Additional Financing for Second Rwanda Urban Development Project

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Rapid and well-managed urbanization is essential for Rwanda to achieve its aspirations for growth. With faster urbanization, Rwanda’s economy could be 20 percent larger by 2050, if cities are well managed to efficiently connect jobs and homes and generate the kind of productivity gains that rapidly growing cities in successful East Asian economies have achieved (World Bank, 2019). Kigali is undoubtedly the prime economic hub of Rwanda and has the potential to provide most of the gains from faster urbanization through scale and specialization, integrating Rwanda’s growth engine with the regional and global economy. Secondary cities–Huye, Muhanga, Musanze, Nyagatare, Rubavu and Rusizi–will have to be managed as a portfolio of cities and focus on mobilizing local knowledge and resources to meet urban needs and catalyze their development potential. The proposed project aims to improve access to basic services, enhance resilience and strengthen integrated urban planning and management in the City of Kigali and the six secondary cities of Rwanda. In Kigali, the project will support the comprehensive upgrading and flood risk management of four unplanned settlements, reduce flood risks at selected locations identified as flood hotspots in the city, pilot an integrated approach to sustainable wetland management and carry out a series of technical assistance (TA) to develop tools for evidence-based, integrated urban planning and provide institutional capacity development and support. In each of the six secondary cities, the project will provide basic infrastructure, finance feasibility studies, detailed design and construction supervision activities and support the functioning of the newly established City Management Offices through institutional and capacity development. This will be complemented by a series of TAs at the national level to align local institutional and capacity building needs with national mandates, policies and strategies of Rwanda.