The first event of the year for Transitional Trade was the Rwanda Development Economic Forum in Washington DC January 20-21, 2010.
The Forum was set up to bring industry leaders from various industries to provide input on ways in that Rwanda can grow to become the ICT leader of Africa. Among those present were Dr. Jendayi Fraser (former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs- in the picture), Ambassador Andrew Young (in the picture), Ambassador John Simon, Ambassador Kimonyo (Rwanda to the United States), Michael Fairbanks (SEVEN fund) and others.
I commend the Rwandan government and Carnegie Mellon University for the initiative. The prospect of Rwanda as the main ICT hub in Africa is essential for many reasons, including but not limited to the decrease of the digital divide, the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship, a state of the art science and technology learning center to educate more Africans, the increase in highly skilled workers not only in ICT, but in the many supporting fields as well and the list goes on.
I also commend the participants for their honesty on what they saw as viable and not. Where there was a part for government to improve, the government representatives assured the group that the government will play its part to ensure that the Center of Excellence and Rwanda's goals are achieved. Even more than their thoughts, I commend the participants on their commitment to Rwanda and Africa's development at large.
For more news on the Forum, check out The New Times at US Varsity hosts Rwanda development forum.
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