James B from Kigali wants to know how much aid Rwanda has received since 1994. To answer this question, let us first understand the definitions of “aid.” The term “official development assistance” (ODA) describes:
1. Loans made on concessional terms, meaning, loans that do not bear any interest or a rate of interest that is below the average cost;
2. Grants are non-repayable funds made by donor nations or by multilateral agencies to recipient countries;
3. Loans with a grant element of at least 25 percent discount.
The following are annual ODA (in US$) that Rwanda has received from 1994 to 2013. It is evident that ODA to Rwanda steadily increased from $335 million in 2003 to $1.2 billion in 2011 before sharply being reduced to $878 million in 2013, and further declining to $661 million in 2013.
The sharp reduction of ODA to Rwanda in 2012 and 2013 mark the period when donors cut or suspended aid to Rwanda in protest of the Kagame government sponsorship of M23 in DR Congo. The data below showing the year and the amount of ODA Rwanda received is from the World Bank:
1994 -….711,750,000
1995 -….694,700,000
1996 -….465,310,000
1997 -….229,670,000
1998 -….350,070,000
1999 -….373,080,000
2000 -….321,460,000
2001 -….304,880,000
2002 -….362,920,000
2003 -….335,240,000
2004 -….490,110,000
2005 -….577,400,000
2006 -….603,070,000
2007 -….722,570,000
2008 -….933,510,000
2009 -….933,590,000
2010 – 1,032,200,000
2011 – 1,264,000,000
2012 -….878,990,000
2013 -….661,428,571
Rwanda has clearly received substantial aid of over $12 billion in 20 years, making the country the biggest per capita ODA recipient in East Africa. Rwanda ODA capita was in 2012, $77; Kenya, $61; Tanzania, $59; Burundi, $53, and Uganda, $49.
Dr David Himbara