The Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0 if you will, is here. Buzzwords such as block chain, artificial intelligence and robotics are smart technologies changing the face of industrial processes and production globally.

The question is, how are African countries positioning themselves to harness the opportunities and benefits of acquiring and adapting new technologies into their production processes?

Rwanda understands the urgency and speed of this technological age, and that the only path to industrial growth is through development and integration of science, technology and innovation into enterprises.

This is evidenced in Rwanda’s Vision 2050 and the 7 Year Government Programme (2017-2024), both national frameworks which aim to establish Rwanda as a globally competitive knowledge-based economy and create 214,000 decent jobs annually.

Rwanda’s National Industrial and Research Development Agency (NIRDA) is a government institution at the forefront of implementing this, by aligning its activities with national priorities.

Following the adoption of its new strategy (2018-2024), NIRDA has been mandated with a mission to enable a generation of industrial innovators to become competitive through technology monitoring, acquisition, development and transfer and applied research.

This will be achieved by (i) improving the competitiveness of existing industries in order to increase their export potential or their potential to undertake import substitution and (ii) identifying new sub-sectors or value chains where investment by the private sector would likely lead to export growth or domestic market recapturing.

NIRDA 2018 Open Calls Programme

Aware of the low levels of acquisition and adaptation of technology by Rwandan industrial firms, a new demand driven technology intervention approach referred to as the Open Calls Program will be used by NIRDA.

Through collaboration between government and the private sector, different firms engaged in specific value chain sectors will be invited to apply for specific technology support, geared at increasing their productivity.

Through NIRDA, government will support the acquisition and adaptation of technology, thereby reducing the cost of adoption for firms, whilst ensuring that appropriate technology is sought to boost their competitiveness.

The Open Calls Programme will be underpinned by a thorough technology audit conducted for priority value chain sectors. To ensure success, NIRDA is prioritizing the development of a strong partnership with the private sector – a relationship integral to turning the wheels of Industry 4.0 in Rwanda, ultimately leading to increased profits, exports and employment generation.

The 2018 Open Calls Programme focuses on established enterprises in the banana wine and garment value chain. These two particular industries are priority sectors, and essential aspects to the ongoing Made in Rwanda campaign. NIRDA will facilitate these industries in the:

•        Acquisition and adaptation of specific technologies (equipment and software) needed to improve their competitiveness;

•        Acquisition and or provision of technical support and expertise necessary to maximize the use of equipment, processes or systems for technologies to improve their competitiveness;

•        Training of staff to maximize productivity through the use of new or the adaptation of existing technologies to improve their competitiveness.

Future of Work – Creating High Value Jobs for a High Income Rwanda

Fears of ‘robots replacing humans’, misplaced or accurate, have been expressed globally with the advent of the Future of Work.  Disruptive technologies have always brought with them both positive and negative effects.

McKinsey’s 2017 report estimates high percentages of jobs in African countries that will be automated – 52% in Kenya, 46% in Nigeria and 50% in Ethiopia.

 Industry 4.0 does not only lead to job losses due to automation, it also creates unprecedented opportunities for our youth into new types of jobs based on problem solving, creativity and innovation. We need to prepare our youth for those opportunities.

NIRDA aims to address this issue in Rwanda working closely with actors in government and in the private sector, to train and encourage enterprises to innovate around value chains.

Through its value chain approach strategy, NIRDA is able to distinguish where automation is needed and where human capacity is crucial. The future of work must be actively infused into our industries including in existing traditional value chains.

Introducing the Dreamers

NIRDA intends to not only partner with existing industries to increase production of competitive products, but also create spaces for young innovators to design, prototype and most importantly, dream.

What better way is there to create sustainable frameworks than by training talented youth as future custodians of smart technologies in Rwanda? NIRDA will be a central space where new and old technologies meet and become solutions for Rwanda's current and future challenges.

At the moment, NIRDA is engaged in creating two state of the art facilities – a STEM product development facility and a Life Sciences facility.

The youth talent nurtured in these facilities will be able to ideate, introduce and test new technologies, processes and products for value addition, as well as adapt and prototype new and complex technologies relevant to Rwanda’s context.

All this wouldn’t be successfully implemented without collaboration, and to this end, NIRDA is bent on strengthening its partnerships with academia, private sector and government institutions.

A cooperative, supportive environment for sharing knowledge, information and experience is crucial, so as to identify bottlenecks to the effective use of innovation.

Importantly, NIRDA will also focus on enabling firms to adapt technologies that promote resource efficiency and clean production, which demonstrate low carbon outputs and are climate change resilient.

The common red thread running through Rwanda’s focus on reducing its trade deficit and diversifying its export base is to use smart technologies to develop its nascent industries.

This approach is the future, as today’s socio-economic fabric is interwoven with technology. It is urgent that we understand and leverage early adoption of new technologies to boost industrialization. The quicker we do this; Rwanda’s vision of becoming a knowledge-based economy will happen much sooner than we think!

The writer is the Director General, NIRDA