Industrial parks have been instrumental in boosting investment, increasing exports, and expanding job creation across the country. Rwanda is currently home to over 1,300 industries, the majority of which are small and medium-sized enterprises.
A recent report by the Office of the Auditor General for the fiscal year ending June 2024 noted that eight industrial parks remain underutilized due to inadequate basic infrastructure.
Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Antoine Marie Kajangwe, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said that a feasibility study estimated the total cost of fully developing all industrial parks to be over $130 million, a figure that cannot be mobilized at once.
'We reached an agreement with MINECOFIN and other relevant institutions to proceed with a strategic and phased development. Over the next five years, we will focus on completing infrastructure in four priority industrial parks,' Kajangwe said.
The parks prioritized in the initial phase are located in Musanze, Rwamagana, Muhanga, and Bugesera.
'For the 2025/26 fiscal year, we have secured Frw 10 billion to support infrastructure development in these four sites, including compensation for affected residents where resettlement is necessary,' he added.
Currently, Rwanda hosts eight industrial parks and two Special Economic Zones, one in Bugesera and the other in Kigali.
Since 2017, industrial output has tripled from Frw 591 billion to Frw 1.68 trillion, driven largely by value-added manufacturing.
To date, more than 230 factories are fully operational within the industrial parks, while an additional 98 are still under construction.
Employment in the industrial sector has also grown significantly, with the workforce increasing from 180,000 in 2017 to 259,000 in 2024.
In the 2023/2024 fiscal year alone, the manufacturing sector contributed more than Frw 495 billion in tax revenues.
IGIHE
