About the programme
The Rwanda Economy Digitalisation Programme is an initiative to support a sustained shift to an inclusive, digitalised economy. The programme, which is hosted by Cenfri, is driven by a partnership with the Government of Rwanda and the Mastercard Foundation.
Cenfri works with policymakers and private sector decision-makers by leveraging insights from data analysis to improve decision-making, catalyse innovation, and ultimately, improve livelihoods. The programme builds on an initial analysis of digital payments trends and behaviour as a window into the digitalisation of the broader economy.
How the programme works
The programme catalyses data-driven policymaking and private sector decision-making through four areas of work:
Programme approach to data-driven decision-making
For data work linked to policymaking, the following approach is typically followed:
Priority sectors
The programme focuses on four priority sectors: Agriculture, Retail and Merchant Tade, Tourism and the Education sectors. Through collaboration with data custodians in these sectors, the programme analyses data against the objectives of the ministries and agencies in charge to provide solutions on how digitalisation can improve efficiency in these sectors.
In addition to these sectors, the programme is working on the transport and telecommunication sectors to drive digitalisation and facilitate their integration in the data-driven approach, with a focus on more cross-sectoral collaboration to address challenges facing the Rwandan economy.
The Programme works with key public and private organisations to build capacity in leveraging data to achieve the ministries’ mandates and business objectives.
Areas of work
Agriculture: Agriculture features in the SMART Rwanda Masterplan, where the objective is to transform agricultural practices to enhance productivity and increase commercialisation and industrialisation. The programme collaborates with the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) to help drive the agricultural policy agenda. This is done through data analysis of subsidy schemes and assessing their effectiveness in supporting smallholder farmers. Various implementation activities that leverage digitalisation for productivity growth have been initiated, such as the Smart Nkunganire System (SNS) and the Smart Kuhangara System (SKS). Additionally, we have developed an E-soko dashboard that enables MINAGRI and Ministry of Trade and Commerce (MINICOM) to track commodity prices, empowering them to identify commodities and regions requiring targeted interventions and assess the impact of food inflation in the country.
Retail and Merchant Trade: Collaborating with the Mnistry of Trade and Commerce (MINICOM), Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA), National Bank of Rwanda (BNR), and the private sector, the programme leverages merchant and mobile money data to gain insights that help identify areas where support for digitalisation and enhanced digital payments for merchants are needed. The analysed data helps to identify formal and informal sector merchants, regional distribution, digital payment adoption, and cross-border trading.
Education: The programme collaborates closely with the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) to obtain comprehensive data that can further enhance school efficiency through digitisation. By leveraging data obtained from UrubutoPay - a digitised school management system provided by BK TecHouse – and the School Data Management System (SDMS), the programme provides an analysis of student performance, dropout rates, regional trends, areas of progress, teacher qualifications, tenure, gender distribution in STEM subjects, class sizes, etc. These insights provide MINEDUC with the ability to make informed decisions based on reliable data and allows the ministry to meet its national objectives.
Transport: Fostering sustainable urbanisation is a focal point of Vision 2050 and public transport is a key enabler in its achievement. The formalisation and digitalisation of public transport operations is at the core of streamlining Kigali’s public transport system to achieve sustainable urbanisation. The programme collaborates closely with the Ministry of Infrastructure (MININFRA), RURA, Centrika, and other parties to identify areas in which public transport can be improved and digitised to increase efficiency and ease mobility. The use of data generated empowers stakeholders to make well-informed decisions, including strategic planning for increasing bus capacity, optimising bus routes, and prioritising dedicated lanes.
Programme partners
The programme provides policy analysis to policymakers and private sector decision-makers, but the ultimate policy decisions and implementation rests with the Government of Rwanda and the private sector authorities.
In partnership with MINICT and Mastercard Foundation, Cenfri and 71.4—as a key data partner—are working in close collaboration with key government institutions such as MINAGRI, MINICOM, MINECOFIN, MINEDUC, NAEB, RAB, RDB, RCB and ICT Chamber.
For more information, visit the Rwanda Economy Digitalisation Programme,
Contact Information
Affiliated Agencies
MINICT has a vision to foster ICT development and diffusion in the Rwandan Society and Economy. To achieve its mission, the Ministry works closely with the following affiliated agencies in the implementation of its policies and programs.
