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00:00 I thought there would be some music in the background.
00:05 Others were made to stand there and listen as if we were in a lecture room or something.
00:17 But we should all be happy, be proud to celebrate with MTN the 25-year-long journey.
00:34 MTN and Rwanda. So we are very happy to be here and to celebrate with you.
00:51 Many important points of reference in history have been raised.
01:01 I'll add a few, maybe.
01:05 But I want to start off by thanking and congratulating MTN for the 25th anniversary.
01:21 A big achievement worth celebrating.
01:32 You know, 25 years may be long or short, depending on where one is coming from.
01:49 But let me say 25 years ago, when we came together to start this journey,
02:05 it had started four years earlier between Rwanda and South Africa.
02:20 Our histories of South Africa and Rwanda have been such that at the time Rwanda was on the path of almost total destruction,
02:45 South Africa was rising from another tragic history of apartheid.
03:00 So it happened as, therefore, they were going up, we are going down.
03:07 But when the paths crossed at that point, we whispered to each other that in any case we'll keep together.
03:24 And that's what four years later, four years after '94, one of the things that kept us together was MTN investing in our country.
03:49 In fact, the group chairman, the CEO, when he said that we took risk with MTN, I think MTN took risk with us.
04:16 Who else would have found it easy to invest with a group that had just -- or a country that had just emerged from our tragic history as we know it?
04:37 And with some of us in leadership, fresh from the jungles, and just somehow talking about the story of mobile telephony and things like that.
04:58 We were not very conversant with that, but we tried to find some sense in that, and that's how we came to be raising such an interest.
05:20 So we took risk, both of us. We took risk with us, we took risk with you, but here, 25 years later, I think we can say we are happy.
05:36 It's not an understatement.
05:38 [Applause]
05:44 And in Rio, it's something we need to celebrate.
05:55 The other part of the story, Faustino Bondo, who was here, he's the chairman.
06:07 In the four years of our struggle, from a little bit earlier than 1990 to end of '94, that very tough period,
06:31 he was serving us as more or less a mobile telephone.
06:40 He used to run the errands of our struggle.
06:47 I used to invite him to come find us while we were living in the jungles, give him messages to carry to some people, to mobilize food, money, all kinds of things for us, and he did it.
07:11 So he was part of us, and therefore, that's why I'm saying we used to have him serve us as a --
07:24 [Laughter]
07:27 So that he's the chairman now is, I think, in a sense, some justice.
07:43 [Laughter]
07:46 So I won't have to repeat the story of how -- well, there's another story, of course.
08:00 There are many stories. 25 years have many stories, but I'll just speak a few.
08:08 Somebody mentioned how we took decisions in the cabinet and so on and so forth.
08:14 Let me tell you the secrets of the cabinet at that time.
08:21 There were three companies that actually were bidding for the license.
08:34 One of them had an analog system. The other two, MTN, it was the system we have today.
08:52 I think one was South Africa and another was Malaysia.
08:59 So when it came to cabinet, as I said, some of us were really still fresh from a place where we were not very well informed about other issues except what we are having to deal with every day.
09:22 Somehow voices came up in the cabinet and said we must give the license to the other one who had the analog system.
09:35 I think the telephone was as big as --
09:39 [Laughter]
09:42 You had to carry it with both hands.
09:48 The story was the person behind this, one was Rwandan.
09:59 Two, he had been very helpful in the struggle because he used to contribute money to us.
10:10 So a big part of the cabinet said we should reward this person who was the owner of this company with the license.
10:24 At that time, being where we were coming from, some of us, you learned to be humble.
10:40 I was quiet throughout the cabinet until the hammer was about to fall and give it so -- just because I was keeping quiet, I didn't know how to make of the situation.
10:54 So in the end, at that time I was vice president. I wasn't president.
11:02 So like somebody learning things, I humbly put up my hand and said to the cabinet that I am begging to disagree.
11:23 Because what we were doing in the cabinet was to look for a technology that would serve us well.
11:37 Forget about the other story of how we were connected closely with South Africa.
11:43 This time I'm talking about specifically the technology.
11:48 So I said this is what we are looking for. So between this analog system and the digital system, it is obvious where to go.
12:04 And I told them we had not gathered to talk about the Rwandan-ness of the company that was making the offer.
12:25 So let's put that aside. Let's look at specific.
12:29 So there was a lot of back and forth and pushback.
12:34 And that's how MTN came to be and won the alliance against the other one, which was the Malaysian company.
12:50 The third one, which some people had preferred, we put it aside.
12:54 I said if we are looking for how to reward the people who supported our struggle, there are many ways of doing that.
13:01 Let's find other ways, but not on this one.
13:06 So I wanted you to know how all this came about.
13:16 And we went to Uganda together with companies, meaning MTN, some Rwandan companies, and worked with the Ugandan companies.
13:32 I think you've been doing fine.
13:40 So I have no doubt, as Raf said, we will do even much better in the near future.
13:56 So the six months you mentioned, I told one of the members of the family that we have started counting.
14:12 What a pleasure for me and I guess many of you to be here to celebrate this long, sometimes challenging,
14:35 but very productive, very profitable endeavor that we undertook together.
14:54 Thank you for trusting us, and we did trust you back.
14:59 And that's all that is needed.
15:03 Now we are counting millions who have in their hands mobile telephones,
15:19 others served well by other millions, served by MTN mobile money, and so many things.
15:33 So if you will, consider this as another home for you away from home.
15:45 [Applause]
15:53 So let's continue building from there. Let's celebrate today.
16:00 And I wish maybe you can continue into the weekend.
16:08 [Laughter]
16:10 So all the best to you all.
16:15 Once again, thank you for inviting me and thank you for your attention.
16:20 [Applause]
16:22 [Music]