The onset of the global pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have been a period of reflection for me. These reflections have somehow found their way to paper, as this year I dabble in writing. Today, I have been living in Rwanda for a little over a year and so many moments stand out as memorable for me, some of which I will share in this piece.

This might sound odd, even sacrilegious perhaps, but bidding 2020 farewell was a little bittersweet. While 2020 was without question the hardest year in our collective memory, a year when the unimaginable became reality, it was also a year that we reached heights in the drive for financial and digital inclusion that we only imagined would be in sight in the next few years.

Like most of the world, MTN Rwanda rode into the brand-new decade on a wave of optimism and lots of promise. 

On December 20, 2019, a date that seems so close and yet so far away, we launched the #ConnectRwanda challenge in partnership with the Ministry of ICT and Innovation. 

The response to this initiative far exceeded our expectations, and we were honoured when His Excellency, President Paul Kagame, accepted the challenge saying, "Smartphones should not be a luxury item. 

Let’s challenge ourselves to make smartphones an everyday tool enabling Rwandans to fulfil their potential.” What followed was a wave of support from individuals as well as public and private institutions that led to the challenge’s success.

#ConnectRwanda was born out of the knowledge of smartphone penetration statistics in the country. 

At the time, smartphone penetration in Rwanda was and still is less than 20 per cent. 

The smartphone, is of no use in and of itself but its importance lies in the power it holds to be the gateway to all things digital. 

The 2020 GSMA State of Mobile Connectivity Report found that globally there has been great progress in bridging the digital divide, however, if the status quo is maintained, 40 per cent of the population in low- and middle-income countries will remain offline by 2025.

Our nation’s vision and ambition by 2024 to digitize 100 per cent of all government services, achieve 100 per cent digital literacy among the youth as well as attain a cashless economy makes for a compelling case to focus on driving smartphone penetration. 

To increase the audience for all the digital innovations that our country is home to, we will need to continue to work together to densify smartphone penetration.

While the pandemic hampered our efforts to distribute the smartphones pledged and collected, we look forward to resuming distribution as soon as it is safe to do so. That said, MTN Rwanda, guided by the Ministry of ICT and Innovation and in partnership with so many actors on the ICT stage continues to explore different ways in which we can make the smartphone more accessible.  Just last month, we kicked off a pilot where anyone with a basic feature phone can visit some of our stores in Kigali to trade their phone in and with a small cash top up, get a smartphone in exchange. We are excited to see how far this pilot goes with the intention to roll it out across the country.

That was #ConnectRwanda. Now, fast forward to March 14th 2020, when COVID19 landed in Rwanda. We, like every other organisation, went into self-preservation mode, urgently trying to understand what that meant for our people, our customers and the business.

Once it became obvious that the pandemic was not going to be a flash in the pan, we took a deep breath and began brainstorming on what we, as MTN Rwanda, could contribute to curb the spread as well as lend a helping hand where we could. We provided free communication services to the RBC COVID taskforce, zero rated access to education and e-commerce websites, provided financial support to motorists and contributed to the Economic Recovery Fund, to mention but a few initiatives.

Most memorable though, is the journey we have all travelled in Digital Finance. When the pandemic hit, I had been in Kigali for all of five months and by then had a good idea of the country’s priorities in this space. In fact, Rwanda has done wonders in articulating its vision and mission, that even before I landed in Kigali, it was clear that this was an ecosystem that is forward thinking, open to creative solutions to resolve societal problems and happy to create public-private partnerships to make the vision a reality.

Case in point, is how the Finance and ICT industries came together to encourage digital transactions by zero rating certain fees for a period. This grew cashless transactions, an aide in curbing the spread of the virus. One month after the lockdown was instated in Rwanda, we saw in digital transactions an almost 400 per cent increase in volume as well as an approximately 500 per cent increase in value.

Within MTN Rwanda, now more than 50 per cent of our customers actively use Mobile Money every month. Since the start of the pandemic in Rwanda to date, we have seen the number of merchants registered to MoMoPay increase by close to 2000 per cent. MoMoPay has enabled businesses and merchants to accept payments for their goods and services through Mobile Money

I could not be more intrigued when I hear stories or receive messages from customers expressing their displeasure that a certain merchant does not have a MoMoPay code. Our team rushes to onboard them right away.

Lots has been done, yes, but we still have a vision to achieve more. What this says though is that the digital payments landscape will never be the same again. We continue working to create an ecosystem with a balance between affordability and sustainability.

The digital and cashless strides made have also opened opportunities for the young entrepreneur and innovator. I have encountered so much talent in the time I have been here. Young people bursting with ideas and solutions to community challenges or opportunities. We are aiming this year to as much as possible create platforms to showcase this talent.

It is my hope that all young innovators reading this piece have already seen the recently launched #MTNYOLOHackathon. The desire to scout and showcase local talent is the reason the challenge was launched, and we have no doubt that the next big idea could emerge from this competition. Afterall, Facebook was started by 5 friends in a college dorm room at Harvard, Google was the brainchild of two Stanford students who initially disagreed about everything and Alibaba launched in a room filled with friends. I would love to tell a similar story when the next big idea emerges.  "The company was started by 5 friends in Rwanda,” is a phrase I cannot wait to say.

Today, I am a little over 400 days into my stay in Rwanda, and while 2021 has gotten off to a bumpy start, I am perhaps even more excited for the year to come. If you told me in March last year that 2020 would be a year of immense and never-seen digital transformation, I probably would have considered you a little unhinged, but Ladies and Gentlemen, we made it through! Perhaps I will talk more on Digital Transformation in the next piece, let’s see.

Till then #StaySafe, #StayConnected and #StayPositive.

The writer is the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Rwanda