Rwanda opportunity brief - Giga: An initiative to connect every person in the world to information, opportunity and choice - Giga initiative
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Rwanda opportunity brief Giga: An initiative to connect every person in the world to information, opportunity and choice October 2020
“The internet is a needed public utility as much as water and electricity.” - President Paul Kagame, Transform Africa Summit 2013
Rwanda has achieved universal coverage but internet penetration lags behind.
Efforts are now focused on connecting all users to the internet
Although coverage is nearly universal, The Government of Rwanda is aiming to grow the digital economy
internet penetration lags behind and public services through universal broadband usage by 2024
Broadband coverage and internet penetration, Rwanda hopes to achieve this target through the following broadband connectivity policies:
% of population. (ITU, 2020)
100 99% • Overarching: National Strategy for Transformation & Prosperity, Vision 2020, 2035 and
2050, and the Smart Rwanda Master Plan
80 • ICT Sector Strategy 2018-2024: Establishes access to broadband connectivity as a basic
utility and right for all Rwandans. Aims increase access to high speed Internet to
through aggressive expansion of last mile and household connectivity as well as smart
60
device penetration
• Digital Talent Policy: Aims to increase digital literacy and skills across Rwanda society in
40
terms of quality and quantity. Initiatives embed digital training into everyday lives to
mainstream ICT, build a digitally savvy workforce, and close the rural-urban skills gap
26%
20 • Education Sector Strategy 2018-2024: Major goals include developing digital content
aligned to the curriculum; increased ICT penetration and usage in education through
0
smart classrooms; the development of ICT for education leadership and teacher training
courses for teachers. Includes SMART Classroom program
2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
Internet users 3G Coverage 4G Coverage
Note: Internet users is based on a 2017 estimate by ITU. The annual growth rate in mobile subscriptions from 2018-19 was used as a proxy to estimate the growth in internet users since 2017
Source: Dalberg analysis; ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database 2020; MINICT, ICT Sector Strategic Plan (2018-2024), 2017; MYICT, Digital Talent Policy, 2017; MINEDUC, Education Sector Strategic Plan (2018-2024)
Fiber optic cable – operational
Fiber optic cable – Under construction
Fiber optic cable – Planned
Microwave – Operational
Microwave – Planned
The Goal
National Coverage and Connectivity
Rwanda has invested in expanding its fiber network by
45% since 2015, spanning 6,100km of backbone in
2019. 3G and 4G network coverage is nearly universal.
Given the countries hilly geography, significant
investment is needed for last-mile fiber connections.
National fiber network
Mobile Fixed
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 42
The Rwandan usage gap is significant; equal access to digital economy
opportunities are constrained by affordability, energy, and literacy
Internet coverage and usage gaps
The mobile internet coverage and usage gap
1.1%
Increase electrification Power 7m off-grid users
Electricity penetration in Rwanda is 55%. In rural areas, only 24% of inhabitants have
access to power and 90% in urban areas.
73.1 Increase affordability Reduce data cost by 1.80/GB (-58%)
The average Rwandan pays 5% of monthly income for a gigabyte of mobile internet. 1 The
government targets 2%. A fixed broadband connection costs 125% of GNI p.c.
Increase digital literacy Add 11M Rwandans with ICT skills
Only 8.4% of Rwandans are digitally literate. The government is targeting 95% by 2023.
However, lack of relevant/contextualized content is a hurdle.
Fuel the digital Increase skilled employment
25.8 The government is targeting ICT jobs to comprise 5% of total employment by 2024. The sector
economy
will need to add 175,000 new jobs to meet this goal.
COVERAGE GAP (no mobile internet) USAGE GAP (covered but not connected) Connected to the mobile internet
Notes: (1) Figure used is from ITU. The Rwandan MINICT measures broadband prices at 14% of GNI. Also note that individuals in rural locations will likely spend a higher proportion of income due to lower income levels.
Sources: ITU (2020) World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database; USAID (2020) PowerAfrica Rwanda Fact Sheet; National ICT Sector Strategic Plan 2018-2024; National Institute of Statistics, Labor Force Survey (2018)
km
30
The Giga Solution 25
School Coverage and Connectivity 20
Giga mapping shows that nearly all Rwandan schools 15
are within 30km of the fiber network and covered by 10
mobile broadband, but 1,796 schools (43%) remain
without internet. Electrification and ICT resources 5
are major barriers.
School locations coded by distance to nearest fiber
67% of secondary and
58% of primary schools
have ICT resources for
teaching and learning
Note: (1)On-grid electricity is a government pre-condition for computers to be distributed to schools (MINEDUC statistics 2019)
Source: Map - Project Connect; Chart – MINEDUC Statistics 2019
Schools present an opportunity to target investment, reach unconnected
communities, and enable economic growth
Universal expansion to all schools provides a gateway to community connectivity
Target 1,796
schools New primary and secondary schools connected to the internet with bundled electrification
.
Broadband users 1.3M 2M
Students & + Local community
teachers members
Economic impact +$400M (1.4%) GDP growth
A rise in broadband connectivity can increase GDP growth significantly1
Note: Economic impact calculation assumes that school connectivity is comparable to gaining access to a fixed line connection in a middle/lower income country in terms of reliability, bandwidth, use etc. Assumes middle income fixed broadband which is a conservative assumption
when compared to low income mobile broadband
Source: Dalberg Analysis; Giga Project Connect Analysis; ITU (2020) World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database; UNESCO UIS.Stat, 2018; World Bank (2020) World Development Indicators (WDI); ITU (2018) The Economic Contribution of Broadband
Rwanda is Giga’s regional lead for Africa, and
has engaged broadly across its public entities
Key Stakeholders: Rwanda Ministry of ICT, Ministry of Education,
Ministry of Youth and Culture, Rwanda Education Board (REB), Rwanda
Information Society Authority (RISA), Rwanda Utilities Regulatory
Authority (RURA), the Office of the President
Giga Country • High level buy-in from Minister of ICT and Innovation Paula
engagement to Ingabire and Minister of State for Education Claudette Irere
date
• Identification of key government focal points across
ministries and relevant agencies
• July 16 Giga workshop with representatives from MINEDUC
MINICT as well as supporting agencies to define priorities
and next steps (see next page)
The Value of Giga
“[Giga] is needed more than ever to accelerate
connectivity rollout and easy, affordable access
to learning opportunities for our children.”
- Paula Ingabire, Minister for ICT and InnovationIn partnership with the government, Giga has identified activities to support digital growth through school connectivity Map Connect Finance Empower A. Use Giga mapping to identify A. Explore ways to build on regulatory A. Structure procurement lots to bring A. Leverage the Digital Public Goods school-level energy resources and reforms/activities to increase broadband to SMART classrooms Alliance to adapt global DPG internet connectivity needs and investment attractiveness and and targeted primary schools resources into local languages and refine business cases for separate boost affordability and protect B. Mobilize concessionary investment scale up use of digital textbooks packages of investment consumers to deploy last-mile solutions and content for remote learning B. Refine the school connectivity B. Explore adoption of Open Data and middle-mile networks to B. Empower the local startup strategy based on benchmarks and practices among government and connect the remaining 1,796 ecosystem to produce digital set associated targets for private actors schools, as well as lateral content and digital public goods for monitoring. Integrate connectivity C. Survey the ecosystem of connections to healthcare centers, use across the region plans for other public services, such implementation options – ISPs, and public institutions C. Collaborate with local as health centers, to ensure MNOs – and partnership to further C. Support the development of entrepreneurship initiatives, such efficiency of implementation develop NRENs as an alternative sustainable business models for as Rwanda Innovation Fund and C. Provide the government educational service provider D. Work with MINEDUC, MINICT and Rwanda Polytechnic IPRC with ongoing transparent data on D. Exploring innovative and RISA to negotiate lower service fees Incubation Center, to help close service delivery, such as internet appropriate last-mile connectivity from ISPs and the develop an NREN funding gaps and integrate open pricing and quality (speed, solutions that also supports secondary and source principles reliability) to inform contracting primary schools to lower data costs decisions further
Contact us info@giga.partners | gigaconnect.org October 2020
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