Kigali 24 January 2018: The Government of Rwanda has signed a ten-year lease agreement with a United Arab Emirates based investor ‘EnviroServe’ to manage local e-waste recycling plant located in Bugesera Industrial Park, Eastern Province.

On 19 January, 2018 the Cabinet meeting approved the Lease Agreement between the Government of Rwanda and ENVIROSERVE to Manage and Operate this E-Waste Dismantling plant. The agreement aims at making the plant more profitable and equipping Rwandans with skills in e-waste recycling.

The e-waste management project overall objective is to offer an “end –of-life “solution for electrical and electronic waste, allowing a sustainable use of ICT equipment in Rwanda, preventing a negative impact of electronic and electrical waste on the health and the environment once this equipment has reached its end-of life, while at the same time strengthening the Rwandan Economy through the creation of green jobs.

In order to ensure a proper and sustainable management of this facility, a partnership with a professional private company was proposed in the project document and national sanitation policy to allow the facilities to generate income, expand and create more green jobs. 

In line with the agreement, the investor will help the government to recover $1.5 million (Rwf1.26 billion) that was invested in the plant back in 2014.

Both parties have agreed on capacity building through different training programmes that will be offered to Rwandans. Also the contract includes expanding the plant in infrastructures and machinery which will become the government property after ten years.