National

TRADE:Transitional road will promote trade

Another section of the trans-national Bujumbura-Rusizi-Karongi-Rubavu highway will be built after an $11 million agreement was signed last Wednesday between the Government of Rwanda and the OPEC Fund for International Development.

The agreement awaits parliamentary approval before it is put into action.

The loan agreement, which will co-finance the 23.6 kilometre Rubengera-Gisiza stretch of the road, was signed in Vienna, Austria by the Director of the External Finance Unit in the Ministry of Finance (Minecofin), Ronald Nkusi.

The total length of the multinational Road is 265.7kms, with 185 kilometres on the Rwandan side (Kivu Belt Road). The whole project will cost US$ 52.7 million.

Other co-financers are the Government of Rwanda (US$ 5.7m), Saudi Bank for Economic Development (US$ 13 m), Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (US$ 13m) and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa or BADEA, (US$ 11m).

“We will sign with the Kuwait Fund this month on the 20th, we have signed with BADEA and a signature with the Saudi Fund is still pending but simply awaiting a convenient time,” said Nkusi.

If all goes according to plan, construction on the Rubengera-Gisiza section is scheduled to begin in the 2012/13 fiscal year. 

Construction works on the US$ 63 million 50-kilometre long Rusizi-Mwityazo section, started in 2010 with funding from the African Development Bank.

Minecofin states that discussions on the construction of the remaining lots are at an advanced stage. When completed, the multinational road will promote regional integration and contribute to regional trade as the road links Rwanda to Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Contact email: james.karuhanga[at]newtimes.co.rw