{UAH} Miko Rwayitare Millionaire - Father of Telecommunications in Africa

Miko Rwayitare had the first black-owned wine estate in SA 

Miko Rwayitare, who died in Brussels at the age of 65, was rightly known as the father of telecommunications in Africa. 

The mansion that Miko Rwayitare Built in Sandhurst, Johanesburg South Africa

Telecel International, the telecommunications company started by him in 1986, now commands the greatest cellphone network across the African continent. 

It has more than 15 licences, operates in 14 African countries and has around 40 % of the sub-Saharan cellular market excluding South Africa. 















Born in Rwanda on December 2 1942, Rwayitare did most of his schooling in Germany, where he also completed a degree in telecommunications engineering. 


On his return to Africa he settled in Kinshasa in what was then Zaire. He became a close friend and confidant of Zairean dictator Mobutu Seso Seko, which opened the door to several lucrative business opportunities.


Mr. Miko did his primary education in Rwanda and completed his secondary education in the DRC, before proceeding to Europe to further his studies and obtain a BSc Degree in Electronic Engineering from the prestigious Technical University of Karlsrushe, Germany, in 1975.

Upon return from Germany in 1975, he became Vice-President of Research & Marketing at Gécamines, the state-owned mining conglomerate in the DRC. The extensive exposure and experience gained at Gécamines opened wide horizons for his business instincts. Thus, while holding his top executive post, he gained recognition of the emergence of information technologies in North America and Europe and quickly realised their impact on global business.


He soon successfully negotiated to become a distributor of Hewlett-Packard and Rank Xerox products in the DRC and its neighbouring countries. For this purpose, he formed a company called Computer & Industrial Engineering ("CIE") in 1977 in Kinshasa. CIE became so successful that it soon expanded the distribution of HP products in Africa, namely in Gabon, Rwanda, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal and Ethiopia.

Mr. Miko being a born visionary soon realized that he can not work for someone but for himself. Having been frustrated with the poor landline infrastructure in Kinshasa, he saw an opportunity to start a wireless telecommunications business. 

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