The British government withheld a $34 million aid payment to Rwanda at the end of November, citing charges in a U.N. report that Rwanda is backing rebels in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. In an email interview, Pamela Abbott, the acting director of research at the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research in Rwanda, reviewed the state of development aid to Rwanda.
WPR: Who are Rwanda's main aid partners, and how steady has this been over the years?
Pamela Abbott: Rwanda’s main aid partners are the World Bank, the U.S., the Global Fund, the European Union, the U.K., Belgium, the African Development Bank, the Netherlands, Germany and Canada. Aid has been increasing since 2005, but the proportion of public sector spending from aid has declined as domestic revenues have increased. Official development assistance (ODA), including off-budget aid, makes up about 60 percent of public sector spending, with 41.5 percent being on-budget. However, predictability of aid remains an issue, with not all development partners being prepared to make multiyear commitments or even predictions. This includes the U.S., the single largest bilateral donor.