{"id":54789,"date":"2025-07-07T11:17:32","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T11:17:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/rubavu-records-surge-in-cross-border-traffic-since-m23-captured-goma\/"},"modified":"2025-07-07T11:18:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T11:18:14","slug":"rubavu-records-surge-in-cross-border-traffic-since-m23-captured-goma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/rubavu-records-surge-in-cross-border-traffic-since-m23-captured-goma\/","title":{"rendered":"Rubavu records surge in cross-border traffic since M23 captured Goma"},"content":{"rendered":"

The borders in question include the Grande Barri\u00e8re (also known as \u201cLa Corniche\u201d), Petite Barri\u00e8re, which connect Rwanda with the DRC. These borders now open at 6:00 a.m. and close at 10:00 p.m.<\/p>\n

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 50,000 people crossed three official borders daily, with the Grande Barri\u00e8re operating 24 hours a day.<\/p>\n

Rubavu District Mayor, Mulindwa Prosper, told IGIHE that the number of people using the Rubavu\u2013DRC border crossings has reached 43,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number of users at the Grande Barri\u00e8re and Petite Barri\u00e8re has increased to 43,000, not counting those who use the Kabuhanga border,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Residents working at the Gisenyi cross-border market told IGIHE that they now rely on trust-based trade, as many Congolese clients lack cash.<\/p>\n

They cited reasons including the shut down of banks in Goma by the Tshisekedi administration, making it difficult for citizens to access their savings.<\/p>\n

Sifa, a Congolese resident of Ndosho in Nyiragongo Territory, said that most products coming from Rwanda to her area are fruits and vegetables. She also confirmed that their current trade depends heavily on mutual trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cBanks are closed, so we\u2019re using the little money we had at home or we take goods on credit based on trust. We go, sell them, and return to pay later,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Sifa added that reopening banks would give them access to much-needed capital.<\/p>\n

The AFC\/M23 rebel group began controlling the border posts between Rwanda and the DRC on the side of Goma in January 2025. <\/p>\n

\"Figures<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Figures from the Rubavu District administration show that the number of people using the borders between Rubavu District and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) rose from 20,000 (between 2020 and 2024) to 43,000 in 2025, following the takeover of the city of Goma by the M23 rebel group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":2000090514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-54789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000090514,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/imipaka-6a7a7-2.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/imipaka-6a7a7-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/imipaka-6a7a7-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/imipaka-6a7a7-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/imipaka-6a7a7-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/imipaka-6a7a7-2.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000090514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54789"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=54789"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=54789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}