Transport in Rwanda

The transport system in Rwanda centres primarily around the road network. Paved roads lie between the capital, Kigali, and most other major cities and towns in the country. Rwanda is also linked by road with other countries in the African Great Lakes, via which the majority of the country's imports and exports are made.

The country has an international airport at Kigali, serving one domestic and several international destinations, and also has limited transport between the port cities on Lake Kivu. There are currently no railways in Rwanda.

A large amount of investment in the transport infrastructure has been made by the government since the 1994 genocide, with aid from the European Union, China, Japan and others.

Rwanda has a total of 12,000 km (7,500 mi) of roads, of which 1,000 km (620 mi) are paved. The remainder are dirt roads with quality varying from smooth hard surfaces with drainage to rutted, extremely uneven tracks passable only with a four-wheel drive vehicle.

Most of the main towns in the country are now connected by paved road. The condition of these roads was until recently very poor, with numerous pot-holes and vehicles often driving on the dirt verges since these were deemed smoother than the road itself. A recent government programme of upgrading and resurfacing means that most major routes are now in good condition.

The major urban arteries of Kigali, as well as the high streets in Ruhengeri, Kibuye and Gisenyi are dual carriageways, but all national long distance roads are single carriageway. There are no motorways in Rwanda.

The principal routes are (refer to map for number references):

There is also one road which is currently a quite poor quality dirt road, but may soon be upgraded to paved status:

There are several daily coach services from Rwanda to destinations in the African Great Lakes:

In addition the national express share taxi services (see below) to Gisenyi and Cyangugu often cross the DRC border to carry passengers to Goma and Bukavu respectively.

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Wikipedia