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Energy and
the efficient use of natural resources are obviously
a key factor of the development the Rwandan economy.
How would you describe the role of your ministry
in the socio-economic development of the country?
As all over the world, energy is used as a factor
of development, and especially in the case of
Rwanda. Currently, we have an energy deficit of
roughly 50Mega watts. The country produces around
26.8MW and we import 14.7MW. So, in total we produce
almost 42MW whereas we have a need of 100MW today.
The first reason for this need is that around
90% of the population depend on agriculture or
live in rural areas. Wood is today the main source
of domestic energy. 94% of the energy produced
in the country if from Biomass sources, and this
greatly affects the environment. So, it is very
important to substitute wood with other types
of energy sources.
The second element is, we estimate at 0,6 hectare
the size of land for each citizen. In 2020, our
population will have doubled, which means that
this figure will come down to 0.3ha per citizen.
So, we can try to double the productivity of the
agricultural sector or transfer human resources
from the primary sector to the secondary and tertiary
sectors of the economy. Hence the role of the
energy sector to accompany this development but
also to protect the environment.
What type of energy sources are you trying
to develop?
Hydroelectricity is an option. We could use the
water from the river along the border with Tanzania
where we could get 60MW. Inside Rwanda, on the
river Nyabarongo, we can get produce 25MW, but
we mostly believe in the gas potential from the
Lake Kivu. First, because very easy to extract
and second because it would be a very cheap accessible
source of energy for the population.
Today, what are the main conditions to fulfil
in order to implement those development plans
that you have been mentioning?
Obviously we need to attract private investment.
We are currently in negotiation with a few companies
interested in investing in the sector, especially
for the production of gas from lake Kivu. As you
know, our policy today is to transfer our strategic
sectors into private hands. That is the reason
we have launched the privatisation process in
every sector of the economy. The national company,
Electrogaz, has to be privatised.
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Is
the legislation base ready for enabling potential
investors to start operating in good conditions?
With the participation from World Bank, we have
reviewed and updated texts dating from 1954. From
july 2002, we should be able to start attributing
concessions. All the technical aspects of extraction
and production of gas are already defined. We now
need to find someone ready to invest and start production
of gas as soon as possible so as to generate the
electricity that our country needs. Today, in order
to make our industries work, we have to import the
equivalent of FRW 4 billion (USD8m) of fuels.
In the first stage, we need to produce 125 million
cubic meters of gas in order to produce 25MW. But
we have the potential to produce 200MW.
200MW would even enable the country to solve
its transportation problems by contributing to the
creation of railways…
Absolutely, we are currently in a vicious circle
where the lack of energy hinders investment in other
sectors. So, one has to make the first step and
invest in the energy sector so that other sectors
can develop. Fortunately, we are moving forward
and hope our efforts will pay off shortly.
At the same time, we are also trying to develop
new forms of renewable energies such as solar energy.
We are currently collaborating with ONUDI in order
to see to what extent they can help us to find ways
of producing efficiently those new energies.
The success of any restructuring plan depends
not only on the capacity to provide energy but also
on parameters such as the Political and macroeconomic
stability, the market size, the human capital. How
would you describe Rwanda to any potential investor
as far as those criteria are concerned?
In terms of political stability, you can see from
yourself that there is a total security in the country.
Also, at the regional level we have created an insurance
for potential investors interested in the region.
The head office is in Kampala, in Uganda. So, we
are committed to provide any investors with all
the necessary guaranties and facilitate their setting
up in the country. Our government has implemented
a few incentives in order to attract foreign investment
such as tax holidays and tax exemption on imported
equipment for example.
On the macroeconomic level, our main problem is
to be a landlocked country. Our project is to create
a railway from Kigali to Isaka in Tanzania in order
to get connected to the existing railway leading
to Dar Es Salam.
In terms of Human resources, we know that we have
a lot to do in terms of education and investment
in the qualification of our labour force. But the
Government has implemented the necessary infrastructure
to help Rwanda reach its objectives in terms of
education.
NOTE: WINNE cannot be held responsible
for the content of unedited transcriptions.
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