Rwanda Builds New Cities To Stop Kigali Population Explosion, Reports KT Press

    KIGALI, RWANDA, April 21, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Jean Bosco Hakizimana, 40, left his village of Musange in Nyamagabe district, Southern Rwanda in 2008 to earn a living in capital Kigali.

The father of three was employed as a technician at Utexrwa, a textile company. He never returned home, but for rare family events.

"Life is in Kigali, period," he says. But Hakizimana might soon think twice, if everything works as planned.

The government is implementing a master plan to establish six strategic secondary cities: Muhanga and Huye in South, Rubavu and Rusizi in West, Nyagatare and Musanze from Eastern and Northern Province.

These cities will redirect employment to rural areas and avoid growing rural-urban migration. There are heavy investments in infrastructure, such as electricity, roads, hospitals, schools and taxi-parks.

Businesses are expanding to more towns, suppressing pressure that has increasingly been chocking Kigali.

In Muhanga, 50km from Kigali, Sonarwa, the country's largest insurer, is raising a 4-storey building. Bank of Kigali (BK), the largest local-bank, has inaugurated a 4-storey building too.

With medium businesses mushrooming, financial institutions are following the winds. Manufacturers and importers are opening branches in these cities. Burundian traders in the southern province, and Congolese traders in the north, major importers of Rwandan goods, don't travel to Kigali anymore to access the goods or services.

Joan Clos, Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN Habitat told, who visited the country in February, told KT Press that, "We have seen sudden collapse of several mega cities...it is wise to have secondary cities."

The landlocked nation, with 11 million people, Rwanda is one of the most densely populated countries on earth is facing a fast growing rural-urban migration into the only capital city, Kigali, just 730km2.

The pressure has lead to high unemployment and slums widening. The plan is to divert the trend by 35% in 2020 from 17% today, says Augustin Kampayana, director of rural development.

Kampayana says, expansion of cities mostly near boarders with neighboring countries will boost trade and tourism and create jobs.

National unemployment rate is 3.4%, representing 8% and 2.4% in cities and villages respectively, 200,000 jobs gap annually.

Meanwhile Hakizimana says, "I will return to Musange provided a lifestyle which allows me to earn a living from off farm job."

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