Publish Date : 26-Mar-2018
On March 22, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a loan agreement with the Government of the Republic of Rwanda in Kigali, the capital city, to provide a Japanese ODA loan of up to 7.67 billion yen for the Ngoma-Ramiro Road Upgrading Project.
The project will pave and widen unimproved road along the Ngoma-Ramiro interval (approximately 53 kilometers) of National Road 6, which is a key part of the logistics network in Rwanda that connects Kigali to the Central Corridor and extends to the Port of Dar es Salaam via Tanzania. These measures will ensure an efficient transportation route and boost the transportation capacity in the project target area, contributing to stimulation of goods distribution in Rwanda and nearby countries. The loan funds will be allocated to road rehabilitation and upgrades, the construction of drainage channels, the reconstruction of a bridge (approximately 15 meters in length) and other public works along the Ngoma-Ramiro interval, and to consulting services (detailed design work, bidding assistance and construction supervision).
The gross domestic product of Rwanda has grown at a rate of eight percent in recent years, a remarkable rate that has been called Africas Miracle. Nevertheless, the country is landlocked, so overland routes are the sole means of transportation, and transportation expenses account for approximately 40 percent of import and export costs due to the need for long-distance travel to reach seaports. Those extremely high transportation costs exceed the 12 percent of neighboring Kenya and are a factor that hinders trade and economic development in Rwanda.
In order to reach the Northern Corridor of Eastern Africa (approximately 1,700 kilometers in length), which extends from Kigali to the Port of Mombasa in Kenya via Uganda, and the Central Corridor (approximately 1,400 kilometers in length) which extends to the Port of Dar es Salaam via Tanzania, either National Road 6, which has the project target Ngoma-Ramiro interval, or National Road 4 must be used. However, because the Ngoma-Ramiro interval is unimproved and narrow, vehicles bound for one of those corridors tend to pass along National Road 4, causing chronic traffic congestion. To achieve a smooth flow of goods to both corridors, rehabilitation and upgrades are therefore necessary on National Road 6.
To contribute to smooth transportation in the region, JICA has provided support for road rehabilitation in the Central Corridor from Rusumo on the Tanzanian border to Kayonza in Eastern Province through the Rusumo-Kayonza Road Improvement Project (loan agreement signed in July 2016 for up to 6.889 billion yen), an ODA loan project. Also, through the Project for Construction of Rusumo International Bridge and One Stop Border Post Facilities (grant agreement signed in August 2011), a grant aid project, JICA constructed a new bridge at the Rwanda-Tanzania border along with a one-stop border post (OSBP) facility to make border procedures more efficient. The OSBP facility went into operation on March 1, 2016. JICA is also supporting improvements in OSBP facility operation capacity in Rwanda and four other countries in East Africa (Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) through the Project on Capacity Development for International Trade Facilitation in the Eastern African Region, technical cooperation. Through these efforts, the logistics network to Rwanda via the Central Corridor has been improved, transit regulations for vehicles crossing the border have been relaxed and border crossing procedures have become more efficient.
This project will produce a synergistic effect with the outcomes of the other projects, which is expected to improve the transportation network in Rwanda and contribute to the development of the economy in the Central Corridor region, including the neighboring countries of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania.
1. Terms and Amount of Loan
Project title : Ngoma-Ramiro Road Upgrading Project
Amount (million yen) : 7,670
Annual interest rate (%) : Project : 0.01 : Consulting services : 0.01
Repayment period (years) : 40
Grace period (years) : 10
Procurement : General untied
2. Executing Agency
Rwanda Transport Development Agency
Address: Queens Land Plaza, KG 563 St., P.O. Box 6674, Kigali, Rwanda
Phone: +250-788-453-693, fax: N/A
3. Planned Implementation Schedule
(1) Completion of project: December 2021 when the facilities are put into service
(2) Issuing of letters of invitation for consulting services (including detailed design work): March 2018
(3) Tender announcement of initial procurement package for international competitive bidding on project construction: Domestic procurement is scheduled, and international competitive bidding for procurement is not planned for this project.
Go to previous page
