Low internet penetration, lack of digital literacy and poor local content development are hampering the growth of ICT in Rwanda, according to the country’s minister of youth and ICT, Jean-Philbert Nsengimana.
The Rwanda Focus reports Nsengimana was speaking at the launch of the ICT Sector Profile 2013, a compilation of indicators selected to measure Rwandan ICT sector performance and for the formulation of policy.
The Sector Profile documents the uses of ICT for socio-economic development, with particular focus on governance, health, education, agriculture and business & finance.
According to the report the country showed a marked improvement in the availability of infrastructure, with particular success being seen in the growth of mobile subscriptions, ICT usage in the financial sector and internet bandwidth.
However, the country’s internet penetration is still currently 20 per cent, far below the global average of 40 per cent.
The country’s mobile penetration is 65 per cent, which the government aims to increase to 80 per cent by 2017.
Over 2.5 million people in the country have access to mobile payment platforms.
“The number of people using mobile transactions is higher than that of those having bank accounts,” Nsengimana is quoted as saying. “We use ICT in increasing finance and as finance increases people acquire ICT, it is a circle.”
HumanIPO reported last week Seychelles and Namibia had the fastest internet speeds in Africa, with Rwanda coming in fourth place.
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