Page 17 - LUA September - October 2024

shares its border with four countries, the Programs, Association of Cross Border relations with neighbouring countries
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Traders Rwanda, while talking about have affected the movement of goods due
the West, Uganda in the North, Tanzania in how the landlocked status increases the to the landlocked borders. He also spoke
the East and Burundi in the South. Thus it logistics costs. about the road infrastructure available
depends on ports in Kenya's Mombasa and The association aims to increase within the country which he believes are
Tanzania's Dar es Salaam to move Rwandan exports to other countries good but not enough.
their goods via sea. by working with government agencies “Rwanda has very good road network
“First of all, you are relying including the National Agricultural Export but it is not enough. It doesn't get deep
on the road network of Board (NAEB). into the villages where those commodities
another country,” said Blair Ayesiga also notes that political are produced. People have to rely on
Robert Ayesiga, Director of instability in the region and motorcycles or other means because
mountainous regions in Rwanda are
difficult terrains to navigate. So people use
the manual means of transportation, put
them in a designated collection area, let
small trucks pick them up and transport
them to Kigali,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sebahizi also
acknowledges the lack of
infrastructure and the resultant
increase in logistics costs as one of
the important challenges that must be
addressed by the country.
“The cost of transport and logistics
in our country is more than 30 percent
higher than the regional average. So we
have to invest a lot in infrastructure,” he said.
For instance, Rwanda is building an
airport 40 kilometres south of Kigali
International Airport in Bugesera
district with a dedicated cargo
terminal and 150,000 tonnes
annual cargo capacity. Aiming
to finish construction by 2026,
Qatar Airways owns a 60 percent
stake in the airport. Along
with Qatar Airways' expected
acquisition of a 49 percent stake
in Rwandair, the flag carrier of
Rwanda, logistics companies
and shippers in the country are
also expecting increased air cargo
capacity out of Rwanda.
Ayesiga reported that the
construction of the new airport is
progressing very rapidly and he
believes that the airport is going
to position Rwanda as a trading
hub of East Africa.
“People dealing with logistics
are going to be benefiting
from that,” he added.
Myriam Izabayo, Customer
Relationship Manager of
Africa Global Logistics (AGL)
Rwanda, believes that the new
Bugesera Airport coupled with
additional freight capacity with

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