The 222-kilometer border between Rwanda and Tanzania is largely defined by the course of the Kagera River. This frontier has a somber place in modern history, but today it serves as a vital and modern trade corridor connecting landlocked Rwanda to the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam.
The one and only major crossing point is at the Rusumo Falls. A modern, international bridge spans the river here, and the border is a state-of-the-art One-Stop Border Post. This means you clear all immigration and customs for both countries in a single, efficient process.
The history of this crossing is poignant. In 1994, during the Rwandan genocide, the original bridge at Rusumo Falls was the site of one of the largest and most rapid refugee exoduses in human history, as hundreds of thousands of people fled into Tanzania.
Today, the scene is one of peaceful commerce. The modern bridge and border post, opened in 2014, were built to handle the huge volume of trucks carrying goods to and from Rwanda. It is a powerful symbol of the region’s focus on economic development and a testament to the resilience of a nation rebuilding itself.