More than $26.5 million (approx. Rwf35 billion) is set to be invested in trade facilitation and logistics improvement under Kigali Logistics Platform Connectivity Development Project (KLPConnect), according to information from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM, and the World Bank). The entire project budget is estimated at more than $100 million, as per data from the World Bank, which is its financier through its International Development Association (IDA). The project implementation timeline is six years - running from the current fiscal year (2024/2025) through September 30, 2030. Its objectives are to improve resilient and safe connectivity from the Kigali Logistics Platform (KLP) – Rwanda’s largest inland cargo handling facility – located in Masaka, Kicukiro District, to the regional logistics corridors and support local and regional economic activities around the corridors. KLP is managed by United Arab Emirates’ logistics firm, DP World. ALSO READ: DP World Kigali inaugurates its expansion phase with a commodity distribution centre Among other components of the project, there is “improving physical infrastructure to connect KLP to the Central Corridor, resiliently and safely,” which is expected to fund the upgrading of the KLP/Bugesera connector roads (69.45 km of district roads in total) that comprise of four road sections, namely, Masaka-Kabukuba (16.88 km), Kabukuba-Nyamata (13.72 km), Gahembe-Kindama (19.21 km, and Kabukuba-Riziyeri (19.64 km). Central Corridor (1,300 km long) is an essential trade route in the East African Community (EAC) region that commences at the port of Dar es Salaam and serves Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Eastern DRC. Under trade facilitation and logistics improvement, activities to be done under the project include carrying out community-driven demand analysis, prioritisation, selection, design, and related supervision of civil works for upgrading construction of socio-economic infrastructure. The Minister of Trade and Industry, Prudence Sebahizi told The New Times that activities to be carried out under the project funding include construction of basic infrastructure in one of the Industrial Park to be also informed by the feasibility study; two modern markets; and four selling points alongside the road Masaka-Bugesera. He added that the development of national logistics and distribution strategy and feasibility study for expansion of existing KLP, acquisition of Laboratory Equipment for Rwanda Standards Board (RSB), and capacity building of exporters and producers, are also part of the trade facilitation and logistics improvement component. Others are setting up selling points in the selected villages; and designing and setting up an SMEs-oriented warehouse and e-commerce hub, as well as improved quality and standards of goods and services. Sebahizi said that trade corridors should go hand in hand with development activities for people around them to feel included. “There is movement of vehicles, people and goods that have to pass there. That’s why there should be markets and trade arrangements to facilitate free movement,” he said, referring to infrastructure and facilities planned under the project. On the need to expand the existing KLP, he said that, under the second National Strategy for Transformation (NST2), Rwanda targets to double its annual export revenues to $7.3 billion by 2029, from $3.5 billion generated in 2023, which requires increased logistical capacity to handle more goods in line with that target. Another factor, he said, is that imports are also expected to increase as local factories need raw materials or machinery to support their operations for increased output. ALSO READ: Rwanda eyes $2bn in annual mineral export earnings by 2029 According to the World Bank, Rwanda’s logistics strategy envisions the Kigali Logistics Platform (KLP) to become a multipurpose, multimodal freight and cargo hub by expanding available space, encouraging free access, and connecting to EAC’s primary corridors. Connecting the expanded KLP to the Central Corridor will help KLP become a regional cargo hub by facilitating the sustainable movement of goods and services for the new Bugesera Industrial Park and the Bugesera International Airport under construction, it indicated. Information from the World Bank shows that the project will support the creation of a local logistical corridor along the proposed roads by upgrading selected markets and selling points in selected villages.
