Kigali, 05 October, 2017: The Minister of State in Charge of Transport, Eng. Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye together with the Ambassador of Japan to Rwanda, His Excellency Takayuki Miyashita and the Director General of RTDA, Eng. Guy Kalisa, officiated a media briefing on the progress of Kayonza-Rusumo road rehabilitation works. This briefing was followed by a media tour on the project execution sites.

Speaking to journalists, Minister of State in charge of Transport said that the objective of this project is to rehabilitate and widen the part of the Central Corridor, a crucial route for international transport in the Eastern African region.

“This project will facilitate the movement of people and goods along the Central Corridor region and enhance regional unity and ease cross-border trade and transportation between East-African countries”, said Hon. Minister of State Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye.

“This network will also contribute in boosting transportation and trade by lowering prices of commodities and transport expenses from Dar-Es-Salam port as it the nearest port compared to others”, added Uwihanganye.

H.E Ambassador Miyashita said “I am pleased to see that the project is making a good progress, and the Government of Japan will make further contribution to the sustainability of economic development in Rwanda”.

Rusumo – Kayonza road is being revamped under a joint financing of the Government of Japan which offered a long term loan of $ 68 million (68.26% of the whole financing) and the African Development Bank which contributed $ 32 million (31.74%).

The project works will go through Kayonza, Ngoma and Kirehe District, and is expected to be completed in December 2019.

The Kayonza-Rusumo Road section is the third lot of the Kagitumba–Kayonza-Rusumo road project in Eastern Province.

It is being implemented by Rwanda Transport Development Agency (RTDA) and the execution is carried out by a joint venture of China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) and NPD Ltd, a local construction company.