The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and TotalEnergies, a French oil giant, have formed a partnership that will promote renewable and decarbonized energies through partnerships with Rwanda’s private sector.
Patrick Pouyanné, the Chairman and CEO of Total Energies, signed the agreement during his visit to Rwanda on January 30, where he was welcomed by President Paul Kagame.
The company will be launching a variety of activities in Rwanda, over the coming weeks and months, according to its CEO, Patrick Pouyanné who was exploring business opportunities with local investors in Rwanda.
Different areas of collaboration entailed in the pact include energy products distribution such as LPG and electric charging; supply of LPG as a substitute for burning biomass and renewable hydro-electricity generation; the development of power storage solutions for the electrical network; the development of Natural Based Solutions for carbon storage; the implementation of education and training programmes on new energies and the energy transition.
Additionally, the French company announced the formation of a local branch, TotalEnergies Marketing Rwanda. The company has also opened a permanent office in Kigali.
Commenting on the MoU, Pouyanne said: “This collaboration agreement illustrates TotalEnergies’ commitment to deploying its multi-energy strategy in Africa, particularly in Rwanda, a country with a booming economy. We are pleased to seize this opportunity to work together with Rwanda and contribute to the development of its energy sector, in line with TotalEnergies’ ambition to become a global multi-energy company.”
Rwanda is the smallest and most densely populated country on the African continent. As of today, 67.1% of Rwandan households have access to electricity.