Despite prolonged border closure Rwandan products are increasingly finding their way into Burundi placing the southern neighbour among top 7 export destinations.
Rwanda’s National Institute of Statistics (NiSR) has released data showing that during the second quarter of 2026 (April to June), Rwanda exported goods to Burundi valued at approximately U$13.4 million.
This represents more than double the amount from the previous quarter.
Rwandan products continue to reach Burundi, but through long routes, particularly via Tanzania, which lengthens journeys and increases costs.
Meanwhile, among the destinations for Rwandan exports, China holds the top spot, followed by the United Arab Emirates, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Netherlands, the United States, the United Kingdom, and then Burundi in seventh place.
In January 2024, Gitega regime ordered the closure of it’s borders with Rwanda.
The border was closed under contentious diplomatic fallout between Kigali and Gitega.
Burundi President Gen. Evariste Ndayishimiye accused Rwanda of hosting, training, and funding Red Tabara, a rebel group.
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda rejected the accusations, and described the border closure as an “unfortunate decision”.
According to Kagame, Gitega’s decision to slam the doors on Rwanda violated East African Community (EAC) principles of regional cooperation.
Burundi has upgraded it’s hate for Rwanda and deployed in DRC to fight alongside Congolese troops and FDLR and Wazalendo militia.
The FDLR militia group.designiated by Washington as a terrorist organisation is largely composed of perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi which claimed more than a million lives.
