Rwanda's Innovation Village, a joint venture between Village Group and the Rwandan government, has launched a VoD streaming site called Journal and described by Kigali's New Times as "Africa's first". The platform, www.journal.rw, provides an avenue to share high definition video content. The platform seeks to leverage digital technology to deliver creative content to viewers across the world on their devices.
Armand Kajangwe, the executive director of the platform, said it can be accessed via any device connected to the internet and is free for now. He said the platform is a mobile-friendly website that you can access on any device connected to the internet. All videos are of high-definition quality but users can also choose to watch in standard form.
Streaming will remain free during a six-month trial. After the trial, the service may come with a small subscription fee or pay-as-you-go model, Kajangwe said. He added that the platform, which fuses creativity and technology, will also serve to shed light on often misrepresented and misinterpreted creative industry as well as attract curiosity on Rwanda, and its consequent impact on tourism and investment.
Innovation Village was created as a platform to help produce and share Africa's remarkable and inspiring stories with the world, the CEO explained. The platform joins the ranks of internationally renowned video streaming sites such as Netflix and Vimeo, which in recent months have been expanding their presence across the world. Kajangwe said they remain positive that Journal will gain popularity going by trends of media preference, especially among the young generation.
