Urban settlement continues to increase at a high pace, such that without doubt, in the few years ahead, those living in urban areas will make up the largest percentage of Rwanda’s population.
Rwanda projects that by 2050, 70% of Rwandans will be living in cities, while the remaining 30% will be living in rural areas.
Experts indicate that this will help make available extensive land for farming in those rural areas.
Settlement data in Rwanda shows that urban development continues to accelerate: the 1991 general census indicated that urban dwellers made up 5% of all Rwandans, a figure that reached 3.7 million by 2022.
After the Genocide against the Tutsi, notable changes occurred, as those who lived in the City of Kigali at that time affirm that it seemed as if it had nothing characteristic of a city.
Investor Karera Denis said: “We were in a bush that was called a city, because what was called a city wasn’t really there. In Muhima there was a row of a few small shops, elsewhere there were homes, elsewhere goats and cows were raised. For instance, near where Radio Rwanda used to be, you would find cows in the road; there was no other construction there.”
That image, and others even worse than it, characterized other cities such as Muhanga (then called Gitarama), Musanze (then called Ruhengeri), and various others that were still emerging.
However, residents of various cities in Rwanda today told RBA that they have noticed a clear difference in their development.
Mucyo Steven, a resident of Nyagatare City, said: “In the past, here, I used to see that even if they gave you a plot for free, you wouldn’t accept it. But now, being able to get one is by God’s grace.”
Ntabirira Nicholas, a resident of Gasogi in Kigali, said: “I once came to buy a plot here in 2016, but because of the road, I turned back and left without buying it. I came back in 2020, but the price they had quoted me at that time had increased about fourfold. As infrastructure increases, so does the value of land.”
Urban development in Rwanda began to visibly rise in 2008 under the first phase of the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS 1). The 2022 General Census shows that Kigali is now home to about 1.8 million people, with 86.9% living within the urban section of the city.
This is also similar to what’s happening in other cities catching up with Kigali’s growth, including Huye, Nyagatare, Rusizi, Rubavu, and Musanze, now home to about 1.4 million people combined, where a project to build paved roads was launched in 2016.
Data from the 2025 Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey (RDHS) shows that at least 87% of urban residents have access to clean water, while 88% now have access to electricity.
This comes as the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) indicates that by 2040, the number of urban dwellers in Rwanda will be between 16.2 million and 16.8 million, up from 3.7 million in 2022.
However, settlement experts indicate that this urban development should go hand in hand with improving transport and the movement of people, since as the population grows, so do the number of trips they make.
The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Yusuf Murangwa, indicates that achieving this will require increasing the current standard of living of Rwandans by more than 10 times, so that their income rises from the current $1,000 per Rwandan per year to $14,000 or $15,000 by 2050.
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