The African Development Bank Group, in partnership with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Government of Rwanda, has launched the Energy Sector Results Based Financing Phase II (RBF II) Program to advance universal access to reliable, clean, and affordable energy. With a total cost of $300 million, the program is financed through a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank and a $100 million loan from AIIB, reflecting strong multilateral collaboration in Rwanda’s energy sector.
Building on the success of phase one, which expanded energy access to 370,000 households and provided clean cooking solutions to 460,000 people, RBF II will further strengthen electricity transmission and distribution networks, improve grid reliability, and expand both on‑grid and off‑grid connections. The performance‑based financing approach ties disbursements to independently verified results, ensuring accountability and efficiency.
The program will rehabilitate four substations, construct nearly 3,855 km of transmission lines, connect 200,000 households and 850 commercial users to the national grid, add 50,000 off‑grid connections, provide clean cooking devices to 100,000 households and 310 public institutions, and install street lighting on 200 km of roads in secondary cities. These measures are expected to lower business costs, enable productive energy use in rural areas, and improve essential services such as healthcare delivery.
Speaking at the launch, Aissa Toure Sarr, the Bank Group’s Country Manager for Rwanda, described RBF II as a transformative investment that will accelerate progress toward universal energy access. The program also aligns with Rwanda’s target of achieving full electricity access by 2030 and supports the Bank Group’s “Four Cardinal Points” vision of building climate‑resilient infrastructure that bridges rural‑urban divides.
The launch was followed by a high‑level technical workshop bringing together government institutions, development partners, and implementing agencies to align procurement, financial management, safeguards, and monitoring systems. RBF II forms part of a broader portfolio of African Development Bank energy interventions in Rwanda, including the Ruzizi III Hydropower Project and the Transmission System Reinforcement and Last Mile Connectivity initiative.
