The World Bank has agreed to provide financial assistance to the Lake Victoria Transport Project (LVTP) that will improve transport infrastructure in Rwanda, East Africa.

For this project, the World Bank has approved $81m from its International Development Association (IDA) credit.

Established in 1960, IDA offers monetary assistance to the financially backward countries in order to give a boost to their economy as well as improve their lives.

The LVTP is expected to improve traffic and freight movement along the regional corridor from the border crossing at Rusumo to the border crossing at Nemba and Rusizi as well as an upgrade of road assets and enhancing road safety in Rwanda.

The project would be beneficial for nearly 500,000 people living close to the road corridor from Kibugabuga to Gasoro.

In addition, the project is expected to create nearly 500 permanent employment opportunities for local community associations through multi-year contracts for carrying out periodic maintenance works on the road link.

"Due to the poor state of this road, the inhabitants are occasionally cut off from the rest of the country, particularly during the rainy season."

World Bank task team leader Muhammad Zulfiqar Ahmed said: “LVTP is expected to provide better access to rural communities living alongside the road corridor that relies almost exclusively on agriculture and livestock for their subsistence. 

“And due to the poor state of this road, the inhabitants are occasionally cut off from the rest of the country, particularly during the rainy season.”  

The current project is reported to be the first in a series of three in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, which are part of Lake Victoria Transport Programme, and it will be prepared under the Integrated Corridor Development Initiative in the East Africa Community countries.

It is reported that the extension of Ngoma-Nyanza road will enable more freight movements of cargo and passengers especially from Tanzania to Southern Province of Rwanda as well as Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Image: Road roller at a construction site. Photo: courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net/surasakiStock.