Rwanda Federation Transport Cooperative (RFTC) officials are finalising a restructuring exercise that will see the company offer more services than just transport.

Among the major plans RFTC has is the overhaul of Nyabogogo Taxi Park in downtown Kigali.

The federation says it plans to revamp the park such that it becomes the face of the City of Kigali given its importance to the city as well as regional transport and trade.

In a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Infrastructure, the federation’s managers said they were looking at venturing in real estate and financial services on top of their core transport business.

As such, they said, the restructuring will lead to the creation of Jali Holding Company that will oversee the activities of the entreprise.

In an interview, Col (Rtd) Ludovic Dodo Twahirwa, the federation’s chairperson, said that since RFTC started transport operations, it has grown and needs to change status to better serve the public.

He added that the company has equity worth Rwf13 billion that was accumulated by RFTC over the last six years. The federation was formed following the disbandment of ATRACO six years ago.

"It is impressive that we started with only Rwf790 million in 2011 and now we have Rwf13 billion. This is a huge achievement and we are committed to get Rwf100 billion in the next five years,” he said

How the company will work

Twahirwa said the first component will deal with improving public transport within and outside the City of Kigali. He said that over 200 public buses will have been purchased by the end of next year.

The real estate component will deal with construction and renovation of taxi parks, managing them as well as venturing into construction of houses mainly for the company’s employees among others.

Twahirwa said, soon, the company will start a micro-finance institution which will help the public, especially its members, to save and acquire loans to develop themselves.

Nyabugogo Taxi Park

Twahirwa said they will construct a modern facility that will reflect the face of the City of Kigali.

The Minister of State for Transport, Eng. Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye, hailed RFTC initiative to form a company but urged them to use their experience in public transport to improve service delivery.

"RFTC has been a big partner in improving public transport but we still have a challenge in the sector, we have over 1.3 million residents in the City of Kigali and about one million use public transport; transport is also one of development pillars and whenever we have a problem the city seems paralysed, we therefore need you to help us improve the sector,” he said

The minister urged the federation to make the most of ICT advancement to effectively and efficiently serve the public.

RFTC is made up of 2357 members from 12 cooperatives that specialise in the national public transport from all the provinces of Rwanda and the City of Kigali.

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