Rwanda’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Eugene Segore Kayihura met with BADEA President Abdullah KH Al Musaibeeh at the bank’s headquarters in Riyadh on April 20, with discussions centered on expanding bilateral cooperation and strategic partnership between BADEA and Rwanda.
The meeting comes less than six months after Kigali signed two of its largest agreements with the bank to date and suggests both sides see room to go further.
In October 2025, BADEA committed $45 million to Rwanda across two financing agreements: $20 million for expansion of the Karenge Water Treatment Plant in Rwamagana District, and $25 million channeled through the Development Bank of Rwanda to support small and medium-sized enterprises.
The water component alone is consequential the Karenge plant currently operates at just 18% of its full expansion capacity, yet serves as a critical source of clean water for both the Eastern Province and Kigali City. Scaling that up is central to Rwanda’s target of achieving 100% clean water access by 2029.
BADEA is not a new partner, it is one of Rwanda’s oldest
The bank’s relationship with Rwanda dates back to 1974 and represents over $300 million in cumulative investment across infrastructure, energy, agriculture, trade, and digital transformation.
That portfolio now includes a share of the Kigali Innovation City project, where BADEA joined the Government of Rwanda and Africa50 to break ground in September 2024 on the 61-hectare smart city development, the kind of flagship, non-extractive investment Rwanda has been actively cultivating from Arab development partners.
Rwanda’s second National Strategy for Transformation runs through 2029 and carries infrastructure, digital economy, and private sector targets that require a sustained pipeline of concessional capital.
With Western bilateral aid under pressure and the IMF program providing a floor rather than a ceiling, development banks like BADEA have become more strategically important. An ambassador-level meeting at the bank’s headquarters, rather than a routine courtesy call suggests specific proposals are in motion.
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