Thetransport system in Rwanda centres primarily around the road network. Paved roads lie between the capital,Kigali, and most other major cities and towns in the country.Rwanda is also linked by road with other countries in theAfrican Great Lakes, via which the majority of the country's imports and exports are made.
The country has an international airport at Kigali, serving one domestic and several international destinations, and also has limited transport between the port cities onLake Kivu.There are currently no railways in Rwanda.
A large amount of investments in the transport infrastructure has been made by thegovernment since the1994 genocide, with aid from the European Union, China, Japan and others.
Rwanda has a total of 12,000 km (7,500 mi) of roads, of which 1,000 km (620 mi) are paved.[1] The remainder aredirt roads with quality varying from smooth hard surfaces with drainage to rutted, extremely uneven tracks passable only with afour-wheel drive vehicle.
Vehicles in the country drive on theright-hand side of the road. However, the three largest members of theEast African Community (EAC) to which Rwanda is a part of, including neighbouring Tanzania and Uganda, drive on the left. It is significantly cheaper to import vehicles designed to drive on the left than on the right, possibly due to the second hand market from India and Japan being cheaper than that of Europe, so more of these cars were imported until the government banned their import in 2005 due to safety concerns. Due to the difference in car price, and the potential to better economically integrate with other EAC andCommon Market for Eastern and Southern Africa countries, the government has considered switching the country to driving on the left.[2]
Most of the main towns in the country are now connected by paved road. The condition of these roads was until recently very poor, with numerous pot-holes and vehicles often driving on the dirt verges since these were deemed smoother than the road itself. A recent government programme of upgrading and resurfacing means that most major routes are now in good condition.
The major urban arteries ofKigali, as well as the high streets inRuhengeri,Kibuye, andGisenyi are dual carriageways, but all national long distance roads are single carriageway. There are nomotorways in Rwanda.
The principal routes are (refer to map for number references):
| # | Start | End | Via | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kigali | Gatuna (Uganda border) | Byumba | The main road through the north of the country, this is the main route toKabale andKampala inUganda |
| 2 | Kigali | Kayonza | Rwamagana | Leads east from the capital. Resurfacing of this road was recently completed, and it features Rwanda's first properbypass around the town of Rwamagana |
| 2a | Kayonza | Kagitumba (Uganda border) | Nyagatare | A continuation of road 2, running to the far northeast of the country. Prior to 1994, most of this road was within theAkagera National Park, but the area has now been settled, largely by refugees who returned from Uganda after the war. |
| 2b | Kayonza | Rusumo (Tanzania border) | Kibungo | The main route into Tanzania, running down to the far southeast of the country. The border is a high bridge over theKagera River (which is also part of the most distant headwater of theNile) |
| 3 | Kigali | Fugi (Burundi border) | Gitarama,Butare | The road linking the main two cities of Rwanda as well as being the main link toBujumbura, the largest city and former capital ofBurundi. The section south of Gitarama was resurfaced in 2004. |
| 3a | Gitarama | Kibuye, Rwanda | This road was surfaced for the first time by Chinese engineers within the last decade, running through very hilly terrain and crossing the Nile/Congo watershed. | |
| 3b | Butare | Cyangugu (DRC border) | Gikongoro | A very stretch of road running through the heart ofNyungwe Forest and ending on the shores ofLake Kivu. It also links to the Congolese city ofBukavu. |
| 4 | Kigali | Gisenyi (DRC border) | Ruhengeri | A road that passes first through the hilly areas aroundMount Kabuye and then turns west to head along the southern edge of theVirunga volcano chain, before ending up at Gisenyi, on the shores of Lake Kivu. The road continues intoGoma in theDRC. |
| 4a | Ruhengeri | Cyanika (Uganda border) | A road linking to Ruhengeri toKisoro in Uganda. Passes very close toMount Muhabura and has a vista right along theVirunga chain. | |
| 5 | Kigali | Burundi border | Nyamata | The road was paved a fairly recently since the government of Rwanda is considering building a new international airport near the town of Nyamata.[3] |
There is also one road that is currently a quite poor-quality dirt road, but it may soon be upgraded to paved status:
There are several daily coach services from Rwanda to destinations in the African Great Lakes:
In addition the national express share taxi services (see below) to Gisenyi and Cyangugu often cross theDRC border to carry passengers toGoma andBukavu respectively.
The main form ofpublic transport within Rwanda is the express bus, which has superseded theshare taxi on the main routes.
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Share taxis run between two termini (known as taxi parks), but stop frequently en route to pick up and drop off passengers. They are known locally simply astaxi or, colloquially,twegerane, which means 'let's sit together' in theKinyarwanda language (a conventional privatetaxi is referred to as aspecial hire ortaxi voiture).
They almost always wait until full before departing, and can also wait for long periods in locations along the route if not enough people are on board.
The vehicles are usuallyToyotaminibuses owned by a private individual who employs adriver (Fr:chauffeur) and aconductor (Fr:convoyeur) to operate and maintain the vehicle on a day-to-day basis. Most have four rows of seats, each of which seats four adults (babies and children not being counted as they are expected to sit on the lap of an adult). Additionally there are two front passenger seats, so the vehicle can carry a total of up to eighteen passengers, in addition to the driver and the conductor.
The conductor is responsible for opening and closing the main sliding door and collecting money from passengers, and will stand in the space by the door if all seats re occupied. No tickets are issued on this form of taxi.
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Moto taxis
A large portion of the vehicles on roads in Rwanda, especially Kigali, are moto taxis. A motorbike or scooter is driven and a single passenger can hop on and off the back and pay the required fare.[4]
These run to a set timetable (usually each 30 minutes) between major towns, only stopping at official stops near the destination(s). Even if alighting earlier, the price to the next major stop has to be paid. Almost all routes pass throughNyabugogo inKigali.
The buses are run by private companies and issue tickets in advance with a price set by the government. As tickets are paid and printed at the offices (major stops) or by an employee along the road (smaller stops), there is no need for a conductor to collect the money in the bus. Tickets can be issued in advance, so they might be sold out quickly at busy times (especially Fridays, Sundays and at the beginning/end of school holidays).
In contrast to the Share Taxi, this form of transport respects the schedule rather than waiting to be full. Also, they are almost never overfilled and rather depart earlier.
The size ranges fromToyota Coaster to big coaches. Most coaches are run byRitco, on which the government holds a share. It is also the only company to have stops all across the country, while its private competitors are limited to specific regions. When it was founded it replaced Onatracom, another public company.[5]
As of 2018, share taxis are still the main form of transport in remote areas, while express buses are used wherever available. This is due to the almost equal price and increased comfort and speed of the express buses.
Public transport in Kigali takes the form of the stopping share taxis mentioned above, but running much more frequently due to greater demand. While the national ones are typically unmarked, Kigali taxis have a yellow stripe running round the vehicle, on which is imprinted the start and end points of its route. Most services start or finish either in the city centre or at Nyabugogo, the city's main national bus station.
A recent survey carried out by the Transport Companies Association in Kigaligives us the following statistics:There are 19 bus companies operating a total of 1633 buses of various makes,models and sizes in various parts of Rwanda. In Kigali City itself there are 622buses operating. Of these 622, 90.6% of them are small Toyota Hiace vehicles, mostly more than10 years old, and many much older. Of the larger type vehicles carrying up to 30 passengers or so there are 58 units of which 34.4% are new vehicles owned and operated by Kigali Bus Services Ltd.
The country's main aviation hub isKigali International Airport, which is located at Kanombe, a suburb approximately 10 km (6 mi) from Kigali city centre. The airport has international flights to:Lagos,Brazzaville,Dubai,Nairobi,Entebbe,Addis Ababa,Bujumbura,Johannesburg,Amsterdam,Brussels andDoha and is the main airport for the national carrierRwandAir.
There are plans being discussed to build a new airport at Nyamata inBugesera district, approximately 40 km (25 mi) from Kigali which would be larger and could act as a hub for the entire region. The only other airport in the country with passenger service isKamembe Airport, which is in the city ofCyangugu. RwandAir operates a service between Kigali and Kamembe, which serves southwestern Rwanda and the Congolese city of Bukavu.
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This is by far the largest of Rwanda's lakes, forming the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). There are occasional boat services between the major ports of Cyangugu, Kibuye and Gisenyi but these do not run to a regular timetable and often have to be chartered. There are also boats used to ferry people to some of the islands in the lake, but these also do not run regularly. Local fishermen operate along the entirety of the lakeshore, usually in dug-out canoes or other hand-crafted boats. The Rwandan navy operates a few boats on the lake to protect the country against infiltrators from the Congolese side.
Transport on Rwanda's other major lakes is mostly limited to ferries, usually local boats similar to those used to fishing, which transport people from one side to the other. Some lakes have resort bars and hotels, such as Jambo Beach onLake Muhazi, which can offer a pleasure cruise to their customers in their own speed boat. Local fishermen operate on most lakes.
There are currently no railways in Rwanda.[7]