Found in Ubumwe cell, Muhima sector, Nyarugenge District, government identified this area as prime for investors because of its strategic location in the Central Business District (CBD).

 

Residents of this slum were relocated to Batsinda, a Kigali suburb, and billions of francs were pumped in the area to develop it with basic infrastructures like roads, electricity, water and fibre optic.

 

However, Kigali city management insists that the development of lower Kiyovu is going on smoothly as earlier planned.

 

Medard Mpabwanamaguru is the officer in charge of Master Plan Review. In an interview with The Rwanda Focus, he explains that the area has 24 huge plots and that only three of them have not yet been bought.

 

"I want to tell the general public that the development of lower Kiyovu is going on smoothly. Considering the amount of money which government has injected in so far, these plots are not as expensive as some people may think," says Mpabwanamaguru. "Plots which have been bought have also been issued with construction permits. The owners are only waiting to get funding from international banks to start construction activities."

A square meter of land in the developed lower Kiyovu area costs Rwf 59, 000. This means that a reasonable plot of 4000 square meters goes for a cool Rwf 236m. According to Mpabwanamaguru, this price is relatively cheap compared to the basic infrastructures which have been put in place. "From my point of view as an urban planner, the price for these plots of land in Kiyovu area and across the whole CBD is reasonable," he observes.

 

The area is mainly meant to have buildings of 11 to 17 floors. Their master plan is multi-purpose i.e. a building can be used for commercial purposes on the first and second floors, while the remaining floors can be used as residential or offices among others.

 

Kimicanga

 

Apart from Kiyovu, the city of Kigali also expropriated residents of Kimicanga, in Kimuhurura sector, Gasabo District.

 

Mpabwanamaguru says that the city of Kigali recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Geelhoed group limited, an international construction company from the Netherlands, to construct an entertainment centre on 51,000 square meters.

 

"Geelhoed Company is registered in Rwanda. They have already given their preliminary designs to the city of Kigali and were recently approved," Mpabwanamaguru told The Rwanda Focus.

 

He points out that the city master plan has significantly reduced cases of illegal and disorganized constructions around the city. He adds that since services are online, this has helped in attracting more foreign investors in the construction industry.

 

The master plans, he expounds, require city authorities to relocate residents from areas which are slums. The government then develops those areas and sells the plots to potential investors.

Source : allafrica.com