{"id":56027,"date":"2025-10-21T20:41:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T20:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/kagame-engages-itu-chief-african-telecom-leaders-on-connectivity-and-innovation\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T12:47:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T12:47:41","slug":"kagame-engages-itu-chief-african-telecom-leaders-on-connectivity-and-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/kagame-engages-itu-chief-african-telecom-leaders-on-connectivity-and-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"Kagame engages ITU chief, African telecom leaders on connectivity and innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Kigali 2025, the Head of State met with Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and executives from Airtel, Axian Telecom, Ethio Telecom, MTN, and Orange, members of the G6 group, an alliance of Africa\u2019s leading mobile network operators working with the GSMA to accelerate digital transformation.<\/p>\n

According to the Office of the President, the meetings focused on policy reforms, infrastructure investment, and environmental sustainability, aiming to bridge Africa\u2019s digital divide and promote inclusive growth in the continent\u2019s rapidly expanding digital economy.<\/p>\n

Speaking earlier at the MWC Kigali 2025 opening ceremony, President Kagame called for a \u201cbold, connected, and competitive\u201d Africa. He urged global leaders, innovators, and policymakers to harness technology to narrow the continent\u2019s connectivity gap and unlock its potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cInnovation does not belong to one part of the world alone,\u201d Kagame said. \u201cIt can emerge anywhere from anyone given the chance.\u201d He highlighted Africa\u2019s rapid shift from limited connectivity to a mobile-driven economy, citing mobile money as a global model of financial inclusion empowering small businesses, women entrepreneurs, and rural communities.<\/p>\n

President Kagame emphasised Rwanda\u2019s vision of building a knowledge-based economy, integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into planning, research, and public service delivery to boost productivity and inclusivity. He called for harmonised policies across governments, private sectors, and partners like the African Union and Smart Africa, aiming to create a single digital market enabling secure data and payment systems across the continent.<\/p>\n

Echoing Kagame\u2019s vision, ICT Minister Paula Ingabire highlighted Rwanda\u2019s digital achievements, 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. She also showcased Rwanda\u2019s 5G launch via MTN Rwanda, connectivity for nearly 1,000 health facilities and 4,000 schools, and training of 4.5 million citizens in digital literacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe future of digital innovation in Africa will be defined by collaboration,\u201d Minister Ingabire said, urging the development of African-designed solutions scalable globally to position the continent as a hub of digital excellence.<\/p>\n

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. He highlighted the role of mobile technology in advancing education, healthcare, and financial services, while calling for urgent action on handset affordability, inclusive AI models, and energy resilience to ensure universal digital access.<\/p>\n

The three-day event, themed \u201cConverge, Connect and Create\u201d, has drawn over 4,000 delegates from 109 countries. Its thought leadership programme focuses on building a connected continent, exploring AI for economic growth, advancing fintech, and showcasing Africa\u2019s digital frontier through innovations in health, education, and entertainment.<\/p>\n

\"President<\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n
\"The<\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Paul Kagame on Tuesday held high-level discussions with international and African telecom leaders to advance digital connectivity, innovation, and investment across the continent. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000096517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-56027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","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":2000096517,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/g3yov9pwaaakxemlogo.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/g3yov9pwaaakxemlogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/g3yov9pwaaakxemlogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/g3yov9pwaaakxemlogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/g3yov9pwaaakxemlogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/g3yov9pwaaakxemlogo.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56027","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=56027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000096517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56027"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=56027"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=56027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}