For many decades, especially in the developing world, access to internet leave alone broadband has been an issue, and it has been proven that without access and use of broadband based technologies, economies will find it hard to remain competitive in 21st century. The World Bank through numerous studies has confirmed that there is a proven relationship between the high speed broadband penetration and economic growth, though the ratios vary from one economy to another. Similarly the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), under the UN 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, places broadband access as a crucial enabler towards attaining the SDGs especially in education, health and basic social services as pointed out by ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao Well aware of all the benefits of access to broadband, Rwanda embarked on the journey to transform its economy into a knowledge based economy, with ICT placed at the center of the 20 years plan that was launched in 2000 and expected to be realized in the next few years remaining. Throughout the years, the leadership of Rwanda led by H.E Paul Kagame has been consistent in the ICT sector and various unconventional methodologies have been adopted for the first time in the quest to realize needed results with efficiency and speed. For someone who hasn’t been in the industry, it was not easy, for a regular citizen, to understand the benefits of the heavy investment in fibre optics and data centers by the Government of Rwanda almost 10 years ago; and even more to comprehend the bold decision to invest into advanced wireless technology such as 4G network ,5 years ago. However as well put by Jim Collins “We cannot predict the future, but We can create it”; Roughly 18 years of hard work and clear goals, Rwanda has become the most connected country in the region if not beyond; not just with any connectivity but with the latest commercially launched high speed Mobile Broadband network, the 4G LTE. It was at the sidelines of the recently concluded Transform Africa Summit, where African leaders in public and private sector gathered to chart the best way towards boosting Africa’s digital economy, that KT Rwanda networks, the jointly owned company between Government of Rwanda and Korea Telecom, announced that the 4G coverage has been extended to more than 95% of the Rwandan population in 4 years since the launch of this unique PPP project in Telecommunication sector. While the stakeholders gathered to celebrate this important milestone, it was overemphasized that with such broadband access, unlimited opportunities are to be created by both private and public sector players; however the most captivating statement was made by Hon. Jean de Dieu Rurangirwa, Minister of Information Technology & Communications, who challenged everyone in the room to find ways of translating the 95% coverage into transformed citizens’ lives. The challenges is thus forwarded to each one of us, innovators, business leaders and public sector officials to take advantage of this opportunity and fast track the realization of the goals set at the launch of Vision 2020. We have the will and means. Let us transform lives. The author is the Chief Strategy officer at KT Rwanda Networks The views expressed in this article are of the author.
