The first batch of petroleum products that Rwanda has imported through new agreements signed with Kenya and Tanzania is expected to arrive in Rwanda in August 2026.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Kajangwe Antoine Marie, said that through this new approach of accessing the market directly, the country is expected to meet its petroleum needs and also supply other markets in the region.
The Minister made these remarks in an interview with the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA), where he said that the agreements Rwanda recently signed with Kenya and Tanzania will make it easier for petroleum traders to access products without going through other countries.
He said: “What is going to change is that instead of buying from companies in other countries, they will now buy from a Rwandan company that has gone directly to the international market.”
He added that the new system of importing petroleum products directly from producing and exporting countries will help stabilize prices, and will also allow Rwanda to supply the wider Great Lakes region market.
He said: “The goal is for us to have enough petroleum products to meet the Rwandan market’s needs and also serve the regional market.”
Minister Kajangwe said they started with diesel and petrol, but will later add jet fuel and cooking gas.
On June 29, 2026, representatives of Rwanda and Kenya signed agreements to facilitate Rwanda’s importation and storage of petroleum products, followed by additional agreements signed between Rwanda and Tanzania on July 3, 2026, all aimed at strengthening cooperation and making things easier for traders and petroleum product users.
Some traders and petroleum users say they are expecting a lot of good things to come from this new approach.
One user named Nkusi Asiel said: “Things were very difficult for us but we are truly grateful to the Government of Rwanda because it always thinks carefully about Rwandans. The fact that they are going directly to the market to source for themselves, I feel this will help us a lot in terms of lowering the prices of petroleum products.”
A trader named Ngabonziza Tharcisse also said: “This will help us a lot in terms of lowering the prices of petroleum products. At the beginning of this year we faced very serious problems in this sector because of the war in the Arab region, which caused prices to rise sharply. The Government of Rwanda helped us a great deal, both by investing heavily in this sector to prevent prices from rising too much, and by placing staff at the port of Dar es Salaam and other locations to make sure petroleum products would not run short in our country.”
In 2024, petroleum was the top imported product into Rwanda, valued at 680 million US dollars, accounting for nearly 10% of all goods Rwanda imported from abroad.
In an effort to increase self-sufficiency and protect against petroleum shortages, Rwanda has raised its petroleum storage capacity to 118 million litres and continues to expand storage facilities while promoting the use of cleaner energy alternatives including cooking gas (LPG) and electric vehicles.
RADIOTV10