On October 21, 2019, General Paul Kagame launched the Kigali Logistics Platform built by Dubai Ports World Group (DP). In his remarks, DP’s chairman and CEO, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem stated that they are ready to serve the entire region. As he put it,
“we will reach the Central African Republic, Burundi, Malawi, and, of course, Tanzania and Kenya…It is something we believe in and something we are good at.”
For Kagame, the Kigali Logistics Platform couldn’t have been launched at a better time:
“With the launch of this facility, Rwanda is doing its part to connect with the larger market of more than 1.2 billion consumers in Africa and beyond…There is no excuse not to pursue the vast opportunities available to us.”
Dear General Kagame, you have conveniently forgotten a few important factors. You closed the Uganda border. And to reach Kenya and South Sudan, you pass through Uganda. And the border with Burundi is hardly facilitating trade because of the political tensions with Rwanda.
And to reach Southern Africa via Lake Tanganyika, you go through Burundi. In other words, besides being landlocked, Rwanda is now locked out of the region due to your crude politics.
General Kagame, I put it to you that the Kigali Logistics Platform is dead on arrival.
