Greg Wyler, a US technology entrepreneur seeking a worthwhile project after selling his semiconductor cooling devices business, found himself in Rwanda two years ago, trying to bring internet access to one of Africa’s poorest regions.

After rebuilding a communications tower at the top of the 15,000-ft Mount Karisimbi and laying a 450km fibre network to schools and universities, Mr Wyler realised that the problem was bigger than just connecting people’s homes to the internet, it was more an issue of a lack of a telecommunications network to link the homes to.