RWANDA LAUNCHES FIRST EVER SATELLITE
Rwanda and telecommunication giant One Web have launched the first ever satellite in the country
The global Satellite named ‘Icyerekezo’ by students from Groupe Secondaire St Pierre Nkombo; – the school which will be the first to benefit from Internet provided by the Rwanda satellite. The Rwanda satellite will connect remote schools to the internet. A symbol of Rwanda’s commitment to inspire the younger generation and usher Rwanda into a hyper-connected future.
In a blog post written by Serial Entrepreneur Richard Branson, a founding investor for the project; He said “Watching the rocket fly, it felt a long way from the roots of OneWeb, when OneWeb founder Greg Wyler and I had a conversation at the bar on Necker. I loved the idea for a revolutionary new business, Greg secured the best satellite slots in the skies, and Virgin become founding investors in OneWeb alongside Greg and Qualcomm.”
According to Rwanda’s Ministry of Information Telecommunication Technology and Innovation, the project is building the local space industry and local capacity.
Everything was perfect as everyone excitedly watched the making of history in Rwanda. Six satellites were attached to the space rocket that launched.
Rwanda is still calling for deep African partnership to boost the continents economy. Increasing internet access to remote areas will open up opportunities for rural farmers to sell their produce on the internet. Last year, Rwanda signed an agreement with Alibaba for an electronic world trade platform. The electronic world trade platform will enable Rwandan producers to sell directly to a much larger set of customers and also bypass unnecessary and costly intermediaries. This will boost the capacity and competitiveness of entrepreneurs and also improve productivity and profitability.