Rwanda: Some 47 Per Cent Have Access to Radio – Census

Excerpt from report by Innocent Gahingana entitled “population to hit 9.3m in 2007″ published in English by Rwandan newspaper The New Times web site on 3 April

The Rwandan population is expected to hit the 9.3 million mark in two years, according to an analytical report of the August 2002 population and housing census. The report says that in 1991, the Rwandan population was 7.1 million accompanied by an annual growth rate of 1.2 per cent which made the population swell to 8.3 million in 2002.

The significant rise in the annual growth rate by 2.6 per cent with a population density of 321 people per square km, has forced Rwanda to be one of the countries with the highest population density in Africa.

“This population growth is associated with scattered and isolated settlement common in Rwanda, which is home to 83 per cent rural and 17 per cent urban dwellers respectively,” the report reads in part. [Passage omitted]

For communication, the most frequently used gadget for receiving information among Rwandans is the radio, which is accessed by 47.7 per cent of the total population, while those accessing television sets are only 1.1 per cent.

The report adds that 51.1 per cent have no access to radio nor television sets. It also notes that only 3.4 per cent of population have access to fixed and mobile phones, while a meagre 0.2 per cent have access to computers. The report also indicates that 5.9 per cent of the total population possess vehicles, motorbikes and bicycles.