(Ecofin Agency) - Rwanda wants to greatly improve the standard of living of its population, modernize infrastructure and transform its economy by 2050. For that purpose, it has launched several programs already.

Rwanda will launch a US$40.8 million public services digitization program, the Ministry of Finance announced last Friday. The program will be funded by a US$39.5 million loan and an over US$1.2 million grant from the French government, through the French Development Agency AFD.

Apart from improving public services, the program will support "innovations with high development potential."

"This support will allow, starting from 2023, modernization and harmonization of network infrastructure of central and local administrations, in particular those having direct interactions with citizens (districts and sector offices, hospitals, and other government agencies), with the aim of improving the efficiency and capacity to provide quality public services," a release from the Ministry of Finance indicates.

The digitization program is part of the country’s National Transformation Strategy (NST1) implemented under the first eight-year program (2017 - 2024) of the government’s Vision 2050.  The ultimate goal is to  help Rwanda “establish itself as a globally competitive knowledge-based economy [by providing] high standards, quality services and customer care across public and private sectors."

The release published by the Ministry of Finance stresses that "A Geospatial Hub (GeoHub), a centralized geospatial data infrastructure and services will also be set up and managed by the Rwanda Space Agency. It will help improve evidence-based development, planning, monitoring, and evaluation of public policies in various fields (urban planning, response to natural disasters, health, agriculture, etc.)."

It should be noted that the NST1 focuses on three axes namely economic transformation, social transformation, and transformational governance. It also intervenes in areas such as capacity development, HIV/AIDS and non-communicable diseases, disability and social inclusion, environment and climate change, regional integration and international positioning, gender and family promotion, and disaster management.

Jean-Marc Gogbeu