e-Soko wins continental award

ADDIS ABABA - The e-Soko project on Monday won an African award for the promotion of ICT in Rwanda during the third Technology in Government in Africa (TIGA) Awards held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. During the colorful event organised by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Finnish government, e-Soko was recognised as a model innovative project in Africa that facilitates Rwandan farmers to access market prices. e-Soko is an electronic platform, which provides farmers, consumers and traders with up-to-date market price information on commodities using mobile phones. “The project, implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, is a vital economic tool that increases access to market information for both farmers and consumers, thereby increasing efficiency and preventing price gouging,” Patrick Nyirishema, the Head of ICT at Rwanda Development Board (RDB) said in a statement. He expressed gratitude for the award and pledged continued commitment to the implementation of technologies aimed at increasing government efficiency and productivity. Rwanda has won three TIGA awards since their launch in 2007. TRACnet won an award in the Health category while the Energy and Water Sanitation Agency (EWSA) triumphed courtesy of its SMS Utility Payment System.. TIGA awards recognise African Governments’ effective use of ICT for public service delivery, as part of fulfilling ECA’s African Information Society Initiative (AISI) and the Government of Finland’s Development Cooperation Strategy on ICTs for development in Africa. The award is awarded to African governments and institutions involved in developing and implementing ICTs for public service and contributing to the development of the Information Society in Africa. A total of 24 countries submitted 89 projects. e-Soko was awarded in the Public Service to Citizens/Communities category. Under this, the judges evaluated projects that demonstrated the use of ICT applications in revolutionising service delivery in the public sector. Currently, e-Soko covers a total of 50 markets in the country; however, plans are underway to include 20 more during the second phase of the project implementation. Ends

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e-Soko wins continental award