The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, and Ericsson Group, yesterday, signed an agreement for the launch of a national interoperability switch based on the Ericsson M-Commerce Interconnect solution on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Africa, in Kigali.

Ericsson’s Rwanda Interoperability Solution (RIS) will connect financial and payment services providers within the country and enable end-user to enjoy, in real time, a range of digital payments possibilities across all financial platforms and service providers.

During the signing, the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Amb. Claver Gatete, spoke of the importance of digitising the financial economy in an increasingly globalised world.

"Mobile payment technology has the potential to advance financial inclusion and help people build savings while giving government, as well as the private sector a more cost-effective, efficient, transparent, and safer means of disbursing and collecting payments. We are happy to be partnering Ericsson on this,” he said.

The seven-year agreement will support Rwanda’s vision to create a digital economy and drive greater financial and social inclusion for its society and citizens through the integration of informal sectors such as savings cooperatives and micro-finance players in the ecosystem, according to a statement.

Peter Heuman, the vice-president and head of M-Commerce for Ericsson, said; "Africa has been a main driver for innovative mobile financial services. This latest agreement represents another step in Ericsson’s commitment to building the necessary global infrastructure for a new open digital economy.

"The work we are doing with the Government and people of Rwanda on this initiative is imperative for the country and region and we look forward to continued collaboration with countries throughout Africa and globally to build upon these important efforts.”

As Rwanda aims to become Africa’s first truly digital economy, clear financial and payment services policies to create a neutral, interoperable and viable market place have been enacted setting the ground for partnerships such as the Ericsson M-Commerce Interconnect to provide seamless financial services.

The Rwanda Interoperability Switch is expected to be operational by early 2017.

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