The report released last week, provided a glimpse of the influx of goods across the Rwandan border, before and after the arrival of the Coronavirus pandemic in the country.

According to the report, imports to Rwanda fell by 32% in April compared to March 2020.

At the Rusumo border, commodity traffic decreased by 35%, while at airports it decreased by 16%.

In terms of exports from Rwanda, it fell by 8% in April compared to March 2020.
According to the report, customs duties and taxes have also been severely affected as they fell by 55% in April compared to March. At the Rusumo border, customs duties and taxes were reduced by 52%, Kagitumba by 71%, and at the airport by 41%.

To prevent the spread of Coronavirus, one of the measures taken is for all customs services to be transported to the border where goods are imported into the country, and to arrange for drivers from outside these trucks to return to the border and not to enter the country except those carrying oil and gas.

Warehouses along the border have also been set up, to facilitate the process of unloading and packing goods from abroad.

Cargoes and trucks are unloaded and stored in warehouses or other vehicles arriving at Customs imported into Rwanda. All Customs services were started in Kigali and elsewhere in the country, starting at the border.

At the Rusumo border, there are all customs services, and the warehouses run by the usual providers in Rwanda are MAGERWA, DP World, and Boloré. All of this is in an area of ​​7.5 ha but the construction area is about 5 ha. Since the launch of these services, there has been a problem of delays in some of the trucks, and yet on the day of the park over 100. In the Kagitumba border, these services are also set up.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Ndagijimana Uzziel, said that due to the turmoil in the business sector, it would affect the collection of taxes so that the revenue collected by 2020/2021 would be reduced to 1421 billion Frw compared to Rwf1569 billion collected in the closing budget.

The RRA states that exporters must use EBM version 2, to facilitate the control and release of goods at Customs.

COMESA's report on the impact of the Coronavirus on trade, shows that Rwanda's imports and exports have declined significantly compared to April and March 2020.