BUJUMBURA February 1st (ABP) – Burundi Prime Minister Gervais Ndirakobuca received on Tuesday, January 31, 2023, in his office, the United States Ambassador to Burundi, Mrs. Mélanie Harris Higgins. At the end of the audience, she told the press that the meeting with the Prime Minister focused on sharing the main priorities of the Government of Burundi and of the Head of State, where agriculture occupies the first place. This year, the United States plans to start with two projects in the agricultural sector. She explained that the first project will support small farmers in agricultural techniques that will allow them to have a better harvest. The second project will be to support the school canteens program with part of the food that will be purchased locally and another part with food from the United States. That project will be implemented in Ruyigi province, she said.
The other project is the training of Burundian soldiers for peacekeeping in Somalia and their equipment with a sum of approximately 2 million US dollars. According to Mrs. Mélanie, the United States intends to add 100 million US dollars to the interventions that they are already making in relation to bilateral relations between Burundi and the United States.
The United States Ambassador to Burundi praised the step already taken by Burundi in terms of human rights, including the fight against human trafficking, but also in the sector of good governance. The head of the press and communication in the Prime Minister’s Office informed the press that the Prime Minister commended the various interventions of the United States in Burundi. He also underlined that the Prime Minister and the Ambassador of the United States agreed to strengthen bilateral relations between the United States and Burundi.
The Prime Minister also received in audience the representative of Trade Mark East Africa to Burundi, Mr. Christian Nibasumba.
At the end of the audience, Mr. Nibasumba told the press that in addition to a courtesy visit, the meeting with the Prime Minister focused on the projects implemented by Trade Mark East Africa in Burundi. He cited the electronic one-stop shop project that includes several agencies including OBR, ADB, the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock, the Ministry of Public Health through ABREMA and others. They also discussed Trade Mark East Africa’s interventions for women who do cross-border trade. He did not fail to point out that the Prime Minister suggested to Trade Mark East Africa, some improvements and priorities in the field of digitalization of services.