(Above) SAM 2021 opening; (below) Franz Fayot, Luxembourg's Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, and Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana, Rwanda's Minister of Finance and Economic Planning;
Credit: MAEE
On 19 and 20 October 2021, Luxembourg's Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Franz Fayot, undertook a working visit to Kigali in Rwanda.
This visit takes place within the framework of the African Microfinance Week (Semaine africaine de la microfinance - SAM), a biannual inclusive finance event on the African continent, organsied by the Luxembourgish non-profit ADA Microfinance and co-financed by Luxembourg's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.
The 2021 edition centres around the theme of the resilience of the microfinance sector in Africa, with a particular focus on the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.
During the visit, Minister Franz Fayot and Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana, Rwanda's Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, signed a memorandum of understanding concerning the development of a financial centre in Kigali. Four potential areas of cooperation have been identified: capacity building to promote employability in the financial sector, the development of sustainable finance, the establishment of a fintech ecosystem and an impact investment market.
Luxembourg's Development Minister also met with Vincent Biruta, Rwanda's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Jeanne d'Arc Mujawamariya, Minister of Environment of Rwanda, to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries.
The trip will end with a visit to the “Oasis of Peace” project, a community centre for schoolchildren with the objective of offering psychosocial support to victims of torture and rape and promoting sustainable development in the field of health, education and vocational training in communities of Burundi civil war refugees.
