Opening Remarks by President Kagame at the Broadband Commission Meeting New York

I am pleased to continue our discussion on how to ensure that the opportunities created by broadband connectivity reach everyone on our planet. The Broadband Commission has already done impressive work in that direction.

We have seen the numbers. More than half the world’s population still do not have access to the internet, mostly in the developing world. As developed countries turn their focus to the higher end of these technologies, whether it is the Internet of Things, Big Data and other emerging areas, developing countries have to work harder and smarter to both catch up and take advantage of this next phase of the digital revolution. We must remain ambitious.

The Global Goals provide both a useful framework, and also the opportunity, to raise our focus beyond connecting people towards innovation, transformation and growth. This requires even bolder thinking and organisation, and higher expectations of everyone involved. Broadband can’t solve all the world’s problems, but we know it can accelerate progress in overcoming the biggest obstacles to global prosperity and well-being. Page 2 of 2 Finally, I would like to invite all of you to the Transform Africa Summit, which will take place in Kigali from 19th to 21st of October. African leaders of Government, business and others from across the world will be meeting to support the ongoing efforts to bring about transformation based on ICTS. We will discuss how to harness ICT to make African cities more sustainable and economically vibrant. We hope to see many of you there. I thank you and look forward to our conversation today.

Office of the President,18 September 2016