Rwandan Cabinet Approves Second NICI policy and plan

13 November 2006

Rwanda is one country on the continent that has made progress in developing an all-encompassing ICT-led social and economic development framework, based on the ECA-led African Information Society Initiative (AISI). Rwanda with the assistance of ECA began formulating its first ICT policy in 1998, championed by President Paul Kagame. This is part of a series of documents, spanning the 20 years required to realize Rwanda’s Vision 2020.

The first 5 year NICI Plan which concluded in 2005 paved the way for bold steps for the country to recover from the devastating civil war, build strong ICT infrastructure both in public and private institutions, create human resources capacity as well as an enabling regulatory and policy framework.

The second NICI policy and plan started in July 2005 and has recently been approved by Rwanda’s cabinet. The second NICI aims at transforming Rwanda into an information-rich, knowledge-based society and economy.

In the foreword to the policy, President Kagame states: “Encouraging the proliferation of ICTs has given us access to an array of information and knowledge, unheard of just a couple of years ago. By spreading access to knowledge via modern communication technologies I am determined that we in Rwanda will work smarter. I am personally committed to an ICT-led future for Rwanda and I know that with good planning and sufficient resources, Rwanda can leapfrog into the digital-era global economy”.

Based on 10 pillars, (ICTs in Education, Human Capacity Development, Infrastructure, Equipment and Content, Economic Development, Social Development, e-Government and e-Governance, Private Sector Development, Rural and Community Access, Legal, Regulatory and Institutional Provisions and Standards, National Security, Law and Order), the NICI-2010 will deal with the applications and systems, providing the greatest impact on Rwanda’s socio-economic development and will also foster private sector participation in ICT for national development. In this context more incentives will be put in place to attract the critical mass of investments needed to accelerate the development of the key sectors of the economy, in particular those lead sectors such as the services sector and the industrial sector, which are key to the development of Rwanda’s information society and economy.

The Rwanda e-strategy development process is cited worldwide as a success story. The NICI 2010 Plan development was coordinated by ECA with financial support from the Government of Finland.

For more information, contact Aida Opoku-Mensah, OIC ISTD (email: aopoku-mensah@uneca.org).