BUJUMBURA December 30th (ABP) – The permanent secretary within the ministry in charge of communication, Mr. Anicet Niyonkuru, opened on Wednesday December 29, 2021, a round table on the facilitation of Burundian students to easily access the internet, under the theme “Power, the Internet within universities”, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
In his speech, Mr. Niyonkuru thanked the government of Burundi which spares no effort to ensure universal access to ICTs, and more particularly in the education sector.
According to him, the government of Burundi, as a good father, is aware that information and communication technologies, are one of the main levers for the rapid and sustainable development of the country and therefore for the well-being of people.
Mr. Niyonkuru said that in Burundi, broadband infrastructure on almost the entire territory is available and the use of the Internet in Burundi continues to grow exponentially.
He took the opportunity to congratulate the government of Burundi for the quality internet in the sub-region with a very low cost even if certain challenges which slow down the penetration of the internet persist, such as the high cost of ICT terminals compared with the purchasing power of the populations.
He added that this purchasing power of the populations has repercussions on the purchasing power of Burundian students, because, emanating from the same populations.
Regarding the use of the internet at the university, he asked the students to use ICTs to do their research via modern means, therefore via new information and communication technologies.
Ir. Donatien Manirampa who presented on the topic “Powering the internet within universities,” reconsidered the purchase of internet capacity, noting that the internet capacity used in Burundi is imported from outside the country. Internet capacities up to the border are provided by foreign suppliers, in particular Liquids Télécoms, TICL, and Halotel.
The latter sign trade agreements with nationally operating companies like BBS, Vietel, Econet Leo, and Onatel, he said.
He also mentioned the challenges linked to the lack of internet at the university. These include the underdeveloped ICT culture among teachers and students, access to ICT terminals which remains limited as well as the lack of material capacity building.
Finally, he asked them to invest more in the training of trainers and expertise in ICTs, to exempt ICT terminals to reduce acquisition prices, and to improve internet connectivity and to encourage local content production.