Rwanda ends development cooperation with Belgium

By The Inspirer

The Government of Rwanda has announced the termination of its development cooperation with Belgium after the latter chose to collaborate with the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in a campaign aimed at isolating Rwanda and cutting off its access to international development aid.

In a statement released on February 18, 2025, Rwanda indicated that, despite calls from the international community to support mediation efforts endorsed by the African Union and summits of EAC and SADC leaders to address insecurity in eastern DRC, Belgium has engaged in a campaign alongside the DRC to push for the exclusion of Rwanda from receiving development assistance.

The statement continued: “Belgium has made a political decision to take sides in this conflict, which is within its rights. However, mixing development initiatives with politics is inappropriate. No country in the region should be denied access to development aid as a means of exerting political pressure.”

Rwanda stressed that imposing sanctions based on bias amounts to unnecessary interference, which could undermine African-led peace efforts and hinder long-term conflict resolution.

The statement further noted: “In reality, such sanctions have never led to solutions; instead, they have exacerbated problems and pushed conflicts further into the future.”

Rwanda asserted that Belgium’s efforts to suspend its development funding indicate that there is no longer a need for cooperation between the two nations in this regard.

As a result, Rwanda has officially terminated all development cooperation agreements with Belgium for the 2024-2029 period. These agreements were valued at €95 million, with €80 million remaining unutilized.

Additionally, the Rwandan government reaffirmed that it would not be intimidated by anyone when it comes to safeguarding national security and that it remains committed to peace and sustainable conflict resolution.

The statement also emphasized that no one should tolerate the continued conflict resulting from the DRC’s failure to fulfill its responsibilities, nor from the international community’s failure to dismantle the terrorist group FDLR, which was responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Rwanda reiterated that development cooperation should be based on mutual respect.