By David Himbara
President Paul Kagame is eager to build tourism industry. The state-owned RwandAir is part of the equation — Kagame wants an airline that operated across the African continent, Europe, Asia and North America. By 2016, RwandAir’s total assets stood at US$238 Million.
Kagame is also investing in a new airport, as well as an expansion of the current one to make Rwanda a hub of especially meetings and events tourism.
The bad news is that RwandAir is making massive losses.
RwandAir’s financial statement for 2016 gives us the following depressing news:
- In 2015, RwandAir’s loss was US$53.4 Million. The government had to give RwandAir a grant of US$56.2 Million to keep afloat.
- In 2016, RwandAir’s loss was US$54.8 Million. The government had to give RwandAir a grant of US$53.8 Million to keep it afloat.
RwandAir has been making losses since 2002. Kagame keeps pumping in millions of dollars year in, year out. RwabdAir is a money pit.
The Kagame regime has been sustaining RwandAir since it was established in 2002. The regime says it will continue to do so ”until the company breaks even and generates enough funds to fully finance its operations.” In 2015, the regime injected US$56.2 Million into RwandAir. In 2016, the regime injected US$53.8 Million. RwandAir is a deep hole that will keep swallowing millions of dollars. There is no end in sight.
