The Sierra Leone delegation has met with officials of the Rwandan Ministry of ICT & Innovation on the margins of the 3-day Mobile World Congress Africa Policy and Leadership Forum in Kigali.
The Sierra Leone delegation headed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications Mr. Tamba Edward Juana met with his counterpart in Kigali Mr. Yves IRADUKUNDA the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of ICT & Innovation to share knowledge and best practices in the ICT sector.
The National Telecommunications Commission in SierraLeone is in transition to an Authority and the delegation used this Mobile World Congress and Policy Leaders Forum to leverage the opportunities to partner, collaborate and learn from players in the ICT ecosystem in Africa.
The Permanent Secretary was able to outline the strides Sierra Leone has made in improving the sector. He informed his Rwandan counterpart of President Dr. Julius Maada Bio’s flagship program which is the Free Quality Education to improve the human capital development of the country. He added that, President Bio also put premium in technology as he believes it is a catalyst to economic growth. “In 2018 the President set up the DSTI to help push his agenda to harness innovation. We see Rwanda to be a worthy partner, to collaborate, learn and share knowledge as well.” Said Mr. Juana.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of ICT & Innovation Mr. Yves was happy to receive the team from Sierra Leone and expressed his commitment to collaborate. He informed the Sierra Leonean delegation that, Rwanda does not know it all as they too are facing challenges, so sharing ideas will be good. He said the Rwanda success story was planned 20years ago by His Excellency President Paul Kagame. He disclosed that, Rwanda has been consuming technologies over the years and the Ministry’s focus is to see how they can capacitate citizens to innovate in order to provide solutions for home grown problems.
Both Permanent Secretaries exchanged pleasantries and extended goodwill to their respective Ministers.
Present at the meeting were, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Information and Communications, Hon. Boston Munda, Director General of the National Communications Authority(NatCA) Daniel B. Kaitibi and the Directors of Finance and Administration Mr. Ibrahim Dumbuya and Mr. Braima Ronnie Kargbo respectively.
The Delegation is expected in Sierra Leone on the 29th October 2022.
