Friday, 18 September 2020 – President Kagame co-chaired the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development alongside Co-chair Carlos Slim Helu, co-vice chairs Audrey Azoulay and Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Houlin Zhao.

The meeting which coincided with the 10th anniversary of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development discussed the good progress towards universal connectivity and the work needed to deliver the 2030 Agenda ICT for SDGs.

Addressing the meeting, President Kagame noted that the first decade of the broadband commission has made a real impact by highlighting the transformational power of universal access to high-speed internet connectivity and smartphones. The next decade will be about using digital tools to speed up the recovery from the covid-19 pandemic and make up some of the lost ground on SDGs.

The virtual meeting welcomed 10 new commissioners and expressed its support to the vision of the UN Secretary General for digital inclusion as a cornerstone of the Sustainable Development Goals.