More than 2.5m Rwandans now using mobile payments

In an increasingly technologically-centred world, Rwanda has seen a significant rise in mobile payments subscribers, with figures now over 2.5 million according to the latest Rwandan ICT Sector Profile. The data also highlights an uptick in mobile phone ownership, surging from 55% to a healthier 63% in just a single year. Furthermore, the accessibility of automated teller machines (ATMs) has risen, reaching 333 across the country.

Rwanda’s Minister of Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsengimana, elaborated on the country’s holistic ICT strategy, which aims to harness the transformative capabilities of ICT across key sectors such as health, education, governance, finance, and agriculture.

Emphasizing this effort, Nsengimana noted the strategic policies and plans implemented to overcome obstacles associated with the digital era, all designed with the ultimate goal of accelerating socio-economic advancement. He pointed to the agricultural sector’s growing user base of e-soko SMS and web-based platforms, marked by a rise to 11,815 and 4,640 users in 2013, respectively.

In consolidating the ICT Sector Profile-2013, invaluable progress indicators such as the ‘Measuring the Information Society’ by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the ‘UN e-Government Survey’ by the United Nations (UN) proved instrumental.

The specific 2013 ICT Sector Profile underscored the contribution of ICT to Rwanda’s Socio-Economic Development. The focus was primarily turned towards five vital sectors: Governance, Health, Education, Agriculture, and Business & Finance. The profile aimed to scrutinize the usage of deployed systems and applications across the aforementioned sectors stringently.

source:biztechafrica

Minor enhancements were applied in 2025 for readability.