The Government of Rwanda, Africa50, and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), have officially broken ground on the construction of the 61-hectare smart city development dubbed Kigali Innovation City. This is happening as Kenya’s Konza City is still not completed over a decade since the project started. Rwanda being close to Kenya poses a challenge for Konza as it may find it difficult to attract investors who may see the project as a white elephant and opt to go to Rwanda.
KIC will accommodate universities, startup incubators, and accelerators across sectors such as robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and more.
The KIC is projected to reach a value of $2 billion when completed, generate $150 million in ICT exports annually and attract over $300 million in foreign direct investment (FDI). The digital sector has been the fastest growing sector in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), including South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, where the digital sector has overtaken the manufacturing sector’s contribution to GDP.
This is a similar ambitious plan Kenya had with Konza and after billions were spent on the project, you have a handful of buildings and a just good road network. I was there and there is no sign of the life inside the city except for people who are there for the construction jobs. I don’t even see the Konza coming to life anytime soon. I stand corrected of course, as I would be happy to see that dream become a reality.
Back to Rwanda, Édouard Ngirente, Prime Minister of Rwanda, underscored Africa’s imminent transition from technology consumption to production, commenting that the groundbreaking was a “critical moment in Rwanda’s journey to becoming a leader in pioneering technology and innovation on the continent.”
KIC, a public-private partnership (PPP) with Africa50 and Rwanda Development Board as sponsors and shareholders; and BADEA as lender, reflects the collaboration of international and local partners taking action to close Africa’s digital divide and accelerate the continent’s digitalization.
In his remarks, Francis Gatare, CEO of Rwanda Development Board said: “This project reflects a collective ambition of all our people to transform our country so that innovation, education, and technology can truly become a cornerstone for Rwanda’s future.”
The new project will be one of the largest smart cities in Africa. Dr. Conrad Tucker, Director of Carnegie Mellon University-Africa and Associate Dean for International Affairs Africa, Carnegie Mellon University, underscored the project’s ambition to provide the fertile ground to develop large technology companies, “KIC will develop Africa’s first trillion-dollar business.”
Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, Special Representative of the President at BADEA on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), a financier to the project, commented on increased South-South cooperation and the bank’s role mobilising international capital for the project: “At BADEA, we are fully prepared to leverage our convening power, track record and network to help promote the cutting edge KIC project in the Arab world and beyond to make sure private investors and other public Gulf-based financial institutions join in with the funding and investment needed to build on the project’s success”.
Read: Riara University to Build a Ksh 20 Billion Campus at Konza Technopolis
