Rwanda expects an estimated $589 million (approx. Rwf731 billion), representing six percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), following an investment of $76.5 million in the national Artificial Intelligence (AI) policy, over the next five years.

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This is the potential of AI solutions in Rwanda’s economy, according to a study conducted by McKinsey, a global consulting firm, in collaboration with the Ministry of ICT and Innovation.

As AI continues to take the world by storm, Rwanda has made notable strides in fostering AI innovation and adoption by launching a National AI Policy that focuses on AI literacy, infrastructure, data strategy, AI adoption in both the public and private sectors and ethical implementation.

With an ambition to become an innovation hub, Rwanda is set to host some major global technology companies such as InstaDeep which will conduct AI research and solutions for Africa, and Oracle which will set up cloud computing infrastructure in the country, among other projects.

Norbert Haguma, a local tech expert specialized in fintech and blockchain technology, said this estimate is a significant indicator of the transformative potential of AI in the country, reflecting the belief that AI can drive economic growth, innovation, and efficiency across various sectors such as improved healthcare, agriculture, and financial services, which can ultimately boost GDP.

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Some of innovations include AI-driven healthcare and agriculture solutions, and emerging smart city initiatives, even in the financial sector where AI is used for risk assessment and fraud detection, resulting in cheaper loans and shielding from fraud risks, as well as the use of AI in providing e-government services enhances good governance and service delivery.

To fully harness AI's potential across sectors, Rwanda needs a multisector approach, Haguma noted, "We need an innovation ecosystem that supports startups and researchers, collaboration between academia and industry, and the necessary infrastructure, including high-speed internet and data centers vital for AI development.”

Sector use of AI

Multiple sectors and institutions have, so far, embraced the use of AI to improve service delivery and enhance their capacity by automating some tasks. There are many application cases in agriculture and health sectors that have shown different avenues to leverage and employ AI models.

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According to Paula Ingabire, Minister of ICT and Innovation, there are many examples of applications of AI tools in sectors like agriculture where it can provide solutions in weather forecasting to provide real insights for farmers as they go through the different seasons of farming.

Additionally, it can support institutions like RSSB when it comes to claims management over health insurance schemes, Rwanda Revenue Authority to improve tax collection systems, as well as empowering community healthcare workers with generative AI tools like chat GPT that allows real-time flow of information in Kinyarwanda.

"With the jobs that will be created and efficiencies generated from AI solutions, we expect an economic value close to $600 million,” Ingabire said.

James Ndekezi, an AI enthusiast based in Kigali, previously told The New Times that there is a need to create a strong research collaboration between academia, industry, and government institutions.

"This will boost the local AI ecosystem, similar to those in the developed countries, but also we need cooperation that can facilitate the global interconnectedness of the AI value chain and the global distribution of capabilities and expertise,” he added.

‘Fear of Job losses’

Ingabire said that while advances in AI may lead to certain jobs being displaced, it is worth noting that new jobs with even higher economic value are also created.

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She said that instead of being driven by the fear of job losses and refusing to embrace technology, people should rather go back to the drawing board and think of ways of upskilling the workforce by disrupting the education system to provide relevant skills to create the interface between humans and technology.

"These disruptions are bound to happen but it’s about how ready we are as a society to embrace them,” she added.