A high-capacity ship that transports 150 people, six cars and 10 tonnes of goods is being assembled and will be "soon" introduced on Lake Kivu to boost water transport, Emile Patrick Baganizi, Deputy Director General of Rwanda Transport Development Agency (RTDA), told Doing Business.
"The works to assemble the ship under government support are at about 50 per cent. It will cost between $2.5 million and $3 million," he said, adding that it will be completed by the end of the current fiscal year and thereafter launch transport operations.
A small boat with a carrying capacity of 30 people, introduced in 2018, is transporting passengers from Nkombo island to Rusizi.
"This small boat will be transporting passengers to the port where they can go on to the high-capacity ship that is being assembled," he said.
A public transport vessel on Lake Kivu in Rusizi District. A high-capacity boat that can carry up to 150 people, six cars and 10 tonnes of goods will soon be introduced on the lake to boost water transport. Photo: Sam Ngendahimana.
According to RTDA, three big public boats will be available on Lake Kivu by 2023 in addition to the small one.
Besides government support in introducing small and larger boats, investors are also chipping in.
Mantis Kivu Queen uBuranga, a luxury hotel boat on Lake Kivu, is one of the private sector initiatives in the pipeline. The Mantis Kivu Queen uBuranga will be the first motor yacht to sail on Lake Kivu. It will have 10 modern cabins that can accommodate a maximum of 20 people, a swimming pool, a restaurant, a bar, and a viewing deck with a hot tub. It will dock in Karongi District from where it will be floating between Rusizi and Kamembe.
"We are working on a law that will ease and pave the way for investors in water transport," Baganizi said.
Progress on ports construction
There is another multibillion project to construct ports to ease water transport. There will be three major ports with a capacity of about 1.5 million passengers per year, and projected to reach 2.8 million by 2036.
A smaller port, the fourth planned port, in Karongi District, will start with a capacity of between 300,000 and 400,000 passengers, by 2036. The ports' maximum cargo handling capacity is 580,000 tonnes, while the minimum is 270,000 tonnes.
Some of the boats used to transport passengers in Karongi District. Photo: File.
Baganizi said that once four ports are availed investors and passengers will have facilities to leverage.
"We are taking different measures to make water transport an attractive and lucrative business," Baganizi said.
Two of the four ports are already being constructed.
"The construction of Rubavu port is at 25 per cent while construction of Rusizi port is at 9 per cent. We are also in the procurement process to get a contractor to build Nkora (Rutsiro) and Karongi ports," Baganizi told Doing Business.
Latest projections indicate that construction activities are set to end in late 2022 for Rubavu district, early 2023 for Rusizi port while Karongi and Rutsiro ports will be completed by early 2024.
The project is expected to boost tourism and hospitality sectors. It will improve the accessibility of key tourist sites and activities like gorilla trekking in the Volcano National Park. It will also promote community-based tourism activities such as coffee tasting and canopy walks in the surrounding districts, as well as support hotel businesses.
The transport agency has vowed to work with the private sector to ensure that tourism sector players acquire modern and well-equipped tourist boats and other transport facilities. Between $7 and $10 million will be used to buy vessels that have high capacity engines and other modern elements, including VIP compartments.
Look at why previous investors failed
Jean-Bosco Sibomana, coordinator of the Kibuye Fishing Project which collects and supplies 14 tonnes of fish per month in Karongi, Rutsiro and Nyamasheke Districts, told Doing Business that government should carry out thorough studies on water transport and introduction of vessels on Lake Kivu to ensure that investors do not count losses once they inject in money.
"Some passengers prefer road transport because it is quicker. But others prefer water transport as it can transport a lot of goods and it is a touristic mode of transport," he said, citing a challenge that might be caused by the Kivu Belt road.
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"Previously, before paving the Kivu Belt road, many people were using water transport from Rusizi to Rubavu District using eight hours but after the road was paved the traffic on water transport decreased and people embraced the Kivu Belt road where they spend between four and five hours," he said.
The cost on Nkombo-Rubavu water transport was Rwf12,000 but on the Kivu Belt road it reduced to Rwf8,000. Sibomana said that boats such as the one which the government gave to Nkombo island residents to ease transport from the island to Rusizi and Rubavu stopped operations.
"The price on water transport should also be studied so that they do not discourage passengers. This means if the water transport price is double of the road transport it can be a challenge. We have to first look at why previous investors in boats failed," he said.
Baganizi explained that "there should be different ways of transporting goods and people."
"You can't rely on only one way because when one way is blocked you can use an alternative way. That is why developing water transport is needed on Lake Kivu, especially from Rusizi District to Rubavu District."
