The Journey to vision 2020

As we approach the year 2020, the Rwandan community is anxious to touch, feel and see the vision come true/ become a reality and believe me much is being implemented on the ground in various sectors. As regards Communication and Technology, Sunday Times Richard Nkubito had an interview with Cleophas Kabasiita, the Corporate Communications Manager of Rwandatel SA to see how far Rwandatel has gone in making vision 2020 a reality. Below are the excerpts; Qn: Will you briefly Introduce yourself to the readers of Sunday Times? I am Cleophas Kabasiita, the Corporate Communications Manager of Rwandatel SA. Qn: What is your take on Vision 2020? I find that the vision 2020 is simply the most powerful way we can maintain focus on what it is we want to achieve as a people and as a country and to keep us motivated to achieve these goals. It is distinctly forward looking, comprehensive and helps focus all the energy to the important pillars on which to build our future. Qn: How does Rwandatel translate the Vision 2020 in its day to day undertakings? The vision 2020 is a map we at Rwandatel greatly appreciate as it lays a foundation on which we build many of our plans. Rwandatel has invested heavily in infrastructure to support a knowledge based economy. And we develop our infrastructure plans based on the solid urban and provincial planning developed by the administration. We lay our infrastructure to support government’s plans and vision for the country. We follow closely the master plans that are developed for each city, town or village to ensure that our network rollout and other promotions are aligned to support growth of these areas. This way we grow together in a harmonious way.With the onset of regional integration, we have pursued interconnectivity and roaming agreements with other telecoms in the region in order to stay relevant in the industry. Qn: Does your human resource understand the vision? Rwandatel as a company has a clear and attainable vision, but Management acknowledges that this is not possible without our most important resource – the company employees. We also realize the importance of aligning our goals at company level to those of the country. That said, Management has broken the national vision down in a way that is clear for our entire human resource base to understand and we have incorporated elements of the vision into the vision and actionable plans of the company. In that way, realization of our company’s own vision contributes to the realization of the country’s vision. Qn: Any Challenges so far? The challenges are many but even before I mention them, we must acknowledge where we have come from and the strides that have been taken, not just us as a company but the country as a whole. That said, the following challenges pose an opportunity for us to strive to get better. - Even with the high population density in the country that should provide a good base for our business case, the low levels of literacy still pose a great challenge. Uptake on what we have to offer in terms of products and services remains low. - Lack of adequate electricity to support the network have also contributed greatly to ourCAPEX as we have had to supplement that with generators and fuel and solar power in some cases all of which does not necessarily come cheap. We are pleased to learn of government plans to increase electrification of the country by over 30% by 2020 and we look forward to that as it will greatly reduce our expenses. - There is an acute shortage of professional personnel like technicians and competent managers. I take it that it is because there seems to still be a great mismatch between the existing university syllabi and the skills needed by the job market. University graduates still find that they need further training to match up the required set of skills even for entry level jobs in order to compete – especially in a market that has opened up. Qn: What is your message to the entire community as regards the Vision 2020? I would like to say Vision 2020 is certainly achievable. It is our duty and no one else’s to roll up our sleeves and get to work and with a sense of urgency because 2020 is just around the corner yet we must achieve. Ends