GCA Strengthens Climate-Resilient Urban Transport in Kigali
K
igali, Rwanda, 25 June 2025 — The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) announced today a technical partnership with the World Bank’s Rwanda Urban Mobility Improvement Project (RUMI) through the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program, which aims to bolster the climate resilience of Kigali’s rapidly evolving public transport network. Through this collaboration, GCA will undertake complementary climate risk assessments and develop adaptation guidelines to ensure that key transport assets—including the Nyabugogo multi-modal terminal and pilot Dedicated Bus Lanes (DBLs)—are designed to withstand future floods, landslides and extreme heat events.
The RUMI project represents a US$100 million investment in modernizing Kigali’s public transport infrastructure, expected to benefit approximately 77.5 million direct users between 2025 and 2029. As part of its support, GCA will conduct a comprehensive Climate Hazard Assessment to quantify flood, landslide and urban heat risks under multiple future scenarios. This will be followed by a Climate Stress-Test of the preliminary designs for the Nyabugogo terminal and DBLs to identify vulnerabilities and recommend resilience measures. Building on these analyses, the GCA will deliver a Green & Grey Adaptation Appraisal, which provides actionable technical guidelines and a climate financing rationale to guide both implementers and financiers in procuring climate-smart solutions.
“Embedding adaptation into the very blueprint of Kigali’s transport infrastructure is essential to safeguarding mobility, livelihoods and economic growth,” said Patrick Verkooijen, President and CEO of GCA. “Our complementary assessments and guidelines will help decision-makers plan and procure climate-smart solutions that serve Rwandans for decades to come.”
Rapid urbanization and intensifying climate hazards have exposed Kigali’s transport backbone—particularly the Nyabugogo hub—to recurrent flooding and heat stress. GCA’s support builds on World Bank flood and landslide evaluations by screening and quantifying scenario-based risks, stress-testing infrastructure designs against projected stormwater surges and heatwaves, crafting climate-informed performance specifications and equipping Kigali’s planners and engineers through the AAAP Masterclass on Climate Resilience.
