The leaders met on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum special meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

President Kagame arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday evening and is scheduled to participate in a panel discussion themed “A New Vision for Global Development”, alongside President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia.

Georgieva will also participate in the discussions alongside Lazard Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Orszag.

Rwanda became the first African country to benefit from $319 million in funding from the IMF in December 2022 under the Resilience and Sustainability Trust to fund key climate change initiatives.

RSF was created in 2022 to help low-income and vulnerable middle-income IMF members address longer-term structural challenges such as climate change with longer-term, low-cost financing.

At the time, the RMF Executive Board also approved a new 36-month Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI) to support Rwanda’s economic policy and reform agenda designed to maintain macroeconomic stability and foster more inclusive growth.

"The new PCI will continue to support Rwanda’s macroeconomic policies and reforms, with a greater emphasis on policies to ensure macroeconomic stability and reforms to mitigate pandemic scars and to build socioeconomic resilience to shocks and insure against downside risks," the Board said in a statement after the approval of Rwanda’s financing request.

Georgieva visited the East African country a month after the Board’s decision, where she had discussions with green entrepreneurs as well as young environmentalists on their efforts to address climate change-related challenges.

“I came away impressed by the dynamism and creativity of Rwandan youth advocating for climate action and environmental conservation, and entrepreneurs using their ingenuity to bring climate-friendly solutions for a greener tomorrow," Georgieva said after her three-day visit to Rwanda.

Georgieva also participated in a round table discussion with Rwanda’s senior government officials on climate financing and ongoing climate mitigation and green projects.

“I was glad to have the opportunity to exchange views with policymakers from the region on the multi-faceted challenges they face on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic fallout from the war in Ukraine, the cost-of-living crisis and climate change. We also discussed how the IMF could help them better address these challenges," she added.

President Paul Kagame held talks with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, on fruitful partnerships with the financial institution, especially on ongoing climate mitigation and green projects.