The Ministry of Trade and Industry has embarked on a study that will guide infrastructure development and other investments at ports that Rwanda owns in Djibouti, Tanzania and Kenya.
This land was donated to Rwanda by host governments through different bilateral cooperation agreements signed over different periods of time.
In size, the Mombasa plot in Kenya is 12.8 hectares, Tanzania’s Isaka dry port is 17.5 hectares whereas the two plots in Djibouti account for 60 hectares combined, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Speaking to The New Times, Doreen Ntawebasa, the official in charge of trade and infrastructure investments at the ministry said that the ministry is currently in a procurement process to undergo an intensive feasibility study for all three plots located outside Rwanda.
"We are in the process of getting a consultant to conduct a study on the three plots and once we are done, we will start the tendering processes for the development of above-mentioned lands,” he comments.
On the other hand, Steven Ruzibiza, the CEO of Private Sector Federation envisions a wide range of opportunities in those areas depending on the strategic locations of the ports.
"Each port has its own business opportunities depending on the investment return. So, each will be assessed and the fitting businesses might be allowed to jet in once the assessments are over,” he said in an exclusive interview with The New Times.
But the business opportunities are immense, he adds, giving an example of Isaka port in Tanzania, which he said can be used as an inland port or dry port where Rwandan business operators can store the imported goods before they are transported to Rwanda.
Ruzibiza continued to explain the impact of the ports on Rwandan business entities: "So, once they are built by Rwandans, there are some currencies that would keep circulating in the hands of the same nationals instead of being sold to foreigners.”
Ntawebasa also stressed the importance of such infrastructure, once in place.
"If we look at the port in Djibouti, it is located at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, exactly at the intersection of major international shipping lines that connect the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe,” she said.
"So, building a container freight station and an off-dock facility that would be charged with the responsibility of handling containers, cargo aggregation and distribution as well as bonded storage arrangements at the port, would be an ideal investment,” she adds.
On the land in Mombasa, she proposes the construction of gas storage and petroleum facilities to supply the Rwandan market and neighbouring countries.
Asked why the government had taken rather long to develop these lands, Ntawebasa said that land titles of the areas take longer to secure, hence delaying the operations.
Already in use
Apart from the three ports, officials at the ministry say that additional areas donated to Rwanda from the Central African Republic and Congo Brazzaville, are already in use. Some, according to the ministry, are being used in agricultural and construction investments.
Moreover, there are also areas donated by Rwanda to Djibouti located in the Kigali Special Economic Zone, though operations in the areas are also due to start soon.