by PHYLLIS BIRORI
KIGALI – RWANDA is upbeat at the strides it and Africa have made to address the divide that has left it trailing developed countries in the global artificial intelligence (AI)sector.
This tech divide has relegated the continent to merely a consumer amid the prevailing technological revolution.
Regarded as a pioneer in AI in the continent, Rwanda has hailed steps recently taken by the African Union (AU) in recent months to close the gap that has been widening with developed nations in this field of AI, with homegrown strategies at the centre of Africa’s AI journey.
Paula Ingabire, Rwanda Minister of ICT and Innovation, made the sentiments at the two-day Asia Tech x Singapore (ATxSG), Asia’s flagship technology event, running until Thursday (today).
“As we talk about AI, we have seen globally there are certain parts of the world that are leaders in innovation of these emerging technologies disrupting what is happening globally. Then you have another part that is heavy on the regulatory frameworks,” she said.
“Fortunately, when you look at Africa and the developing world, what you see is historically they have been consumers. But that is changing because essentially what we are seeing is the need to build our own capabilities.”
Ingabire, presenting at a session titled, “Global Tech Race–From Zero-Sum to Positive-Sum, told the audience how in 2024, the African Union (AU) AI Strategy was put in place.
“Just this year in February, we had the first Africa summit to look at how we can have a common voice when it comes to AI,” she said.
“We have put in place an Africa AI Council that is going to lead the work around thinking about standards that have to be in place, whether its the use cases that will drive growth and development across the continent, thinking about building capabilities – from infrastructure to data.”
Ingabire added, “We have also come together to create a fund that will look at how we can build the right foundations that are required to power the AI economy.”
Rwanda is already making an impression in the international AI scene, in partnership with Singapore, with which it has partnered on an AI playbook for Small States.
“This has been used with different countries that are building their own strategies to understand that being small should not be a reason to deter you from pursuing some of the AI ambitions that as a country you need,” Ingabire said.
She noted that this week, the cabinet in the East African country adopted the Data Sharing Policy, to enable public institutions to share data more easily, safely and efficiently.
“That will allow us to unlock the multiple datasets that we have across the government. That will fuel our AI ambitions and leverage technology as a key driver for growth,” Ingabire concluded.
Africa’s AI market is estimated at about $4,92 billion in 2025, representing 2,5 percent of the global sector.
– CAJ News
