Solutions for a smart Africa showcased at Transform Africa

 

At the Transform Africa conference, held in Kigali, Rwanda, from October 19 to 21, Ericsson demonstrated the transformation that information and communications technology (ICT) and a truly networked society could deliver in building smart cities and a cashless society in Rwanda, particularly in the financial and transport sectors.

The conference, hosted by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, brought the continent’s top political and business leaders together to shape Africa’s digital transformation agenda. Ericsson showcased the Ericsson M-Commerce Interconnect and its solutions for intelligent transport, among others.

These solutions leverage the memorandum of understanding (MoU) the government of Rwanda announced at Mobile World Congress 2015 to demonstrate Ericsson’s technology leadership and experience in delivering meaningful and tailored solutions to reach set objectives.

The company envisions a networked society in which connectivity is the starting point for new ways of innovating, collaborating and socialising. Given that more than half of the world’s population already lives in cities – and nearly 70 percent of people will be urbanised by 2050 – Ericsson is particularly focused on contributing to smart and sustainable cities.

Fredrik Jejdling, Ericsson president for sub-Saharan Africa, said: “ICT is creating a vast amount of new opportunities for people, business and society. At Ericsson we use our ICT expertise to provide innovative solutions and services across a variety of industries that play a key role in enabling digital transformation in Africa.

“We are especially excited about the impending industry transformation in Rwanda. Seeing first hand that it can be done here in our region is a powerful message for the rest of Africa and we are proud to be at this conference to bring this message forward.”

The M-Commerce Interconnect provides the total interconnection solution required to bring together all the players in the financial services area, and allow money to flow between them seamlessly, taking cash out of the system.