Government in $100m ICT investment drive

Government is expected to invest above $100 million in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry by end of this year according to the Minister of Science and Technology Prof. Romain Murenzi. The big investment priorities include the laying of a fibre optic loop across the country which will take $66m and the purchase of 100,000 laptops estimated to cost $20 million. About $13m that will be pooled from the $24m communication grant from World Bank will be allocated to connect local fibre to international bandwidth. The commitment from the government is driven by its vision to have a knowledge based economy by 2020. This was mentioned during the recently ended International Conference on the Development of Equitable Information Society and the role of African Parliaments that took place from 4th to 5th March 2009. According to Prof. Murenzi the funds are drawn from licence costs of telecommunication companies and allocations from the national budget. The first phase of laying the cable was in Kigali and the second phase will cover all 30 districts in the country, which are expected to be completed by the end of this year. It’s envisaged that when national backbone is connected across the country the prices for Internet provision and acquisition will fall, thus helping Rwanda in its transformation into knowledge based economy. Patrick Nyirishema Deputy Executive Director of Rwanda Information Technology Authority (RITA) highlighted the National Information Communication agenda and noted that currently in Rwanda, access to ICT facilities is not a privilege rather a right to every Rwandan. RITA has since recently joined the Rwanda Development Board. Ends

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Government in $100m ICT investment drive