Rwanda’s agricultural machinery plant nears completion but remains stalled

By The Inspirer.

Rwanda is on the verge of locally manufacturing and assembling agricultural machinery, but a flagship mechanisation project that is 80 percent complete remains stalled, raising concerns as the country continues to repay a foreign loan without returns.

The project, a regional model centre for agricultural mechanisation, is being developed by the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) under the Export Targeted Irrigation (ETI) programme, with financing from India’s Exim Bank.

Located in Rubirizi, Kicukiro District, the facility is expected to enable Rwanda to produce, assemble, test and certify modern farming equipment, reducing reliance on imports and supporting the shift to climate-smart, mechanised agriculture.

According to RAB acting director general Dr Florence Uwamahoro, the centre will serve as a research, training and quality assurance hub for agricultural machinery, with services extending beyond Rwanda.

“This will be a centre for research on agricultural machinery, training across the value chain, and testing and certification to ensure machines meet required standards. We also expect to offer these services to other countries,” she said.

Once operational, the centre will manufacture and assemble machinery used in land preparation, planting, weeding and post-harvest handling, with equipment tested locally to ensure suitability to Rwanda’s terrain and farming systems.

While all major structures have been completed, with civil works at 80 percent, installation of machinery and equipment stands at just 10 percent. Construction has been halted following the termination of the original contractor.

Members of Parliament on the budget and state property committee, who recently inspected the site, were informed that the contractor’s companies in India collapsed financially, forcing the government to cancel the contract.

Under the financing agreement, only Indian contractors are eligible to execute the project. Exim Bank is responsible for providing a shortlist of three contractors, from which Rwanda selects one to continue the works.

However, MPs were told that delays have persisted due to slow processes at Exim Bank, though the bank is now expected to submit the shortlist by February 2026.

Once works resume, the remaining construction and installation activities are projected to take 10 months, after which the centre would become operational.

The project agreement was signed in 2013, implementation began in 2015, and Rwanda started repaying the loan in 2020, with payments made every six months.

The prolonged delays mean the country has been servicing the loan before the project generates any economic or agricultural benefits, a concern highlighted during the parliamentary visit.

The facility is designed to include training centres, research laboratories, machinery exhibition halls, assembly units, testing facilities and quality assurance laboratories, positioning it as a regional reference point for agricultural mechanisation.

Rwanda and India are currently engaged in discussions to accelerate completion of the project and unlock its long-awaited contribution to agricultural productivity, industrial capacity and farmer incomes.