AFRICA NEWS AGENCY
AFRICA NEWS AGENCY
Paula Ingabire, Minister of Information and Communications Technology and Innovation, Rwanda
“WOMEN ARE A
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CRITICAL PILLAR OF SOCIETY AND KEY CONTRIBUTORS TO ECONOMIES”
wanda, a world champion country in terms of parity on the political scene, has positioned ICTs at the heart of its development model. And women play a key role in this strategy. Explanations with Paula Ingabire, a woman at the forefront of Rwanda’s digital ambitions. Madam Minister, before we begin, could you tell us about yourself, your background?
My name is Paula Ingabire, I am a tech-enthusiast, a wife and mother of three. I was appointed Minister of ICT and Innovation in October 2018, after I graduated from MIT’s school of engineering. Prior to that, I served as the Head of the ICT Business Development Department at the Rwanda Development Board where I led the implementation of National ICT programs and I coordinated the Kigali Innovation City Project, a flagship program of the
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Government designed to nurture and strengthen a Pan-African Innovation eco-system in Rwanda. You are at the head of a strategic ministry for Rwanda, a country that has put ICTs at the heart of its economic
development model. With what impact?
Rwanda’s ICT development and investments have had a huge impact on the socio-economic development of the country, with today a contribution of up to 5% to Rwanda’s GDP. The use of technology, its tools and applications have helped propel the growth of multiple key sectors such as, first, the service delivery sector. Services digitization has highly improved the service delivery sector by increasing
a 50% admission quota in certain STEM programs like for the Rwanda Coding Academy, a model school designed to be the center of excellence in coding training in Rwanda with the aim of producing local expertise in software development, cyber security, and embedded systems
