The Minister of Information and Communication Technology and Innovation, Ingabire Paula, has indicated that $300 million is needed to provide internet access to all parts of the country.
She made this known on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, when she gave oral answers to members of the Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, on issues identified in the use of technology to provide services to citizens.
Some of the findings from the visits made by the deputies to different parts of the country include the fact that there are parts of the country where the internet is not yet available or where it is available, it is weak and its lack of coverage makes the systems used to provide services to citizens not work properly.
Another is that some of the technology systems, users have shown that they have limited capacity to simultaneously receive requests from users, such as in the fields of education, agriculture, health and tax payments.
Other issues highlighted during the visits made by the MPs to various parts of the country include the land service delivery system that requires high-speed internet but in some sectors it was shown to be underpowered, hindering service seekers; the fact that the systems used stop working, causing service seekers to return home without receiving them; the fact that the information in the civil registry is not recorded correctly, making it difficult for citizens to correct it, and others.
Returning to these issues that were particularly evident regarding insufficient internet, the Minister of Information and Communication Technology and Innovation, Ingabire Paula, indicated that so far the internet in Rwanda has reached 83% of the area, so there is a gap of 17%.
The Minister of Information and Communication Technology and Innovation, Ingabire Paula, said that in order for the internet to spread in the country, towers and underground fiber optic cables are used.
She said that so far there are only over 1700 towers in Rwanda, so more are needed to help expand the internet.
She said, “Today when we use the internet, we use it using communication towers or fiber optics. Today we have about 1781 towers, which allows us to reach 83% of the area, which can access the internet. As for the fiber optics, we have 24,949 kilometers. This year, 3066 kilometers of fiber optics have been added.”
Today, after conducting the study, we found that we need at least 700 to 800 towers to be able to provide internet to 97% of the area. “
He continued, “It is not that we have refused to reach 100%, we find that in order to cover the entire surface of our country with good internet, we need to have more than 2500 towers. This is an increase from the 1700 we had.”
The Minister of Information and Communication Technology and Innovation, Ingabire Paula, says that the purchase of the necessary towers will require a capacity of $300 million.
She said, “If you look at building a tower, at least one tower costs $150,000. If we do all the calculations together, we need at least $300 million to be able to fill the gap in the number of towers needed to spread throughout the country. There are towers and places where there are still towers that need to be added.”
The Ministry of Communications and Innovation says that the country will continue to seek capacity so that the internet can be delivered throughout the country.
