KIGALI, June 5 (Xinhua) -- The Rwandan government and the World Bank on Monday signed a financing agreement worth of 81 million U.S. dollars for the reconstruction of the 66.5-km road network in Rwanda.
The credit provided under International Development Association (IDA) is expected to support Rwanda's transport sector under the Lake Victoria Transport Project (LVTP).
It aims to improve the efficient and safe movement of goods and people along the regional corridor from the Rwanda-Tanzania border crossing at Rusumo in Ngoma district to the Rwanda-Burundi border crossing at Nemba in Bugesera district and Rusizi district.
The project is the first in a series of three in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, according to the World Bank. They are part of the Lake Victoria Transport Program prepared under the Integrated Corridor Development Initiative in the East Africa Community countries.
"Due to the poor state of this road, the road users are occasionally cut off from the rest of the country, particularly during the rainy season," said Claver Gatete, Rwandan minister of finance and economic planning.
More than 500,000 people living along the road corridor from Kibugabuga to Gasoro are expected to benefit from the project implementation.
"LVTP is expected to provide better access to rural communities living alongside the road corridor that rely almost exclusively on agriculture and livestock for their subsistence," said Muhammad Zulfiqar Ahmed, World Bank task team leader of LVTP.
He said the project will stimulate new jobs and income earning opportunities to the people in Ngoma, Bugesera and Nyanza districts through upgrading and maintenance works as well as downstream development activities generated along the corridor as a result of the improved access.
