There are a number of systems oftransport in Burundi, including road and water-based infrastructure, the latter of which makes use ofLake Tanganyika. Furthermore, there are also some airports inBurundi.
Burundi has limited ferry services on Lake Tanganyika, few road connections to neighboring countries, no rail connections, and only one airport with a paved runway. Public transport is extremely limited and private bus companies operate buses on the route to Kigali, Uganda, Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo.[1]
Roads total 12,322 kilometres (7,657 mi) as of 2004. On paper, there are 90 public buses in the country but few of these are operational. Transport is extremely limited, and private bus companies operate buses on the route to Kigali, Uganda, Tanzania or the Democratic Republic of Congo.[1]
Lake Tanganyika is used for transport, with the majorport on the lake being thePort of Bujumbura. Most freight is transported down waterways.[2]
As of May 2015,MV Mwongozo, a passenger and cargo ferry, connects Bujumbura withKigoma in Tanzania.[3]
Burundi possesseseight airports, of which one has pavedrunways, whose length exceeds 3,047m.Bujumbura International Airport is the country's primary airport and the country's only airport with a paved runway. There are also a number of helicopter landing strips.[4]
As of May 2015, the airlines serving Burundi are:Brussels Airlines,Ethiopian Airlines,flydubai,Kenya Airways, andRwandAir.Kigali is the city with the most daily departures.
Burundi does not possess anyrailway infrastructure, although there are proposals to connect Burundi to its neighbours via railway.
At a meeting in August 2006 with members of theRwanda Patriotic Front,Wu Guanzheng, of theChinese Communist Party, confirmed the intention ofChina to fund a study into the feasibility of constructing a railway connecting atIsaka with the existingTanzanian railway network, and running viaKigali inRwanda through to Burundi.[5] Tanzanian railways use1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)metre gauge, althoughTAZARA and other neighbouring countries, including theDemocratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) use the3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge, leading to some potential difficulties.
Another project was launched in the same year, which aims to link Burundi and Rwanda (which also has no railways) to the DRC andZambia, and therefore to the rest of Southern Africa. At a meeting to inaugurate theNorthern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA), the governments of Uganda and Burundi backed the proposed new railway from the Ugandan westernrailhead atKasese into the DRC.
Additionally, Burundi has been added to a planned railway project to connect Tanzania and Rwanda. In January 2022, the governments of Burundi and Tanzania announced the planned construction of an electrifiedstandard gauge railway, which will link the two countries.[6] The line is known as theTanzania–Burundi Standard Gauge Railway.
A project started in November 2013 to build aStandard Gauge line fromMombassa, Kenya, to Burundi, via Rwanda and Uganda.[7] The main line from Mombasa will also feature branches in other directions, including Ethiopia and DR Congo.
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromThe World Factbook (2025 ed.).CIA.