Rwanda's exports to Burundi double in a quarter despite closed land border

Exports double in a single quarter

Rwanda's domestic exports to Burundi reached US$13.39 million, or about Rwf 20 billion, in the second quarter of 2026, covering April, May and June. The figure comes from the Formal External Trade in Goods Report compiled monthly and quarterly by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), and was reported by ktpress.rw.

That is more than double the US$6.55 million recorded in the first quarter of 2026 and nearly four times the US$3.72 million registered in the second quarter of 2023. The increase has taken place while the land border between the two countries has been closed, which ktpress.rw presented as an example of commercial demand continuing through a political rupture.

Burundi closed its land borders with Rwanda on January 11, 2024, after accusing Kigali of supporting RED-Tabara, the armed group that claimed responsibility for an attack in Burundi in December 2023. Rwanda rejected the accusation and criticised the closure as a unilateral decision that undermined regional integration. President Evariste Ndayishimiye has described Rwanda as a hostile country, while Kigali has rejected Bujumbura's accusations and maintained its own concerns about Burundi's role in the security situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Marginal for Rwanda, second within the EAC

Rwanda exported US$548.98 million in domestic goods worldwide during the second quarter, so Burundi accounted for about 2.4 percent of the total. China was the largest destination at US$142.38 million, followed by the United Arab Emirates at US$107.96 million and the Democratic Republic of Congo at US$89.51 million.

Within the East African Community the ranking changes. Rwanda shipped US$116.47 million to the regional bloc during the quarter, with the Democratic Republic of Congo taking about 77 percent and Burundi's US$13.39 million representing roughly 11.5 percent. That makes Burundi a modest market in Rwanda's overall export portfolio but the second destination inside the bloc.

Food, cement and re-exported fuel

The composition of the trade points largely to everyday consumption and construction needs rather than to industrial supply chains. Rwanda supplies both locally produced goods and products it has imported from other markets.

• Agricultural and food goods: maize, maize flour, wheat flour, cassava flour, potatoes, milk and dairy products, eggs and vegetables.
• Manufactured and industrial goods: cement, steel, plastics, soaps and detergents, beverages, glassware, electrical equipment and other construction materials.
• Re-exports: mineral fuels, lubricants and manufactured goods that Rwanda imports from markets such as China and the United Arab Emirates and then supplies onward to Burundi.

Rwanda therefore serves Burundi in two roles at once: as a producer of food and building materials, and as a gateway to goods originating in the wider global market. Rwanda's own leading import sources are China, Tanzania, India, Kenya and Uganda, and Burundi does not feature among its major suppliers, so the relationship is strongly one-directional.

Foreign exchange and fuel pressure in Burundi

The rise in purchases coincides with severe financing constraints in Burundi. The International Monetary Fund said in June 2026 that the country's international reserves stood at approximately US$214 million, equivalent to only 1.6 months of imports.

Fuel supply has been under pressure as well. FEWS NET reported a sharp decline in fuel imports from March, with petrol and diesel deliveries falling well below estimated national requirements. The shortages have pushed up transport costs and contributed to higher prices for food and other necessities, making nearby suppliers commercially important for food, fuel-related commodities and construction materials.

The asymmetry explains why the same US$13.39 million carries different weight on each side. For Rwanda it is a small fraction of a quarterly export total approaching US$550 million. For Burundi it is access to food and manufactured products at a moment when foreign exchange is scarce and imports are harder to finance.

There is a precedent. After Burundi closed the border in 2015 amid political turmoil, Rwandan exports to Burundi fell sharply and only recovered after the crossing reopened in October 2022. ktpress.rw noted that the latest figures do not show that relations have normalised, nor do they establish how every shipment reaches the Burundian market; they show that the deterioration in political relations has not eliminated commercial demand.