The issue of public transport in Rwanda could be headed for an end after the African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank) agreed to fund Rwandan transport investors to overhaul the sector.
The bank has told Rwandan investors in transportation that it is willing to fund their transport projects, if they create a joint platform allowing them to obtain the funding.
The platform will establish an association with a spokesperson who will work closely with an advisor in the embassy of Rwanda to Egypt and someone from Afreximbank in order to prepare good projects and be able to get the funding.
Rwandan investors from Association des Transporteurs des Personnes au Rwanda (ATPR), Jali Holdings Company and Rwanda Inter-Link Transport Company (RITCO) met with Afreximbank on June 20, 2019. They were on a study trip to Egypt on support of Rwanda’s embassy in Egypt.
ATPR Managing Director, Thoneste Mwunguzi said they hope to benefit a lot from the trip.
“We held discussions with Afreximbank. They told us that we can get funding to take further the progress of public transport sector through a joint platform,” he said.
Mwunguzi and his team shared with the bank Rwanda’s current progress of digitalization efforts in transport in tickets sale, use of Tap and Go cards and introduction of free Wi-Fi in public buses.
He noted that they realised the bank is more willing to fund their projects and trusts them than they had imagined.
He added that the bank wants to give them huge funds based on outcomes of their discussions.
“We need like Rwf50 billion. We want to invest in cross border transport. If we get the funding, part of it would be used to buy buses among other advanced equipment,” Mwunguzi noted.
Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Richard Sezibera recently had a state visit to Egypt. He had been invited by his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry to discuss bilateral partnership and explore new areas of cooperation.
They held discussions which turned around promoting investment and opening doors to each other.
Meanwhile, Egypt embassy in Rwanda, the Private Sector Federation (PSF) and Rwanda Development Board (RDB) recently convened the management of 16 firms from Egypt and private investors from Rwanda in an event aimed at identifying areas of cooperation for investment.
The event was held in Kigali city on 21st June 2019.
It is expected that investors from both sides can cooperate to transfer goods to each other and maximize benefits from agricultural produce among others.
The Express News
