Rumonge port to be built with $26 million in funding
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Iwacu
The World Bank is providing $26 million to finance construction of Rumonge port in Burundi, with work expected to take 18 months. The infrastructure is to link trade with Tanzania, DR Congo and Zambia, according to Minister Hassan Kibeya and the World Bank representative in Burundi.
Construction of Rumonge port in Burundi is expected to take 18 months and will be carried out by a Japanese construction company headquartered in Tanzania. The $26 million funding is being provided by the World Bank, said Babacar Sedikh Faye, the institution’s resident representative in Burundi.
The future port will be linked to the port of Kigoma in Tanzania, as well as the ports of Kalemie and Kalundu in DR Congo and Mpulungu in Zambia, said Burundian Minister Hassan Kibeya. He called on traders involved in cross-border trade to diversify the products traded in the sub-region.
The governor of Burunga province, Parfait Mboninyibuka, reported complaints from traders about bribes allegedly collected by some officials and employees of services operating at the port. He called on traders to report such practices and asked public services to translate communications relating to trade into Kirundi. The World Bank representative also called for the administrative difficulties reported by traders, particularly women engaged in small-scale cross-border trade, to be eliminated.
