Rwanda has secured a dry port in Naivasha town in Kenya after a deal between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Rwanda President Paul Kagame.
The port will enable Rwanda to easily access the port of Mombasa while importing and exporting goods. It will also be among ways to reduce freight trucks for outbound exports and imports.
Rwanda Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Vincent Biruta stated that the dry port will allow imports to be received in Naivasha rather than Mombasa.
This, he said, would reduce the distance covered by truck drivers while importing and exporting goods to and from Rwanda.
"The Rwandan government is in consultation with the private sector to establish ways to make the most of the dry port," Biruta told CGTN.
Biruta added that discussions were underway of how Rwanda could use Lake Victoria to transport the goods up to Port Bell in Kampala, which will reduce costs.
Manasseh Nshuti, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Charge of East African Community, stated that it was important for landlocked countries to find solutions to the access ports.
He added that transporting goods from Naivasha to Kigali would be shorter.
“Naivasha to Mombasa is 560km. Goods will use rail reducing road transport which is more expensive and time-consuming.
"We also have two options, Naivasha to Kigali by road or we can use Naivasha to Kisumu via road which is about 200 km, then barges from Kisumu to Port Bell in Uganda. By sea it will be cheaper,” Nshuti explained.
The decision came days after a virtual meeting convened by Kagame comprising of Presidents Kenyatta, Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) and Salva Kiir Mayardit (South Sudan) where the Heads of State agreed to prioritize the implementation of measures that would ensure uninterrupted cross-border movement of goods even as the region continues to battle Covid-19.
The leaders acknowledged that there was a challenge posed by cross border trade especially for truck drivers in the fight against coronavirus.
