The first African nation to implement a long-term information and communications technology (ICT) programme, Rwanda is taking measures to become a regional communications hub. It already has Africa's highest density of VSAT terminals, and has been a pioneer in installing a fibre-optic network that will carry its high-speed telephone, Internet, and television services throughout the country. The goal is to enable every household to have a mobile phone within the next two years.

The country aims to become a knowledge-based economy by 2020, a transformation that will be driven by ICT.

"We see ICT as an instrument supporting our social and economic development," explains Albert Butare, minister for Energy and Communications. "As part of the Vision 2020 programme, we began working on a framework for development through ICT back in 1998," he explains.

In 2000, just one school in the country had a computer, and barely 100,000 people out of a population of 8 million had phones. Six years later, almost 2,500 schools now have at least one computer, and there are Internet cafes throughout the country. More than 30,000 people now have a mobile phone each.

Now the State electricity utility is implementing a US$35 million project to lay fibre-optic cables along its power lines, connecting every school in the country to the Internet.

"ICT is our engine of growth, national prosperity, and global competitiveness," adds Butare. Besides being the source of innovation, ICT is also seen by the government as an instrument of empowerment in that it will give Rwandans the business, scientific, commercial, and marketing information to make the country a global competitor.

The government has implemented a National Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI) plan, through the Rwanda Information Technology Authority (RITA).

Butare explains that phase two of NICI, which runs to 2010, focuses on human capacity building, infrastructure, e-government, education, community access, and private sector facilitation.

"Our main resource in Rwanda is our people, and thus all tools and instruments are dependent mainly on human resources: We feel ICT is the best instrument for this. Plus we have seen that private sector involvement is key and we encourage them to fully take part," says Butare.

Chinese firms active

As part of the bid to provide each household with a mobile phone, the government is now working with China's ZTE to build phone and other ICT components.

"We are also working with the Chinese on video conferencing, particularly looking at this within the scheme of e-government and de-centralization within the ministry of local government and within the Justice Ministry," says Butare.

Under its e-government policies, the administration aims to give people easy access to information, while improving the speed the population is able to use public services. Greater use of ICT will also improve efficiency of governments. Finally, it wants to enhance links between the private sector and all levels of government.

The e-government project document outlines the short to medium-term goals as combining applications that enhance capabilities and information dissemination with consolidating government services by constructing systems to eliminate duplicative processes, improve inter-operability, reduce redundancy, foster integrity, and provide measurable improvement in performance.

ICT use is spreading into government, finance, the private business sector, health, and education. High-tech initiatives include the use of ICT for electronic marketing of agricultural products, along with a crop mapping system, while hospitals are implementing telemedicine to supervise operations and help control AIDS. The banking system in Rwanda means that a nationwide electronic card payment system is spreading fast, transforming the way that customers handle their money.

Chinese experience

Rwanda's government has learned a lot from the Chinese about the use of high technology to power economic growth.

"I have been to China and it is moving extremely fast in ICT. They have just moved from the stage we are currently at, so it is very easy for us to follow them," says Butare.

Next year the mobile telephone market will be opened up, with more licenses being awarded.

Opportunities for investment are in areas such as software and hardware development, broadband fibre-optic infrastructure, as well as value-added services such as call centres and back-office operations, along with mobile phone assembly.

The country will soon be part of the East African submarine cable system, and with its low telephone tariffs will be able to offer the levels of services required for offshore banking and other financial and services industries.

Butare says that there is tremendous potential for investment, such as joint ventures in ICT parks. His goal is for a software export market of between US$50 and US$100 million by 2020.

(China Daily 10/13/2006 page18)