the challenges facing landlocked developing countries: a case study ...

RWANDA
Despite having a relatively well-developed internal transport
network, Rwanda faces extreme challenges as a landlocked
country. To reach global markets, its exports, mainly coffee
and tea, must be shipped over 1500 km, and usually through
two transit countries, to the nearest port. These challenges are
in addition to the internal and surrounding conflict that has
plagued Rwandan transport. The country has suffered twofold
from the recent civil war. First, immediate damage was
caused to existing infrastructure by the fighting; in particular,
several key bridges were damaged rendering vital corridors
impassable. Second, the Rwandan government was forced to
focus its government policy on relief and humanitarian
assistance rather than infrastructure maintenance. Since the
war, few government resources have been available for the
transport sector.
As in the case of Uganda, there are two potential corridors by
which Rwanda can access the high seas: the Northern Corridor
from Kigali through Uganda and Kenya to Mombasa, and the
Central Corridor from Kigali to Dar es Salaam (Tanzania).
Like Uganda, Rwanda continues primarily to use the Northern
Corridor, which accounts for more than 70% of imports and
80% of exports. Yet Rwanda is even more dependent on
coffee and tea exports than Uganda, and thus even more
subject to the perils of high transport costs relative to the
prices of good shipped.
The Northern route is dominated by the road between
Mombasa and Kigali, but also uses the rail from Kampala to
Mombasa. The Central Corridor also has an all road route, and
a recently developed road/rail route via Isaka (Tanzania),
where a dry-dock was completed in 1999 to allow goods to be
pre-cleared through customs at Isaka rather than in Dar es
Salaam (TRC 2002). Despite such improvements, both the
Tanzanian and Ugandan railways play a minimal role in
Rwanda’s flow of goods.
BASIC INFORMATION
HDI Rank: 162
GDP per capita
2000 (PPP$): $943
Exports per capita
2000 (current USD): $18
Distance to port:
1,867km
Transport cost ratio:
(2000) 0.51
Neighbors:
Burundi, Democratic Republic
of Congo, Tanzania, Uganda
Primary transit countries:
Kenya, Uganda
Main trading partners (2001):
Imports: Kenya (22%),
Belgium (8%)
Exports: Germany (26%),
Hong Kong (9%)
Primary Exports (2000):
Tea (37%)
Coffee (34%)
Domestic Roads: good
Transit Country Roads: fair
Domestic Rails:
Transit Country Rails:
Transit Country Ports:
none
poor
fair
Neighboring Civil Conflict:
moderate
Relations w/ Neighbors: fair
TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
Road
Rwanda’s transit trade is primarily dependent upon the Northern and Central road corridors.
The Northern Corridor to Mombasa is of reasonable quality and is discussed in detail in the
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