Category: Science &Technology

EAC Technology Commission To Seat In Rwanda

East Africa Community (EAC) Science, Technology Commission will have its headquarters in Rwanda following the apparent spirited efforts to turn the country into the technological hub in the region.

This was approved by the bloc’s sectoral Council of Ministers responsible for the Community Affairs and Planning in its three-day meeting that ended on Friday in Zanzibar.

The Council also approved quota system in the recruitment of staff in its organs and institutions. The system is to strike poise in hiring proficient staff from all EAC member states.

“The ministers agreed that Burundi and Rwanda will, host institutions under the EAC,” a press release from the Arusha-based EAC Secretariat read in parts.

“The sectoral ministers also agreed that a verification exercise would be carried out for purposes of advising the Burundi government on the details of the requirements for hosting the EAC Health Research Commission,” the statement added.

Kiswahili Commission was given to Tanzania which is the regional role in the promotion of the language, that is widely spoken in the region and beyond.

The officials from the EAC partner states also decided that a review of the existing criteria for hosting EAC organs and institutions would be undertaken to ensure among others; an equitable distribution of the organs and that such criteria shall guide all future hosting of the institutions.

According to the decision made in the meeting, all EAC member countries are now hosting some regional organs and institutions.

Currently, Uganda hosts four organs, while Kenya, Burundi, Tanzania and Rwanda are hosting one regional organ each.

Arusha is the headquarters of the Community and its three organs; the Secretariat, the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) and the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA).

Institutions located in Uganda are the East African Development Bank (EADB), Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO), Inter University Council of East Africa (IUCEA) and the Civil Aviation Security and Safety Oversight Agency (Cassoa).

October 31, 2011
Rwandas Growth in Focus

September 15, 2011
New City Traffic Lights Puzzle Drivers

The new city traffic lights that are still under installation are puzzling motorists and pedestrians alike especially at the round-bout points where some drivers allege that the lights seem strange.

Alphonse Nsengimana also a driver, told igihe.com, “Most drivers get confused on the guidelines of these lights as compared to the former ones,”

Stratton Murekezi, a motor cyclist operating at Gishushu said, “The lights are elevated high and at the start, they are confusing. But we shall get used to them because they are digitalised and one can tell about the seconds he will stop as compared to the previous lights.”

Some other drivers and traffic police constables say that there should be a clear study about the traffic jams at some points where the lights are being installed to avoid the road traffic problems.

However, a traffic police constable who preferred anonymity said that at some points where the lights are already operational have caused a lot of traffic jams instead, stating that there were no proper studies made by the people in charge before programming them.

An employee at the contractor’s company in charge of installation and maintenance at one of the points said that the installation and testing are underway.If completed well, the modernized lights are good and easier to use than the previous.

He said that the lights are controlled by software and timed according to the traffic jams experienced in different hours at different points.

The traffic lights are programmed differently for example there is 6am-9am, 9am-4pm, 4pm-10pm, and then from 10pm-6am programs and timed differently.

Chief Supt. Célestin Twahirwa, the Head of Traffic Police Department said that only two traffic lights points are being well installed and already operational.

Twahirwa added that the study was well conducted at different points and hopes to solve the problem of traffic jams.

He urged the public to be patient until the installation is completed and that the lights will be easier to use.

C.Supt Twahirwa also said that the lights delayed to start operating because of technical problems.

They are said to contribute to the diminution of traffic jams and accidents observed in many areas of Kigali.

The system is still handled by the contractor and will be given to the City Council of Kigali in few weeks.

September 14, 2011
Country Cell Leaders get Laptops

Rwanda’s e-governance promotion has gone down at the grassroots level where leaders of all the 2,148 cells across the country shall receive laptop computers under the patron ministry of local government.

The promotion is effective during the 2011/12 fiscal year.

The computers are aimed at assisting in the management of data among beneficiaries of social protection programs including Vision Umurenge Programme (VUP), Fund for the Support of Genocide Survivors (FARG), and One Cow per Family, Ubudehe and Mutuelle de Santé.

Local Government minister, James Musoni, says the computers will help cells address challenges faced in delivering services to the population that include; speeding up of data collection and management.

Musoni presented the first 25 laptops to cell leaders of Rubavu district emphasising the need for the promotion of ICT in local governance as envisioned in the country’s vision 2020 and NICI III.

The minister confirmed that all the cells in the country would be issued with computers this fiscal year under implementation of local government capacity building strategy approved by the Cabinet in January 2011.

September 7, 2011
DNA Test to Determine Destiny of Rescued Gorilla

The recently rescued baby gorilla named Ihirwe is said to be recovering from respiratory diseases, yet the veterinaries want to conduct a DNA test to find if she’s a mountain gorilla or a low land one.

Gorilla Doctors under Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP) have discovered that the orphan was a girl. Recently Dr. Jean Bosco Noheli checked on Ihirwe at the Orphan Quarantine Facility in Rwanda’s Kinigi.

“She is taking enough milk-feeding on the bottle herself and trying juice. She is also eating, playing and moving well,” he said.

On August 18, the Gorilla Doctors performed a full medical examination to determine if she has any diseases or other health disorders. The infant had been suffering from a respiratory infection but was recovering nicely after receiving antibiotics.

According to Molly Feltner, the MGVP communications officer: “Ihirwe will remain at our Kinigi facility until it can be confirmed through DNA analysis that she is a mountain gorilla and not a Grauer’s gorilla which also means low land”.

So far, authorities are working to secure permits so that a blood sample can be sent to the Max Planck Institute in Germany for analysis.

Feltner further noted through a communiqué to the press that: “If Ihirwe is a mountain gorilla as we suspect, she will eventually join mountain gorilla orphans Maisha, Kaboko, Ndeze, and Ndakasi at the Senkwekwe Center in Virunga National Park, DR Congo. Grauer’s gorilla orphans are sent to Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education (GRACE) in Kasugho, DR Congo,” she remarked.

In a related story, Congo Wildlife Authorities arrested two men believed to be key members of a baby mountain gorilla trafficking group following an undercover investigation by Virunga National Park rangers and other Congolese government security services.

The two men, arrested in Goma yesterday, have been charged with illegal trafficking of an endangered species.

The operation followed the recovery of a baby mountain gorilla on August 7th (Ihirwe) by the Rwandan police. The gorilla infant was seized at the Rwandan border town of Gisenyi, from traffickers believed to be coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Congo Wildlife Authorities have been working closely with Rwandan authorities to dismantle the baby gorilla trafficking ring that passes through eastern Congo for sale in Rwanda.

Baby Gorilla trafficking is considered to be one of the greatest threats to the survival of the critically endangered mountain gorillas, of which only 790 remain in the world.

The Park Director Emmanuel de Merode, the In-charge Rumangabo in Virunga National Park, said: “The arrests are the outcome of a coordinated effort by Rwandan and Congolese law enforcement authorities.

“ While we are pleased to have brought this group of traffickers to justice, we remain very worried by what appears to be a significant and growing demand for baby mountain gorillas.” He pointed out.

The effort to protect the mountain gorilla populations in Congo, Rwanda and Uganda represent one of the greatest conservation successes in recent times, with a population that has more than doubled in the past 25 years.

However, the threats remain high, both for the gorillas and for those who protect them. Over 130 Congolese rangers have died protecting Virunga National Park over that same period.

August 30, 2011
Rwanda Launches 25 Megawatt Methane Gas Plant

A contingent of top Rwanda government officials and donors have witnessed the launch of a 25 megawatts methane gas power plant at Kibuye, igihe.com reports .

The plant under Kivuwatt project is managed by a New York based international power company-ContourGlobal.

ContourGlobal was tasked to extract and process Lake Kivu’s methane gas reserves for power generation and had set a deadline to start producing electricity methane gas by July 2012.

Additionally the officials witnessed the setting off the state-of-the-art Methane Gas
extraction barge.

The plant is expected to increase the current electricity capacity in Rwanda by 40% and would reduce the expensive electricity.

Speaking at the event, the State Minister for Energy and Water, Eng.Collette Ruhamya said that energy remains a key driver for social economic growth and that Rwanda has prioritize energy in its agenda.

“We believe that the current economic growth Rwanda enjoys must be supported by high increase in energy generation and distribution. This is why the ContourGlobal Project is important as it will
contribute 100Megawatts to the national grid,” she said.

According to Ruhamya, Rwanda targets at producing 1000 megawatts by 2017, however, she admits there are challenges to attain the projected megawatts in the period of six years from now saying it
requires extra investments which the government alone cannot mobilise.

“The government, therefore, encourages participation of independent power producers to invest in electricity generation business. I encourage other private companies to invest in big energy projects as they remain untapped and unutilized,” she added.

Eng. Ruhamya called on the international lenders to explore more projects to fund in Rwanda ‘s energy exploration and that investment in the electricity sector needs joint efforts from all stakeholders .

The CEO of ContourGlobal, Joseph Brandt, described the launch as a landmark due to its sophisticated technology.

He said, “There has never been a project like this, and the size anywhere in the world; it has been designed from scratch and conceptualised by the best technicians from around the world and this was their biggest challenge ever.”

He added that there are only three lakes in the world that have the methane gas resource and Lake Kivu is the only one where the methane gas extraction barge technology has been tried.

According to him the barge is 750 tons heavy, 64 meters long and 25 meters wide. The barge is constructed out of steel and has a closely similar floating technology like a ship.

The construction of the barge began in January last year. The project’s total cost is US$142.2million but so far the funders have availed US$91million.

ContourGlobal intends to extract the gas in three phases; the first phase involves the extraction using a floating barge that will be located in about 13 kilometers offshore.

The projected was funded by the African Development Bank (ADB), Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) and the Entrepreneurial Development Fund.

The Resident Coordinator of ADB, Negatu Makonnen, stated that the Kivuwatt project will provide affordable power supply with improved reliability that will increase electricity access to both rural households and businesses in Rwanda.

The extraction of gas from Lake Kivu is also likely to reduce the possible risk of eruption and avoid major loss of life along the Lake.

Currently Rwanda’s domestic power comes from hydropower, limited solar energy and diesel-fired energy and firewood.

August 26, 2011
Electronic library to open opportunities in Rwanda

Rwanda’s RDB through a joint partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Organization (KOICA), volunteers has this Thursday July 21, officiated an online, digitalized library website (elibrary).

It will be used in all 30 Business Development Service centers (BDS) also refered to as multipurpose telecenters around the country.

Lee Sangan, Volunteers Programs Manager KOICA office in Rwanda represented the organization at the launching ceremony held at the ICT Telecom house Kacyiru this afternoon.He hailed the move as sharing experience with the people of Rwanda.

“Over the last 50 years, Korea was the poorest country, but we since then worked very hard to achieve what we have today as you can recognize yourself. This is why we have to share the same experience with the people of Rwanda,” he said.

While officiating at the launch of the Korean designed volunteers project as the chief guest, RDB’s COO Clare Akamanzi applauded the korean development history saying it’s important for Rwandans to learn from and reach an attractive development.

“We have studied the Korea’s economic development model and we look far to Korea as an example to derive from, not just ambition but also confidence so that the ambition can be achieved. Everyone knows about our vision 2020 which aims at making Rwanda a developed nation through an ICT driven knowledge economic activities and therefore having an access to the elibrary is perform a platform vehicle to achieve our vision…,” Akamanzi said.

The library that exists physically in telecenters will be equipped with Tablet PCs (Galax Tab) as a medium of accessing information easily. The Tablet PCs will be available at the mentioned centers in a period of less than two weeks and the controlled internet domain can be accessed elsewhere, where internet can be accessed via a beta website that will created.

It will be suitable for students to read news papers and books related to their interests. There will also be a bulletin board to share lecture notes from colleges across the country which is expected to boost the education sector.
The system is also intended to facilitate other areas such as promotion of the online business using the digital library.

July 21, 2011
Lake Kivu: Potential for energy or cataclysmic disaster for ages

Imagine wandering into a village and everything motionless. Just a mound of lifeless bodies lying around, leaving you horrified. Such a terrible scene would qualify for horror movie but this is exactly what happened in the villages around Lake Nyos in Cameroon in 1986, where more than 1,700 people instantly died from asphyxiation after inhaling huge quantities of carbon dioxide emitted from the lake.

Such terrible natural disasters are rare that only two have ever been recorded, once in 1984 from Lake Monoun and the other in Lake Nyos but now an even greater danger lies dormant. Lake Kivu, which is much bigger and shared by Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and situated in a more densely populated region could potentially be the source of a devastating calamity.

Lake Kivu is among three of rare water bodies in the world known as limnic lakes . Lakes such as these have the property of erupting massive amounts of carbon dioxide, a phenomenon known as a lake overturn. An event that could be triggered by various catalysts such as an eruption, or earthquake if the saturation of the carbon dioxide contained within the lake reaches critical levels of 100 percent. To illustrate this in layman terms, prior to a lake being saturated, it behaves like an unopened carbonated beverage (soft drink) : the carbon dioxide is dissolved in the water similarly to how it is dissolved in the lake. In both the lake and the soft drink, carbon dioxide dissolves much more at high pressure. When the drink is open, the pressure is released thus making the carbon dioxide come out of solution. If the lake reaches full saturation, the pressure exerted by the gases will be more than the pressure caused by the lake thus making it highly unstable and a trigger is all that is required to set off an eruption sending vast amounts of carbon dioxide to bubble out of the lake.

Fortunately, the chances of such an event transpiring are not high. “The risks are a little bit above 50 percent given the saturation levels of the gas in the lake,” says Augusta Umutoni, Engineer in charge of environmental concern in the Lake Kivu project.

“The pressure exerted by the gas contained in the lake needs to be more than the hydrostatic pressure of the water,” she adds. This is something that is not likely to occur due to the recent methane gas extraction that is being extracted. Umutoni says that CH4 (methane) has a big partial pressure, if extracted and this significantly reduces the overall pressure exerted by both gases. The extraction of methane gas not only acts as source of vast amounts of energy but it also increases the stability of the lake.

“The lake produces more gas and recharges itself at a rate of 150 million cubic metres per year ; this would take about 100 years for it to reach critical saturation levels of 100 percent. Presently, we are still on 57 percent level of saturation, she says, adding that this diminish the danger.

Umutoni points out that Lake Kivu is situated in a region of high seismic and volcanic activity. It is even close to Mount Nyiragongo , which erupted in 2002. The eruption caused lava to cover a big portion of Goma city and this streamed down to Lake Kivu. “At the time, there was fear that the lava would cause gas saturated waters to rise to the surface. Luckily, this did not happen,” she says.

“After the explosion, the European Union sent an expedition of experts to investigate on this and it was discovered that the lava had sunk to a depth of around 100 meters beneath the lake, where the main gradient of the gas is at 260 metres. This indicates that a seismic wave that would only be able to make lava reach at that point and trigger a lake overturn would have to be one of monumental magnitude.” observes Augusta, something that is unlikely to occur.

She says that this improbability should not be taken for granted, because there is another area of Lake Kivu , known as Kibuno Bay that contains 100 percent saturation levels of carbon dioxide. The discovery of this has prompted the establishment of a de-gasing plant to reduce the risks. However, she says that installation and implementation of this project is far from being underway.

Umutoni observes that Lake Kivu seems to be as fascinating as much as it is potentially hazardous. “Nevertheless, it would be safe to assume that the dangers lying around the lake despite their great disastrous potential have low probability of occurrence. The methane gas project for now is an excellent way to avert this danger in the long term by not only providing greater socio-economic benefit but by also maintaining and perhaps increasing the stability of this great lake,” she recaps.

May 11, 2011
Ready, Set, Wibro!

Forget your wireless network at home, office or Wi-Fi hot spots around the city. Kigali is now itself a wireless hot spot , thanks to the newly-built fibre optics infrastructure and base stations installed around the capital supplying the city with the latest wireless broadband technology known as Wibro, developed by Korean Telecom, a South Korea firm.

In an age where technology is gathering staggering pace, Rwanda has had a head start with an astonishing 4G technology that provides high speed connectivity superior to the conventional 3G.

The Wibro project, which had taken a whole year to complete, has an approximate coverage of 80 percent of the city making it accessible to almost everyone.

“It is now awaiting the final processes of commercialisation before it can reach the market,” says the Division Manager, Mark Karomba at the Wibro Centre in Telecom House, a process estimated to be complete before the third quarter of the year.

On inquiry about its advantages says. “This wireless broadband will provide users with a faster connection enabling them to enjoy the internet experience at a much higher level, be it on smart phones or even on the go with your laptop.”

The interesting feature of mobility is a trademark of the Wibro technology that makes it even more convenient and flexible in terms of use, compared to other powerful technologies such as WIMAX.

The project will operate in the public sector for a while before switching to the private sector. It will be under government control offering the service at an undisclosed tariff that is projected to be even lower than what other internet service providers are presently charging. “The goal of this is to widen the Rwandan market in terms of access to internet. By offering a cheap and accessible service, the penetration rate of internet within the population, which is approximately 2 percent, is bound to increase,” observes Karomba.

Even though Kigali will be the hub of this broadband technology, a nationwide expansion is anticipated with areas such as Rwamagana, Huye , Rusizi, Rubavu already covered through the fibre optic networks.

In addition to WIBRO, other service providers such as MTN and TIGO would continue to be operational. “Implementation of the project is not aimed at competition, but rather a much bigger and far-reaching goal that is expanding the Rwandan internet market. Few players will always keep the prices high but with the new addition of Wibro, prices will be cheaper for the service, making it accessible to more people thus fulfilling our aim of increased penetration,” says Karomba.

The Wibro technology is a big step technological step that will not only provide the population with a much better internet experience but also allow institutions and businesses to operate efficiently. This would significantly contribute to other areas of the country’s development.

May 3, 2011
The science behind framing effects

We commonly hold the assumption that our memories are an accurate representation of the past and the rational decisions we make are based on pure logical reasoning.

Little do we know that we are victims of a cognitive bias, a manipulation initiated by our own minds that can distort our thinking and even alter our memories. If in the past you thought you made a logical argument based on facts or you think you recall precisely precedent events, then it’s time to think again. Chances are that at some point or another your mind has been framed, a process known to psychologists as the framing effect.

The concept behind this framing effect is simply that the same option presented under different conditions will produce different decisions or perceptions. A phenomenon that can be observed in our everyday life. Is the bottle half full or half empty ? That is not the question. The question is which one you will be more willing to drink when looking to quench your thirst on a sunny afternoon if your friend offered you a half empty or half full bottle of water. Conditions which mean the same thing but if which presented under different contexts might result in different reactions.

Consider this study conducted in two different scenarios.

You work for the Disease Control department and there is an outbreak of a deadly disease in a village of 600 people. All 600 people in the town are expected to die if you do nothing. Someone comes up with two programs to help

With Program 1 : 200 people in the town will be saved.
With Program 2 : There is a 1/3rd probability that 600 people will be saved, and a 2/3rds probability that no people will be saved.

Which would you pick ?

Now consider these two programs :

With Program 3 : 400 people in the town will die
With Program 4 : There is a 1/3rd probability that nobody will die, and a 2/3rds probability that 600 people will die.

Unless your critical thinking skills are superior to those of the average mind or you have been going along with what I have been saying then you most likely picked program 1 and 4. In the study conducted, 72 percent of people picked program 1 and 78 percent of people picked program 4. On close inspection however you will realise that program 1 and 3 mean the exact same thing so do program 2 and 4. The only difference is the way the conditions are presented. So why not pick program 1 and 3 or 2 and 4. In one case 78 percent of people pick program 4 while in another only 28 percent of people picked it, illustrating the framing effect.

This presents the fact that many of the decisions we make are based on emotions implying that our reasoning is very susceptible to the way in which options are presented or framed. This consequently puts a question mark on human rationality and the extent of its reliability. Economists and marketers have long discovered this loophole in our reasoning and exploited it to their full advantage. We all know the powerful effect that advertising can bring with the way marketers try to make their products or services as attractive as possible.

In the world of politics is where this concept is most prevalent. Since the dawn of time, politicians have always framed information and presented it to the public with the intended purpose of not only reaching out to us but to our emotions as well with the goal of stirring them to mediate our decisions. Whether it is for inciting the public to vote for one candidate over another in an election, or driving people towards a specific cause. We have known one too many politicians that have been great orators and used this skill to not only control people but also drive them by the numbers to do at times good, but regrettably despicable things as well. This leaves one to consider if their great power and talent didn’t perhaps lie in our greatest weakness.

This cognitive bias does not only alter our reasoning but also our memories. Emotions play a substantial roll when it comes to recollection of past events. A study conducted by a famous psychologist consisted of having participants watch a traffic accident. They were then questioned about the accident. Some people were asked ‘About how fast were the cars going when they contacted each other ?’ Others were asked the same question but the verb ‘contacted’ was replaced by either hit, bumped, collided, or smashed. So there were 5 different ways of framing the question. Even though all of the participants saw the same film, the wording of the question had an impact on their answers. The speed estimates were 31mph for contacted, 34mph for hit, 38mph for bumped, 39mph for collided, and 41mph for smashed. One week later, the participants were asked whether they had seen broken glass at the accident site. The correct answer was ‘no,’ but 32% of the participants who were given the ’smashed’ condition said that they had. This is evident of the far reaching consequences that framing effects can have on us.

Framing effects are powerful and can have major influence on us with substantial results. However awareness of the existence of this cognitive bias can prevent us from being controlled by it. Knowledge is power and we can use this to overcome this psychological partiality that we are ceaselessly being subjected to. The next time you listen to a politician, an advert, or even anyone else, remember to always pay attention and ensure that you have the proper rational interpretation.

April 25, 2011