Interview: “The demand for connectivity in Africa and globally is increasing” — Rwanda’s Finance Minister Yusuf Murangwa

Yusuf Murangwa, Rwanda’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning since 2024, brings over two decades of expertise in economic development and public finance. Speaking on the sidelines of our June 2025 Development Forum in June, Minister Murangwa highlighted Rwanda’s partnership with the OPEC Fund - including new agreements to strengthen aviation skills, infrastructure and food security - all aligned with the country’s long-term development strategy.

What are Rwanda’s development priorities in working with the OPEC Fund? 

Today we signed a very significant loan agreement for US$28 million to establish a Center of Excellence in Aviation Skills in Rwanda. The demand for connectivity in Africa and globally is increasing, so in Rwanda we’re investing in a new airport and our national airline. For those to function properly we need to upskill our population to operate them. We need this Center of Excellence to train pilots, maintenance crews and other roles needed in the aviation sector. This facility we signed today will be instrumental for our economy, both now and in the future.

We also signed a Country Partnership Framework agreement for a project pipeline over the next three years. This will focus on key areas such as food security, irrigation in agriculture, energy generation and infrastructure development, particularly roads to improve post-harvest handling of fresh agricultural products. This substantive agreement, close to US$300 million, fits well with our wider National Strategy for Transformation.

How do you characterize the strategic value of our partnership?

We’ve been working with the OPEC Fund for many years and what we appreciate about the institution, its leadership and management is the pragmatism that we’ve seen in our collaboration. The OPEC Fund is willing to invest in areas that are strongly aligned with our development plans, which has been very useful and strongly impactful. The agreements we signed today align with that vision, so we’re looking forward to a very long relationship with the OPEC Fund.

Partnership Snapshot

The OPEC Fund and Rwanda share a long-standing partnership, grounded in shared priorities for sustainable and inclusive development. To date, the OPEC Fund has approved 35 public and private sector operations in the country with a cumulative value of around US$350 million. Rwanda has also benefited from more than 25 national and regional grants. Our most recent initiative is a US$27.95 million loan to support aviation training.

In June 2025, the OPEC Fund and Rwanda signed a three-year Country Partnership Framework that earmarks up to US$300 million in financing for 2025–2028. The funding will focus on agriculture and food systems, renewable energy projects and infrastructure upgrades, in line with Rwanda’s national development priorities.