{"id":56022,"date":"2025-10-21T15:24:47","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T15:24:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/mwc-2025-kigali-kagame-advocates-for-bold-competitive-african-digital\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T10:05:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T10:05:21","slug":"mwc-2025-kigali-kagame-advocates-for-bold-competitive-african-digital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/mwc-2025-kigali-kagame-advocates-for-bold-competitive-african-digital\/","title":{"rendered":"MWC Kigali 2025: Kagame advocates for bold, competitive African digital innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hosted at the Kigali Convention Centre from October 21-23, the event, themed Converge,  Connect and Create, has drawn over 4,000 delegates from 109 countries.<\/p>\n<p>In his keynote address, President Kagame highlighted Africa\u2019s rapid shift from limited connectivity to a mobile-driven economy, citing mobile money as a global model of financial inclusion that has empowered small businesses, women entrepreneurs, and rural communities. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cInnovation does not belong to one part of the world alone,\u201d he said. \u201cIt can emerge anywhere from anyone given the chance.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Yet, he warned that only a fraction of Africans are connected compared to the global average, risking wider inequality if the gap persists. <\/p>\n<p>President Kagame emphasised Rwanda\u2019s vision to build a knowledge-based economy, integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into planning, research, and public service delivery to boost productivity and inclusivity. <\/p>\n<p>He called for harmonized policies across governments, private sectors, and partners like the African Union and Smart Africa to create a single digital market, enabling secure data and payment systems to connect economies continent-wide.<\/p>\n<p>Echoing President Kagame\u2019s vision, ICT Minister Paula Ingabire showcased Rwanda&#8217;s digital strides, noting that active mobile users surged from 500,000 in 2023 to 5 million 4G users by June 2025, driven by public-private partnerships and reforms to lower costs and expand infrastructure. <\/p>\n<p>She highlighted Rwanda\u2019s launch of 5G services through MTN Rwanda, 60GB of secured internet capacity, and connectivity for nearly 1,000 health facilities and 4,000 schools. <\/p>\n<p>Minister Ingabire underscored the training of 4.5 million citizens in digital literacy, emphasising that \u201cthe future of digital innovation in Africa will be defined by collaboration.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>She urged the creation of African-designed solutions, scalable globally, to position the continent as a home of digital excellence.<\/p>\n<p>Vivek Badrinath, Director General of the GSMA, praised Rwanda\u2019s leadership, noting that mobile operators now cover 99% of the country, enabling nearly 13 million connections. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cRwanda reminds us that progress is not an aspiration; it is a deliberate choice,\u201d he said, aligning the event with Africa\u2019s Agenda 2063 for a prosperous, connected continent. <\/p>\n<p>Badrinath highlighted mobile technology\u2019s role in advancing education, healthcare, and financial services, while acknowledging the work needed to ensure universal access to mobile internet.<\/p>\n<p>During the event, GSMA, which organises the conference in collaboration with the Ministry of ICT, highlighted three urgent priorities for policymakers: handset affordability, inclusive artificial intelligence (AI) language models, and energy resilience, calling for bold policy reforms and investments to advance Africa\u2019s digital transformation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfrica\u2019s mobile sector is one of the most dynamic in the world, but we must tackle persistent barriers such as high device costs, energy availability issues and the lack of inclusive AI. By working together, governments, industry and development partners can make digital inclusion affordable, sustainable and meaningful for every African,&#8221; Vivek stated.<\/p>\n<p>MWC Kigali 2025\u2019s thought leadership programme centres on four themes: building a Connected Continent through affordable connectivity and 5G expansion; exploring The AI Future to boost Africa\u2019s economic growth; advancing Fintech to deepen financial inclusion; and highlighting Africa\u2019s Digital Frontier, where innovations in health, education, and entertainment are redefining the continent\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-96493 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/15-mwc25_66-4004d.jpg\" alt=\"President Paul Kagame opened the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Kigali 2025 with a clarion call for a &quot;bold, connected, and competitive&quot; Africa, urging global leaders, innovators, and policymakers to harness technology to bridge the continent\u2019s digital divide and unlock its vast potential. \" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-96491 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/16-mwc25_67-98524.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-96487 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/06-mwc25_56_1_-f6fdd.jpg\" alt=\" ICT Minister Paula Ingabire showcased Rwanda&#039;s digital strides, noting that active mobile users surged from 500,000 in 2023 to 5 million 4G users by June 2025, driven by public-private partnerships and reforms to lower costs and expand infrastructure. \" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-96495 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/webp\/mwc25-kigali-keynote1_800x533.webp\" alt=\"Vivek Badrinath, Director General of the GSMA, praised Rwanda\u2019s leadership, noting that mobile operators now cover 99% of the country, enabling nearly 13 million connections.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-96486 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/02-mwc25_31-21f2b.jpg\" alt=\"The conference, themed Converge,  Connect and Create, has drawn over 4,000 delegates from 109 countries.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-96485 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/18-mwc25_74-17bb5.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-96489 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/22-mwc25_21-bb8ef.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-96490 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/23-mwc25_22-693ea.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-96492 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/24-mwc25_23-34ec9.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-96484 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/07-mwc25_6-9e47e.jpg\" alt=\"Innovations such as robotics are among those being showcased at the MWC 2025 summit.\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Paul Kagame opened the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Kigali 2025 with a clarion call for a &#8220;bold, connected, and competitive&#8221; Africa, urging global leaders, innovators, and policymakers to harness technology to bridge the continent\u2019s digital divide and unlock its vast potential. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000096494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[72,75],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-56022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured-news-home","tag-homenews","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000096494,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/15-mwc25_66-4004dlogo.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/15-mwc25_66-4004dlogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/15-mwc25_66-4004dlogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/15-mwc25_66-4004dlogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/15-mwc25_66-4004dlogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/15-mwc25_66-4004dlogo.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000096494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56022"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=56022"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=56022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}