Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA) has said that the government will make available over 9,000 hectares for investors who want to set up industries in different cities across the country. This is part of the strategy dubbed secondary cities’ urbanization agenda 2050 which was unveiled on Tuesday August 31. According to Vincent Rwigamba, the Director of Housing Planning at RHA, the strategy is in line with implementing cities master plans including those for secondary and satellite cities. Government plans to have 35 per cent of the population in Rwanda living in urban areas by 2024 which will increase twofold to 70 per cent by 2020. “Even the remaining 30 per cent of the population will be living in well planned centres in rural areas. Industrial development is a major component to facilitate urbanization,” he said. He said that currently, the land allocated to industries is 1,200 hectares but this will increase to 9,172 over the next 30 years. “Specialised industrial parks will be designed in accordance with district potentials. These industrial parks are needed only in 13 districts. We need a strong coordination in industrial land allocation and vertical construction of industrial buildings is highly encouraged where possible,” he said. In the new plan, 233 hectares have to be allocated to industry parks in Kigali city, 908 hectares in Muhanga, 1,226 hectares in Rwamagana, 1,483 hectares in Bugesera, 605 hectares in Nyagatare, 151 hectares in Huye, 333 hectares in Rubavu, 288 hectares in Rusizi, 424 hectares in Musanze, 238 hectares in Kirehe, 341 hectares in Karongi and 143 hectares in Nyabihu districts. Chantal Atukunda Rukeeba, an official with Rwanda Development Board, lauded the allocation of land to industries adding that this will facilitate RDB to attract investors. According to RDB, there are different investment opportunities namely manufacturing, agro-processing, tourism, real estate and construction, ICT, services, mining, infrastructure, energy, health services, education and many others. “As we map investment opportunities, the industrial parks will help us to attract both domestic and foreign investors. It will now be easy for investors coming in when we know where we can take them. They can go to secondary cities,” she said. She said that RDB has been mapping investment opportunities in secondary cities stressing that industrial parks should be key in boosting job creation. She said there are also incentives set up for manufacturers expanding their investment as a way of recovering from Covid-19 pandemic. The Manufacture and Build to Recover Programme is targeting to increase the production of construction materials, agro-processing, as well as hygiene and sanitation products. Companies setting up industries or expanding operations in the above sectors will be exempted from import duty for materials and equipment bought for purposes of setting up the production plants. The incentives include giving tax exemptions on construction materials, machines to be used in setting up the manufacturing plants. If the inputs are not locally available and are imported, one will not be required to pay import duties, if it’s locally sourced, you are exempted from VAT. For those in the construction and are sourcing materials locally, they will be exempted from VAT. This will give the investors an opportunity to save and reduce the overall cost of their investment. Green city strategy According to the housing authority, the implementation of Kigali city, secondary and satellite cities master plan will go along with replacing dumping sites with engineered landfills that turn waste into revenues. “Green city strategy has been adopted and is in its implementation,” noted Rwigamba. He added that it also promotes non-motorized transport by integrating bicycle lanes and pedestrian walkways. “Bus rapid transits will also be introduced to reduce dependency on individual cars and congestion,” adding ring roads, by-passes, trams and metros and cable cars are planned. “Cable cars in Musanze will promote tourism,” he noted. According to Jean Pierre Musafiri, The Director of Infrastructure and One Stop Centre in Huye district some challenges in implementing the master plan include limited budget for infrastructure construction, lack of technical staff and skills. Jean Baptiste Nsengiyumva Senior Research Fellow, at Institute of Policy Analysis and Research-Rwanda (IPAR-Rwanda) says there is a need for increased capacities in urban governance to address urban challenges. Under a project dubbed: “Addressing Rwanda’s urban governance issues through secondary cities”, he said this will also address governance challenges faced by secondary cities by examining the current issues and generating evidence on the issues for policy making.
