General Motors $9.3m Export Deal to Rwanda

By Godfrey Tung'wet Posted 11 July 2006 @ 08:38 pm EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

NAIROBI (IBTimes.com) - General Motors East Africa has clinched a $9.3 million deal to supply buses to the Rwandese Government.

The export deal, the largest for GM in the last two years, will see the vehicle assembly company supply 64 Isuzu buses by early next month.

The buses were procured from GM through Itochu Corporation of Japan for the rehabilitation of public transport in Rwanda.

On Monday, 15 buses were flagged off at the GM head office in Nairobi, bringing to 32 the number of buses so far shipped to Rwanda. The remaining 32 buses are set to be handed over to the Rwandese Government by early next month.

The buses comprise different types of Isuzu models including a 62-seater MV123 passenger buses, 45-seater MV123 passenger/cargo buses and 29-seater NPR passenger buses.

"This being one of the largest export transactions for General Motors in about two years is of great significance and a boost to regional trade," said William Lay, GM chief executive.

Currently, the buses are the only public transport service available in Rwanda, managed by a parastatal. The state corporation has only 60 buses, which are operational.

Through the Rehabilitation of Public Transportation Project funded by JICA, the total number of buses will increase from 60 to 153, the number of routes managed will increase from 73 to 162, and the running distance of buses will increase from 7,520 km to 14,850km.

"The buses will go along way in driving the success of Rwanda’s transport modernisation programme that is aimed at supporting the country’s rapidly expanding public transport requirements," the Japanese ambassador to Kenya Masahiro Omura said yesterday.

The project is being undertaken in two phases. The first phase will see the Government of Japan provide 42 new large buses, 22 new medium buses, a new service truck with spare parts and maintenance equipment. Under second phase, the Japanese government will provide 28 new large buses next year.

JICA will also provide technical assistance to strengthen the capacity of the parastatal in bus operation and management.