BUJUMBURA, February 19th (ABP) – The Minister of Communication, Information Technologies and Media, Mrs. Léocadie Ndacayisaba, presented on Friday February 16, 2024 the achievements made during the first half of 2023-2024, i.e., from July 1 to December 31, 2023.
At the central administration level, Minister Ndacayisaba indicated that to ensure good governance and good management of public affairs, the General Inspectorate of the ministry carried out inspection missions within the central administration. The inspectorate also organized awareness sessions for those responsible for the internal control service within the departments under the supervision of the ministry. Postal office managers benefited from awareness sessions on the anti-corruption strategy, while General Inspectorate executives also made trips to different departments to verify the signing of individual and institutional performance contracts, she said.
In the Media sector, Mrs. Ndacayisaba specified that the departments in charge of Media continued their role of informing, educating, entertaining and supporting government action. In the ministry’s annual action plan, these departments set themselves the objective of raising awareness and mobilizing the people for the implementation of the 2018-2027 National Development Plan, through articles and broadcasts focused on the fight against unemployment, tax citizenship and increased production. In this context, Mrs. Ndacayisaba noted that the newspaper Le Renouveau published 150 articles, while the newspaper Ubumwe was able to publish 48 articles on the PND. 30 articles from the newspaper Le Renouveau and 12 others from the newspaper Ubumwe focused on tax citizenship. The National Radio and Television, the Burundi News Agency (ABP) and the CIEP also broadcast programs, published magazines and articles focused on increasing production, health, hygiene, environmental protection through the program “Ewe Burundi urambaye” and community development. These media outlets, she continued to reveal, also contributed to the visibility of government action through coverage, broadcasting of programs and information on the activities carried out by State institutions and its specialized commissions.
As such, the National Television carried out 1731 reports out of the 1500 which were planned for the first half of the year, while National Radio broadcast 1749 reports, declared Minister Ndacayisaba. She further noted that these news outlets bodies have contributed to raising awareness among the people about working in cooperatives, entrepreneurship and livestock farming. They also contributed to raising awareness among the people on the vision of Burundi as an emerging country in 2040 and developed in 2060, she underlined.
As part of the improvement of the legal framework governing the press, a bill amending the law of September 14, 2018 governing the press was drawn up and analyzed by the Cabinet members, underlined Mrs. Ndacayisaba, indicating that this draft law will soon be sent to parliament for analysis and adoption. Another draft law which was drawn up through an inclusive process and which will be sent to the Cabinet for analysis, is that of the law providing access to information and administrative documents.
Still in the media sector, Minister Ndacayisaba indicated that the operationalization of the Burundi Digital Television Broadcasting Company (STNB) has caught the attention of the ministry. An operation and maintenance agreement for the digital terrestrial television network between the government of Burundi and the STNB company was drawn up and signed, she informed.
In the Information and Communication Technologies sector, Mrs. Ndacayisaba announced that the government action plan 2023-2024 provided for the improvement of the legal framework governing the Information and Communication Technology sector and Post Offices. A draft law on the electronic and postal communications code was drawn up and then sent to the government and parliament for analysis and adoption.
As part of the revitalization of ONATEL, negotiations were initiated with a Kenyan company called SEACOM which expressed its desire to work with ONATEL. This company has already signed a memorandum of understanding with the ministry and has already initiated procedures to meet the required conditions, including the payment of debts that the company Lacel had towards the OBR, given that Lacel belonged to SEACOM, she revealed. According to her, ONATEL is committed to revitalizing its landline network during the 2023-2024 financial year and has already carried out the rehabilitation of 1,211 electronic lines and registered 151 new subscribers to the landline.
In this ICT sector, the PAFEN digital economy foundations support project is at work, and several studies are already underway in order to lay solid foundations which will allow a favorable climate for the development of the sector and the digitalization of public services.
At the SETIC level, she continued to say, a process of recording all skills and expertise in ICT in Burundi was launched by the ministry. Using a form to fill out, Minister Ndacayisaba announced that all Burundians, wherever they are and who have knowledge of ICT, will register.
The same ministry also organized coding training for 102 young girls, including 51 from Bujumbura city and 51 from the interior of the country, all of whom have some knowledge of ICT. All those girls received certificates of participation and smartphones which will allow them to apply the knowledge acquired.
The Minister in charge of Communication informed that the National Post Office (RNP) offered loans equivalent to BIF 1081030423 to 19,724 loan applicants. Around 1,335 savings accounts and 2,213 current accounts were opened, she stressed, adding that in order to improve its services, the RNP introduced the “e-banking” system and that the connection to the bi-switch is being finalized.