Rwanda sees unprecedented growth in 4G users

By Phyllis Birori
Johannesburg, 22 Oct 2025
Paula Ingabire, minister of Information and communications technology and Innovation, Rwanda.
Paula Ingabire, minister of Information and communications technology and Innovation, Rwanda.

Rwanda's 4G subscriber base has grown tenfold in the last two years, reaching 5 million.

Paula Ingabire, minister of information and communication technology and Innovation, attributed this to the government's National Broadband Policy, strong public-private partnerships, and the reforms implemented to open competition, cut costs, and expand coverage.

"Only two years ago, in 2023, Rwanda had half a million (500,000) active 4G customers. By June 2025, that figure had risen tenfold to 5 million 4G customers," she stated.

Ingabire was speaking to participants at Rwanda's ongoing Mobile World Congress in Kigali.

Ingabire reported that, in the same spirit of partnership, MTN Rwanda debuted 5G services during the period, and the government secured 60 gigabytes of bulk internet capacity, providing connectivity to homes, schools, and hospitals.

According to the minister, approximately 1,000 health facilities and 4,000 schools have been connected, and Rwanda has trained 4 million citizens in digital literacy through the Digital Ambassadors Programme.

“Behind these numbers are real lives that have been transformed,” Ingabire said. “With the 1 Million Coders programme that we launched last year, we are nurturing a generation ready to build Africa’s digital products of the future.”

On Rwanda’s successes in digital, Ingabire said, “This is how we transform connectivity from an infrastructure challenge into a human capital opportunity.”

She called for collaborations between governments, industries and innovators to boost connectivity in the continent.

“Rwanda’s story shows that when vision meets partnership, progress follows,” Ingabire concluded.

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