The Government and the African Development Bank (AfDB), yesterday, signed a concessional loan agreement worth $ 74.4 million (about Rwf52 billion) to finance the construction of the 51-kilometre Base-Gicumbi-Rukomo road.
The Government and the African Development Bank (AfDB), yesterday, signed a concessional loan agreement worth $ 74.4 million (about Rwf52 billion) to finance the construction of the 51-kilometre Base-Gicumbi-Rukomo road.
The road project will receive additional $4.6 million (about Rwf3.2 billion) from government later.
The loan will be paid back after 20 years with a grace period of five years and at an interest rate of less than 1 per cent, Amb. Claver Gatete, the minister for finance and economic planning, said.
The construction of the 51-kilometre road is part of a 125-kilometre Base –Nyagatare road project which will link the Northern and the Eastern provinces.
It is expected to facilitate trade between secondary cities of Rubavu, Musanze, Gicumbi and Nyagatare.
Speaking after the signing event in Kigali, Minister Gatete said: "The road will ease access to markets and reduce the cost of doing business. It will also see an increase in the value of agricultural produce and household income.”
The road also links the Northern Corridor to eastern DR Congo through Musanze to Rubavu border with Goma town.
It is hoped this could also ease traffic in the capital Kigali as trucks transporting goods to DR Congo will no longer need to pass via Kigali from Kagitumba or Gatuna borders.
The project will be executed by the Ministry of Infrastructure through Rwanda Transport Development Agency (RTDA) as an executing agency, Gatete added.
AfDB resident representative Negatu Makonnen said the bank’s support to the transport sector has taken almost a third of the bank’s active lending portfolio which currently stands at $708 million.
"This is the eighth major road being financed by the bank in recent times. In additional to upgrading the Base-Rukomo road we will sensitise local communities on road safety, and environmental protection, and construct multifunctional centres such as markets and community centres.”
The project, when completed, will open up the region and connect the Eastern, Northern and Western provinces, thus boost both national and international trade flows, he added.
"Rwanda’s competitiveness will depend on the kind of the infrastructure we put in place. There is no doubt that this particular project will help improve the living conditions of the people in the areas,” Negatu said.
Guy Kalisa, the director-general of RTDA, said actual road construction is set to commence in April 2015.
AfDB has increasingly contributed to the development of road infrastructure in the country with several projects already complete while others are near completion.
They include Kicukiro-Nemba-Kirundo, Gitarama-Ngororero and Rusizi-Bugarama-Ruhwa roads, among others.
Meanwhile, the new project comes in handy to complement the one-stop border post linking Rubavu to Goma town whose construction was launched by Howard G. Buffett of the Howard Buffett Foundation on Monday.