Venturing into the world of satellite technology is the next course of action of the Rwandan government, as the country looks for ways to adequately monitor all implementations regarding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country.
The Director-General of the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA), Mr Patrick Nyirishema has said that depending on the use of satellite communication can greatly improve and play a significant role in the implementation of the SDGs. He also acknowledged how Africa is moving towards the growing trends in ICT to improve socio-economic growth and how satellites can be used to bring Africa to the rest of the World.
“Definitely, satellite is very important particularly for SDGs, we need to have the means to link various parts of work, to monitor targets, to collect required data from across the continents, analyze it and help to inform policy and regulation and all development interventions”, he added during a week-long regional workshop on satellite regulations in Kigali.
The workshop has in attendance delegates from African countries including ICT regulators, and representatives of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is aimed at raising awareness about satellite regulatory issues.
According to Ally Simba, the Executive-Secretary of the East African Communications Organization, the workshop is expected to look into ways Africa can secure orbit location and how a region can launch a satellite successfully including all the processes involved.
Currently in Africa, less than 10 countries have successfully launched a satellite into orbit.
