A year after government unveiled the second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS2), substantial groundwork, including requisite public awareness, has been done to increase urbanisation through development of secondary cities.

Under economic transformation, one of the four thematic areas in EDPRS2, the EDPRS2 document indicates that the outcome indicator is population living in urban areas of proposed secondary cities.

The baseline value for 2012 was 3.5 per cent, but the targets for 2015/16 and 2017/18 are 6.3 and 8.2, per cent, respectively.

Presenting the Rwf1.75 trillion 2014/15 National Budget, last week, Finance and Economic Planning minister Claver Gatete said the projections are tied to priorities under EDPRS2 with thematic areas allocated Rwf915 billion. 

Economic transformation, the first of the four thematic areas under EDPRS2, targets accelerated economic growth and restructuring of the economy toward services and industry.

It has five priority areas to spearhead it, including transforming the economic geography of Rwanda by facilitating urbanisation and promoting secondary cities.

With Kigali as the capital, government earmarked six towns of Huye, Rubavu, Nyagatare, Rwamagana, Rusizi and Musanze districts for fast-tracking as secondary cities.

In the EDPRS2 document, economic transformation–a multi-decade process spanning one or two generations–is explained as the process of sustained high economic growth during which the fundamentals of an economy change, shifting from a traditional and low productivity agricultural base and a rural labour-force, to a more industrial, diversified and high productivity urban economy.

Curbing rural-urban migration

Six secondary cities are to be developed as poles of growth and centers of non-agricultural economic activities, a feat that will require investment in specific hard and soft infrastructure and strategic economic projects that will trigger growth of these cities and enhance linkages to other towns and rural areas.

The government plans to adopt a strategy that will stimulate more economic activities in Huye, Rubavu, Nyagatare, Rwamagana, Rusizi and Musanze towns to curb rural-urban migration.

Rural urban migration rate stands at 4.8 per cent, against the world’s rural-urban migration which stands at 1.9 per cent.

According to Nice Sheillah, the public relations and communications officer at the Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA), they are now in the process of developing and assessing potential of the secondary cities, their capacity to grow, and what is needed to create growth.

"This is a process we’re doing together with technicians from secondary cities who we are training in workshops. The rational is that secondary cities don’t grow automatically by upgrading basic facilities and infrastructure,” she said.

"It is critical to define from various perspectives, the opportunities and challenges cities have in order to make them attractive.”

The RHA official said this was their preoccupation in recent months, together with local technicians–as they charted ways to build capacity.

"This is what we will continue to do during the coming months so as to know the opportunities and challenges, what investments are needed to create jobs in the cities and improve facilities; and amount of land to be developed in existing urban areas,” she said.

Land assessement

Sheillah added that RHA will assess what is needed from a legal perspective to make urbanisation sustainable, for example, by lowering the amount of land per capita and concentrating on urban developments. 

Huye mayor Eugene Kayiranga Muzuka said arrangements for setting up basic infrastructure are being fast-tracked.

"We have concentrated efforts on availing water, electricity and roads network,” he  said.

"We have spent up to Rwf3 billion over the past two years on electricity and more than Rwf3 billion on water. These are projects that started earlier than the EDPRS2 timeline.” 

Kayiranga said the district id developing two housing sites; in Gatobotobo, Mbazi, and another in Gitwa,  Tumba.

"In Gitwa, there are 20 kilometres of paved roads already completed and in Gatobotobo, there is a kilometre that will be done this year. We are in budget negotiations with various stakeholders to see how we can do more,” he added.

To reach the 35 per cent urbanisation target by 2020, Sheillah said, roughly the secondary cities should grow four times faster than current growth rate.

"What we achieved is awareness on what is needed to reach this growth, that local leaders  have more knowledge of what it takes to urbanise,” she said.

Sheillah said RHA is developing maps showing the areas within the cities that can be developed.