Jimmy Gasore, The Minister of infrastructure
Rwanda to begin implementing nuclear power projects
The Ministry of Infrastructure says that during these years, much has been done, especially in terms of preparation and willingness, so that the time has come to begin implementing nuclear power projects.
Starting this Monday, Rwanda will host the Nuclear Energy Innovation Summit for Africa (NEISA), which will discuss how nuclear energy can solve electricity problems on the African continent.
The four-day conference will bring together Heads of State, Government, Ministers of Infrastructure and Energy, policymakers, investors, nuclear experts, financial institutions and energy stakeholders.
The Minister of Infrastructure, Dr. Jimmy Gasore, said that what is different in this meeting is that the country has been taking the initiative for a long time and turning it into projects.
He said, “The projects we know when they will start have dates. To achieve this, we must put effort into finding funds to implement the projects. We discuss a lot but it all comes down to implementing the projects.”
Based on the country’s 2050 goals, Dr. Gasore said that for the country to develop, it needs electricity to the extent that all developed countries in the world have nuclear power.
He said, “We, as Rwandans, cannot continue to talk about sustainable development without talking about sufficient electricity. We are talking about nuclear power used for civilian purposes to generate electricity, and other development purposes but for civilian purposes. There are countries that have had nuclear power for over 50 years and have developed, why do we think that others have the right to develop, we Rwandans, Africans, are depriving ourselves of that right.”
Because nuclear energy is a technology that can be used for both military and civilian purposes, it is highly regulated, which requires that what you do must be known, that you operate openly, and that you have the ability to control and manage it properly.
Since 2018, Rwanda has begun to enact laws, regulations, and strengthen the capacity of the Rwanda Regulatory Authority (RURA) to continue to be a regulatory agency in collaboration with international institutions, establish the Rwanda Atomic Energy Board (RAEB), responsible for coordinating these activities, and sign agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency, in preparation for the implementation of nuclear energy projects.
This is in addition to the fact that since then, Rwanda has sent more than 200 students around the world to study nuclear energy, and a Nuclear Engineering Department has been established at the University of Rwanda.
Minister Dr. Gasore said, “All of this shows that as a country, we are ready, all that remains is to start implementing projects.”
This conference, which is being held in Rwanda for the second time in a row, the last one being held in July last year (2025), aims to help Africa move from just talking about nuclear projects to implementing and investing in them.