Kigali, Rwanda

Home to 1 million people and spanning over 25,000 km 2 , Kigali is Rwanda’s economic center and capital. While water resources in Rwanda are not lacking due to its tropical highland climate and location in the African Great Lakes region, the threat of severe droughts and floods associated with climate change has led Rwanda’s government to propose new water security solutions. To this end, the government has created a national framework to develop integrated water resource management strategies (REMA, n.d.).

Currently, the city of Kigali needs 130,000 m 3 of water per day and the total production in the country is 300,000 m 3 per day. Although the city faces significant water security challenges due to infrastructural issues, Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC) focuses intensively on providing water to  Kigali’s urban areas, while private entities work in the city’s semi-rural areas.

In 2010, the Government of Rwanda and the International Finance Corporation joined to create the Kigali Bulk Water Supply Project (IFC, 2015). Pulling water from the Nyabarongo River, this project could contribute 40,000 m 3 more water per day to Kigali and the surrounding area (PRI, 2019). This project has the capacity to provide fresh, clean water to 500,000 Rwandans and will help manage growing demand in the city.