Burundi border closure hurts Uganda exports

The closure of the Burundi-Rwanda border will affect Uganda despite the country not being party to the tensions between the two countries.

Last week, the Burundi government closed its border with Rwanda, accusing Kigali of supporting rebels who killed its nationals. Rwanda denied the allegations.

This came days after a rebel group attacked a village in western Burundi, killing 20 people. 

The closure of the border has affected the transportation of goods from Uganda to Burundi as the trucks usually go through Rwanda. 

Mr William Busuulwa, the chairperson of Uganda National Transport Alliance, said the trucks now have to go through Tanzania, which is a longer and more costly route. 

“Ugandans were charging around $3,300 (Shs12.5 million) and $3,500 (Shs13.2 million) as transport to carry cargo weighing between 28 and 30 tonnes from Uganda to Burundi. Now, if they use the Tanzanian route, which is longer, they have to charge around $4,000 (Shs15 million) from the cargo of the same weight,” Mr Busuulwa said.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Uganda exports goods worth $65m (Shs245.5 billion) to Burundi annually. 

Petroleum, electronics, and steel products are the major exports sent to Burundi. 

Mr Busuulwa said the increase in transport costs would cause the prices of goods to increase in Burundi.

“That means that they will resort to using the central corridor route, which is from Tanzania. Ugandans will be the losers in this,” he said. 

When contacted yesterday, Uganda’s Ambassador to Burundi, Maj Gen Matayo Kyaligonza, said it is not clear whether the Ugandan goods are also affected.

“That one has not yet been confirmed,” Maj Gen Kyaligonza before asking for more time to find out details.

This is not the first time that goods from Uganda have been blocked from reaching Burundi.  

In February 2019, Rwanda closed its border with Uganda forcing Ugandan and Burundian traders to use the Tanzanian route to transport goods to either side.

Trade between Uganda and Burundi dropped drastically.

President Museveni, while meeting Burundi President Evariste Ndayishimiye in May 2021, proposed constructing a road from Uganda through Tanzania to Burundi to facilitate trade between the two countries. 

The 360km road would start from Isingiro District in Uganda, pass through northern Tanzania, and connect to the Kobero border in Burundi.

If the road is constructed, it will reduce the travel hours to six. The drivers spend eight hours travelling from Uganda to Burundi through Rwanda.

Ugandan, Tanzanian and Burundian works officials were supposed to meet and agree on the execution of the road project.

However, Rwanda later reopened the border, and the road project was shelved.

Issue
Uganda, which is landlocked, has challenges with transiting its goods, especially by road, to its neighbours and the region due to wars, non-tariff barriers, and political tensions. 

In South Sudan, goods from Uganda were blocked during the fight between the government and rebel troops. The same challenges have been encountered on the Bunagana-Goma route in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.