﻿10 most impressive mega construction projects in Rwanda
Rwanda, a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley, where the African
Great Lakes region and East Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator,
Rwanda is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
It is highly elevated, giving it the soubriquet "land of thousand hills",
with its geography dominated by mountains in the west and savanna to the east, with numerous
lakes throughout the country. Rwanda's developing economy suffered heavily in the wake of the 1994
genocide, but has since strengthened. The economy is based mostly on subsistence agriculture. Coffee
and tea are the major cash crops for export. Tourism is a fast-growing sector and is now the
country's leading foreign exchange earner. Rwanda is one of only two countries in which mountain
gorillas can be visited safely, and visitors pay high prices for gorilla tracking permits.
Music and dance are an integral part of Rwandan culture,
particularly drums and the highly choreographed intore dance.
Traditional arts and crafts are produced throughout the country, including imigongo,
a unique cow dung art. With all this happening Rwanda is engaging in many development projects
to help build their tourism sector future and make both tourist and residents mor comfortable.
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subscribed to our community you are missing out! 8. Rwf2bn Amahoro Stadium Facelift
The Amahoro National Stadium, Amahoro Indoor Stadium and the Paralympic Games Gymnasium
renovations wee anounced by Rwanda's ministry of sports. The upgrade, which could reportedly cost
over Rwf2 billion, will see the stadium's capacity increase to 45,000 from the current 25,000 while
the indoor 'Petit Stade' Stadium could accommodate 5,000 spectators. Petit Stade's current capacity
is about 2,000 spectators. The upgrade of Amahoro Stadium goes with that of Indoor Stadium and the
gymnasium for disabled athletes because they make one project, which, will be finalized this year.
The upgrade is part of the government's broader project to develop a sports hub in Remera,
Gasabo District, under the Kigali Sports City blueprint.
The Sports City will cover the whole area currently occupied by the Kigali Arena,
Amahoro Stadium, Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) headquarters, which must also relocate,
Amahoro indoor stadium and its neighbouring tennis courts, and Paralympic Gymnasium
and the Remera metropolitan police as well as Remera health centre.
7. Base-Rukomo-Nyagatare Road
The Transport Sector Support Project aims to improve accessibility and mobility between the
towns of Base, Gicumbi, - Rukomo and Nyagatare and the living conditions of the population within its
zone of influence. The project comprises four components: (i) upgrading of 51.54 km between
Base and Rukomo, including a component for the sensitization of local communities on sexually
transmitted diseases, environmental protection and road safety; (ii) related improvements comprising
the construction of multifunctional centres and rehabilitation of school facilities along
the main road; (iii) institutional support to the project executing agency, and (iv)
clearing the right-of-way. The total cost, net of taxes and customs duties, is USD 78.99 million.
The project’s sector goal is to contribute to the opening up of the country’s interior and promote
trade between northern and eastern parts of Rwanda through a direct link between the towns of Rubavu,
Musanze, Gicumbi and Nyagatare. The project’s specific objectives are to: (i) improve the level
of transport service on the upgrated section and the (PAI) population’s living conditions; and (ii)
build the road maintenance planning and programming capacities of the Administration.
The beneficiaries are the urban populations of Gicumbi, Nyagatare, Rulindo and Miyove,
the rural populations of the three districts, producer associations, microfinance institutions,
employees and staff of SMEs and BPW consulting firms as well as hauliers associations.
6. Kicukiro – Bugesera expension road
Expansion works for Sonatubes-Bugesera road, which stretches from Sonatubes (Kicukiro) to
Akagera Bridge (ex-Nyabarongo) through Gahanga town, were set to begin early February, 2019.
Expropriation of the property along this road will cost an estimated Rwf4.5 billion.
Works to upgrade the road had been delayed pending expropriation process.
Over 320 properties will be affected by the road construction
and the government has set aside Rwf4.5 billion for the expropriation exercise,
with the first batch of the money was in 2019 to enable construction to start early 2020.
Construction works for the road, which is 13.8 kilometre long, will cost about $50
million (about Rwf44.5billion), which is a loan from the Export-Import Bank
of China (EXIM BANK) while Rwf4.5 billion for expropriation will be paid by the Government.
The project will widen the road to ensure the traffic is smooth and quicker.
Refurbished road will improve economic development of the country and residents of Kicukiro District,
urging people around here to take advantage of the project by supporting it and also seek jobs. They
should also be careful with the traffic during the construction of the road to avoid any accidents.
Construction works for the road will be done in three phases; from Akagera River Bridge
to Gahanga sector, from Gahanga to Nyanza Bus Park, and from Nyanza to Sonatubes.
5. Rwanda urban development project
The objective of the Urban Development Project for Rwanda is to provide
access to basic infrastructure and enhance urban management in selected urban centers
of the participating districts. There are four components to the project,
the first component being provision of basic infrastructure in secondary cities.
This component will support provision of basic infrastructure in the six secondary cities to
enhance living conditions for residents and support LED. Eligible investments are those
that are directly under the mandate of the district governments such as roads, drainage,
solid waste management, and sanitation. The second component is the upgrading of unplanned
settlements in the City of Kigali. This component will support the upgrading of an 86 ha unplanned
settlement in Nyarugenge District, comprising four cells (Rwampara, Kiyovu, Biryogo, and Agatare),
located in the CoK’s oldest neighborhood, close to the Central Business District (CBD).
The third component is the technical assistance for sustainable urban management. This component
provides technical assistance (TA) to the six districts to strengthen their capacity for urban
management by focusing on four key priorities for achieving sustainable urban development:
(a) building competitive cities by creating the enabling environment for LED;
(b) support for managing urban infrastructure; (c) improving urban planning and strategic
decision making through the use of Geographic Information System (GIS);
and (d) capacity building for scaling up urban upgrading. In addition to advisory services,
the component will finance the provision of equipment, software, and related goods as
necessary. Finally, the fourth component is the support for project management.
4. Kigali arena
Kigali Arena is a 10,000 capacity indoor arena which is meant for indoor sports
such as basketball, handball, volleyball, and tennis, as well as concerts and conferences.It
is the biggest indoor arena in East Africa and is located next to the
30,000 capacity Amahoro Stadium and the 2,500 capacity Amahoro Indoor Stadium.
Built and finished in 2019, it hosts sporting events and concerts. Construction of the
Kigali Arena, a joint project of the Rwandan government through the Rwanda Housing Authority
(RHA) and Turkish firm Summa, began in January 2019. The construction of the indoor arena was
supervised by the RHA. Construction progressed at a fast rate, with around 1,000 to 2,000
people employed to work on the project both in day and night shifts. By mid-June 2019,
the indoor arena was at least 70 percent complete and was set to be completed in July 2019.
3. Bugesera international airport
Bugesera International Airport is an airport project in Rwanda.
The USD818 million airport will be located 25km southeast of Kigali. The airport will feature
a 4200m runway and have capacity for 1.7 million passengers p/a following the completion of first
phase works. Total construction is expected to be complete by 2022 and will include the runway,
cargo terminal and passenger terminal with capacity for 4.5 million passengers p/a. Mota
Engil Engenharia e Construcao Africa SA replaced China State Construction Engineering Corporation
(CSCEC) as the key contractor for the project. Construction commenced in 2017.The
USD700 million project is designed to be executed across four phases, with the first phase involving
approximately 27 months of construction at an estimated cost of USD400 million.
The first phase was to be completed in 2019,
at which point the airport will be able to accommodate 1.8 million passengers per annum.
2. 80MW Gisagara Peat Plant
A newly signed deal that seeks to develop an 80MW peat power plant will boost
Rwanda's ambitious target of achieving 70% of access to electricity by 2019 to all homes.
This project is expected to increase 40% of national power capacity and it will bring
more energy independence to the Country since it is meant to use 100% of domestic fuel leading to
reduction of imports.The launching took place in Gisagara District on this Tuesday, 10th May 2017
where the Minister of Infrastructure, Honorable James Musoni together with other Officials
and various partners on the project broke the ground at the construction site in Mamba Sector
alongside Akanyaru River. This 80MW Peat-Fired Power Plant will be constructed under a Build
Operate, Own and Transfer (BOOT) basis with a 26 year of Power Purchase Agreement.
It involves construction and operations of both peat harvesting facilities and power generation
facilities. The Project has a second phase, which has an additional 40MW of capacity.With a total
project cost of $350 Million and the construction is expected to be completed in 3 years.
After the construction HQ power will operate the plant for 26 years and then transfer it
to the Government of Rwanda. This project is a synergy with other strategic projects
that Rwanda has invested in, and is expected to bring more energy independence to Rwanda.
The project will provide more than 1,500 jobs in its first phase of construction, which will
last three years while 200 others will get jobs during operation. These jobs will directly impact
positively the livelihood of the Gisagara District residents and Rwandans in general.The plant will
not only bring electricity to the people, it will bring more to this region and to the country.
1. Lake kivu-methane gas extraction
A hidden gem lies in the west of Rwanda, full of fear and promise.
Just a few years ago, its full potential was untapped, its very nature was misunderstood,
and it was considered a catastrophe waiting to happen. It is Lake Kivu, located on the
border of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and covering an area of 2,700 km2.
The lake contains naturally occurring carbon dioxide and methane gas,
making it one of three lakes in the world – the other two are in Cameroon – known to have a
deep concentration of naturally dissolved gases. Lake Kivu, however, has almost 1,000 times more
concentrated dissolved gases than its Cameroonian counterparts, which both erupted in the 1980s.
Lake Kivu has about 300 billion m3 of carbon dioxide and 60 billion m3 of methane gas, giving
it the capacity to produce between 120 million and 250 million m3 of methane gas annually.
The reason for this concentration of gases is that the lake sits in a highly volcanic area;
carbon dioxide enters the lake from the volcanic rock beneath it, and is
converted into methane gas by the bacteria and fermentation of biogenic sediments in the lake.
It has been likened to a bottle of fizzy drink that, when shaken, releases gas. For many years,
Lake Kivu was considered a hazard by nearby residents. After several people drowned,
a myth emerged that the methane gas had sinking properties. There were also fears that the water
was becoming more acidic and inhospitable for fish – a large source of food and income for residents.
And most importantly, there was fear of the lake erupting by methane igniting once it came in
contact with air and concern that nearby residents could be asphyxiated from toxic greenhouse gases.
Under Rwanda’s transformation agenda, the government wants to address
the growing energy deficit by providing access to power to all Rwandans by 2024.
So it decided to change the narrative around Lake Kivu by attracting private investors. KivuWatt, a
project managed by Contour Global, was the world’s first large-scale methane-to-power project.
The project extracts methane from Lake Kivu to generate electricity,
expanding household access to power, lowering costs, and reducing environmental hazards.5 The
first phase of the project used three gensets to produce 26 MW of electricity for the local grid.
The second phase is expected to deploy nine additional gensets at 75 MW,
essentially doubling Rwanda’s power production. KivuWatt extracts gas from 350 m beneath the lake,
and returns carbon dioxide into it to ensure balance and continuity of the ecosystem.
The methane gas is separated and used to propel turbines, which then generate electricity.
The methane in Lake Kivu is estimated to have the capacity to generate 700 MW of electricity over
a period of 55 years. Rwanda’s share of the total generation potential is about 350 MW,
with the rest being shared with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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