Connected but excluded: Rwanda’s hidden digital divide

By Telesphore KABERUKA

Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), including platforms like IremboGov, has accelerated Rwanda’s shift toward efficient, transparent public services. DPI systems are allowing citizens to access documents, make payments, and track applications without traveling from office to office. But experts caution that for DPI to deliver fully on its potential, challenges such as high data costs, limited device ownership, low digital literacy, and power shortages must be addressed proactively. “Without this, DPI could reinforce the inequalities it seeks to solve”.

At Nyagatare market, in the Western Province of Rwanda, Josephine Uwamahoro, a 56‑year‑old farmer, taps nervously on her cracked smartphone, trying to renew her family’s health insurance through IremboGov, Rwanda’s digital services platform. After several attempts, she sighs: “I don’t understand these things. The phone is there, the network is there, but it is useless for me.” Minutes later, an Irembo agent at a kiosk completes the transaction, for a fee.

On a damp morning in the Southern Province, Beatrice Nishimwe wipes rain from her banner: Irembo Agent e‑service here. Within minutes, a line forms, a mother needing a birth certificate, a mason renewing health insurance, a young rider clearing a fine. “Irembo has made things faster,” Beatrice says, juggling two phones. “But for many people, I am the internet.” She means that although services are designed for self‑service, many citizens still depend on agents like her to navigate digital platforms.

From paper to portal

A report from Cenfri (2024) shows that by late 2024, IremboGov hosted 223 government services, from civil‑status certificates to police and land records, promising access “anytime, anywhere.” Yet only 30 percent of Rwandan households have internet at home, according to the national EICV7 survey (2023/24). For the same survey, connectivity reaches 57 percent in urban areas but drops to 19 percent in rural zones. Two‑thirds of wealthy households are online, compared to barely one in ten of the poorest. “Digitization, in short, does not equal inclusion,” notes digital‑rights advocate Niyomugabo John in Kigali.

When the signal drops, Beatrice switches to USSD *909#*, a text‑menu version of Irembo that works without smartphones or data. Thousands of such agents across Rwanda form a human buffer between digital policy and analogue reality, the living infrastructure of the “paperless” state.

The cost of connection

“Connectivity is expensive,” say several Irembo agents. ITU DataHub (2024) shows that in Rwanda, one gigabyte of data costs about 3 percent of monthly income, above the UN’s 2 percent affordability target and more than twice Kenya’s 1.3 percent. Only 34 percent of Rwandans own a smartphone (ITU DataHub, 2024), leaving millions reliant on agents or USSD. “Electricity is another hurdle; one in five homes lacks power, meaning charging a phone can require a paid trip to a trading centre,” notes Kamana Joseph, an Irembo agent in Nyaruguru District.

At Beatrice’s kiosk, 67‑year‑old Anastasie arrives with her grandson to request a single‑status certificate. “He knows the phone,” she laughs to express that technology is the business of the youth. This teamwork mirrors the Digital Ambassadors Program (DAP), launched in 2017 and expanded through 2024, which has trained 3.26 million citizens in basic e‑skills. “Youth trainers guide villagers through menus, identify official messages, and help avoid scams,” says Uwimana Gideon, a volunteer in Nyagatare. Yet according to an AllAfrica‑reported survey summary (2024), female‑headed households are one‑third less likely to have internet access.

Bridging the usage gap

Mobile broadband now blankets most of Rwanda, but coverage does not equal use. The GSMA Mobile Internet Connectivity Report (2023) calls this the usage gap, people who live within signal range but rarely go online. In Beatrice’s queue, the reasons are familiar: “Data is expensive, forms are mostly in English, and we fear making mistakes that complicate our cases,” several users say. While Irembo’s USSD keeps services reachable by text, economist Jeff Kagabo warns it also risks creating “two‑tier citizenship: touchscreen elites versus keypad holdouts.”

Leon Munyabugabo, a moto‑taxi driver in Kigali, juggles a basic phone and a battered smartphone for navigation. “Data is for WhatsApp, not for forms,” he firmly explains . Aline, a student in Musanze, learned to apply for a driving license via a TikTok tutorial. “I am the family secretary,” she laughs, symbolizing how youth act as unpaid digital intermediaries. Francis, a smallholder in Nyagatare, learned from a digital ambassador to renew health insurance by phone, though he still pays to charge it.

To Jeff Kagabo, “these experiences show that in Rwanda, connectivity is a collective effort, not an individual convenience.”

Policies, practices, and persistent gaps

ICT Minister Paula Ingabire acknowledges the paradox. “Our challenge now is not only coverage but usage, enabling citizens to use services meaningfully and affordably,” she told reporters in March 2024. The Digital Acceleration Policy (2022-2027) notes that 92 percent of Rwandans live within network reach, yet only a third have internet access. The plan promises digital‑literacy drives, community hubs, and a future “digital social tariff” for low‑income users.

Affordability remains the dominant barrier. RURA telecommunications reports (2023, 2024) show that a typical 1GB bundle costs around RWF 1,200. Average download speeds drop from 24 Mbps in Kigali to 7 Mbps in rural areas. “Operators are being urged to share infrastructure to lower prices,” the reports note.

RISA reports that only 44 percent of its 3.2 million DAP trainees use digital services regularly (RISA, 2024). “Training alone does not equal usage,” a RISA official notes. “Connectivity, literacy, devices, and trust still matter.” The Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) 2022 case study and JICA’s 2023 e‑services implementation report both show that many Rwandans struggle to complete online services due to data costs, power outages, and lack of smartphones. Multiple studies like IncludePlatform’s 2022 report, document how Irembo agents play a critical intermediary role, especially for users who lack digital access.

Local authorities face similar hurdles. MINALOC reports that Rwanda has 402 sector e‑hubs, but only 61 percent are functional, often due to weak power or limited bandwidth. Among women’s cooperatives trained to use tablets, fewer than half reported continued access afterward. National statistics reinforce the divide: 57 percent of urban households have home internet versus 19 percent in rural areas (EICV7, 2023/24). “Coverage of network access does not imply household connectivity,” the EICV7 warns. “Many households lack devices or data bundles to use services.” Civil‑society groups echo this concern.

The queue speaks

Between optimism and reality lies a stubborn equation: network does not equal connection, and connection does not equal inclusion. Policymakers highlight new data hubs and shared infrastructure; regulators emphasize tariff reforms; and Irembo points to agents “reaching the last mile.” Yet as Beatrice says, “For many people, I’m the internet.”

By sunset, she has processed 36 applications, two failing due to bad scans and dropped connections. Asked what would make her day easier, she replies: “Cheaper bundles. Power that stays on. And chairs.”

Her answer reflects Rwanda’s main digital challenges: affordability, infrastructure, and user dignity.

Policy expert Dr. Karahamuheto Stanley proposes three remedies. First, make connectivity genuinely affordable by aligning with the UN Broadband Commission’s target that entry-level broadband should cost less than 2 percent of monthly GNI per capita, a benchmark often measured as 1 GB of data costing no more than 2 percent of monthly income. To reach this goal, the Commission urges governments to adopt measures such as infrastructure sharing, universal service funds, targeted subsidies, social tariffs for low-income households, and zero-rated e-government bundles, complemented by device-access initiatives and digital-literacy programs.

Second, strengthen the human layer: the agents who bridge digital gaps. Cenfri (2024) describes intermediaries like Beatrice as “the frontline of e-government,” underscoring the need for fair commissions and sustained support for rural kiosks. Third, expand digital literacy, particularly for women and rural communities, by tracking practical milestones such as creating an email account, navigating online forms, and retrieving official documents.

Digital‑rights advocate Alice Nyirahabineza warns, “If Rwanda fails to close its usage gap, it may be remembered less as a model of digital governance and more as a warning: that infrastructure without equity entrenches inequality..”

The recent reports of Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) show that while Rwanda has made strong strides in its digital transformation, major inclusion barriers persist. The State of Internet Freedom in Africa 2023 and 2024 reports point to high data costs, expensive devices, infrastructure gaps and low digital literacy as continuing obstacles to equal access. A 2025 CIPESA brief on Rwanda adds that limited connectivity and device ownership are already excluding vulnerable groups as more public services move online.

Collectively, these findings caution that without addressing affordability and infrastructure challenges, Rwanda could deepen a two-tier digital divide.