Enhancing Trade Competitiveness through e-Commerce in Rwanda

E-commerce is one of the flagship projects of MINICOM’s “ICT4COM” strategy. As such, it was subject to feasibility studies as well as awareness and fundraising activities, such as with potential private investors, development partners and the general public, and will remain part of the efforts of the Government of Rwanda to leverage funding for its implementation. Additional funding for MINICOM’s e-commerce flagship project will be sought during various occasions, e.g. in the sector-working groups comprising government institutions, development partners and the private sector. The Government of Rwanda has already successfully mobilized funding from other development partners for complementary projects on e-commerce, notably for an ICT policy review and e-commerce strategy development implemented by UNCTAD and the “Rwanda: Enabling the future of e-commerce” project implemented by GIZ in cooperation with ITC and DHL. Since e-commerce and ICT more generally features prominently on the political agenda of the Government of Rwanda, it can be expected that the high level of complementary funding can be maintained in the coming years. . Total budget for the project is 580,000 USD over a period of 2 years (2019-2020) 580,000 USD

MINICOM is partnering with a number of other government institutions in the implementation of this project. In-kind contributions will be sought from these stakeholders when organizing joint activities as part of this project. These contributions could take the form of, for example, provision of experts from these institutions for awareness raising activities, rooms for events or travel costs of staff participating at events.

Also, as part of the GIZ-implemented project “ECO-EMPLOI – Promotion of Economy and Employment in Rwanda”, German development cooperation supported the design phase of this project through the contracting of a short-term consultant and the co-organization of a project appraisal mission jointly with MINICOM. If needed, GIZ support will continue through targeted interventions during the implementation phase of this project.

The project’s overall objective is the integration of Rwanda into global trade in a way which contributes to poverty reduction and sustainable development. The project’s specific purpose (outcome) is to 1) create an e-commerce “trade agenda” which is conducive to sustainable pro-poor growth through the development of evidence based policy in the area of -e-commerce and enhancement of national capacity to implement the agenda; and 2) increasing the presence of Rwanda goods and services in international markets through training SMEs, building capacity of associations to support their constituents, supporting the adoption of new technology and leveraging additional support .