The Government of Rwanda has spent Rwf 87.5 billion over the past 4 years as transport subsidies.
This was announced by Dr. Jimmy Gasore, Minister of Infrastructure, in an interview with the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency, RBA.
Minister Dr. Jimmy Gasore stated that the Government of Rwanda has implemented significant reforms in public transport since 2020 to ease the burden on passengers paying for transport.
Minister Jimmy Gasore explained that starting in 2020, when the Rwandan economy was struggling, the government began offering subsidies for each trip made by citizens, covering one-third of the transport fees.
To illustrate, the minister provided an example of a person traveling from Kigali to Musanze who paid 2000 Frw; the government would immediately pay 1000 Frw on their behalf. The total amount spent on these subsidies has now reached 87.5 billion Frw since 2020.
The government of Rwanda is dedicated to improving the public transport system, as evidenced by the introduction of 100 new buses in Kigali City at the end of last year which are expected to reduce waiting times.
In the future, the government plans to implement a new fare system where passengers will be charged based on their destination rather than a predetermined zone in order to streamline the payment process in the event that subsidies are no longer provided.