Landlocked Rwanda plans new river transport route

By Kezio-Musoke David

KIGALI (Reuters) - Landlocked Rwanda plans to open a new transport route linking it with Tanzania's main port through the River Kagera.

Rwandan goods arriving at the Dar es Salaam port will travel via train or road to Lake Victoria, and onward by boat along the River Kagera to Kagitumba in Rwanda.

"We are now at a stage of determining the cost of implementing this project and looking for the funds," said Tanzania's Minister of East African Cooperation, Diodorus Kamala.

"All countries along River Kagera will benefit from this project," he told Reuters while on a trade mission to Kigali to promote the port of Dar es Salaam as a gateway to Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Rwanda and Tanzania are already working on a project to construct the Rwanda and Tanzania Central Railway line which currently terminates at Isaka, Tanzania, and is meant to connect to Kigali and Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi.

Rwanda and Burundi find the cost of transporting most of their imports from the Kenyan and Tanzanian ports through roads very high.

Post-election violence in Kenya in the first quarter of 2008 blocked road and rail links for weeks and forced the hinterland countries to seek alternative routes.

After a comparative study on modes of transport to Rwanda and Burundi, Rwandan President Paul Kagame announced plans in 2008 to build a rail line linking the country to the Tanzanian rail network, and thus to Dar es Salaam.

River Kagera flows through Burundi, forms the border between Rwanda and Tanzania and empties into Lake Victoria.