On February 17, 2011, Serah and I took an early flight from Kigali, Rwanda to Bujumbura, Burundi’s capital. We had scheduled two days of meetings with government officials and our resident World Bank colleagues, to hear their needs for PPIAF technical assistance in support of private sector investment in infrastructure, and to jointly develop a work program. We were gladly surprised by the warm welcome we received from all the people we met, professionally and personally. Government officials expressed that our visit was very timely, as the government wishes to develop much needed infrastructure in the country with the participation of the private sector, and thus needs technical assistance to prepare infrastructure projects and make certain reforms to enable private sector investment.
 

Our 6:00 a.m. flight to Bujumbura was delayed because of low visibility at Kigali’s airport. We finally took-off one hour later for a 30-minute flight with Air Rwanda. As we left Bujumbura’s airport, we could not help but notice the state of some roads leading to the city center. We also noticed few cars on the roads. Many people were walking or bicycling to work, and only a few were riding on motorcycles.

                                     

 

A two-way road took us downtown. As we entered the city, we were surprised to see many internet cafes and cell phone stores next to small multi-purpose shops, wooden stalls, government offices, the city’s market, Independence Square, and other landmarks. On the streets we saw people walking selling bananas, pineapples, avocados, or prunes in big baskets, which they held on perfect balance on their heads. We also noticed people on the sidewalks selling second-hand clothes and shoes, which looked brand new because they had been polished and washed.

 

The looks on people’s faces struck us because in some cases they denoted suffering, in others the difficult life they have lived during many years of civil war. The negative consequences of the war on the economy resulted in a 10-year period of economic decline; both the war and the economic decline took a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, in particular on water and electricity facilities, which were either destroyed or seriously deteriorated due to poor maintenance and lack of investments. After many years of conflict in the country, peace has only been restored since 2003. Though the economic performance has improved noticeably, the country still faces a number of significant challenges to increase economic growth and reduce poverty. In particular, we noticed an incipient economy where people struggle to make ends meet.

                                               

 

We also noticed many young, idle people walking on the streets or standing in groups; we were told that there are not many jobs in the city, and that many people only have part-time jobs. We also ran into a group of school girls wearing uniforms and into older women wearing exotic and colorful dresses, contrasting with young girls wearing short skirts and dark glasses.

 

                                             

 

Over two days we had excellent meetings with the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the Ministry of Water, the Telecom Regulator, Burundi’s Investment Promotion Agency, and other entities who shared with us their plans for involving the private sector in the water, energy, and telecommunications sectors. We received requests for technical assistance related to institutional framework reforms, capacity building, and assistance to structure and negotiate specific infrastructure projects. We also discussed how PPIAF’s Sub-National Technical Assistance (SNTA) program can provide assistance to utilities and municipalities to assess their indebtedness capacity, their level of revenues, expenses, and capital expenditures plan, to increase their chances of raising commercial bank financing.
 

Between meetings, our guide Steve took us to visit two neighborhoods of Bujumbura, not more than 10 minutes from the city center, to see how they are served with water. We learned that water supply coverage in urban areas is 60%, and in Bujumbura’s coverage in peri-urban areas is 24%. A large part of the population has to buy water from public water faucets (les robinets publics), located in several parts of the city, and carry it home. Water is sold at Rwandan Franc 10 cents for a 20 liter container.

 

                                           

 

The government of Burundi and the World Bank are implementing a large operation to address urgent water supply needs in northern and central peri-urban settlements of Bujumbura, and are extending water coverage to standposts. However, much larger investments are needed to extend connections to reach individual households. Subsidies from the international community could be used to lower connection costs at a level affordable to the population. It is an opportune time for Burundi to open up various sectors of economic activity to the private sector.