{"id":17522,"date":"2022-10-25T11:38:57","date_gmt":"2022-10-25T11:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.paulkagame.com\/?p=17522"},"modified":"2022-10-25T14:38:28","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T14:38:28","slug":"mobile-world-congress-africa-2022-remarks-by-president-kagame-kigali-25-october-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/?p=17522","title":{"rendered":"Mobile World Congress Africa 2022 | Remarks by President Kagame | Kigali, 25 October 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

It is a real pleasure to be joining you, for the opening of the first in-person Mobile World Congress Africa.<\/p>\n

I welcome you all to Rwanda. We are very pleased to host you.<\/p>\n

I wish to thank GSMA, for choosing our country as the venue for this year\u2019s conference.<\/p>\n

Digital technologies are a catalytic force for development in Africa.<\/p>\n

Yet, almost half of adults in low- and middle-income countries do not have access to the internet, even when living in areas with broadband coverage.<\/p>\n

Digital infrastructure is key, but it is not enough.<\/p>\n

To leverage the potential of connectivity, investments in digital skills and literacy must be integrated in our national policies.<\/p>\n

In Rwanda, with the support of the private sector, Kigali Innovation City aims to develop a competitive and productive workforce and a conducive environment for start-ups.<\/p>\n

Africa is home to creative and tech-savvy youth, looking for the right platform to contribute solutions.<\/p>\n

We cannot afford to reduce them to a statistic, only, or sit idly by, as they seek opportunity outside of Africa.<\/p>\n

Our young people have a lot to offer. We must do our part, and keep our promise to them.<\/p>\n

Significant strides have been made on the continent to accelerate the digital transformation, through initiatives spearheaded by the African Union and Smart Africa, among others.<\/p>\n

However, to leave no one behind, we must create a more enabling legal and regulatory environment.<\/p>\n

However, to leave no one behind means a number of things as well, and we must recognize that digital transformation is not a zero-sum game, where progress must come at the expense of the most vulnerable. Not at all.<\/p>\n

Everyone, regardless of status, gender, or nationality, must benefit, if we want to create lasting change.<\/p>\n

Universal and meaningful connectivity for all can be a springboard, for the full implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.<\/p>\n

This is less about leapfrogging legacy systems, and more about digitizing faster and taking full ownership in building the Africa we want, because we can, all of us together.<\/p>\n

Everywhere in the world, emerging technologies are shaping our economic future, as well as the conditions for peace and security.<\/p>\n

To speed up prosperity, technology has to go hand and hand with good governance.<\/p>\n

I trust that you will take this message with you, throughout the conference.<\/p>\n

Once again, welcome to Rwanda. I wish you a very productive meeting and a pleasant stay in our country.<\/p>\n

I thank you for your kind attention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is a real pleasure to be joining you, for the opening of the first in-person Mobile World Congress Africa. I welcome you all to Rwanda. We are very pleased to host you. I wish to thank GSMA, for choosing our country as the venue for this year\u2019s conference. Digital technologies are a catalytic force for development in Africa. Yet, almost half of adults in low- and middle-income countries do not have access to the internet, even when living in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-speech","post-has-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17522"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17523,"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17522\/revisions\/17523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}