The Rwanda Media Barometer (RMB) 2024, published by the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) on November 7, 2024, has shown that Rwanda’s media sector faces challenges in development and professional capacity, scoring 60.7% in this area – the lowest among all assessed indicators.
This score marks a 1.7% decline since the previous edition in 2021 and an 11.7% drop compared to 2018, indicating a need for ongoing improvements in professional standards within Rwanda’s media.
The launch of RMB 2024 coincided with the Africa Day of Information (ADI) celebration, highlighting the importance of robust media development across the continent.
Established in 2013, the Rwanda Media Barometer is a biennial assessment designed to regularly monitor and evaluate the media landscape in Rwanda.
The RMB provides a comprehensive framework with five main indicators, 19 sub-indicators, and 66 variables, covering areas such as media policy and regulatory frameworks, media’s role in governance, professional capacity and media development, and access to information.
Overall, the RMB 2024 achieved a score of 76.7%, with the highest performance seen in the legal and policy framework at 90.0%.
Media’s role in governance and democracy followed with 81.3%, while information transmission and access scored 79.1%, and media plurality and diversity recorded 72.3%.
Despite these strong performances, the low score in media development and professional capacity underscores the need to enhance the industry’s professionalism and sustainability.
Rwanda’s commitment to press freedom was also highlighted, with freedom of the press scoring 92.7% and freedom of expression at 87.4%, both within the legal and policy framework.
Radio remains the most trusted and widely used information source in Rwanda, followed by television and social media, indicating a blend of traditional and modern platforms as the public’s preferred channels.
Dr. Doris Picard Uwicyeza, the CEO of RGB, spoke on the increasing role of social media in content creation, stressing the need for Rwanda and Africa to capitalize on digital advancements.
“We want to use the ADI celebration to discuss how Africa, and Rwanda in particular, can make effective use of these developments in the media sector,” she noted.
Dr. Uwicyeza added that to sustain African media’s impact, it must adapt continuously to the rapid shifts in digital technology.
Overall, the Rwanda Media Barometer serves as a reliable tool to evaluate Rwanda’s media landscape, supporting the development of a professional, responsible, and dynamic media sector.