Jersey and Rwanda strengthen ties

25 June 2019

​Jersey’s External Relations Minister, Senator Ian Gorst, and the Rwandan High Commissioner, Her Excellency Yamina Karitanyi, have signed a new partnership which strengthens cooperation between the two jurisdictions before Rwanda’s hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in 2020 (CHOGM 2020).

The new Addendum, which was signed at Rwanda House in London, builds on an existing Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Cooperation, which was signed between the Government of Jersey and the Government of Rwanda in 2016. It aims to enhance cooperation in financial services, advance negotiations on a Bilateral Investment Treaty, and strengthen cooperation in the planning of the CHOGM 2020.

Since the 2016 MoU was signed, Jersey and Rwanda have signed a Double Taxation Agreement, overseen the expansion of Jersey Overseas Aid’s ‘Jersey Inka Nziza’ programme, hosted and trained Gorilla conservationists at Durrell, and supported capacity building and knowledge transfer through an inward secondment to the Jersey Financial Services Commission.

The updated MoU will allow for more collaboration between the two governments’ Financial Services Units, municipal authorities, and between both jurisdictions’ financial services regulators.

External Relations Minister, Senator Ian Gorst, said: “This update to the Memorandum of Understanding aims to strengthen our cooperation with Rwanda across a range of mutually beneficial objectives.

“Last week our International Development Minister was in Rwanda to see first-hand how Jersey’s expertise is making a significant difference to hundreds of thousands of its citizens. We have been participating in Send a Cow Rwanda for many years, and we are now supporting financial inclusion programmes for people who lack access to basic financial services.

“I am pleased to see the strengthening of Jersey’s relationship with East Africa. We have much in common with Rwanda, such as our shared involvement with the Commonwealth, and we are greatly looking forward to Rwanda’s hosting of the CHOGM 2020 as this is an important opportunity to showcase the great potential of this important region.”

The High Commissioner for Rwanda to the UK, H.E. Yamina Karitanyi, said: “Rwanda ‎welcomes this added opportunity to enhance its existing relations with Jersey and looks forward to the implementation phases which will benefit the citizens of Rwanda and Jersey.”