Rwanda’s government is considering signing a concession agreement with Mota Engil Africa, as a technical partner in the construction of the Bugesera International Airport.
Rwanda seeks to mobilise its portion of the $1.3 billion needed to expedite works in the deal.
Mota Engil signed a contract in 2016 with the government of Rwanda to construct the new Bugesera International Airport, where it took 75 per cent of the stake while Rwanda’s government retained 25 per cent.
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According to the contract, Mota Engil was to build and operate the airport for 25 years, with an option of extending for more 15 years to recoup its investment.
In 2019 December, turn of events saw the government signing off a new deal with Qatar Airways which in turn pushed out Mota Engil.
In the deal, Qatar Airways took 60 per cent of stake in the airport, while Rwanda retained 40 per cent stake.
According to the Minister for Infrastructure Claver Gatete, in the new concessional agreement, Mota Engil will handle all the technical work and the construction of the airport.
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“We are soon signing a concession agreement. We will be using the same company Mota Engil which is already on the ground, the work continues but we need to scale up, we need to make sure that by the end of 2022 the airport is complete,” he said.
Mr Gatete assured that despite the delays, the project is still on schedule and will be ready by 2022.
“The work is going at a slow pace right now but as soon as we finish the concessions and other things that we are putting in place things will speed up, you need money to move at a high speed,” said Mr Gatete
Meanwhile, Rwanda’s government is working on the other infrastructures that will support the airport.
For instance, the Bugesera airport is being connected to water, electricity systems and new roads.
Sonatube-Gahanga-River Akagera road a 13.8km is under construction and is expected to be completed by April.
