COP28: AFD joins forces with Rwanda to increase climate finance flows

First developing country to submit a revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in 2020, Rwanda’s aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Achieving this ambitious goal will require an alignment of public and private finance flows with Rwanda’s climate agenda.

Rwanda has requested a budget support loan from AFD to finance its climate agenda focused reforms. The Program Budget Support, approved by the AFD board, will be working in synergy with IMF Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) reforms. The support is composed of a €50 million budget loan and a €3 million grant for technical assistance, to be administered by Expertise France.

The primary objectives of this budget loan are twofold: firstly, to encourage climate-sensitive public finances that provide more informed insights into investment, spending, and public procurement decisions. Secondly, it aims to incentivize actors of the financial system to consider climate risks in their regulatory, supervisory, and investment decisions.

Ultimately, this loan and the accompanying technical assistance aspire to bolster Rwanda in achieving its climate objectives by amplifying the scale and impact of climate finance flows within the country.

•  “The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning is delighted to sign today a €50 million budget loan with the Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD). The programmatic Budget Support will work in synergy with IMF Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), this is not only a great achievement, it’s a flagship example of how Climate Finance Partnership empowers Climate Action in an innovative and catalytic way in Rwanda”, stated Dr. Jeanne d’Arc MUJAWAMARIYA, Minister of Environment of Rwanda.
• “As highlighted in the Memorandum of Understanding, signed at the Paris Summit last June, AFD is dedicated to support Rwanda’s climate ambition in greening its public and private financial flows. This program further deepens our relationship through the mobilization of Expertise France with technical assistance. We are thrilled to collaborate with a country that year after year continues to develop its innovation. Through initiatives like Ireme Invest with Development Bank of Rwanda, launched at COP27, the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility, as well as Bank of Kigali’s leadership on green finance, Rwanda once again acts as a trailblazer when it comes to climate action.", said Rémy Rioux, CEO of AFD.
• “This project is a good illustration of the coherence of AFD’s Group approach: not only availing financing, but creating capacity transfer and platform of knowledge sharing, where French expertise is of true value addition. We are thrilled to be to a part of this journey – one that I believe not only will yield tremendous impact, but one that will be mutually enriching.”, said Jérémie Pellet, CEO of Expertise France.

Press contact :

• AFD | Charlotte Le Layo, Regional Communications Manager for East Africa - +254 759 637 405