PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2017
NELSAP Rusumo Project strengthens development of Rusumo localities.
Ngara, Tanzania - Ngoma, Rwanda. The Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program Coordination Unit (NELSAP-CU) delegated and authorized on behalf of Rusumo Power Company Limited (RPCL) for the Regional Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project (RRFHP), signs Memoranda of Understanding with Kirehe District and Ngoma District (Eastern Province, Rwanda) and with Ngara District (Tanzania) for the implementation of the Local Area Development Plan (LADP) on July 17, 2017 respectively at Kirehe District for Rwanda and at Ngara District for Tanzania.
LADP is a benefit-sharing program worth 15 Million US Dollars designed to enhance regional economic and social development in the Rusumo area in Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania as an extended program to the construction of the LADP is expected to improve community livelihoods and promote socially sustainable outcomes of the riparian citizens of the mentioned districts affected by the construction of the 80 MW Power Plant. The MoU for LADP implementation with Busoni Commune (Kirundo Province, Burundi) and Giteranyi Commune (Muyinga Province, Burundi) will be signed on July 20, 2017.
The formulation of the LADP was participatory process whereby each district identified LADP priority investment areas. The management of LADP will be executed by respective districts under the supervision of NELSAP through the Regional Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project (RRFHP). LADP is funded by the World Bank through the RRFHP.
Each country's local area development will cost about 5 million US Dollars. In Rwanda, Kirehe District will rehabilitate the 30 km of feeder road in Kigarama and Musaza sectors in Cyagasenyi-Gsarabwayi-Nganda Road as well as construction of Kigina Health Center. Ngoma District will increase banana production (banana rehabilitation in 8 sectors), will develop small-scale irrigation of 1500Ha and intensify small livestock to support 15,500 households of poor families.
In Tanzania, will increase livestock intensification and cattle milk production, bee keeping project to increase honey production, increase agricultural production for key crops (cassava, sunflower, banana and horticulture), rehabilitate water systems in 4 villages (Mshikamano, Kasharazi, Kasulo and Rwakalemela) and construction of water systems in Rusumo village and support to Remela Vocational Training Centre.
In Burundi, LADP will implement: (i) rehabilitation and extension of water systems; (ii) integrated agricultural production for key crops (cassava, beans and maize) and livestock intensification for cows, goat and pigs as well as soil and water conservation and (iii) construction and support to a Young training Centre. All these will be executed in Giteranyi Commune (Muyinga) and Giteranyi Commune (Kirundo).
The LADP to intensify the development of the Rusumo locality after the establishment of the Livelihood Restoration Program (LRP), a program that is meant to improve soci0-economic lives of Persons Affected Project (PAPs) in Kirehe with a focus on agricultural, livestock and off-farming development. LRP commenced in February 2017 and will conclude in 2020. By then, LRP is expected to have impacted PAPs' socio-economic lives. The whole LRP is worthy an estimate of 711,000 USD before construction.
ENDS
ABOUT THE NILE BASIN INITIATIVE
The NBI is a regional intergovernmental partnership launched by the Nile Basin countries on 22nd February, 1999 to manage and develop the shared Nile Basin water resources in a cooperative manner, share substantial socio-economic benefits and promote regional peace and security. NBI Member States are 10 namely Burundi, DR Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Eritrea participates as an observer.
The partnership is guided by a Shared Vision Objective: ‘To achieve sustainable socio-economic development through equitable utilization of, and benefit from, the common Nile Basin water resources’.
The setup of NBI is informed by the principle of subsidiarity, hence the three NBI Centres: A Regional Secretariat (Nile-SEC) based in Entebbe, Uganda is the executive arm responsible for the overall corporate direction. Two subsidiary Action Programs offices namely the Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office (ENTRO) based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program Coordination Unit (NELSAP-CU) based in Kigali, Rwanda are responsible for preparing investment projects of regional significance in three key areas namely Energy, Agriculture and River Basin Management.