URUGWIRO VILLAGE - Parliamentary Speakers from several regional and continental parliamentarians yesterday commended Rwanda for the progress registered in developing the ICT sector, urging other African countries to learn from it.

This was revealed by a delegation of Speakers led by the Senate President Vincent Biruta which included the speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Abdi Abdirahin Haither, the Speaker of the Parliament of Burundi, Pie Ntavyohanyuma and the Speaker of the Malawian Assembly, Louis Chimango among others, after paying a courtesy call on President Paul Kagame at Urugwiro Village.

The Speakers, who were in the country to attend the international conference on the development of an equitable information society on the African continent which ended yesterday, commended the President for spearheading an ICT revolution which has made Rwanda an outstanding ICT hub in the region.

Addressing the Press on behalf of the others after the meeting with President Kagame, the EALA Speaker Abdi Abdirahin said that Rwanda’s determination to promote the use and access to ICT facilities even at the grass root level is an example African countries must follow to address the digital divide.

"Rwanda has done a lot to develop its ICT sector, through programmes such as the One Laptop per Child and it is still investing more in the sector, we appreciate the efforts and we think EAC members can learn from the Rwandan experience” Abdirahin remarked.

He further noted that the conference discussed what the partner states can do to embrace and harmonise the use of ICT so that every African can benefit from the immense opportunities in that come with the use of modern ICTs.

The President of the Senate, Vincent Biruta, said that the two-day conference was used as a platform to discuss ways of using ICT to influence development on the continent and also foster relations between countries.

The Speakers also commended the President for the achievements registered in the last 15 years, following the devastation caused by the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi that claimed more than 1million lives.

Other members of the delegation included the Deputy Speakers, Abdoulie Bojang from the Gambia, Jao Loureco of Angola, Seddik Chileb of Algeria, Ali Dini Abdouklkauer of Djibouti and Anrifiddine Abdour Bacar, the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Comoros.

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