If you are business developer and you want to start something in East Africa,I can say that you are in good position to see your brand  exciting  the industries since the region is the best place for business progress due to the fact that it gives room for both production and market at instant.Wheather you are in Kenya,Rwanda,Uganda,Burundi or Tanzania,the environment are supportive to productions an market since the governmental regulations favor business development.

Many industries are good to get into but it is only depend on   how your solution is uninique and can adapt with changes and time.Among the growing industries are telecommunication,Travel,Electronics,Biotechnology and so many others that are used in the first world can be introduced into East Africa.

I would like to introduce you on the best industries that can hold the best future in East Africa.These are:

Internet and software apps;
The have been an increase in the needs of softwares for both public and private organizations which aim to solve different problems that interact with almost the whole mass of users in East Africa and can be well profitable if the business focus is consistent.

Agriculture  and Biotechnology;
The demands for foods have been increase both within and the global at large,this means that we can take part in any corner of the industry and come with successiful business if and ony if we have awesome business strategy.

Related post:


The above industries are among profitable one in East Africa .As the part of interest if you are intending to solve any globe problem you can start from here.

KARIBU Solar Power is an innovative solar social enterprise that makes high quality solar power affordable. We produce a modular solar lamp (solar panel + rechargeable battery + light) and employ an innovative social business model that allows the average Base of the Pyramid (BoP) consumer to enjoy the benefits of solar lighting and mobile phone charging. By paying in small increments which replicate the required cash flow for kerosene, we make solar affordable.

See the website: http://www.karibusolar.com

The above statements are the pitch of the Karibu company at the Venture Capital for Africa,whilst showcasing their products;is one of the product that  you must use for lighting as well as charging mobile phones,and other home equips.

Solar energy is an important part of life and has been since the beginning of time. Increasingly, man is learning how to harness this important resource and use it to replace traditional energy sources.

Solar Energy Is Important in Nature

Solar energy is an important part of almost every life process, if not, all life processes. Plants and animals, alike, use solar energy to produce important nutrients in their cells. Plants use the energy to produce the green chlorophyll that they need to survive, while humans use the sun rays to produce vitamin D in their bodies. However, when man learned to actually convert solar energy into usable energy, it became even more important.

Jordan Kalyembe

The usability of smart phones which is still extending both locally and internationally; iphones and andreoid being theleading,most of local and international developers are now considering local usability of the smartphone applications,especially on social interaction such as facebook,twiter,what’s app and other social services supportive applications that arevery user friendly and outstanding.

The communication companies such as Vodacom,milicom ,Raselo ,ABI and other small enterpreneurcompanies such as coder lab have created best apps that we must use.


   The best 10 apps in Tanzania and awesome Kenyan’apps are the coming articles introducing this series of The Smartphone era in East Africa

TUNIS, Tunisia, March 14, 2013/ -- The African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched Open Data Platforms (www.afdb.org/statistics) for the following 20 African countries: Algeria, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Republic of Congo, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Open Data Platform program is part of the AfDB’s recently launched “Africa Information Highway” initiative aimed at significantly improving data management and dissemination in Africa. Work is on course to complete platforms for the rest of African countries by July 2013.

The Open Data Platform is a user-friendly tool for extracting data, creating and sharing own customized reports, and visualizing data across themes, sectors and countries in tables, charts and maps. Through the Open Data Platform, users can access a wide range of development data on African countries from multiple international and national official sources. The platform also facilitates the collection, analysis and sharing of data among countries and with international development partners. The platform offers a unique opportunity for various users, such as policymakers, analysts, researchers, business leaders and investors around the world, to gain access to reliable and timely data on Africa. Users can visualize time series development indicators over a period of time, perform comprehensive analysis at country and regional levels, utilize presentation-ready graphics or create their own, blog, and share their views and work with others, thereby creating an informed community of users.

The Open Data Platform initiative is a response by the African Development Bank Group aimed at significantly increasing access to quality data necessary for managing and monitoring development results in African countries, including the MDGs. It responds to a number of important global and regional initiatives to scale up the availability of quality data on Africa and so foster evidence-based decision-making, public accountability and good governance.

Once implemented, the Open Data Platform will be used by African countries for all data submission flows to the AfDB and possibly other international development partners, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), EU Commission, World Health Organization (WHO), UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), African Union Commission (AUC) and UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). This initiative presents a unique opportunity for African countries to take the lead in implementation and promotion of international statistical standards across all countries in the region and in enhancing the quality of the data disseminated by African countries.

The initiative will also significantly revolutionize data management and dissemination in Africa, and reposition the continent for more effective participation in the global information economy.

                                                                                                                                 

Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of the African Development Bank

The Rwandan based Twenty Third Century Systems (TTCS) launches a cloud computing service that will benefit the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Rwanda. TTCS is the pan-African IT company that provides the largest SAP cloud computing business solutions in sub Saharan Africa.

It has 16 years of experience in deploying SAP in Africa and the Middle East in public, manufacturing, finance, insurance, distribution, oil and gas and mining sectors. Others are tax and revenue management, business intelligence and customer relationship management. It has over 250 SAP certified full-time consultants.

TTCS Rwanda has partnered with local IT firms and the government-owned Broadband Systems Corporation to unveil the TTCS's cumulus brand powered by the world's leading business solutions software company-SAP. Cumulus is a business management solution that will enable the business community access world-class business management tools for efficient and effective functioning.

This means Rwandan companies will only pay for the service on a subscription basis as when they need them. Cloud computing is the logical computational resources (data, software) accessible via a computer network through the Internet, rather than from a local computer and the use of servers. It is an independent platform in terms of computing. The best example of cloud computing is Google apps, where any application can be accessed using a browser and it can be deployed on thousands of computer through the Internet.

Stuart Mugabe, the CEO of TTCS-Rwanda chapter, said that 'Cumulus' is targeting SME's and has noticeable outcomes to the business owners. "Our product is tailored to every customer's distinctive needs, enabling business owners to have access and visibility in their day-today operations whether on site or offsite, thus helping meet statutory compliance in dealing with corporate and taxation requirements, social and environmental responsibilities," he explained.

The launch of cloud computing software comes in the wake of major developments in the ICT sector in Rwanda marked by an increase in mobile phone and Internet penetration.

TTCS is the largest SAP resource partner in sub-Saharan Africa, with a Gold partner status, and operates in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Burundi, South Sudan, Ghana, Angola and Botswana, with extended business partners in all other African Countries.

TTCS Rwanda is the only SAP gold certified services partner to supply, implement and support their applications throughout the region.

The NewTimes of Rwanda

The state-owned Tanzania Telecommunication Company (TTCL) has signed contracts to offer communications services to companies in nine African countries, the Guardian reported. TTCL hosts the National Information Communications Technology Broadband Backbone infrastructure which covers 99 percent of Tanzania. ICT minister Makame Mbarawa said TTCL had signed contracts with mobile telecommunication firms in Mozambique, Burundi, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia to supply internet bandwidth.

Mbarawa said South African company MTN and the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation are among the firms seeking connections, as are state-owned Malawi Telecommunication and Airtel Malawi. A connection will be made via the Kabanga border to Burundi, where UCOM and Econet Burundi have applied. Rwanda will be connected through the Rusumo border. Talks with Uganda, Kenya and Mozambique are ongoing, he said.

With 7,400 kilometres (km) of fibre optic cable already laid, the national backbone has been extended to eight border points, namely Sirari, Namanga and Horohoro on the border with Kenya; Mutukula on the border with Uganda; and Rusumo on the border with Rwanda. 

Mbarawa also said the government is planning to purchase the 35 percent stake in TTCL currently held by Airtel Tanzania as part of a turnaround process. Mbarawa said the TTCL was facing challenges such as lack of capacity to embrace modern technology. He said TTCL has a wide network in the country and should have been among the best in the country but that this is not what is happening.

Telecompaper.com

Kigali, Rwanda

RESIDENTS of Nyamasheke district, Western Province, have been urged to make use of the available Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to speed up their socio-economic development.

Addressing the residents last week, Rosemary Mbabazi, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Youth and ICT, said ICT use is central to economic transformation. She was in Nyamasheke as part of the ongoing ICT literacy and awareness campaign.

"Businesses can't develop without ICT. That's why ICT is crucial in whatever we do," Mbabazi said. "We are talking about the development of the private sector, businesses and local people."

The event attracted thousands of residents, business operators, representatives of banks and other financial institutions, public institutions as well as telecomunication companies.

At the function, various companies showcased their innovations and use of ICT, especially online and SMS-based services they offer to the population.

Mbabazi told Nyamasheke residents that ICT is part of everyday life and emphasised the need to embrace it. She cited agriculture, education and livestock farming, among other sectors, as some areas where ICT use can make significant impact.

The district mayor, Jean Baptiste Habyarimana, said 45 per cent of residents own mobile phones. He said the target is to bring the number to at least 70 per cent by 2017.

Habyarimana said to achieve the target, local leaders will work hand-in-hand with other partners to educate the community on the benefits of using available technological resources and equipment.

He also said the district will work to ease access to Internet in public institutions, schools and other businesses.

Initiated by the Ministry of Youth and ICT in collaboration with other ministries as well as its various stakeholders in ICT promotion, the five-year ICT literacy awareness campaign was launched in January in Rulindo district, Northern Province.

Its purpose is to drive the awareness and use of ICT services, content and applications to increase ICT literacy, educate and train the masses and businesses on the potential of ICT to drive competitiveness, efficiency, transparency as well as civic participation.

New Times Rwanda

Kigali

Last week, when meeting local and central government officials physically for a mid-term assessment of performance contracts, Premier Pierre Damien Habumuremyi complained that the meeting had to be organized physically, while they could just as well conduct it from their offices through video-conferencing.
Considering that it was he himself who had called the meeting, one might wonder who the Honorable Prime Minister was complaining to.

Nevertheless, Habumuremyi has a point. While Rwanda has the ambition to become a regional or even continental ICT hub, the use of modern information technology is still rather low. Citizens still waste too much time going to office to apply for certain official documents when that could easily be done online. And as the Premier pointed out, our officials too could make better use of the time they now spend travelling to and from the numerous meetings they have to attend.

One agency that is showing the way (for which it has even received international recognition in the past) is the Migration Service. Applications for passports and visa can be made online, and the progress of the dossiers can also be followed via the Internet. If any of the required documents are missing, Migration will inform the applicant by e-mail. The only time you actually have to go to their offices is to pick up the requested document.

While that kind of service delivery is certainly to be applauded, it becomes a different matter when it comes to using the teleconferencing the Prime Minister craves for, or applications such as tele-medicine where for example a surgeon at King Faysal can assist in an operation in for example CHUB in Huye without having to travel there. The use of notably video requires high-speed Internet which, unfortunately, is not yet available everywhere.

While a recent NetIndex from Ookla's ranked Rwanda as the African country with the highest speed in Internet connection, the reality is that only a happy few benefit from it. That high speed is only possible if one has access to a fiber-optic network called the National Backbone which is managed by Broadband Systems Corporation (BSC). And for that access, one has to be within reach of a Wi-Bro hotspot, and they are still far and few between, despite the backbone having been in place for several years now.

And while that shouldn't stand in the way of Habumuremyi's dream of teleconferencing public officials, since most government institutions have access to the system, for the rest of us it is still guessing whether in the area where we live or work we will have access.
If Rwanda is really to become an international ICT hub, the Prime Minister will first have to fix that first.

Rwanda Focus

Paul Kukubo

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 19 – After serving two terms as Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya ICT Board, Paul Kukubo will be leaving his post come July 2013,marking the end of his second three-year contract.
Since taking office in August 2007 as founding CEO, Kukubo has effectively managed the board’s functions by promoting and facilitating the development of information and communication technology products and services as well as extending counsel to the government on matters pertaining to the development, coordination and promotion of information and communications technology industries in the country.

In the six years, Kukubo’s efforts to grow the local ICT market as well as promote Kenya as an ICT investment destination saw Kenya successfully promoted both locally and internationally as an ideal ICT investment destination and he continues to be a great asset to the board and the country.
Kukubo is expected to assume office in July as the Chief Executive Officer of the East Africa Exchange (EAX) in Rwanda.

EAX Rwanda is the first part of a regional exchange intended to increase transparency in the region’s commodity markets.
Through private-sector-led investment and under the terms of an agreement signed with the Government of Rwanda, the East Africa Exchange aims to increase regional market efficiency and liquidity as well as giving the region’s population of 130 million, especially smallholder farmers, better access to markets.

Powered by NASDAQ OMX, the exchange will initially focus on establishing an auction facility and spot trading for agriculture and non-agriculture commodities, but will also develop futures trading across East Africa.

Its investors are Berggruen Holdings (a part of the Nicolas Berggruen Charitable Trust and advised by the Berggruen Institute on Governance), Heirs Holdings, 50 Ventures and Rwandan led Ngali Holdings.
Kukubo was chosen for his transformative leadership of the information technology space in Kenya and strong entrepreneurial experience in start-ups and he joins an experienced team of Africa advisors that include Roderick Gravelet-Blondin, former Managing Director for the South African Futures Exchange and Stella Kilonzo, former Chief Executive Officer of the Capital Markets Authority in Kenya.

EAX will complement the East Africa Community’s (EAC) goal of regional economic integration as set out by the Common Market Protocol, increasing liquidity, sustainability of regional financial and commodity markets and supporting the EAC’s competitiveness globally.

EAX will also uplift national and regional economies by reducing market barriers to trading, providing a transparent regional economy through a secure mechanism that facilitates financing to farmers and traders.
Berggruen Holdings, Heirs Holdings and 50 Ventures have also partnered to form Africa Exchange Holdings, Ltd (AFEX), which seeks to develop a network of commodity exchanges in Africa to transform trade dynamics and ensure higher incomes for the rural poor.

Kukubo was also a principal founder of 3Mice Interactive Media Ltd, and co-founder of Init Communications Ltd.

He holds a Global Executive MBA, a joint program between Columbia University and United States International University-Africa, and a Bachelors of Art in Economics and Sociology.

CapitalFM 

On Friday, the ministry of youth and ICT (MYICT), the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), internet service providers and hoteliers met to assess how clients in hotels can access the broadband Internet connection.

"When hotels get the broadband it will improve the way they deliver services. Clients need to communicate by using the internet, especially tourists who visit the country regularly," ICT Minister Jean-Philbert Nsengimana said. "When the internet issue is resolved in hotels, the number of their clients will be increased. We urge hoteliers to use broadband as a basic service in hotels, and ISPs to reduce the price of the internet connection which will help them to get more customers."

Nsengimana said that broadband access for hotel guests should be part of the criteria of a good hotel, and pointed out that the whole country is covered by Internet broadband which Hoteliers should exploit.

The RDB's head of Tourism and Conversation, Rica Rwigamba, added that when hotels use this broadband it'll help them value the service they offer to clients.

Participants agreed to carry out a campaign in March to raise awareness about the use of high-speed Internet access in hotels across Rwanda.

Rwanda Focus

Carnegie Mellon University

Ricoh Innovations, Inc. (RII) has awarded Carnegie Mellon University in Rwanda (CMU-R) an unrestricted grant to advance research on healthcare information and communication technology (ICT) in developing countries.

CMU-R is a partnership between Carnegie Mellon University and the Government of Rwanda to bolster ICT efforts in Rwanda and throughout East Africa through graduate education and research. Hedda Schmidtke, CMU-R assistant professor, and Suzana Brown, scholar-in-residence, will research healthcare ICT with support from the grant.

"We are delighted to receive this grant from RII," said Bruce Krogh, director of CMU-R. "It makes it possible for our faculty and students to launch new research into ICT innovations that will significantly improve healthcare in developing countries like Rwanda, particularly through the use of mobile technology."

The increasing demands on limited medical resources in developing countries emphasize how crucial it is to foster creative innovation.

"We are proud to support this important research in Rwanda," said Nikhil Balram, MD, president and CEO of RII. "RII is working to advance Open Innovation in emerging countries through collaboration between industry and researchers, yielding both technological and academic advances. The research carried out at CMU-R has the potential to improve the way healthcare is delivered not only in Rwanda, but throughout the world."

The Government of Rwanda plans to form a regional Information and Communication Technology Center of Excellence in Kigali, and to establish ICT as a vital part of their economy. CMU-R began offering the Master of Science in Information Technology in August 2012, and is currently accepting applications for admission to the program in August 2013.

www.healthcareitnews.com

 Jean Philbert Nsengimana 

Youth and ICT Minister Jean Philbert Nsengimana has lauded the way in which the Immigration and Emigration office uses ICT to foster service delivery.

According to the minister, issuance of all documents including passports, laissez-passer and visas has significantly improved thanks to the use of ICT. "The progress is good, though there is still a lot to do," the Minister said on Thursday after visiting the migration services.

The minister noted that a Rwandan from Ngororero in Western Province can get his laissez-passer just by presenting his identity card at his district. "There is a system that decodes and sends all information containing the ID card to the main office," explained the minister. "With the technology, it's no longer necessary for someone to leave Ngororero or Muhanga since he can get the service from his home."

He also noted that all processes have been made automatic and that it requires only 40 minutes for an individual to get his laissez-passer document.

The improvement is also noticed by people who apply for travel documents. "Ten years ago we could wait for two weeks, without getting a passport, but we get it now after three days," said Thomas Gahundi, a resident of Rusororo in Gasabo.

Though the migration services have made great strides in the use of technology, Nsengimana said the next step would be to think about introducing a self-service system where anyone who has access to internet can get all the services from his home.

The Minister pointed out that there are more than 100 documents that Rwandans can apply for without having to go to a ministry or public office in Kigali, such as birth and marriage certificates which can be obtained at the sector level.

Minister Nsengimana also visited the migration office at Kigali international airport to see how ICT is improving service delivery

Rwanda Focus

Rwanda ICT Minister

The Rwandan government has released the country's first ICT report, urging more private sector investment, New Times reported. Jean Philbert Nsengimama, Minister of Youth and ICT, said there is room to strengthen partnerships between the private and public sector. Noted progress includes an increase in mobile phone use from 41 percent to 53 percent and in internet penetration from 8 percent to 26 percent.

Nsengimama said these results boost the image of Rwanda as an emerging African country, adding that it climbed seven places on the International Development Index (IDI) in the Measuring the Information Society 2012 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) report. The ITU report also showed an increase in home internet penetration from 2 percent to 5 percent.

The results were compiled by the Ministry of Youth and ICT (MYICT) in conjunction with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA), National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) and other ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

Telecompaper.com

Rwanda ICT Minister

Government is planning to establish a content market that would assist in providing frequent information for public institutions' websites, the Minister of Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsengimana has said. The minister was reacting to claims about institutions that failed to update their websites regularly. There are several public institutions that have not adhered to the minister's January 2013 deadline of having their websites updated frequently. These include the Judiciary, where some sections were last updated in November, last year.
"There has not been a significant change in the way institutions update their websites since the last time we reminded them. There are a few that have tried but there is still a lot to be done and that is why we are devising a mechanism that would ensure that we realise this," Nsengimana told The New Times last week.
The minister added that part of the mechanism that is being developed is working with K-Lab (knowledge Lab) and other private entrepreneurs in content generation for public institutions. K-Lab is a privately owned open technology hub in Kigali where students, fresh graduates, entrepreneurs and innovators come to work on their ideas or projects to turn them into viable business models. Apart from K-Lab, the minister said that several companies have presented to his office expressions of interest in doing the same job.
"However, in a broader way, we are looking at establishing a creative content market because studies indicate that most Rwandans consume more foreign content than local content. So with a content market, the consumption of local content would go high," he said.
He pointed out that one of the challenges facing access to information lately is a small number of Rwandans using desktop computers to access internet while the biggest number use mobile phones, yet some phones cannot support heavy websites. "We are also looking into this as a concern to see how we can have websites that support mobile access," the minister said.

The New Times of Rwanda

K-Lab Rwanda

Rwanda's ICT innovation is quickly gaining momentum due to the fact that some young technology graduates are actively engaged in software applications thanks to kLab innovation centre. The government, through Rwanda Development Board (RDB) plans to set up an ICT park that will host a collection of technological investments including training, industries, research and development, which is in line with supporting technology innovation.
kLab, an open technology hub for IT entrepreneurs located at Telecom House in Kacyiru, provides a platform for developers, IT enthusiasts and interested parties of a growing ICT community to collaborate and innovate.
The innovation centre has formally unveiled its flagship pioneering ICT projects such as crowd funding (eNkunga), Kigalicc app, 'sarura', and unified school system. The software applications have been developed and implemented by some of its startup IT innovators. "These software applications have been developed to address the enormous community needs by providing easy access to relevant information. We are proud that our start-ups are bearing fruits with the successful implementation of big innovations in the Rwandan ICT sector as kLab tenants," Claude K. Migisha, the General Manager of kLab told The New Times.
He stated that the growing kLab community is also made of experienced mentors who provide both technical and business assistance to needy members. kLab also hosts events, workshops, bootcamp, hackathons and networking sessions to promote partnerships, investment and financing.
Migisha further noted that the innovative mobile web applications represent kLab's contribution to address Rwandan community needs through embracing and proper usage of the open space for collaboration and innovation. At the kLab, IT enthusiasts passionately work on applications, and their mission is to see the hub become like the famed Silicon Valley of the USA. Silicon Valley is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations, like Miscrosoft, Google, Facebook and HP, as well as thousands of small innovative start-ups.
Migisha said that kLab's mission is to promote, facilitate and support the development of innovative ICT solutions by nurturing a vivid community of entrepreneurs and mentors. The Unified School System web application developed by Jean Pierre Habinshuti, an ICT entrepreneur, will help promote the Rwandan education system through facilitating parents to effectively participate in the education of their children. The application is available and accessible to all schools in the country.

CIO East Africa

The second phase of the e-Soko application that is set to kick off next month will see the government taking full control of the system.

Currently, e-soko, an electronic platform that gives farmers, consumers and traders up-to-date information about market prices for essential commodities via their mobile phones is hosted by MTN Rwanda.

However, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture say that this does not only make it expensive but also hard for the government to have full control of the application.
Wilson Musonera, the systems administrator of the platform, told The New Times on Tuesday that the government, through Rwanda Development Board, has engaged Voxiva; the USA Company that developed and plays the technical role of the platform to make the necessary changes.

"We are now going to migrate the system from MTN and it will be hosted by the National Data Center; something that is also expected to reduce the costs we have been incurring," Musonera said.
To make this system work, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture collect information or market prices on various products in 62 markets which they feed into their database. The public then gets access to such information by sending an SMS to 7656, at a cost of Rwf10.

The move, which is in its final stages, will see this information in the government server, according to Musonera.
In addition to availing commodity prices, the second phase comes as a marketing strategy. It comes as good news for business persons to market their products.
"This five-year strategic plan will, among others, give room for advertising products so that producers can have favourable markets of their produce," he said.

In 2011, during the third Technology in Government in Africa (TIGA) Awards that was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this system won an African award as a model innovative project in Africa based on its role in providing required information for farmers. In this second phase, information is also expected to be provided in English and Kiswahiri in addition to the current Kinyarwanda. It is also expected that MTN's monopoly in providing the service will come to an end as Tigo and Airtel will too be included on the service in a move to serve more people.

ABOUT E-SOKO:
The eRwanda Project, a World Bank funded ICT for Development project being implemented by the Rwanda Information Technology Authority (RITA), intends to remedy the critical information gap with the use of ICTs through its e-SOKO Project that seeks to empower farmers to enable them make more informed market pricing decisions and ultimately more successful farming. This Agricultural Market Pricing Information System will also significantly enhance the Ministry of Agriculture - (MINAGRI's) interaction with the farmers and traders as well as the planning function.

The New Times of Rwanda

Kigali — Rwanda's Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) says it will disconnect all mobile phones from the network if their owners fail to respond to the ongoing campaign of registering user simcard numbers.

RURA is currently working with the country's telecommunication service providers to test register simcards of mobile phone users in an exercise which started January 10 and planned to end on February 3rd.
In an interview with the EABW last week, Jean Baptiste Mutabazi, RURA's head of communications and media Regulation department said official registration will start on February 4th after ensuring the system works properly.

"It's an easy process which shouldn't last more than four minutes per single registration therefore we expect members of the general public to support it," explained Mutabazi.

The agency is working with MTN, TIGO and Airtel, the three telecommunication services in the country to register their subscribers and the firms, according to Mutabazi are cooperating through setting up special desks at each of their service centers as well as door to door agents to carry out registration of sim-cards.

To register, users are required to submit information as printed on their national identity cards as well as revealing their mobile phone numbers to the registration officers.
"We are open to multiple sim-card ownership so as long as they are registered and owned by one person," clarified Mutabazi.

It's a common practice for mobile phone subscribers to own more than one phone or multi-sim-card handsets carrying different sim cards but authorities say the registration process recognizes that so as long as all lines are registered to a single person.

After the official launch of sim-card registration next month, Mutabazi warns that anyone who will refuse to register their phone numbers will be switched off the network and isolated.
"It's for everyone's benefit; we shall not arrest or arraign anyone in court, we shall just isolate them by switching their phones off all the networks," revealed Mutabazi.

The New Times of Rwanda

Tech giant Microsoft on Friday announced that the newest version of its flagship product, MS Windows 8, will also be in Rwanda's main language, Kinyarwanda.

Microsoft said in a statement that MS Windows 8 is available in 14 new languages, bringing the total number of languages supported to 109. The US software giant released Window 8 in October last year and has since been working on producing the software in different languages to cover the global market.

The Minister of Youth and ICT, Jean Philpert Nsengimana, said the release in Kinyarwanda will go a long way in building information and communication technology literacy in the country.
It means Rwandans with minimal knowledge of either French or English will be able to use their touch-screen gadgets that support the system without having to worry about language barrier.

"It will help us in taking ICT to the common man. ICT has to be owned by every Rwandan and not be seen as a preserve by some," he told The New Times yesterday when contacted for a comment.

The minister added that the development would encourage, especially the youth to learn new products.
The application can support any of the languages with language interface packs as long as it supports one of 12 application certification languages, said Microsoft in the statement.

The New Times of Rwanda

Challenges in procurement are responsible for Rwanda's missing of the December 31, 2012 deadline to migrate from analogue to digital in TV broadcasting, set by the East African Community (EAC), officials have said.
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) set 2015 as the global deadline for switching from analogue to digital broadcasting, which uses rare frequency resource efficiency while allowing the introduction of additional services such as high definition television and pay TV on standard TV.
The national broadcaster, ORINFOR, had committed to start broadcasting digital content in March 2012, well ahead of the EAC deadline. Among the five EAC partner states, only Tanzania managed to beat the deadline. Last year, Rwanda opened the first tender for the supply of Set Top Boxes (STBs)-decoding devices that will convert analogue images to digital and allow TV set owners to watch digital content without necessarily buying new sets.
While speaking to The New Times, the head of Communication and Media Regulation at Rwanda Utility Regulation Authority (RURA), Jean Baptiste Mutabazi, also attributed the failure to beat the deadline to the unavailability of the decoders.
"We have already published the technical specifications of the decoders but what remains is to get investors who can import them," said Mutabazi. The exact specifications of the required device were published in the last quarter of 2012.

The NewTimes Rwanda