The Development Gateway Foundation (DGF) and the government of Rwanda have extended their cooperative agreement for an additional three years in a bid to encourage the central African country`s ICT progress, says Mark Fleeton, CEO of the DGF.
Rwanda was a founding member of the DGF in 2002 and has been an example in terms of commitment towards ICT development in the country, he says.
Fleeton visited Rwanda last week to meet with president Paul Kagame, the ministers of finance and education, and the minister of state who is in charge of energy and communications, to renew their relationship.
"Rwanda is one of the foundation`s strongest partners and what distinguishes it is the strong leadership and commitment from the government - from the president himself, from ministers and from the rectors of the hosting institutions."
This is a commitment to sustained interest in the contribution that ICT can make to Rwanda`s development, sustained resource allocation and sustained effort, he adds.
Fleeton notes that Rwanda has developed three organisations in collaboration with the foundation. The Rwanda Development Gateway and the Centre for Geographic Information Systems are both at the National University of Rwanda. The Development Gateway Research and Training Centre is at the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology.
"All three institutions have grown considerably since their inception," Fleeton notes.
International networking
The foundation called on the Rwandan government to invest $3.5 million over a three-year period towards the current projects, he explains.
Rwanda has spent approximately $1.5 million on these programmes over the past three years, says Fleeton. He adds that the foundation has contributed technical and strategic advice, a grant of $55 000 to help establish the Rwanda Development Gateway, promotion of and international networking with Rwanda`s programmes, and contracting services to the Rwanda Development Gateway Group.
The foundation will use Rwanda as a base for scaling up its programmes in Africa, says Fleeton. "We have already based our regional coordinator there."
Fleeton says one of the foundation`s programmes is to strengthen the country`s procurement systems. "This is important for both more effective aid and local development efforts."
The foundation`s e-procurement platform for advertising tenders, dgMarket (Development Gateway Market), is the largest independent aggregator of procurement notices worldwide, with over $500 billion of tenders advertised each year, it says.
Rwanda has its own locally branded Web site which the government is considering making its official e-procurement platform.
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