Rock Global Consulting (RGC) a wholly Rwandan company based in Kigali with offices in Bujumbura has been named the Microsoft Rookie Partner of the Year – 2009 for the East and Southern Africa region which covers 16 countries.

The Rookie of the Year award is given to the Microsoft partner who has demonstrated business growth and expansion potential coupled with remarkable financial results in its first year of partnership.

This prestigious award was presented to Rock Global Consulting Business Architect Director Johnny Kayihura at the annual Microsoft Partnership Dinner held on July 7 recently at the Mt Kenya Safari club in Nanyuki- Kenya.

In a statement issued by Rock Global Consulting Kayihura is quoted saying, "the award is a humbling experience especially in the presence of our peers and partner Patrick Kabagema.”

Winning the Microsoft 2009 Rookie is a tribute to the commitment and passion for success that the whole team at Rock Global Consulting puts into their work and it is a tremendous confidence statement on ICT development in Rwanda,” he added.

Deputy Director Rwanda Development Board (RDB) in charge of ICT Engineer Nkubito Bakuramutsa in a congratulatory message said, "We are quite happy to see that Rwandan companies are now competitive on the regional market.

I want to congratulate RGC and encourage more Rwandan companies to follow the same path. This is a first but certainly not a last award for RGC and our private sector.”

The Chief Executive Officer of Private Sector Federation Rwanda Mr Emmanuel Hategeka said, "We would like to congratulate RGC for scooping a heavily contested Microsoft partner award among peers.

This is testimony of Rwanda’s growing ICT sector competitiveness in the region and the confidence of Microsoft in RGC. We look forward to many more awards for RGC as well as other SME’s in the sector.”

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