Rwanda was admitted on Saturday during the bank’s 4th annual board meeting held in Luxembourg.

Other countries admitted the same day include Bénin and Djibouti rasing the number of members to 100.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank that aims at supporting infrastructure development in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

The bank started operations after the agreement entered into force on 25 December 2015, after ratifications were received from 10 member states holding a total number of 50% of the initial subscriptions of the Authorized Capital Stock.

It has the initial investment of US $ 100 billion (a half of the initial investment of the World Bank) and is considered as a potential financial institution with global competences like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

The vice president of AIIB, Danny Alexander welcomed new members including Rwanda and expressed optimism for collaboration and the latter’s development projects.

“Now, we have member son each continent. We are pleased with the growing interest of African countries in the bank and we look forward to working with Benin, Djibouti, and Rwanda to support their development in the years to come,” he said.

Rwanda’s Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Uzziel Ndagijimana was present during the meeting in which Rwanda was admitted to AIIB.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr Richard Sezibera has via twitter account said: “Rwanda joining the Asian Infrastructure Bank (AIIB) is an important step. Congratulations to all those who worked hard to make it happen.”

AIIB has so far provided $8.5 billion loan to fund 46 infrastructure projects in 18 member countries.

AIIB members collectively account for 78 % of the world’s population and 63% of global wealth.

The vice president of AIIB, Danny Alexander welcomed new members including Rwanda