MWC Kigali 2024 postponed

The GSMA has announced the postponement of Mobile World Congress (MWC) Kigali 2024, less than two weeks before the event was due to take place in Rwanda.

"We recognise the inconvenience this may cause to our participants. A new date in 2025 will be announced," the event organizer said in a statement.

The third edition of the African MWC event was due to take place at the Kigali Convention Centre between October 29-31.

The GSMA said that together with the Rwandan Ministry of ICT and Innovation, it looks forward to convening the connectivity event soon.

Marburg virus outbreak in Rwanda

The GSMA gave no official reason for the postponement but the most likely is concern over recent cases of the Marburg virus disease (MVD) in Rwanda.

On September 27, 2024, the Rwanda's Ministry of Health reported cases of MVD in the country, including in some patients in health facilities.

As of October 16, 2024, Rwanda had recorded 62 illnesses and 15 deaths from the Marburg virus.

An official update from the Ministry of Health and the Rwanda Biomedical Centre said that since the announcement of the outbreak, all new confirmed cases had been within the hospital cluster in Kigali and their contacts, with those infected in isolation and receiving treatment.

Rwanda's Minister of Health, Sabin Nsanzimana, briefing the media about the Marburg virus outbreak in the country. (Source: Rwanda Ministry of Health)

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines MVD as "a highly virulent disease that can cause haemorrhagic fever and is clinically similar to Ebola virus disease."

However, on October 10, 2024, the WHO advised against any travel and trade restrictions with Rwanda in the context of the ongoing outbreak.

"The government of Rwanda has implemented public health measures to respond to the ongoing outbreak, including the detection, investigation, isolation, and testing of all suspected cases. The government has also conducted extensive contact tracing to limit the outbreak to the existing chains of transmission," the WHO said.