Over 7,100km of roads to be repaired, upgraded by 2018

The cost of doing business in the country could soon go down following plans by the government to pave more roads as well as rehabilitate those in bad state across the country. A source at the Ministry of Infrastructure told Business Times that the government looks to ensure that all road construction projects that were earmarked in the national budget as per 2014/15 fiscal year are completed as scheduled to support the private sector’s efforts to deliver the second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS II) goals. Over 7,192km across the country will be repaired or upgraded to ensure that quality and adequate infrastructure is in place to enable the public and private sectors deliver Rwanda’s economic objectives, according to James Musoni, Minister for Infrastructure. He adds that infrastructure development is essential for an accelerated growth. “We want to scaleup our efforts towards the realisation of this objective to reduce the cost of doing trade in the country, make Rwanda more competitive and link producers to markets,” Musoni says. He also points out that this will support rural development and, thus, play a key role in efforts geared at poverty eradication. Statistics from the ministry indicate that the national paved road network increased to 1,210km last year, with more than 1,011km expected to be tarmacked by 2018. The paved national road network is currently at 86 per cent of the total road network, which is projected to expand to 95 per cent by 2017, according to Musoni. The minister says they recorded huge achievements in the road transport sector, including paving of 330.3km of roads, last year across the country, a situation that has eased the movement of goods and people. 2015 priorities Musoni says rehabilitation works for major roads, including the Kivu belt (185km), Kagitumba-Kayonza-Rusumo (208km), Base-Gicumbi-Nyagatare (125km) and Base-Butaro-Kidaho (63km) roads would commence soon. Recently, the infrastructure and local government ministries acknowledged the need to address the challenge of impassable roads. They urged the Road Transport Development Agency to ensure that districts class I and feeder roads are repaired to ease transportation of goods and services. They also directed the agency to provide technical assistance to districts so that they are able to plan and handle procurement processes without hitches. RTDA has already conducted the identified district class II roads that would be improved. The agency has also drafted a report on the same that is awaiting Cabinet approval. It envisaged that once approved, it will help guide how construction and rehabilitation works will be carried out to ensure quality. RTDA will also provide terms of reference to be used when procuring consultants for detailed studies. Private sector optimistic Antoine Manzi, the director of advocacy at Private sector federation (PSF), said infrastructure is an essential to facilitate trade and ease access to local and regional markets. “We are talking about building capacity and competitiveness of the private sector. Also, being able to link producers with consumers will help the country achieve its sustain economic growth objectives,” Manzi says. Last month, the government and the African Development Bank (AfDB), signed a concessional loan agreement worth $74.4 million (about Rwf52 billion) to finance the construction of the 51-kilometre Base-Gicumbi-Rukomo road. It is projected that once completed it will greatly facilitate trade between Rubavu, Musanze, Gicumbi and Nyagatare districts. Overall, road projects were allocated about Rwf7.4 billion in the 2014/15 fiscal year. At the beginning of this fiscal year, government re-emphasised the need for infrastructure to boost exports. In fact, the current national budget is under the theme, “Infrastructure development to accelerate export growth”. The government has so far signed 38 agreements with exporters, with infrastructure development by the government as one of the key issues in these deals that aim at boosting export volumes and revenue. It, however, remains to be seen how fast government will deliver to this effect.

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Over 7,100km of roads to be repaired, upgraded by 2018