Can Rwanda use new technology to escape poverty? Ben Hewitt looks at the challenges ahead.

I logged on, checked bbc.co.uk and waited… Tottenham had beaten Liverpool 2-0. What a relief. I had been waiting nervously for the result since leaving the UK. I was in Cyberlink, an internet café in the middle of Rwanda’s capital Kigali as the final whistle blew at White Hart Lane, London. I instantly knew that it had been a very good day for Tottenham supporters around the world.

To the first time visitor, Rwanda may conjure up a variety of images: from sublime gorillas in the mist to victims of the genocide, but internet capital of East Africa is probably not one of them.

The government of Rwanda has other ideas and it’s an image that looks perfectly feasible when one finds oneself checking bank balances, emails and the latest football scores, whilst sipping coffee in Kigali.

However, a trip out from the centre of town soon reveals the true picture and the scale of work required to realise this information communications technology (ICT) dream. But this doesn’t stop the government from thinking big. Over the next 20 years, it aims to harness ICT to bring its people out of poverty. For a landlocked country with few natural resources, this is an impressive ambition, even more so when one remembers that 70% of Rwanda’s population – in a country no bigger than Wales – are living on less than $1 dollar a day. The 1994 genocide reduced the population by 800,000 in just 90 days. It decimated Rwanda’s social fabric and ruined its economy. HIV/AIDS is exacerbating this poverty, reducing life expectancy to under 40. Access to even the most basic infrastructure is limited, and few have access to telephones, let alone a PC with a modem.

President Paul Kagame is well aware of the fundamental need for economic growth and his government is committed to poverty reduction. The increasing opportunities presented by computers, the internet and satellite technology to generate economic growth form the basis of the government’s hope for Rwanda.

The Imfundo project

Fulfilling this vision of an ICT-literate population is impossible without education. Teacher training is crucial to Rwanda’s drive to break the cycle of poverty. Around 67% of children enrol in primary schools, but many teachers are untrained and a third of children do not finish their studies.

Rwanda is one of the pilot countries for the Imfundo project – a unique partnership between DFID, internet giants Cisco Systems, Marconi and Virgin – which aims to bridge the digital divide between the world’s rich and poor countries.

The trial stage of the Imfundo inititaive in Rwanda is looking at how ICT can improve education through in-service teacher training, using distance learning supported by ICT, and by setting up an education network which will link Rwanda’s higher education institutes and the Ministry of Education, enabling better management of the education sector and easier sharing of resources such as teaching material.

Telecentres for teacher training are now being developed in existing schools in every region of the country. These will be a base for improving training of teachers in Rwanda. Trained teachers will in turn provide a more comprehensive and successful education system for the whole of the country.

Once at university, students with both a solid education and ICT skills can earn decent money. For example, between studies, students at Rwanda’s National University are earning £5 a week to input statistics for the government. Out of this, they then pay 80p per month to use the internet facilities.

The internet is certainly breaking down boundaries for students, who are using electronic libraries and speaking to other students and universities around the world. The African Virtual University beams in lectures live from Maryland, USA direct to pupils in Butare.

Albert Nsengiyumva, Head of the University Computer Centre, said: “We need education to alleviate poverty and we can use this knowledge according to the needs of the country. All we are doing at the University is training people and looking at the community in general.”

Back in Kigali, the Institute of Science, Technology and Management is buzzing with activity. Built on the site of a former military academy, its rector, Professor Dr Silas Lwakabamba calls it a perfect example of turning swords into ploughshares. The Institute aims to produce strong, capable and highly-skilled professionals who will contribute significantly to national growth and development.

“There were hardly any qualified and experienced experts in the technical, scientific, administrative and managerial domains of the calibre the country presently needs,” said Dr Lwakabamba. “The few technical experts had either been killed or they simply disappeared during the war and genocide of 1994.”

The Institute plays host to seemingly all of Kigali’s computer users, who use it to fix troublesome machines, or simply to use the excellent facilities. The Institute is always busy, with various classes receiving lectures through the virtual university and the visitor cannot help but feel a general excitement about the future.

Claver Gatete, a senior presidential adviser, outlined Rwanda’s situation. “In many areas, we can’t compete with other countries as we are landlocked, but ICT knows no distance or boundaries. We need modern information to do modern business,” he says. “Once ICT is familiar to people we will export it. We will become a centre as we have a bi-lingual advantage (French and English) to serve other countries.”

Gatete is aware of the enormous benefits ICT can bring to his country. An area which has huge potential is that of tourism – unthinkable only a few years ago, but now a growing opportunity for development. With 250 attractions – including natural forests, mountains, and national parks – all within easy reach of Kigali, Rwanda might become a destination for more adventurous travellers. ICT would link Rwanda directly to tourists, banks and investors from outside.

Then there are the benefits to be gained be increasing exports. Rwanda’s flower growers, for example, could increase their exports if they knew more about the state of the destination market. Gatete points to ICT as the means of acquiring this knowledge. With over 90% of Rwanda’s population working on farms, the computer could become the link between the farmer and the rest of the world, offering vital knowledge of the global marketplace.

By 2020, if the Government’s plans are realised, Rwanda could well be playing host to some of the world’s biggest conferences and events, welcoming tourists in their thousands and thriving under new business and econom-ic growth. However, for most Rwandans, this vision remains a long way off. And the first step towards it begins with an education system and health facilities which benefit all.

Rwanda

Rwanda is one of the poorest countries in the world. Per capita GDP in 1999 was US$273, around half the sub-Saharan average. Poverty increased markedly as a result of the genocide. Over 70% of the population were left in poverty with a high proportion of vulnerable groups including single parent families and child-headed households. Since 1994, Rwanda has resettled over 3.5 million people following the huge exodus after the 1994 genocide and other previous times of conflict. Economic recovery has not yet had time to reverse poverty. Health indicators have worsened, and child and infant mortality rates are very high. HIV incidence is 11%; AIDS will bring life expectancy below 40 years by 2010. Education enrolment has risen but efficiency and quality in education is low and only 32% of pupils move into secondary education. There are 109 pupils per qualified teacher.

Bridging the Digital Divide

New technologies have slashed the cost of processing, storing and moving information. They have potential to help poor people leapfrog some of the traditional barriers to development, by linking them into the global economy, improving their access to knowledge and making government machinery work better. But there is a real risk that poor countries and poor people will be marginalised, that the existing educational divide will be compounded by a growing digital divide. Watching the staggering growth of new technologies in the developed world, it is easy to forget that more than half the people in Africa have never used a phone. It is not that access is physically impossible. You can surf the internet in almost every country in the world. But in many developing countries, particularly in Africa, logging on is more expensive than in developed countries.

The Imfundo Initiative

The UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s initiative on technology in education, known as the Imfundo Initiative (“Imfundo” means “education” in the Ndebele language which is spoken in parts of Zimbabwe and South Africa), is a new kind of public/private partnership dedicated to finding new ways
to enhance educational opportunity in developing countries with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa. Imfundo will use information and communication technologies such as radio, satellite, computers and the internet to support teacher training, professional development and support, and the management of education systems. Through the initiative, resource centres can be established in district centres to which teachers can travel periodically. These
centres will provide access to a wide range of resources, including printed materials, audio, video and the internet. This will enable trainees to interact with their tutors and with each other.

Communications and access to information in a globalising world

Radios

• In 1975 there was only one radio for every 15 people in the poorest countries. By 1997 the figure had increased to one radio for every five people.

• In 1975 there was only one telephone mainline for every five hundred people in the poorest countries.
• From 1975 to 1998 the number of telephone mainlines in the poorest countries grew almost 20 times. By 1998 there was one telephone line for every 27 people.
• But this still leaves a gap in access to lines. In 1998 in the richest countries there was more than one telephone mainline for every two people.
• And in 1998 the average waiting time for a new telephone line was five and a half years in the poorest countries.

• The number of internet hosts around the globe grew from 40 thousand in 1990 to 56 million in 1999.
• More and more countries are getting connected to the internet. In 1990, 20 countries were connected to the internet. By 1999, 226 were connected. That’s growth of over ten times in nine years.
• But this growth in access has been very unequal. For every internet host in sub-Saharan Africa there are 313 hosts in the richest countries.