Can Information Technology Transform Rwanda's Economy?

KIGALI, Rwanda, Oct. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Hundreds of business executives from around the world are heading to Rwanda to attend a high-end conference on Information Communications Technology, dubbed 'SMART Rwanda Days'.

President Paul Kagame and Dr. Hamadoun Toure, the Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), will be the keynote speakers. President Kagame is a co-chair of the ITU-UNESCO Broadband Commission for Digital Development.

Tigo, a subsidiary of Swedish telecom Millicom International, VISA, World Bank, Internet Society, ICANN, BCG, and the Boston Consulting Group will be present.

The conference taking place on 2-3 October is under the theme "Digitizing Rwanda."

Rwanda's Minister of Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsengimana said the conference will provide an ideal platform for discussing ways in which ICT's can contribute significantly to Rwanda's economic growth.

The contribution of ICT to national economy is about 8.5% with telecommunications contributing 3.5% compared to construction that contributes 8% and manufacturing 13.1%.

Nsengimana says ICT enables other sectors such banking, tourism and hospitality. The central bank says the service industry grew to 22.4% from 12.6%.

He said the government has identified ten sectors in which deployment of ICTs can have maximum impact.

These sectors include; SMART-Education, Health-care, Governance, Business, Agriculture, Environment, Job Creation, Infrastructure, Women empowerment and Cities.

The country, largely agrarian, is preparing to enter into the last critical 5 years of its Vision 2020 that aims to transform the nation into a knowledge-based economy.

The country is pursuing an ambitious agenda of digitalizing all services, from a cashless economy to a paperless government.

A 4,500km national backbone fiber optic network, worth over a $130m has been rolled out and 4G LTE Internet connectivity is being installed. Total countrywide connectivity is due in two years. 

Citizens across the country will soon easily access faster Internet and a private firm has been contracted to create a central platform for people to access public services. Services can be accessed via Internet and on mobile devices.

The country's utilities agency (RURA) says mobile phone penetration is around 70% with about 6.7 million subscribers. Rwanda has a population of 12 million. The ITU ranks Rwanda the 6^th most dynamic performer in the developing world.

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