Rwanda Signs MoU with Angola on Telecommunications and Space Cooperation

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On June 19, Rwanda’s Minister of Information, Communication and Innovation Technologies, Paula Ingabire, accompanied by Rwanda’s Ambassador to Angola, Alfred Kalisa, as well as stakeholders in Rwanda’s public and private sector, visited the Funda Satellite Control and Mission Center (MCC) in Angola, as part of scheduled activities on the sidelines of the International Forum and Global Information and Communication Technology Exhibition of Angola (ANGOTIC 2019).

The Rwandan delegation met their counterparts in Angola led by the Director-General of the Management Office of the National Space Program (GGPEN), Eng. Zolana João, who was accompanied by the Deputy General Director for the Technical and Scientific Division of ​​the GGPEN, the Director of the MCC and other senior-level government officials.

The delegation received information on the different phases of construction of the MCC, including the construction of the access road, the construction of the external infrastructure to support the MCC (water catchment and treatment station near the Bengo River as well as the medium voltage transformation station ) and building construction.

The delegation also had a guided tour of the different compartments of MCC and received a detailed explanation on the operation of the facilities, highlighting the archived telemetry information regarding the period of operation of the AngoSat-1 satellite.

The visit heralded the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Rwanda and Angola for cooperation in the field of Telecommunications and Information Technology, in order to identify potential areas of development and technology exchange. The MoU is expected to strengthen joint research between the nations and guide collaborations in space exploration.

The Angolan government also signed an MoU with the government of Sweden for cooperation in the field of Telecommunications and Information Technology.

The memoranda were signed by the Angolan Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology, Dr José Carvalho da Rocha, his Rwandan counterpart Paula Ingabire, and Sweden’s ambassador to Angola, Lennart Killander Larsson.