The verdict in three sentences
An online permit portal for a city in Kigali is a complex application: budget 7 to 15 M FCFA with Kolonell (10,670 to 22,870 EUR) and 4 to 6 months of work. The value does not come from the online form but from the multi-department approval workflow (urban planning, land, roads, revenue) and SMS tracking, which make an average delay of 15 days instead of 45 a credible target. In Rwanda, where Irembo already handles many national services, the portal must cover the city's own permits and connect to Irembo rather than compete with it.
What the portal must cover, permit by permit
A city secretary usually manages three families of files with very different workflows. Digitizing all of them at once is the first cause of budget overruns. Here is a 2026 order of magnitude of the scope by type of permit.
| Permit | Typical yearly volume (one district) | Departments reviewing | Documents required | Current average delay | Target delay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public space occupancy | 800 to 2,000 | Roads, revenue | 3 to 5 | 20 to 30 days | 7 days |
| Trading and signage permit | 1,000 to 3,000 | Trade, revenue, health | 4 to 6 | 15 to 25 days | 5 days |
| City opinion on building permit | 300 to 900 | Planning, land, engineering | 8 to 12 | 45 to 60 days | 15 to 20 days |
| Residence certificates | 5,000 to 15,000 | Civil registry | 1 to 2 | 2 to 5 days | 24 h |
| Public event authorization | 100 to 400 | Roads, security, mayor's office | 3 to 4 | 10 to 20 days | 5 days |
| Road works and connections | 150 to 500 | Engineering, roads | 5 to 8 | 30 to 45 days | 12 days |
Where a national platform already processes the main act (Irembo for many Rwandan services, Teledac for building permits in Dakar), the city portal should manage its own opinion and documents and exchange data with that platform instead of duplicating it.
What the portal costs: budget lines
A Kolonell complex application ranges from 7 M to 15 M+ FCFA. This is our price grid, not a market price, and it depends on the number of workflows and integrations.
| Budget line | Phase 1 (2 permits) | Full portal (6 permits) | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scoping, workflow mapping | 900,000 FCFA | 1,500,000 FCFA | Workshops with each department |
| Applicant space (account, filing, attachments) | 1,500,000 FCFA | 2,200,000 FCFA | Mobile first, 3G |
| Staff back office and approval workflow | 2,200,000 FCFA | 4,500,000 FCFA | Roles, deadlines, reminders |
| Fee payment (mobile money, card) | 900,000 FCFA | 1,300,000 FCFA | Numbered PDF receipt |
| SMS and email notifications | 500,000 FCFA | 800,000 FCFA | Excluding SMS unit cost |
| City secretary dashboard | 600,000 FCFA | 1,500,000 FCFA | Delays by department |
| Archiving, signature, data protection | 400,000 FCFA | 1,200,000 FCFA | Rwanda law 058/2021 |
| Indicative total | 7,000,000 FCFA | 13,000,000 FCFA | Kolonell 2026 grid |
Recurring costs to plan for: managed hosting at 25,000 to 75,000 FCFA per month, maintenance at 75,000 or 120,000 FCFA per month (110 or 180 EUR) depending on the service level, and SMS (2026 order of magnitude: 15 to 25 FCFA each in volume). For 10,000 files and 4 SMS per file, plan around 800,000 FCFA a year.
The three choices that save 30 days
The first is the parallel workflow: instead of a folder moving from desk to desk, every department receives the file at the same time with its own deadline (for example 5 working days), and the file turns red on the city secretary's dashboard as soon as a deadline is missed. This produces most of the gain.
The second is completeness at filing: the portal rejects an incomplete file and lists missing documents. In city offices, 30 to 40% of delays come from documents requested after the fact.
The third is online fee payment by mobile money (MTN MoMo, Airtel Money in Kigali, Wave or Orange Money in Dakar) or card, with a numbered receipt automatically matched by the revenue office. Applicants no longer return to the counter and the cash office has a full audit trail.
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Mini case study
Jean-Paul, executive secretary of a Kigali sector office (illustrative scenario), handles 1,800 trading and occupancy permits a year. Each file takes 3 hours of staff time on average, including 1.5 hours of follow-ups, data entry and walking between departments. With the portal, he targets 1.5 hours per file: 1,800 x 1.5 h = 2,700 hours freed each year, the equivalent of 1.6 full-time staff. With a phase 1 at 7,000,000 FCFA and maintenance at 75,000 FCFA a month (900,000 FCFA a year), the 3-year cost reaches 9.7 M FCFA. If better collection of occupancy fees recovers only 5% of 60 M FCFA in yearly revenue, that is 3 M FCFA a year, and phase 1 pays back in just over 2 years, before counting staff time.
FAQ
How long does it take to launch a first phase?
Plan 4 months for two permits, scoping included, and 6 months for a six-permit portal. The longest step is not technical: having each department validate its workflow often takes 3 to 5 weeks.
Are citizens without smartphones left out?
No: an assisted counter remains necessary, where a clerk files on the citizen's behalf in the same tool. In 2026, more than 60% of requests can still be started from a phone, and SMS tracking works on any handset.
How are online fees collected?
Mobile money or card payment generates a numbered PDF receipt, matched daily against the city revenue account statement. Merchant fees of about 1% must be split between the city and the applicant.
What data protection duties apply?
The portal handles ID documents and land titles: registration with the data protection authority (NCSA under Rwanda law 058/2021, CDP under Senegal law 2008-12), secure hosting, access logs and defined retention periods. This represents around 5 to 10% of the budget.
Can we start with a smaller budget?
A simple appointment or pre-filing form is a simple application (2.5 to 4 M FCFA), but without an approval workflow the 45-day delay will not shrink. The real gain requires the staff back office.
Let's scope your project. Send us your list of permits and their volumes: we will price a phase 1 between 7 and 9 M FCFA with a 4-month plan. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
