GOVERNMENT OF RWANDA



An Integrated ICT-led Socio-Economic Development Policy and Plan for Rwanda
2001 - 2005

Report Submitted to His Excellency President Paul Kagame

March 2001

Introductory Remarks

The Rwandan ICT-led Socio-Economic Development Policy and Plan Development Process which is being supported by the Economic Commission for African (ECA) within the framework of the Africa Information Society Initiative (AISI) began in 1998. The process is divided into two phases. The first phase concentrated on the development of a comprehensive ICT-led Integrated Socio-Economic Development Framework for Rwandan (known as the Framework Document) and this was followed by the development of an ICT-led Integrated Socio-economic Policy for Rwanda. The Government now has in place a comprehensive set of ICT policies and strategies as detailed in the GOR ICT Policy document adopted by the Cabinet in early 2000. The details of the GOR Policy document are reproduced in this Report. Also reproduced in Appendix 1 of the Report are relevant extracts of the Framework Document.

The second phase of the process concentrated on the development of the 1^st ICT Plan (2001 –2005) for Rwanda – the NICI-2005 Plan guided by the Government’s ICT Policies. This NICI Plan, the first of four to be developed within the framework of the Vision for Rwanda (VfR) is to serve as a cornerstone of the Government’s socio-economic development plan over the next five year starting 2001. The Final Draft of the NICI-2005 Plan is presented in this Report.

On the whole the Rwanda process yielded three output: a Policy, and Plan and Structures. The Policy was based on the Framework Document, while the Plan was developed to implement Government Policy Commitments. The Structures, namely the proposed National Information Technology Commission (NITC) and its Working Groups and the Rwandan Information Technology Authority (RITA) are designed to serve as national coordinating structures and bodies to support the development and the implementation of the NICI Plans. The three components resulting from the Rwanda process are therefore complimentary entities and part of a whole. The details of each of these three components are presented in this Report.