This article covers India's development partnership with Burundi: the institutions India has set up in Burundi, lines of credit, grants and gifts, digital cooperation, and cooperation in energy and defence. It is based on the MEA bilateral brief of April 2026.

Pan-African institutions in Burundi

According to the MEA brief of April 2026, Burundi was nominated by the AU, following the first India Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-I) in 2008, to host the India-Africa Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (IAIEPA). It is one of the 5 institutes offered by India at the Pan-Africa level, and is mandated to strengthen the capacities of the region in the education sector. An agreement between the National University of Education Planning and Administration (NUEPA) and Burundi's Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research for the establishment of IAIEPA was signed in Bujumbura on 14 October 2011.

Under IAFS-I, India also offered eight Vocational Training Centers (VTCs), one to each of the eight RECs, and Burundi was nominated as one of the host countries. The centre was inaugurated in December 2016. It imparts vocational training to people from the region to enable them to be gainfully employed or become entrepreneurs.

Health and tele-services

A project to build and equip a center for HIV/AIDS prevention, testing and treatment was completed in December 2012. The centre provides health-care services covering reproductive health, sexually transmitted diseases, prenatal care and family planning.

A tele-medicine center and a tele-education center were set up in Bujumbura in 2010 under the first phase of the Pan-African E-Network Project. The brief states that the project aims to provide quality and real-time medical care and education from India at a fraction of cost.

Lines of credit

The Government of India extended a Line of Credit of US$ 80 million for the 20MW Kabu hydro-electric project. The agreement between the EXIM Bank of India and the Government of Burundi was signed in May 2011, and the foundation stone for the Kabu HEP in Cibitoke Province was laid on 30 August 2012.

On 25 October 2024, the President of the Republic of Burundi, H.E. Évariste Ndayishimiye, inaugurated the Kabu-16 Hydro Electric Project (20MW) in Cibitoke Province. The High Commissioner represented the Government of India at the inauguration. The brief describes the plant as the highest installed capacity generating plant in Burundi at the time of its commissioning.

A second Line of Credit agreement between the Government of Burundi and EXIM Bank was signed on 02 July 2019 for the construction of a new Parliament Building in Gitega and two Ministerial buildings in Bujumbura. The brief records that, due to delayed execution, the Government of India annulled this LOC in May 2025.

Grants and gifts

  • September 2019: India gifted medicines worth US$ 1.1 million to Burundi.
  • March 2020: a gift of 100,000 NCERT text books was handed over to the Education Ministry of Burundi.
  • India-UNDP Fund: the Government of India approved an aid project proposal from the Government of Burundi, with a grant of USD 1,200,000 under the India-UNDP Fund (General Window).

Under the Fund's guidelines, the India-UNDP project was approved by PMINY, with managerial support from the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), and is to be implemented by a United Nations agency, in this case UNFPA. The Burundi Government signed an agreement with UNFPA on 19 September 2024, and the High Commissioner attended the signing ceremony. As of April 2026 the project was ongoing.

Digital public infrastructure

On 9 August 2024, the High Commissioner met Ms. Leocadie Ndacyisabawas, ICT Minister of Burundi, and the Governor of the Bank of Burundi (BoB) to discuss implementation of MOSIP and UPI in Burundi. According to the brief, the Minister and the Governor expressed interest in further cooperation in these fields, and the Minister requested a visit of technical teams from India for further discussions.

Energy and defence

Burundi's Minister of Hydralics, Energy represented the country at the 2nd General Assembly of ISA in New Delhi in October 2019. Renewable energy, and defence and security, were among the fields of development cooperation discussed at the second FOC in December 2023.