Huge investments have gone into providing the basic ICT infrastructure by government and the private sector led by the Telcos and the ISPs alike. Rwanda has arguably one of the highest fibre layout per square kilometre in the world; there are three international gateways with huge capacities owned by BSC (government owned), Liquid and MTN. All technologies and spectrum (2G GPRS/ EDGE, 3G, Wimax, WIFI, Fixed Data broadband and now 4G) are all available and fully accessible in Rwanda. There is a modern state of the art Data Centre to host local content at a cheaper cost with all the security requirements fully guaranteed. Short of putting industry numbers to support, I am aware that the industry accommodates enough capacity and growing broadband bandwidth to support real digital revolution. Cost vs. value argument It is often said cost is a barrier to ICT adoption and pervasive usage. Balancing the cost with derived value however helps to put the utility derived from ICT usage in perspective. Before we delve deeper into this argument, let’s start with what is already available and free. Citing just two examples, under an initiative championed by the Minister for ICT and the Mayor of Kigali, free 10mbs of data are provided to all mobile data subscribers daily. This initiative has been extended to other towns in Rwanda where WIFI connectivity exists. The fact remains that Rwanda has the lowest data price per MB compared to the rest of Africa and indeed in most developing world. This has contributed to the high usage per capita as pointed out above. However the very heavy capital investment made by the government and the industry over the period has helped to create more supply capacity in the ICT sector. There still remains high unused capacity that needs to be filled by bringing more new users on board. As we grow ICT literacy and expand adoption, and hopefully, as cost of ICT deployment and investment goes down through driving efficiencies across industry, costs per MB would be expected to go down further. Having said this, it must be appreciated that other Smart ICT solutions like Instant Mobile Payments remain the most cost-effective solution compared to traditional means of transferring money as it curbs issues such as delays in transfers, less-accessible service points and the inconvenience in not accessing the unbanked in the remotest parts. We all have a part to play as providers to strive to provide good quality and innovative services. We must collaborate more to take needless cost out of their operations by sharing more and more infrastructure, working with vendors to bring costs down and sharing the benefits of the savings with customers. We must develop and support other businesses in the ICT value chain whilst leading through innovations. We must work closely with academia to ensure we are not only the net consumers of ICT in Rwanda but part of the global innovation and ICT development supply, not only to supply industry needs in Rwanda but to the world at large. High-end ICT engineers, mathematicians, physicists, computer scientists, etc are in short supply globally. Top ICT hubs like Cisco, Microsoft, Google, Ericsson, and Huawei just to name a few are constantly in search of such top talents globally. More users must adopt ICT Smart solutions to drive scale, build a Smart Rwanda and ultimately a Smart Economy to contribute to higher economic development. This will create a virtual cycle with multipliers effects to spur further growth and unquenchable sustained growth. In conclusion, Smart Rwanda is not a mere mantra but a call to action by all. It calls for serious investments and infrastructure to make it a reality. Even harder is the mind set and cultural shifts it calls for. The benefits are both short-term and sustainable but require extra discipline and change to attain as individuals and businesses, but the pay-off is great when accomplished. Above all, let’s also value the environmental benefits of living smart. Before we use paper (notes) for payment or before we print in the office, let us think smart and act digital. Before we move a vehicle and burn fuel, let us act digital if we can. To my own industry, before we sell airtime vouchers we must think Smart and act digital by selling more environmentally friendly electronic recharge. Smart Rwanda means going digital for enhanced quality of life so we must all get on board. We must apply the smart lens to everyday life – existing problems and new. The writer is the CEO, MTN-Rwanda
