NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, June 20, 2014

Tigo and One UN Rwanda have signed a multi-million four-year agreement aimed at promoting youth and women employment through Information Communication Technologies (ICTs).

Under the deal, the two institutions agreed to jointly develop corporate social responsibility programmes that will support Rwandans to develop ICT solutions and solve their day-to-day problems, according Lamin Manneh, the UN resident co-ordinator.

Manneh said the joint initiatives will include development of mobile phone applications to ease access to health care, support agricultural productivity, and education.

The initiative is also geared at supporting applications (apps) developers in the country, he added.

Manneh said it would also support government programmes under the second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS II) and supplement efforts towards the attainment of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Speaking at the signing ceremony at Tigo’s technology hub, think, in Kacyiru, Kigali, Manneh said they have earmarked $5m (Rwf3.5b) for projects in different sectors of the economy. He added that they were in talks with other companies to sign similar partnerships.