Ndayishimiye’s decision to close border with Rwanda affects Burundi more

Author: Annet Nabakooza

• 2024-01-21 05:30:00

The decision by Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye to close the border with Rwanda is an impediment to the East African Community (EAC) regional integration agenda aimed at deepening economic, social and political cooperation.

When people are not free to move across the borders to visit friends and relatives, explore business opportunities, invest and trade, it is against the founding principles of the EAC.

Ndayishimiye’s decision to close the border with Rwanda has a ripple effect to other EAC member states and beyond. But more significant is that the border closure will affect Burundians more, by escalating the already prevailing economic crisis.

It is a boomerang of sorts and the ordinary people in Burundi are the ones who will feel the heat or emptiness in their pockets.     

According to the Ministry of Trade in Uganda, Ugandan exports to Burundi total up to $65 million, some of which include essential commodities that are critically lacking in Burundi.

Heavy trucks transporting the goods go through Rwanda but because of the border closure, Ugandan traders will look for longer alternative routes, which require going through Tanzania. The goods will reach Bujumbura being more expensive than they were when the Rwanda route was open. 

Kenya exports to Burundi were estimated at $63.12 million in 2022, according to the United Nations Comtrade database on international trade, while Burundi exports to Kenya amounted to $6.45 million in 2021.

The route of this flourishing trade goes through Rwanda, and since the bulky good are carried by road, the border closure means that Kenyans will have also to use the long route through Tanzania that will increase the cost of goods on the Bujumbura market.

Ndayishimiye has a good relationship with Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and has sent thousands of his troops to fight alongside Congolese army coalition of the Wazalendo militia group, Rwandan genocidal militia, FDLR, SADC troops, and eastern European mercenaries, all against M23 rebels.

But closing of the border with Rwanda will affect DRC significantly. The closure of Ruhwa and Bugarama border posts means that Congolese traders in the town of Bukavu and other surrounding areas will go out of business.

According to the Comtrade database, in 2022, Rwanda’s exports to Burundi were worth $3.88 million, while in the same period Burundi exported goods worth $307,000, which did not include the famous sardines (Indagara).

Burundi will lose out on this revenue, and business people who were selling their agricultural products in Rwanda to sustain their families will have nothing to put on their tables.

The border closure has impacts on both sides. Assuming that Rwandans will suffer more is irrational.

The World Bank records indicate that tourism represents only 1.2 per cent of Burundi’s exports, while neighboring Rwanda records 31 per cent.

Burundi has a potential of increasing tourism revenue and therefore, there must be deliberate efforts to attract people to visit the country rather than closing themselves in a cage.

This is the bigger picture for the country’s economic growth and well-being of the people that Burundian authorities should consider instead of shooting themselves in the foot.

Rwandans, Ugandans, Kenyans and foreigners would love to travel by road through Rwanda to spend a weekend in Bujumbura and enjoy the beauty of Lake Tanganyika. They will spend money on hotels, food and entertainment, which will boost the country’s economy.

Burundi being a land locked country needs its neighbors in the region for economic, social and political benefit.

The December 2023 economic data by the Global Finance magazine shows that Burundi ranked second among the 10 poorest countries in the world, with a GDP-PPP of $891. The country still has more than 70 per cent of the population living in poverty, while 52 per cent of children under five are stunted with high levels of malnutrition.

Although DRC and Rwanda have had an axe to grind for some time, the two countries still have their borders open.

If Burundian authorities have any misunderstandings with Rwanda, the outstanding issues can be solved through bilateral diplomatic means or through regional mechanisms such as the EAC, or even at a continental level by the African Union.

Closing borders is self-isolation with dire consequences on Burundi than Rwanda.