President Kagame yesterday co-chaired the first session of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development meeting.

Themed "Transitioning from MDGs to SDGs: Accelerating Sustainable Digital Development,” the session marked the end of the broadband commission five year work aligned with the MDGs and the beginning of the commission new focus on sustainable digital development.

Opening the session, President Kagame emphasized the role of broadband as an essential factor in achieving sustainable development goals.

Pointing to the slower pace of broadband growth as published in the State of Broadband 2015 report, President Kagame called on further steps towards increasing access:

"Four billion people still have no internet access. There is an urgent need to reverse this trend. Fewer than 7 per cent of households in the least developed countries are connected. 

This is a problem, of course, but it also means there is a lot of room for growth. In Africa, we are determined to seize this opportunity.”

While inviting participants to the upcoming Transform Africa Summit taking place in Kigali on 19th to 21st October, President Kagame pointed to the Smart Africa Initiative as key in encouraging nations to invest more in infrastructure, innovation and entrepreneurship.

This year’s Transform Africa Summit is the second of its kind. Held in Rwanda in October of 2013, the summit resulted in the adoption of Smart Africa Manifesto by seven heads of States including Burkina Faso, Gabon, Kenya, Mali, Rwanda, Senegal, South Sudan, Chad and Uganda.

The manifesto was later adopted 22nd Ordinary session of the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa by all heads of states who committed to placing the manifesto at the centre of Africa’s ICT agenda.

Attending the ITU Gala Dinner themed "Connecting the World” following the Broadband Commission meeting, President Kagame was later awarded with the ICTs in Sustainable Development Award alongside heads of States from Bahrain, Bangladesh, Fiji, Gabon, Kenya, Thailand and Vanuatu. 

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