President Paul Kagame has formally been invited to attend and play a leading role in the January 2010 International Telecommunications Union (ITU)-African Union Summit which will be focussing on ICT in Africa.

Speaking to Journalists after paying a courtesy call on the President at Urugwiro Village yesterday, ITU Secretary General Dr. Hamadoun Toure said that President Kagame’s role in promoting the role of ICT has earned him international recognition and therefore he should be able to share with the rest of Africa.

"We would like President Kagame to take a leading role in this summit as we try to workout a common African agenda that will really help the development of ICT in Africa,” Toure said.

"We need to have a coordinated strategy and plan for the African continent and President Kagame has shown competence in this. He has taken concrete actions in the development of ICT in Rwanda.” He added.

Toure of the Geneva based ITU, one of the oldest UN organisations formed to standardise and regulate international radio and telecommunications was accompanied by the AU Commissioner of Human Resource Science and Technology, Prof. Pierre Onvehoun Ezin.

The two officials visited and commended some of the landmark ICT projects the country has been able to establish such as the One Laptop Per Child and the National ID Project which are outstanding in ICT development.

The officials who are in the country for an ITU conference said that the January Summit will be seeking ways to grow Africa’s ICT industries to match other parts of the world.

The Minister of ICT in the Office of the President Prof. Romain Murenzi affirmed Rwanda’s plans to become the Regional and Continental ICT hub by establishing world class infrastructure and training ICT skilled human resources.

He cited the example of the OLPC, National Backbone and fibre optic project as some of the major projects the country is putting forward to transform the ICT sector.

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