Political relations between the European Union and Rwanda have been developing steadily since the independence of Rwanda in 1962, establishment of the presence of the European Union in Rwanda in the mid-1980s and formalisation of the relations in 1991 with the signature of an "accord de siege" with the Rwandan Government.

The EU’s joint foreign and security policy, manifested in the EU's Global Strategy is designed preserve peace, strengthen international security, promote international cooperation as well as to develop and consolidate democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. The strategy ensures the credibility, responsiveness and coherence of the Union, in particular, by joining up EU and Member States' external policies, in areas such as trade, development cooperation, humanitarian aid, or migration. 

The EU and Rwanda share interests and policy priorities in keeping peace and security in the region, in particular, the African Great Lakes region, but also more broadly on the continent, and jointly cooperate in a number of missions (e.g. Central Africa) and initiatives (Emergency Transfer mechanism for refugees evacuated from Libyan camps). Through political dialogue, the possibility of cooperation and coordination of approaches on multilateral matters, such as climate diplomacy, international migration or the international trading rules is pursued. 

Political relations between the EU and Rwanda are part of a broader EU – Africa partnership anchored in the Joint Africa-EU Strategy adopted by Heads of State and Government at the second EU-Africa Summit in 2007. During the 5th AU-EU Summit on 29-30 November 2017 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, EU and African leaders adopted a Joint Declaration on 'Investing in Youth for Accelerated Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development' - external link(link is external). Following up on this, the former President of the EU Commission J.C. Juncker announced a new Africa-Europe Alliance for Sustainable Investment and Jobs in his State of the Union Address on 12 September 2018, proposing to 

• boost strategic investment and strengthening the role of the private sector to create jobs
• invest in people by investing in education and skills
• strengthen business environment and investment climate
• tap the full potential of economic integration and trade.

While initially the focus has been primarily on development cooperation, the signature of the ACP - EU Partnership Cotonou Agreement in 2000, created space for broadening of bilateral relations also to political, economic and trade areas through the establishment of a platform for regular political dialogue as well as other types of formal and informal consultations. Nearing the expiry of the Cotonou Agreement, the Post Cotonou negotiations on a new EU/Africa-Caribbean-Pacific Partnership Agreement concluded on 15 April 2021. Relations between the EU and Rwanda will in future be framed by the new EU-OACPS Partnership Agreement. 

The EU's main objectives in its partnership with Rwanda are:

• Supporting Rwanda's implementation of its national development strategy Vision 2050 and progress towards the sustainable development goals;
• Strengthening rule of law, accountability, and human rights, the development of civil society and supporting the reconciliation process in Rwanda;
• Improving economic governance and business climate to help developing trade and investment opportunities;
• Working with Rwanda to address global and continental challenges, such as peace and security, migration or climate change, including through cooperation in multilateral fora.

The EU development cooperation with Rwanda is framed in the Republic of Rwanda Multi annual Indicative Programme MIP 2021-2027, which outlines main priority areas for development cooperation in the country for seven years, while financial allocations for the initial period 2021-2024 period are set at EUR 260 million.  The three main areas identified jointly with the Government of Rwanda are:

• Education, Skills and Jobs for the Youth, which aims to enhance levels of human capital to ensure a well-educated and highly skilled workforce that can contribute to the government’s vision of diversifying the economy towards high productivity knowledge-based sectors, focusing particularly on health and hospitality.
• A Green Deal for Inclusive Development, which is to support in parallel rural development and transformation of agriculture to a more market-driven value-creating sector, with better linkages to urban markets, and at the same time harnessing the opportunities of urbanization and digital investments, particularly in secondary cities.
• Political and Economic Governance, with aim to consolidate good governance and justice as building blocks for socioeconomic transformation, and at the same time support more effective economic governance and investment promotion. In line with EU core values and principles, the focus will remain also on strengthening of public accountability and democratic governance, development of vibrant civil society and respect for human rights.

In its cooperation with Rwanda, the EU will respect its commitment to ensure that at least 85% of all actions funded have gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment as a principal or significant objective, while at least 30% of funds should contribute to achieving climate change goals.

The EU development assistance will be implemented through various modalities, including sector budget support programmes, technical assistance or project grants to civil society. In parallel, Rwanda also has access to EU regional funds as well as thematic and global budget lines for support of research and innovation, education, training, youth and sport, human rights, and others. Finally, Rwanda benefits from support of EU member states, including in the context of joint Team Europe initiatives.

In order to achieve greater results in terms of poverty reduction and development, the Government of Rwanda aims to place more emphasis on accountability towards the citizens and that citizen participation in decision-making processes. The 11th EDF Accountable Democratic Governance Programme (ADGP) is contributing to address these gaps by supporting:

 a. The Parliament so that parliamentarians can carry out their oversight, legislation and representation functions more effectively. 

 b. The Office of the Ombudsman in relation to investigation and prosecution of corruption and to make the right to information a reality for all Rwandans. 

 c. The Ministry of Justice with the aim to improve access to justice, focusing on the decentralized justice actors, including the Abunzi committees (mediation committees dealing mainly with land disputes), and legal education. 

 d. The National Authorizing Office (NAO) with the aim to contribute to efficient and effective programming and implementation of EU funded projects and programmes through a greater integration of the NAO functions into the national system.

Under the Annual Action Plan 2022, the EU foresees to continue its support in strengthening Justice and Accountability as set in the Justice, Reconciliation, Law and Order Sector (JRLOS) Strategic Plan 2018-2024. The future programme will have three components: i) the first will aim at enhancing the professionalism and skills of the Justice main actors, improving the delivery of timely justice through the reduction of the backlog of cases, modernizing the justice system, and improving access to quality justice. ii) The second component will focus on Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Unity through support to Rwanda Correctional Service (RCS) and civil society. This component will aim at expanding and strengthening the provision of technical, vocational, education and training (TVET) in prisons. The component will also tackle an important aspect of reconciliation and peace building which is socio psychological healing and rehabilitation processes at community level, implemented through civil society organisations. iii) The third component will support Voice and Accountability of civil society organisations strengthening their capacity to work with citizens, and to increase justice delivery and foster accountability to citizens.

The EU Delegation also supports economic governance through different projects in coordination with other Member States. These projects aim specifically at:

• Reinforcing the capacity of the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) to produce reliable policy-oriented statistics. EU support focuses particularly on the production and publication of regular vital and business statistics such as the 2022 Rwanda Population and Housing Census;

Strengthening public finance management through specific support to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (Minecofin) as well as through close coordination efforts with various stakeholders, building the capacity and confidence of the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA), particularly related to international taxation and transfer pricing, and supporting the Office of the Auditor General.

The EU is a long standing partner of Rwanda in the areas of rural development, climate resilience, environment and biodiversity. Support to the Social Protection Relief and Recovery Pillar benefiting the most vulnerable to COVID 19 pandemic has as well been provided in the midst of Covid 19 pandemic. In 2021, the EU and Rwanda have jointly identified a comprehensive €69 million programme for the period 2022-2025.  This new programme intends to consolidate the transition to socially and environmentally inclusive agri-food systems, including the improvement of inclusive agriculture value chains targeting local, regional and international markets. In line with Rwanda’s economic development, emissions profile and climate vulnerability, climate adaptation measures in the agricultural sector are supported, whilst enhancing climate and biodiversity benefits. Gender sensitive actions are included in the programme. 

The programme will include a mix of institutional support to improve the agricultural and environmental national policy framework, and a Team Europe Initiative ‘Investing in sustainable and inclusive agricultural transformation’, jointly conceived and funded with EU Member States.   

The Team Europe initiative is built around the construction and development of the Kigali Wholesale market and related markets in secondary cities, as central components of highly productive and inclusive value chains. The transformational objective of the initiative is to drive an innovative, sustainable and inclusive shift towards market-oriented high-value cropping systems geared towards feeding the cities. Enhancing rural-urban markets connectivity will raise agricultural productivity, and consolidate private sector mobilisation across value chains. Women participation along the different value chains is a priority. Value chains pre-identified are horticulture and livestock, including aquaculture and fisheries, given economic potential and expected impact on nutrition and food security.

The institutional support will be implemented following a budget support logic: disbursements based on NST1/PST4 and NDC policy indicators performance, technical assistance and policy dialogue.

The EU is a strongly committed player in the different policy dialogue fora in Rwanda, in the areas of agriculture, environment, gender and social protection.

Further than the new 2022-2025 program, the EU is currently implementing the following operations:

• Agroforestry, evergreen agriculture and agro-ecology with projects with IUCN, ICRAF, World Vision and CCOAIB on the development of agroforestry, evergreen agriculture and agro-ecology techniques with the communities and the integration agroforestry programs into district development plans.
• Development of inclusive intensive and high value addition agriculture with: i) the support to FAO on value chain platforms and agriculture innovation; ii) the construction of a new NAEB laboratory and cooperation at regional level with EAC secretariat for enhanced quality of export crops; iii) the support to horticulture and coffee value chains through grants to Technoserve, Tearfund, ICU and Oxfam.
• New and better data collection and analysis efforts for enhanced agricultural policy relevance and public investment analysis, in partnership with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

The EU has made the commitment that at least 85% of all actions funded under the Neighbourhood Development and Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) have gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment as a principal or a significant objective. This strong commitment to Gender Equality and Women Empowerment is reflected in the Country Level Implementation Plan (2020-2024) together with EU Member States present in Rwanda.

Well-managed urbanisation will be another essential driver for Rwanda to achieve its twin aspirations of growth and improved quality of life. Urbanisation generates enormous economic benefits as the concentration of economic activity and job opportunities provides the potential to attract surplus agricultural labour and promote migration from rural areas.

Poorly managed urbanisation could however threaten the state of the environment, leading to increased vulnerability to flood risks, land degradation and biodiversity loss. Scarce access to land in and around Kigali has resulted in unplanned settlements, many of which are exposed to climate hazards, particularly flooding. The city’s extensive network of wetlands has shrunk from 100 sq. km in 2013 to the current level of 72 sq. km due to encroachment by activities such as industry and urban agriculture.

Some other fundamental problems associated with urban development and management in the country include insufficient urban pull factors including a weak urban economy and inadequate urban services; weak urban governance and institutional coordination; uncontrolled urban sprawls and informal settlements; weak rural-urban linkages; and inadequate urban investment and financing.

Rwanda therefore seems at a critical junction: while overall urbanisation in Rwanda is still low (17.3% according to the 2014 census), the annual urban growth rate stood at 3.2% in 2019, and some secondary cities are experiencing growth rates two or three times higher than the national average. It is therefore important to act now: most urban areas and infrastructure are yet to be built.

The EU's main objectives, in its partnership with Rwanda on sustainable urbanisation for 2021-2024, will therefore cover two main areas:

a) Strengthening urban governance and management, supporting broad-based engagement and inclusive citizen participation in urban processes;

b) Improved service delivery at city level for various sub-sectors such as storm water management and flood prevention, affordable housing and informal settlements upgrading, solid waste management, and sustainable urban mobility;

The focus will be on major issues still faced by Kigali, but also on secondary and satellite cities, to foster a more balanced system of cities within the country.

In 2021, President Paul Kagame made a case for local vaccine production in Africa and the need to strengthen health systems on the continent in view of future outbreaks. Since then, the country has embarked on an ambitious plan to deliver this vision, which has gathered support from many development partners and Team Europe in particular.

The EU in Rwanda has rapidly positioned itself as one of the leading partners to support the country in developing its own production and attracting private investment. This comes against the backdrop of the initiative launched in 2021 by President Von der Leyen at the G20 Global Health Summit, which aims to mobilize EUR 1 billion from the EU budget and EU development finance institutions to support local vaccine production in Africa.

The first drug manufacturing plant is set to be built in Rwanda in 2022. This endeavour brings about the need to address a wider vaccine-manufacturing environment: the need for technology transfer, specialised equipment, skilled personnel and the necessity to boost the capacity of national regulatory authorities, namely of the Rwanda Food and Drug Agency (Rwanda FDA), which will play a key role in this process.

In this context, the EU supports the country’s ambitions through:

• EU support to the Rwanda FDA through a Twinning cooperation with a consortia of EU regulatory agencies (EUR 2 million), in view of improving regulation of human medicines, including vaccines.
• EU complements the latter through a programme with Enabel (EUR 7 million) to support RFDA with training and laboratory equipment, the digitalisation of pharmaceutical system, as well as to help improve the wider skills’ development in the country, specifically at university level. This comes after the EU initiated the supply of critical quality control laboratory equipment to the RFDA early 2022.
• Last, the EU, in partnership with the EIB and WHO (overall amount EUR 4.3 million), will also support the construction of a National Health Laboratory, which will improve the country’s testing, diagnosis, and prevention capacities concerning future epidemics. It will also support training of personnel working in the laboratory.

The Delegation of the EU to Rwanda, in close cooperation with the missions of EU countries, undertakes regular public diplomacy activities to reach out to Rwandans in urban and rural areas in an effort to increase the knowledge and understanding of the EU, create links between European and Rwandans – e.g. through cultural activities and increase the visibility of EU relations with Rwanda. 

The EU also engages in economic diplomacy activities to support EU traders and investors in Rwanda with a view to increasing economic exchanges between the partners. In the context of EU climate diplomacy, the Delegation of the EU to Rwanda organises or participates in events to spread awareness about the importance of climate change mitigation and adaptation and promoting the role of youth in climate actions. 

Some examples of our regular activities are: 

Europe Day 

Each 9 May Europe Day celebrates peace and unity in Europe as it marks the anniversary of the historic 1950 Schuman Declaration, which set out a vision for a new form of European political cooperation which sought to make war between European nations unthinkable. Europe Day is celebrated in Kigali. 

"European Autumn of Culture" including the EU Film Festival 

Every year, the European Union Film Festival gives Rwandans a chance to experience Europe's diverse and rich film heritage. Whether highlighting historic events, political subjects or personal dilemmas, European films are intellectually stimulating and culturally engaging. The festival runs for one week and is organised by the Delegation in cooperation with the Diplomatic Missions and cultural institutes of EU countries. Around this, the EU Delegation and MS organise other events and cultural manifestations, bringing together EU and Rwandan artists seeking to attract Rwandan audiences from all ages and spheres of society. 

European Street Fair 

The European Street Fair is one of Kigali's largest events and is organised once a year by the EU Delegation together with the Member States in Rwanda. The fair includes stand presentations, games, dance performances, art exhibitions, live music, as well as food and drinks from Kigali's vendors. The event is open to all and aims to raise awareness about the EU's work in Rwanda.