Q4 2018 New Markets Investor

Q3 2016
‘Rwanda’s ambition is to
become the regional
ICT Hub.
with a unique character and identity. Beside the environmental
feature, it will contribute to the socio-spatial
qualities of the city, to the wellbeing of citizens.
Visitors will have positive spinoffs to the security, local
economy, community engagement, and vibrancy of the
urban space.
As Kigali is considered as an entry point for all investors,
the Rwanda Development Board is working
together with the City Council itself to uphold the
standard of the capital, while at the same time highlighting
business and investment opportunities available
in all sectors in the city.
NMI: Technology plays a big role in economic
transformation. At the world economic forum in Davos
at the beginning of this year the theme “Mastering the
Fourth Industrial Revolution” referred to the digital
revolution and its impact on various economy sectors.
How important is investment in technology for Rwanda
and how has it impacted economic sectors so far?
For instance Rwanda’s ambition is to become the
regional ICT Hub. To achieve this goal, from 2000,
successive Governments of Rwanda developed and
implemented a ICT-led socio-economic Development
Plan through the National Information Communication
Infrastructure plan (NICI Plans). The NICI Plan at its
fourth installment became ‘Smart Rwanda Master plan’
after being reviewed while investing in ICT infrastructure
development. All those policies are expected
to transform Rwanda into a service hub and increase
wealth and the number of farm jobs while reducing
poverty that will help to achieve Rwanda’s target to
become a middle-income country by 2020.
The Government of Rwanda has a strategic plan in
place to develop its ICT sector as a highly differentiated
cluster (ecosystem) of information and technology
(ICT) companies exporting high value products and
services. This plan is one of the key enablers that will
help achieve Rwanda’s long-term vision of economic
growth and social development.
FG: Technology is not only positively impacting Rwanda
but also, other new economies. New technologies
applied on daily life increases population wellbeing.
The same applies on investments attraction via easy
platforms for applications and procedures follow ups.
All RDB services are online, and most importantly,
Rwanda is seeing that transfer as a facility to help
people accessing information amply, which has an
impact on their daily development. In that line, Rwanda
is among the top global countries that have reduced the
digital divide.
We believe that transforming Rwanda into the services
hub requires tech and telecommunication infrastructure
and know how. In that line, Rwanda installed 5000 Km
optic fiber throughout the country, 4G LTE services is
being expended into secondary cities.
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New Markets Investor
The Kigali Innovation Technology Park (formerly
Technopole) is a flagship project in fulfilling the strategic
plan. In consists of constructing three building complexes
to co-locate with the Carnegie Mellon University
(CMU) campus within a 61.5 ha area within the Kigali
Special Economic Zone.
These three buildings will house Rwanda’s ICT Centre
of Excellence and the ICT cluster of companies, each
focused on growing through partnering with multinational
partners to create innovative solutions, products,
and services for export.
NMI: Back to Davos again. Rwanda’s economic transformation
and open business environment was widely
praised throughout the forum. How important will