President Paul Kagame on Tuesday, October 27, met with members of the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Private Sector Coalition Group at Urugwiro Village. The delegation was led by James Mwangi, chief executive officer of Equity Group Holdings, who also serves as the Continental Digital Public Infrastructure Champion, and Robert Ochola, CEO of AfricaNenda Foundation, an African-led nonprofit organisation that works to develop inclusive instant payment systems across the continent. ALSO READ: Equity Group, AfricaNenda and Gates Foundation partner to scale Digital Public Infrastructure According to the Office of the President, discussions focused on strengthening collaboration to advance interoperable digital payment systems, expand financial inclusion and support the economic integration needed to achieve the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The discussions built on a partnership announced in July by Equity Group Holdings, AfricaNenda Foundation and the Gates Foundation to accelerate the development and adoption of digital public infrastructure across Africa. The partnership seeks to expand financial inclusion, strengthen digital payment systems and support Africa's digital transformation through greater public-private collaboration. Under the initiative, Rwanda will pioneer the rollout, with DR Congo expected to follow before the initiative expands to other African markets. ALSO READ: eKash harmonises Rwanda's bank, mobile payments Rwanda also has a national instant payment system, eKash, which enables interoperable transfers between bank accounts and mobile wallets through a single platform. The country completed the migration of domestic interoperable retail payments to the system in mid-July. The system allows transfers between participating financial institutions at a fee of Rwf20 for transactions of up to Rwf10 million.
