Rwanda has announced a fresh injection of Rwf699.4 billion—about Shs1.8 trillion—into the long-running construction of Bugesera International Airport and the expansion of national carrier RwandAir.
The funding spans the 2025/26 to 2027/28 fiscal years, part of the country’s strategy to cement its ambition as a regional transport hub.
But as the money flows, the concrete has not—at least not at the pace that once compelled President Paul Kagame to intervene in a similar project a decade ago.
Construction of Bugesera International Airport began in August 2017, initially pitched as a swift and strategic solution to Kigali’s growing air traffic.
But eight years on, the runways remain incomplete, timelines have stretched into the next decade, and the projected cost has more than doubled to nearly $2 billion.
This protracted journey echoes another project that once symbolised Rwanda’s modern aspirations: the Kigali Convention Centre (KCC). There, delays similarly dogged the development, until Kagame stepped in with resolute authority.
After repeated contractor failures, he ordered the termination of Beijing Construction Engineering Group’s contract in 2015, brought in Turkish firm Summa, and issued strict instructions on deliverables.
The building was completed in time to host the 2016 African Union summit, opening seven years after it began.
“Through the Rwandan spirit we tried to put up this structure but failed three times. We finally succeeded,” Kagame said at KCC’s inauguration, underlining his hands-on role in breaking the stalemate.
No such pressure has been exerted publicly in the case of Bugesera. Since Qatar Airways bought a 60 per cent stake in the airport in 2019—following Rwanda’s buyback of shares from the original contractor,
Portuguese firm Mota Engil—the project has taken on a more diplomatic tone.
Kagame, who witnessed the signing of the deal alongside Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, has appeared content to let the partnership unfold at its own pace.
This strategic patience may be tied to the deeper political and economic relationship Rwanda is cultivating with Qatar.
The airport is no longer simply a national undertaking; it is a co-owned venture with a Gulf state - as majority shareholders - that has broader interests in logistics, aviation, and finance in Africa.
According to Rwanda’s infrastructure minister at the time, Claver Gatete, the redesign was part of “bolder ambitions” to elevate the airport to first-class international standards, with capacity for seven million passengers annually at launch and up to 14 million thereafter.
But this ambition has come with long delays. Despite assurances in early 2020 that ground-level works were progressing well, it was not until recently that officials reported 85 per cent completion of these initial phases.
The airport is now expected to open in 2028—making it a 12-year project.
Located roughly 25 kilometres southeast of Kigali in Bugesera District, the airport is designed to complement—and eventually replace—the current Kigali International Airport, whose capacity has long been stretched.
The Bugesera facility will sit on 2,500 hectares, making it one of the most expansive aviation developments in East Africa.
When complete, the airport is projected to handle up to seven million passengers annually in its first phase, with plans to expand this to 14 million passengers in the longer term.
The $2 billion development, being executed in two phases, includes a 130,000-square-metre passenger terminal building and two runways, according to the redesigned blueprints.
This would place it among the top-tier airports on the continent in terms of capacity and infrastructure, though still trailing behind Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport (with over 20 million annual passengers pre-pandemic) and Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport, which serves more than 12 million passengers a year.
The design also incorporates green building concepts, in line with Rwanda’s sustainability agenda, and will cater to cargo as well as passenger traffic.
Unlike with KCC, where underperformance led to direct presidential intervention, Bugesera’s pace has been met with fiscal support rather than executive ire.
The Rwf699.4 billion commitment, disclosed by Finance Minister Yusuf Murangwa during presentation of the 2025/26 Budget Framework Paper, reinforces the government’s continued belief in the project.
The airport and RwandAir expansion are classified as “strategic investments,” even as they contribute to a sharp rise in public borrowing.
Debt is rising accordingly. The government plans to borrow Rwf2.15 trillion in the coming fiscal year—an increase of nearly Rwf650 billion from the current one—driven largely by the airport and airline costs.
Though officials insist debt levels remain sustainable, the earlier target to reduce public debt to 65 per cent of GDP by 2031 may now be delayed by up to four years.
Kagame’s choice to allow Bugesera to evolve under Qatar’s lead marks a shift from his past reputation for micromanaging strategic projects.
It is a bet on long-term diplomacy and shared vision rather than top-down pressure. But it also comes with risks.
As the government doubles down on spending, public expectations for delivery—and value—will only grow.
And at the centre of it all is the trust Rwandans have in their leadership. It is difficult to hear murmurs about the delays as if the entire nation is attuned to rich expectation.
Bugesera International Airport may one day rise as the gleaming gateway Rwanda promises it to be. But for now, its pace remains steady rather than spectacular.
Whether Kagame’s patience pays off where pressure once prevailed remains a defining question of Rwanda’s evolving model of infrastructure ambition.