Lake Kivu has in the recent past, once again, received a great deal of attention from the Rwandan policymakers and technocrats as the country looks to leverage the lake’s potential on a large scale. Aside from extracting electricity from the methane gas deposits in the lake, the government is now looking to exploit the gas to produce other essential commodities like fertilisers and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). One of the latest efforts to exploit the methane gas deposits relates to a planned feasibility study for production of urea, a project, once successful, could go a long way in boosting access to fertilisers. Urea is an organic compound manufactured from ammonia and a source of inexpensive nitrogen fertiliser, an essential nutrient for crops. Already, the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development (RAB) has secured Rwf100 million in the new fiscal year to fund the feasibility study, which would address questions related to the volume and quality of the fertliser, as well as the actual budget necessary. This comes three years after the Government inked a $400-million deal for extraction and processing methane into natural gas that can be used in cooking, factories and automotive industry. Both projects are expected to help ease the impact of external shocks on the commodities, which have seen a sharp rise in prices on the global market, first due to the Covid-19 pandemic and then war in Ukraine. In both cases, the government subsidises these products to encourage their uptake or help contain inflation but this is hardly sustainable and, therefore, their production locally could go a long way toward reducing pricey imports. Most significantly, if realised, it’ll help boost the country’s ambitions for economic self-reliance. Furthermore, it is welcome news that the government is continuing to diversify its approach in exploiting the economic potential of Lake Kivu’s methane gas deposits, beyond just power generation. Indeed, such initiatives should be encouraged further through a deliberate effort to woo local and foreign investors into local production, especially investments with a large multiplier effect.
