[kictanet] Rwanda Gets Locally Made/Assembled Handset

Fri Sep 12 17:25:25 EAT 2008

Dan,

Many thanks for sharing; seems somebody on KictaNet censors some of the mails, so I hadn't seen this one before.

Bw PS, it is very unfortunate for a senior govt official to make such statements about another sovereign state. Besides, I wonder why we must always be so defensive and abrasive. The same goes of some of the few handlers (clique?) on this list who have taken it upon themselves for whatever reason to talk for 'Govt'. Unless we can open up to constructive criticism, we'll continue to move in cycles - and not making any tangible progress. There is much Rwanda can learn from Kenya, and vice versa. That's not a weakness.

Privatization is NOT a panacea. Even if it was the yard-stick, Rwanda was perhaps the 1st African country to privatize 99% its telco. So, it beats me why we would say they are where Kenya was in the '80's while numerous indicators show to the contrary. It is true Rwanda's private sector is nascent, but that is not the same as saying it doesn't exist. Indeed, one of Kenya's strengths is the private sector, which in my view has happened 'not because of government, but in spite of it'. As some would agree, Kenya is indeed a sleeping giant; hopefully one day it's woken/wakes up. And btw, I laud Rwanda not for any self-interests, but just because there are many things they are doing right.

When the issue of absence of masterplan was raised on this space, you were very defensive; some even claiming there was one, abridged version, draft, etc. In the end it emerged there was none, and the Ministry instead selects a few of those handlers, takes them to Naivasha to work on a draft! One can't blame me when I use Kenya as case study of how not to implement national ICT programs for my audiences!

We can beat about the bush, but unless we address the real impediments to Kenya's growth, we won't go very far (or at least not as fast as we should). Otherwise, how else would places like Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, India, (where btw the State still has a major say), etc have left us behind so much when 40-50 years ago we were at per with many of them! Even for private sector/investment, unless we can genuinely address the main problems of: corruption and pilferage, crime and insecurity, depilated infrastructure, tribalism and nepotism, among others, we won't go far. And this is where we can/should be prepared to learn from others. Tanzania has done pretty well on ukabila; we could borrow a leaf. Rwanda has done pretty well on governance and (in)security. Let's borrow a leaf. Etc.

Continued grandstanding wouldn't take Kenya far. And I know some of these feats are beyond a single Ministry. But we could start somewhere. Doing piecemeal projects like we continue to do - well - can only have mixed results! In ICT, we see them scattered all over: BPO, Madaraka PC, KASNEB, FONN (or is it NOFBIN), etc. It is not wrong to do many projects, but for heaven's sake let there be a framework. Hopefully Naivasha came up with one. The difficulty now will be how to market it and gain buy-in of most (if not all), now that it has been like an exclusive club - just like Vision 2030 was (btw, does the media still know it exists)?

Warmest rgrds,
Shem

--- On Thu, 9/11/08, Dan Njiriri <njiris2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Dan Njiriri <njiris2000 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Rwanda Gets Localls Made/Assemled Handset
To: "Shem Ochuodho" <shemochuodho at yahoo.com>
Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>, "Robert Onyango-Alai" <alai.robert at gmail.com>
Date: Thursday, September 11, 2008, 2:10 PM

Dear Dr Ndemo,

We are pleased that you are leading the way in ensuring that our analogue TV sets do not become e-waste as we migrate to digital signals.

Kenyas are very enterprising and many will pick up the assembling of the top box once it is out of the incubator. 
Thank you.
Dan Njiriri

--- On Wed, 9/10/08, bitange at jambo.co.ke <bitange at jambo.co.ke> wrote:

From: bitange at jambo.co.ke <bitange at jambo.co.ke>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Rwanda Gets Localls Made/Assemled Handset
To: njiris2000 at yahoo.com
Cc: bitange at jambo.co.ke, "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>, "Robert Onyango-Alai" <alai.robert at gmail.com>
Date: Wednesday, September 10, 2008, 10:11 PM

Dear Njiriri,
Thanks for supporting Madaraka PC.  We are just about to finish the
prototype set top box for converting analogue signals to digital.  This
needs an entrepreneur to take it up from the incubator.  You must have
read yesterday how South Africa is planning their migration to digital by
locally assembling the required set top boxes.

Asante.

Ndemo.

> Dear Dr Ndemo,
>  
> Thank you for your kind clarification on steps taken by Kenya on assembled
> electronics in Kenya.
> I am a strong bealiver in local industries and happy to let you know I
> have bought twenty Madaraka PCs from JKUAT Enterprises for our Tracom
> college teaching lab. They however need to develop local materials for the
> industry as oppossed to assembly only. Anyone can do that.
>  
> The Gilgil Telecommucations Industry should be nurtured and it is a pity
> what you have explained on someone turning it to posts treatment. What a
> shame and waste of developing industrial capacity! May the good Loard see
> the case to logical conclusion.
>  
> I fully agree with you that the private sector and the academia must
> wake-up and create the necessary industries and hence wealth.
> Once again thank you.
> Dan Njiriri
>
> --- On Mon, 9/8/08, bitange at jambo.co.ke <bitange at jambo.co.ke> wrote:
>
> From: bitange at jambo.co.ke <bitange at jambo.co.ke>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Rwanda Gets Localls Made/Assemled Handset
> To: njiris2000 at yahoo.com
> Cc: bitange at jambo.co.ke, "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions"
> <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>, "Robert Onyango-Alai"
> <alai.robert at gmail.com>
> Date: Monday, September 8, 2008, 7:24 AM
>
> Dear Njiriri,
> There is nothing wrong with policy and we should not benchmark Kenya with
> Rwanda because the differences between the two countries are just too
> many.  Compared to Kenya, Rwanda is where Kenya was in the 80's,
centrally
> planned economy where the Government interferes with everything including
> the private sector.  Granted there is virtually no private sector in
> Rwanda.  We have spent most of the 90's privatizing that which was
created
> by Government.  The economy and more specifically the communication sector
> is fully liberalised.  The opportunities for the private sector are
> therefore enormous and we should not blame the Government.
>
> It is in this forum that we recently discussed Madaraka PC and it was
> dismissed as unworkable.  We did not bother to ask especially JKUAT where
> they have reached in developing components locally for the PC.  Kenya has
> been in the forefront producing telephone equipment including switches at
> the Gilgil plant for the region.  Indeed we have several firms seeking to
> start local production of mobile handsets at the facility but have been
> frustrated by a nother Kenyan who wanted to manufacture poles at the plant
> (The perils of Democracy).  The case is still in court that we cannot
> discuss it here.
>
> We must be proud of our human resources for what they have done in the
> region.  What we need to do now is to vigorously utilize this resources to
> exploit the opportunities - this if Adam Smith was a life will tell you
> that - let the private sector wake up.  This is the pattern that the Newly
> Industrialized Nations of Asia followed.  The Indians are going home from
> many countries to create real wealth.
>
> Regards
>
>
> Ndemo.
>
>
>
>
>> Thanks Dr Ochuodho for sharing this new development in Rwanda.
>> Unfortunately, Kenya is once again beaten at our own game, not
becaurse
>> we
>> lack, excellent technical manpower and facilities.., but becaurse we
are
>> too slow in policy development! Rwanda has carried the day, yet all
the
>> production parts pass through Kenya to Rwanda!
>> We should learn to be fast in what we want to achieve, and not take
>> years
>> back and forth in board rooms.
>> Dan Njiriri
>>
>> --- On Sat, 9/6/08, Shem Ochuodho <shemochuodho at yahoo.com>
wrote:
>>
>> From: Shem Ochuodho <shemochuodho at yahoo.com>
>> Subject: [kictanet] Rwanda Gets Localls Made/Assemled Handset
>> To: njiris2000 at yahoo.com
>> Cc: "Robert Onyango-Alai" <alai.robert at gmail.com>,
> "KICTAnet ICT Policy
>> Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>> Date: Saturday, September 6, 2008, 6:08 AM
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Quoting: Rwanda ICT4D Community Network
>>  
>> Rwanda get locally made handset -Network World 02/09/2008
>>
>> A-Link Technologies, a Chinese electronics company, has unveiled its
>> first
>> mobile phone handsets manufactured in Rwanda. This makes Rwanda the
>> first
>> country in the region to sell locally manufactured mobile phones.
>>
>> The manufacturing of the handsets follows a memorandum of
understanding
>> signed in 2006 between A-Link and the Rwanda Information Technology
>> Authority, the country's telecom regulator.
>> Read the latest WhitePaper - Monitor the core and troubleshoot the
>> access
>> layer with integrated network analysis solutions
>>
>> The company plans to start selling the phones, called
"Alira,"
> in the 21
>> countries of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern African after
>> they
>> are officially launched in October and once production is stepped up,
>> said
>> A-Link CEO Yin Quing Ri.
>>
>> "One of the phone models has been programmed with Kinyarwanda
> software so
>> the Rwandese who uses their mother language can communicate
easily,"
> Ri
>> said.
>>
>> So far, the company has produced three models -- the A100, A200 and
A300
>> -- and promises that several other models are in the works.
>>
>> The phones feature color screens and radios, among other amenities.
>>
>> The plant is manufacturing 100 handsets per day, though it has the
>> capacity to produce 700 phones per day.
>>
>> A-Link began operating in Rwanda last year, as the country is
>> positioning
>> itself to be an ICT hub in East Africa.
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
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