This the Burundi Rwanda Nemba Border in Bugesera district. Despite closure to human traffic, goods appear to have been flowing south unhindered
Burundi is importing growing amounts of goods from Rwanda despite closing their common land border in January 2024, offering a striking example of how commercial needs can continue even as political relations deteriorate.
Rwanda’s domestic exports to Burundi reached US$13.39 million (about Rwf 20 billion) in the second quarter of 2026 covering April, May, and June, according to the Formal external trade in Goods Report, compiled monthly and quarterly by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR).
The figure was more than double the US$6.55 million recorded in the first quarter and nearly four times the US$3.72 million recorded in the second quarter of 2023.
The trade is relatively small for Rwanda but significant within its regional markets.
Rwanda exported US$548.98 million in domestic goods worldwide during the second quarter. Burundi therefore accounted for about 2.4 percent of total exports.
China was Rwanda’s 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.
But among East African Community markets, Burundi ranked second.
Rwanda exported US$116.47 million to the regional bloc during the quarter. The Democratic Republic of Congo accounted for about 77 percent, while Burundi’s US$13.39 million represented roughly 11.5 percent.
That makes Burundi a modest market in Rwanda’s overall export portfolio but an important destination within its regional trade.
What Burundi is buying
The composition of the trade points largely to everyday consumption and construction needs.
Rwandan exports include maize, maize flour, wheat flour, cassava flour, potatoes, milk and dairy products, eggs and vegetables.
Manufactured and industrial products include cement, steel, plastics, soaps, detergents, beverages, glassware, electrical equipment and other construction materials.
The trade also includes re-exports. These are products Rwanda imports from other countries and subsequently supplies to Burundi, including mineral fuels, lubricants and manufactured goods sourced from markets such as China and the United Arab Emirates.
Rwanda therefore serves Burundi both as a source of locally produced goods and as a gateway to products originating elsewhere.
A difficult route for trade
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 a December 2023 attack in Burundi.
Rwanda has dismissed the accusation and criticised the border closure as a unilateral decision that undermined regional integration.
The dispute has continued. President Évariste 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.
Yet the latest trade figures show that the commercial relationship has not disappeared.
Burundi’s economic pressures
The increase in imports comes as Burundi faces serious foreign-exchange and supply constraints.
The International Monetary Fund said in June 2026 that Burundi’s international reserves stood at approximately US$214 million, equivalent to only 1.6 months of imports.
Fuel supplies have also been under pressure. 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 affected transport costs and contributed to higher prices for food and other necessities.
These conditions make access to nearby suppliers commercially important, particularly for products such as food, fuel-related commodities and construction materials.
A largely one-way trade
The relationship also runs predominantly in one direction.
Rwanda’s leading import sources include China, Tanzania, India, Kenya and Uganda, while Burundi does not feature among Rwanda’s major suppliers.
The result is a trade relationship in which Rwanda sells considerably more to Burundi than it buys from it.
That imbalance helps explain why the US$13.39 million figure has different meanings for the two countries.
For Rwanda, it represents only a small fraction of a quarterly export total approaching US$550 million.
For Burundi, the purchases provide access to food and manufactured products at a time when foreign exchange is scarce and imports are becoming harder to finance.
The earlier precedent
The two countries have experienced a similar disruption before.
After Burundi closed its border with Rwanda in 2015 amid political turmoil, Rwandan exports to Burundi fell sharply. Trade recovered after the border reopened in October 2022.
The latest figures do not show that Rwanda and Burundi have normalised their relationship, nor do they establish how every shipment reaches the Burundian market.
They show something narrower but important: the deterioration in political relations has not eliminated commercial demand.
For Rwanda, Burundi is a relatively small export market.
For Burundi, however, Rwanda has become an increasingly important source of regional supplies, while also serving as a channel for products imported from the wider global market.
