Interview: Rwanda’s ICT journey humbling, says Microsoft sub-Saharan Africa chief

Nineteen years ago, Rwanda began a journey of reconstruction that has led it to the current pace of being among the fastest growing economies in the world. It was against this background that, last week, the country hosted the first major continental technology summit six years after the Connect Africa Summit in Kigali. The four-day conference that attracted seven African Heads of State as well as top executives of global technology brands, deliberated ways Africa can leverage broadband to transform communities, governments and the private sector. At the sidelines of the meeting, The New Times’ Frank Kanyesigye caught up with Robert Kayihura, Microsoft’s director for legal and corporate affairs for sub-Saharan Africa who talked about the future of ICT in Africa including Rwanda, Microsoft’s initiatives and prospects on the continent among other issues. Excerpts;-Briefly tell us about yourself My name is Robert Kayihura, I serve as Microsoft’s Director Legal and Corporate Affairs covering sub-Saharan Africa region, excluding South Africa. My parents were born in Rwanda in the 1940s but I was born in Uganda and left the country when I was 10 years old. Its remarkable and humbling after 30 years living in Europe and in the US, to have a chance to come back home. How do you see the future of ICT in Africa, and Rwanda in particular?I think we have a reason to be optimistic despite the fact that in Africa there are still significant challenges to overcome in order to move things in the right direction. What is encouraging is that African nations are putting in place measures to bridge the digital divide. There is no denial that Rwanda stands out as a beacon of hope with respect of what can be done, that doesn’t discount the challenges that are still in abundance across Rwanda, but the country is moving in the right direction.For instance, the ease of doing business according to the latest World Bank Report 2014, investments in ICT infrastructure like fibre optic cable, the forthcoming rollout of 4G Long Term Evolution high speed broadband network, having systems that are driven by young Rwandan talents and all these are encouraging, making Rwanda stand out.More so, the leadership of President Paul Kagame has transformed the country and as well helped change the way Africa is perceived and I am really grateful for this country. What we have to do is to create an environment where talents in the use of technology can be developed further to empower Africa’s future generation.What is your take on Transform Africa Summit 2013?Transform Africa Summit, among other technology conferences, is important because it brings together policymakers and businesses, giving us an opportunity to talk and share perspectives on the approach and that’s a critical thing because the key thing is to create public-private partnerships.We need each other to drive technology growth on the continent of Africa. Our business is principally based on partnerships, we rely on our partners to build platform, develop applications and building that eco-system, it is important. Conferences like this are vital because they give a chance to talk about the ICT issues at hand and decide on a united and sustainable approach.How is Microsoft contributing to the growth of ICT in Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa?Microsoft is doing it in three concrete ways, including investing in skills development. If there are no people in Africa who can innovate and develop new technologies then that is a very big challenge. Investing in skills by creating internships and linking them with job opportunities in ICT sector, it’s probably an important step to drive technology growth in Africa. We have been in Africa for 20 years and we have invested in education to create a large pool of skills. Investing in incubation centres that create environment for developers to come and create new different technology applications and develop solutions that are locally relevant and as well provide affordable smart devices. You can’t have affordable and accessible broadband without having affordable devices. If you don’t have smart phones in abundance then you can’t really build smart cities. In Rwanda, we don’t have a robust presence as we would like to, given all the progress Rwanda is making, however this is an opportunity for us to re-think how we approach markets like Rwanda going forward.Do you think Africa is still far behind in terms of ICT development? If so, what should be done to increase the pace?Relative to the rest of the world, yes; Africa is still behind but the beautiful thing is we talk a lot about leapfrog technology and the ability to take the world class innovations and be implemented here; we don’t have that tendency fit in our horizon, we can do things if we are determined and set those priorities in relatively short period and I think that is exactly what Rwanda is showing and the reason why Rwanda is such a compelling example of what can be done in ICT space. We have all the solutions, it’s the question of will if we partner and form strategic partnerships I think we can accelerate that and get it done.What is the major focus of Microsoft in the next five years in Africa?We are making some investments in content that will be available online not only reserved to ICT talent, but business skills in management of leadership skills and working in partnership with policymakers across the region to make sure we strike the right balance and I think it’s going to be the key. So, in terms of concrete investments, we are going to ensure online content is available to people, investing in incubation centres and forming appropriate partnerships with universities and encouraging talents by creating jobs for them.Do you see any room for increasing those talents in Africa?Yes, it’s a shared goal with governments in Africa; it’s in government’s best interest and we would be hard pressed to find a government that doesn’t have education as one of the top priorities and for us, we have a lot of education solutions and ultimately broadband services to connect students across the region to world class content. It helps to accelerate the right, relevant skills so it’s a shared goal. We just need to find more effective ways of partnering around and we move forward.What challenges do you find in Africa that could be hampering Microsoft’s activities?I think most of the challenges are more on the policy regulatory side, for instance, one of the initiatives that we are driving now to help bridge the digital gap is the use of television spectrum to deliver broadband to rural areas. We are working in partnership with policy makers to get the right license to use that spectrum and get broadband delivered to rural areas to enhance technology solutions like e-health, e-education, e-governance; it’s where sometimes it takes really long. It’s just a matter of partnering with policy makers to get things done faster.What could be the major achievements registered in Africa by the company you work for?One of the major achievements we can be proud of is that the Internet is just landing in Africa; we didn’t wait for the broadband penetration to implement our activities. We have been at it for 20 years, which means as a Microsoft employee, and also as an African, it is a really point of pride. Microsoft saw the vision and always believed in people that it has. The company has invested close to $500 million over the past 20 years in donations in terms of software and hardware and skills development, it’s been sustaining. We are not just here to make money, we are here to make partnerships and really invest in people to develop technology skills.Where do you position Rwanda in terms of ICT growth in Africa?Rwanda is on the right track in terms of ICT growth on the continent, Rwanda is among the top economies in Africa–one of those using the power of technology to transform societies. The good thing with Rwanda is that the government’s regulatory policy supports the growth of ICT sector, which gives an opportunity for the creation of more and more innovations and IT applications.Anything you may want to add?The most important thing is that we have reached a point where we can really work together and put Africa on a digital position and this will be done through strong partnerships between private and the public sector, favourable government policies and skills development. We should also support young people to develop talents by setting up incubation centres because youth of today are well educated and super ambitious to innovate.

National

Interview: Rwanda’s ICT journey humbling, says Microsoft sub-Saharan Africa chief