A delegation of Estonian politicians will Thursday afternoon meet members of the parliament in the standing committee on foreign affairs, cooperation and security in a bid to strengthen parliamentary diplomacy between Rwanda and the European country. The delegation is led by Eerik-Niiles Kross, an Estonian diplomat and legislator. The two countries look to, among others, share experience in enhancing cooperation in matters such as e-governance and cyber security, areas where Estonia, is very advanced. Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid visited Rwanda last November in what was the first-ever visit by an Estonian head of state to Africa. During her visit, she held bilateral talks with President Paul Kagame where they discussed various areas of cooperation including strengthening bilateral relations and working with Estonian enterprises in the digital field. Kadri Humal-Ayal, Honorary Consul of Estonia in Kenya, who was in Kigali end last month, has told The New Times that following the high level meetings held in Kigali between the two heads of state next steps in the cooperation have already taken place. “Estonian ICT leaders have visited Kigali on two occasions looking to create partnerships, to co-create and co-innovate in solutions that will create desired socio-economic results and develop solutions that will alleviate poverty and create new forms of employment and social justice in Rwanda and Africa at large,” Humal-Ayal said. “End of March, Smart Africa and Estonian ICT Cluster signed an MOU that is designed to encourage cooperation between the two entities, to promote know-how and technology transfer and implementation of innovative programs in fields of common interests and the expansion of markets in the ICT sector. Known as the birthplace of Skype, a telecommunications application software product that specialises in providing video chat and voice calls, Estonia is a very tech-savvy country, with one of the highest adult literacy rates in the world – 99.8 per cent, according to UNESCO.
