Rwanda is yet to make use of the land it has been allocated by other countries, despite having won a case in which a businessman had seized land given by the Kenyan government
A few months ago a Mombasa court dismissed a case involving a Kenyan businessman who had seized land that belongs to Rwanda, and declared it the property of the Rwandan government, a development which was welcomed, with government saying it would go ahead with plans to develop it although this is yet to materialise.

“The land is still under dispute, it’s not that we got it back 100 per cent, some squatters still claim ownership, we want to authorise our High Commission in Kenya to find a lawyer to sort out these issues, we would have already started by now if it wasn’t for this,” said Francois Kanimba, the Minister of Trade and Commerce.

The 32-acre parcel of land was given to the government of Rwanda by the Kenyan government by then president Daniel arap Moi, however it was left undeveloped for many years, during which a Kenyan businessman, Salad Awale took it up, and also filed a suit claiming ownership.

After this ordeal, the Kenyan government gave Rwanda an alternative piece of land, but this has also not yet been developed, with the minister saying they are waiting for confirmation from Kenya that the alternative land is free of encumberances.

Countries like Djibouti, Kenya and Tanzania have allocated land to the Rwandan government, but in all the instances, the land which is in prime shipping locations has yet to be put to use, at a time cargo destined to Rwanda still faces space and logistics challenges.

Another piece of land, measuring 20 hectares which Djibouti gave Rwanda in 2013, is situated at the intersection of one of the busiest shipping routes in the world, near the autonomous port of Djibouti (PAID) and Dubai World international port.

“For Djibouti, the situation is different, we don’t have a direct port link to Djibouti, we are just looking for an investor who can develop the land and we work with him like that,” said Mr Kanimba.
The minister said it has also not become clear yet which exact land Rwanda was given to develop, saying that during a recent visit by President Paul Kagame to Tanzania, President John Magufuli reiterated that his government had agreed to give land to Rwanda, however it is part of a big chunk of land where other countries too can develop facilities for port business, but it is yet to be demarcated.

“For the land in Tanzania, the story is also different, we don’t have a specific piece of land yet, the government of Tanzania is studying the infrastructure that can be put in place, in Kasarawe,” Mr Kanimba said. explaining that Dar es Salaam was in the process of preparing the area where countries like Rwanda can develop port infrastructure.
“It is over 800 hectares, I saw it when I visited the place, it’s a big piece of land,” he said.

Trading costs

The government has always maintained that absence of ready investors has been one of the issues that has delayed utilisation of this gift land, however Mr Kanimba said this is not going to be an issue going forward.

“Finding strategic investors is not a big problem for us now. Even now government gets approached by investors, but these issues are delaying the process,” he added.

It is reported that a Tanzanian also seized the land given to Rwanda, after Kigali took long to develop it.

Rwandan traders continue to complain of the high trading costs due to long periods at the port caused by the cumbersome verification process by ports authorities. At least 40 per cent of Rwandan imports and exports pass through Mombasa, the rest go through the port of Dar es salaam.

The rapid growth in trade volumes at the Dar port, poor urban planning especially at the ship-to-shore interface, and low container storage capacity, has led to high cargo dwell time at the port.

Trade experts have said that although there is no direct link to Djibouti, having land in the country is strategic, because Djibouti is very strategically located, a country like Rwanda having a footprint there, will reduce transaction costs, and ease access for international trade due to the route that goes through the Middle East.

Rwandan traders still incur one of the region’s highest costs on transport and logistics, as high as 75 per cent of the value of exports on transport, something which has greatly impacted the final price of goods in the country.