Musanze

Musanze is one of Rwanda’s six designated secondary cities, selected as part of a national strategy to distribute urban growth beyond Kigali. That role places the city within a coordinated programme of land management, infrastructure and service investment intended to limit uncontrolled peri-urban expansion while creating stronger regional urban centres.

Under the Rwanda Urban Development Project, Musanze has received the same package of urban upgrading applied across the secondary-city network: asphalt roads, drainage, walkways and street lighting, alongside measures to strengthen planning and resilience. The significance of these works lies in their combined effect on the city’s structure. Rather than treating roads or drainage as isolated improvements, the programme uses them to support denser, better-serviced growth and more effective urban management.