Free wireless initiative for Kigali

 

by Gemma Solés 

The Rwandan capital leads the East African digital race with “Smart Kigali.”

Last week, Kigali became the first East African city to launch free wireless internet in various parts of the city.
The initiative, called "Smart Kigali", makes Rwanda the leader in the East African digital race. It follows the launch of Kenyan projects such as Konza Techno City, iHub and mLab, Tanzanian initiatives like KinuHub and TanzICT, and the Ugandan Outbox and Hivacolab.
The “Smart Kigali” Initiative is expected to position Rwanda as an information economy in 2020 and aims to convince foreigners that Kigali is a good destination for investment.
As Africa Review reports: "The government has in the past launched projects in the ICT sector that crumbled before take off because of lack of sustainability—Rwanda did not have the critical mass of Internet users to make the projects viable.

But according to RDB reports, in the past five years, Rwanda has registered one of the highest Internet user growth rates in Africa with 8,900 percent compared with the continent’s growth rate of 2,450 percent and the world average rate of 444 percent.

Rwanda now has an Internet penetration of around 800,000 users and is targeting five million users by 2016."

Read the full story at Africa Review.

Photo via wikimedia user SteveRwanda.

Source:www.urbanafrica.net