Axiom Networks Rwanda has rebranded to TransAfrica Communication (TrAC) with the aim to expand to regional and international markets, said Johnny Kayihura, the Managing Director, TrAC.

The Internet Service Provider (ISP) that has been operational in Rwanda since 2012, with a focus on enterprise market share, will now be expanding to the rest of Africa with Rwanda being the headquarters.

Immediate target countries include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola among others.

The competition with ISPs in Rwanda is tough, said Kayihura at the unveiling of the new brand but "we remain focused on our lane of providing our services to enterprises."

"The easiest way for us to penetrate new markets is to become an integrator of Internet Service Providers whereby we build a network and partner with local entrepreneurs to sell on markets they understand better," he said.

Hamisi Shema, co-founder, Axiom Networks Rwanda said that different factors contributed to the transition and rebranding. 

"The transition came from international exposure, growth in confidence, capability of leveraging more technology and building and expanding the company beyond the Rwandan economy,” he noted.

Adding: "Rwanda allowed us to have an environment to prove to ourselves and our investors that it was possible, and the transition is only coming to rebrand and increase the level of operation for Axiom.”

Speaking that the event, the Minister of ICT and Innovation, Paula Ingabire congratulated TrAC for their rebranding as a sign of growth, pledging continued support to not only address local challenges but the continent as well.

"Now we know that at least people understand the importance of such services that TrAC provides, and the remaining task is to understand how we get as many people on board,” she said.

The challenge that we have, said Ingabire, is we have many Rwandans within the area of coverage but not everyone is actually benefiting from it, they don’t have the right devices, skills, content of the services.

Ingabire also said that they are going to work extensively on many ways "while the focus is on affordability, but look at the cooperation that can happen in the sector to allow everyone in every corner of this country to use and experience what good connectivity is.”

Paul McConnell, Chairman and Co-founder, TransAfrica Communications said that they want to take the proven-successful model to the rest of the continent especially Western Africa, where "there is still lots of work to be done.”

The aim is to become the leanest, fastest, and the most agile ISP in Africa, he said

He also said they will partner with telecommunication companies to extend these services to other countries.

"We will partner with MTN, Airtel, Liquid (telecom) so we don’t have to rebuild the same infrastructure and I hope this will empower young entrepreneurs to become successful ISPs,” said McConnell.

Lyse Ineza Rutagarama, customer relationship manager, TrAC said that the transition is exciting to the whole team as they have already built customer confidence based on the dedicated services they offer.

Trans Africa Communications is a wholesale carrier entity bringing Internet into Rwanda from London through the submarine cables that serve the continent, and through the terrestrial cabling in East Africa.

Their vision is to "light Africa” through the provision of reliable, affordable connectivity to public and private enterprises

They provide wireless internet services, fiber infrastructure, data centre and cloud services.