Renovation work on the Port of Bujumbura got underway on 17 August 2023 at a launch ceremony attended by the Burundian authorities and the project’s financial partners, the European Union and the African Development Bank Group.
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The renovations will cost €79 million; The African Development Bank Group is providing €23.4 million and the European Union will contribute €29 million through the AfDB-EU Hub partnership, a framework agreement signed by the African Development Bank Group and the European Commission in 2017.
Through the agreement the European Commission channels financing through the African Development Bank which provides joint funding for projects that will have an impact on the continent. The government of Burundi is providing counterpart financing of €2 million.
The Burundian Minister of Trade, Transport, Industry and Tourism, Ms Marie Chantal Nijimbere; the European Union’s ambassador to Burundi, Claude Bochu, and the African Development Bank Group’s Country Manager for Burundi, Pascal Yembiline all attended the launch.
Renovating the port is the first phase of implementation of the Lake Tanganyika Transport Corridor Development Project.
It marks a major step towards strengthening Burundi’s transport infrastructure and exploiting the potential of Lake Tanganyika as a navigable inland waterway.
The works involve acquiring equipment for port operations, developing access roads and building staff capacity to manage the port. The project will support regional trade by simplifying port activities and will encourage female entrepreneurship.
The ultimate objective is to transform the port into a hub linking the main road corridors from the north, centre and south of the country.
The renovation will also support better regional connectivity and strengthen regional trade with the countries that border Lake Tanganyika, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Tanzania.
Also lacking are harmonized measures to facilitate cross-border trade and improve the movement of people.
The governments of Zambia and Burundi therefore conducted studies, with African Development Bank funding, to support renovating and modernizing the ports of Bujumbura and Mpulungu.
The aim is to take advantage of cost savings, capacity and the security of goods compared with other forms of transport.
The project will benefit around 1.25 million inhabitants (53 percent of whom are women) in the city of Bujumbura and surrounding towns.
Through the framework agreement, the African Development Bank and the European Commission have jointly funded 35 projects with a valued of over €840 million that have been implemented in 27 African countries to date. ■