Rwanda Internet Governance Forum 2018 — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

Rwanda IGF 2018 met at the Marriott Hotel Kigali on 20 December 2018, with 124 participants discussing how to accelerate the digital economy through e-commerce, with new ICT Minister Paula Ingabire as guest of honour.
Rwanda's e-commerce had grown from $4.9m (2012) to $13.7m (2017), yet 20% of IREMBO transactions were still paid in cash; weak logistics, PayPal's absence and high transaction fees were candidly dissected into 19 recommendations.
Coming weeks after President Kagame and Jack Ma launched the eWTP, the forum discussed Alibaba-channel exports and Alipay integration in concrete terms — a snapshot of African e-commerce policy in the making.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on Rwanda Internet Governance Forum 2018 draws on official outputs, session records and on-site reporting. In a hurry? The three lines above and the diagrams carry the gist.

Conference at a Glance (from official records)

Item	Detail
Official name	Rwanda Internet Governance Forum 2018
Dates	20 December 2018
Venue	Marriott Hotel Kigali, Rwanda (half-day event)
Theme	Accelerating the Digital/Internet Economy through e-Commerce in Rwanda
Participants	124
Host	Hosted by RICTA with the ICT Chamber, RURA, BSC, the International Trade Centre (ITC) and GIZ

(See the source list at the end of this article.)

Discussion Digest — from the Session Records

Key exchanges extracted from session records and transcripts.

1. Where E-Commerce Stands — A $13.7m Market and an 814-Consumer Survey

Sessions: Presentations by Leonard Mungarulire (ITC) and Olivier Manzi on e-commerce status and digital payments

E-commerce spending grew from $4.9m (2012) to $13.7m (2017), but Kenya's growth rate outpaced Rwanda's — 'we need to learn what Kenya is doing right' [1]
The ITC-GIZ-MINICOM-DHL project 'Enabling the future of e-commerce' targeted 150 online enterprises and had trained over 100 SMEs; an 814-consumer Kigali survey cited time savings, cheaper prices and wider choice as reasons to shop online [1]
Over 70% of IREMBO e-government payments ran on mobile money, yet 20% were still cash; payment cards were used mainly at ATMs, not online [1]

2. The eWTP — Cashing In on the Kagame-Jack Ma Partnership

Sessions: Presentation on the eWTP project by Diane Sayinzoga, Head of SEZ and Exports, Rwanda Development Board

"On another hand, some eCommerce platforms have emerged — YouPay, DMM.HeHe, MadeInRwanda Online, Agasani Market, etc."
— Bienvenu Rukundo (IT Expert in charge of eCommerce, Ministry of Trade and Commerce) [1]

The eWTP launched weeks earlier by President Kagame and Alibaba's Jack Ma was presented as four pillars: tourism sales to China via Fliggy, promotion of Rwandan products on Tmall/Taobao, training including a 4-year e-commerce degree in China, and Alipay acceptance [1]
Alipay's escrow model was cited as working practice for refunds and dispute handling in cross-border transactions [1]

3. Why No PayPal? — Payment Barriers and the Regulatory Sandbox

Sessions: Panel discussion moderated by Robert Ford

Asked why PayPal is absent, a National Bank of Rwanda participant said no application had been received — and would be considered if it came; attracting international gateways and growing local payment champions were framed as parallel tasks [1]
Against complaints of prohibitive transaction fees, the forum recommended competition to push fees down and faster rollout of the interoperable R-NDPS national payment system [1]
RURA's regulatory sandbox was showcased — DMM.HeHe held a sandbox licence — with drone-delivery firm Zipline cited as a build-rules-while-flying precedent [1]

4. Trust and Language — E-Commerce in Kinyarwanda

Sessions: Presentation on awareness, trust and cybersecurity by Innocent Kaneza, and panel

SSL certificates, trust seals, clear return/refund policies and customer reviews were framed as baseline online-trust equipment, with HTTPS and multi-device support written into the recommendations [1]
With most e-commerce content not in Kinyarwanda, localisation, digital literacy and outreach targeting millennials and women were recommended [1]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What did the meeting decide?

A. A 19-point recommendation list: competition to cut payment fees, an interoperable national payment system, logistics development, attracting international gateways like PayPal, Kinyarwanda content, and proper e-commerce statistics.

Q. What was most contentious?

A. Payments. When a participant asked why PayPal wasn't available, the central bank replied it had simply never received an application — and frustration over prohibitive transaction fees boiled over.

Q. Why should I care?

A. Held weeks after the Kagame-Jack Ma eWTP launch, this is a record of the Alibaba ecosystem entering Africa — with escrow for cross-border refunds and a regulatory sandbox for drones and e-commerce on the same agenda.

What Is Rwanda IGF? (for first-time readers)

Rwanda IGF is a National or Regional IGF Initiative (NRI), aligning local internet governance discussion with global IGF principles.

Why It Matters to You

What was discussed here becomes the baseline for national digital policy, platform rules and AI regulation worldwide within a few years. The principles confirmed at the 2018 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.