Rwanda and the European Union Tuesday signed a €177 million (about $200 million or Rwf157 billion) financing deal that will help the government improve its energy sector.

The government targets to have 70 per cent of the 11 million population access electricity by 2018, from 23 per cent as at last year.

The five-year budgetary support aims at improving the supply, transmission and distribution of electricity in Rwanda, and the management of the energy sector.

The financing agreement is part of a €460 million (about Rwf407 billion) EU grant to Rwanda to support energy, agriculture, and governance.

“Energy is one of the top priorities for the Government of Rwanda,” Claver Gatete, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning said, further noting that it “is a prerequisite for the achievement of its main development goal of becoming middle income country by 2020.”