Rwanda's construction industry is experiencing an unprecedented boom, but the construction boom has also caused the price of core building materials such as cement and steel to soar, plunging the whole industry into cost anxiety. In the second quarter of 2025, construction output grew by 5% year-on-year, pushing the overall industrial sector to expand by 7%. However, behind the bright data is the cruel reality of the serious imbalance between supply and demand of raw materials.
Large-scale projects consume a lot of resources, and small projects are forced to be shelved
. From Kigali to all parts of the country, large-scale infrastructure projects have sprung up like mushrooms after a spring rain, almost devouring the national supply of building materials. According to the budget for fiscal year 2025/26, infrastructure investment alone amounts to 615 billion Rwandan francs ( $450 million). Bugesera International Airport, Groupe Duval-invested Nzovu shopping mall, Kigali wetland restoration project, road expansion and several affordable housing projects, these "Big Mac" projects are expected to consume half of the country's annual cement production of about 1.5 million tons, and steel imports are rising. Building materials dealers naturally tilt their limited resources towards large projects because they have sufficient budgets and large orders. This "Matthew effect" directly led to the paralysis of small and medium-sized projects. Musafari Pius, a resident building a house for his family on the outskirts of Kigali, said he had to suspend his building plans because the price of materials had risen by 30% since he started, and some materials had to wait for months to arrive. One of his friends had to sell the unfinished house because he could not bear the cost pressure. The price of
building materials has risen dramatically, and the supply continues to be tight
. The actual price of major building materials has risen dramatically. For example, the price of rebar jumped from Rwf14,000 ( $9.58) to Rwf27,000 ( $18.47) per kg, and the price of building blocks jumped from Rwf70,000 ( $47.88) to US $120,000 ( $82.08) per truck, nearly doubling. Prices of cement, steel, sand, gravel and timber have generally risen sharply and are often out of stock for long periods.
Official data confirm this cost pressure. The trend of producer price index (PPI) in 2025 shows that the cost of building materials has increased by 5-10% on average. Among them, non-metallic mineral products (such as cement and lime) rose 21% in the first quarter, and metal products rose 22%, pushing up the overall price level of manufacturing industry by 15-20%. In May 2025, manufacturing grew by 7.7% year-on-year, and the total value of construction increased from $1.3 billion in 2024 to $1.4 billion in 2025, but the increase was largely offset by high input costs.
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