In efforts to drive internet connectivity and digital literacy, Smart Africa has donated 105 laptops to support access to information for teachers and students. The laptops will be given to some selected teachers in schools that are under the Rwanda Giga pilot project, with funding support from one of the Smart Africa partner organisations, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad). Giga is a UNICEF-ITU (International Telecommunication Union) global initiative to connect every school to the internet and every young person to information, opportunity and choice by 2030. Lacina Koné, Director General and CEO of Smart Africa, reiterated Smart Africa’s commitment to supporting the successful implementation of Giga in Africa, particularly within the Smart Africa Member States, by not only focusing on connecting schools but also providing skills to teachers and students through the Smart Africa digital academy and devices. Paula Ingabire, Minister of ICT and Innovation, who received the laptops on behalf of the Rwanda Giga pilot project, said that the laptops were going to enhance the effectiveness of teachers who were going to receive them. Giga initiative has four pillars namely; mapping connectivity demand, advising on financing possibilities, connecting in partnership with internet providers, and empowering internet users with skills. Rwanda is one of the African countries that are putting efforts in equipping schools with digital infrastructures in a bid to revolutionise education into an ICT-based sector. It pioneered the Giga pilot project in 2020 with a target to reach 100 per cent connectivity in public schools by 2024.
