Kigali, 06 November 2018:  Permanent Secretary at Ministry of Infrastructure, Eng. Patricie Uwase has officiated the Water Africa and East Africa Building & Construction 2018, which is taking place for the first time in Kigali, Rwanda from 6-8 November 2018 at the Serena Hotel. 

Permanent Secretary Eng. Patricie Uwase has noted that Water Africa & East Africa Building and Construction Exhibition and Seminar 2018 comes at the right time when African continent is gearing its efforts to frame a new approach for its socio-economic transformation through optimizing resources for the benefits of its people.

She called upon seminar participants and exhibitors to take advantage of this opportunity to showcase current developments and forge partnerships for future development in line with emerging technologies.

Eng. Uwase said that “the Government of Rwanda recognizes the importance of water, sanitation and construction in its socio-economic transformation agenda and has set target to achieve 30% of urbanization rate, and universal access to water supply and sanitation services by the year 2024”. She added that Rwanda has committed to reaching Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in water, sanitation and urbanization.

The Permanent Secretary challenged sector players to always consider use quality of materials and ensure standards in construction and infrastructure and embrace green building technology.

“Private Sector is encouraged to take the lead and invest in water, sanitation and urban infrastructure given the conducive environment that was put in place”, she assured.

She mentioned that in construction industry, Rwanda has a high demand for housing infrastructure which guarantees the necessary market for profitability purposes.  “With an annual demand of at least 30,000 housing units every year for the City of Kigali alone, a business for construction materials, is viable and success in Rwanda”, she emphasized. Conclusively, she reiterated the Government commitment to support the private investment by providing an enabling environment.