Rwanda to receive US $12.5m grant for Kigali Green City project

Asoko Insight

Rwanda is set to receive a grant of US $12.5m from Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) a German development agency, for the implementation of the Kigali Green City Project. The green city will be built on a 620 hectares of land, about 16km from the Rwandan capital, more precisely in Kinyinya, in the district of Gasabo.

The sustainable city is expected to consist of 1,749 housing units built on 18 hectares. The specificity of these dwellings lies in the fact that they will be supplied with electricity produced from renewable sources such as solar energy. The houses will be connected to a wastewater and rainwater collection system. Effluent will be treated and reused.

The government of Rwanda is also planning to build commercial establishments and offices to accommodate “innovative green enterprises”. The government has maintained that housing in the green city of Kigali will be affordable. The project aims to demonstrate that green building is a necessity, not a luxury, by working to change the stereotype that sustainability is expensive. Living in resource-efficient housing will significantly reduce electricity and water bills for a population that often spends up to 20% of its income on utilities.

Financing the entire project

The financing agreement was recently signed in Kigali by German envoy Thomas Kurz and Uzziel Ndagijimana, the Rwandan Minister of Finance and Economic Planning. This is the first part of German funding for this important sustainable development project in Rwanda. Berlin plans to inject a further US $26m for the development of the Kigali Green City project.

The development of the ecological city of Kigali will require an investment of more than US $26bn from the Rwandan government. The implementation of the project has been entrusted to the Rwanda Green Fund (Fonerwa). It also receives support from the United Nations Green Climate Fund (GCF).