Water and waste management contributed significantly to the increase of industrial production in Rwanda in January, according to latest data released by the National Institute of Statistics Rwanda (NISR).

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Rwanda is banking on the private sector’s potential to capitalize on the 3,661 tonnes of organic waste generated daily across the country by transforming it into useful products, such as fertilisers. NISR indicates that industrial output in the formal sector increased by 7.9 per cent year-on-year in January, against an increase of 9.4 percent on annual average basis.

In December 2024, it had increased by 5.7 per cent.

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The Industrial Production Index is a statistical instrument used to monitor the monthly trends in the output of industrial activities. This includes goods produced by factories and other industrial businesses in Rwanda. It is also used to compare the performance and growth of goods produced in the local industrial sector. It looks at different sectors including mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity, water and waste management.

NISR doesn’t include construction activities due to the constraint of data available.

In the period under review, mining and quarrying increased by 4.3 per cent, manufacturing increased by 7.1 per cent, electricity increased by 4.2 per cent, while water and waste management increased by 20 per cent.

The increase of production in manufacturing industries was driven by an increase in food processing of 16.7 percent and 13.9 per cent of beverages and tobacco products, however, manufacturing of textiles, clothing and leather decreased by 8.6 per cent.

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Fred Mugabe, an industrial analyst at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, recently told The New Times that there are various interventions that will be enforced including improving quality and standardization of products, investor incentives, and boosting industrial parks across the country.

As a result of efforts to improve local value chains, Rwanda’s industrial sector has seen growth over the past seven years. New investments contributed to the increase of manufacturing industries from 10 to more than 70 currently, and creating more than 5,000 jobs for people.