mushishito and Rukarara running streams was constructed at a cost of Rwf32billion by Omnihydro- a Mauritius based company through financing from the Mauritius Commercial bank
The project executed on the basis of a Power Purchase Agreement signed between the company and the Energy Utility Corporation Ltd of Rwanda (EUCL) will connect over 175,000 homes with clean energy and is expected to contribute to the country’s ambition of 100% electricity for all by 2024.
In terms of its environmental impact the power plant is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 14,500T per year. This is equivalent to tree plantation of some 1000 hectares per year.
PM Ngirente said that houses with no electricity should rest assured that they will too get connected soon.
“Those who have not been connected will be soon because the government cares for all citizens and our target is to have all homes connected by 2024, a goal that we will achieve without doubt,” Ngirente said at the inauguration event June 26.
Ngirente thanked the government and people of Mauritius for believing and investing $800 million equivalent to 25% of the country’s Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) before the COVID-19 pandemic.
With this track record Ngirente said that Rwanda will continue to ease and support foreign investments through ease of doing business so as to address the current challenges which include access to clean energy.
“This investment advances our targets and advancement to ensure access to affordable and clean energy. We all know how energy is fundamental in our lives and there is a direct relationship between access to energy and socio economic development,” Ngirente said,
PM Jugnauth Jugnauth said that Rwanda and Mauritius share a people’s centered vision of development, a hallmark of caring governments and the existing cooperation sets an example of Intra-African cooperation in full consonance with Agenda 2063, Africa’s blueprint for transforming the Continent into the global powerhouse of the future.
Clare Akamanzi, CEO Rwanda Development Board (RDB) said that it was high time that there was such a connection between Mauritius and Rwanda.
“We are very pleased to see a Mauritian company, backed by a Mauritian bank, the Mauritius Commercial Bank, to make this project a reality. I want to thank Omnihydro and Omnicane for choosing and believing in Rwanda as an investment destination,” she said.
