Rwanda to build Africa’s first green city

Rwanda plans to build Africa’s first green city, located on the outskirts of Kigali to provide fully sustainable infrastructure, green spaces and housing for low-income people.

The ambitious project worth $5 billion is seen as the materialization of the “Wakanda”, in reference to Black Panther, a movie which depicts “Wakanda”, a fictional African city in which ecology and technology are the main focus.

According to the government, the construction work will start in January 2020.

The project proposes a new vision in the green urbanization sector. It will be based in particular on new principles of sustainable development, as well as a new regulatory framework for mobility, electricity and ecological building construction standards, officials said.

The project will involve the construction of a set of 410 houses spread over 13 hectares. Construction and management of green spaces will respect many ecological aspects.

The first phase of the project, entrusted to the British company Horizon Group, will involve the construction of the houses. For the second phase of the project, affordable ecological housing will be built on 125 hectares of land for the poorest populations. The last phase will integrate commercial and office buildings to attract innovative green companies.

The project is financially backed by German Development Cooperation, through the KfW Development Bank.