The African Development Bank (AfDB) has signed a grant agreement with the Ministry of ICT and Innovation to support Rwanda Coding Academy.

The country’s first public coding school was established to develop talent in the tech industry in order to drive the country’s digital ambitions.

It attracts high school level students who want to pursue a career in coding and computer science.

The academy, which was launched in 2019, selects high performing students and trains them in advanced software programming and cybersecurity skills to facilitate their emergence as world-class programmers.

According to a statement from the Bank, the grant funding of $150,000 (over Rwf140 million),  from the Rockefeller Trust Fund, which the Bank administers, will be directed to the acquisition of computers and furniture equipment for an ultra-modern innovation centre of excellence, internet connectivity, teacher training and organization of job career orientation events.

Paula Ingabire, Rwanda’s Minister for ICT and Innovation said the partnership with the African Development Bank.

"The Rwanda Coding Academy is part of our broader vision to grow a local pool of highly talented Pan-African workforce in science, technology and innovation,” she said, adding that the academy’s learning model requires robust digital infrastructure and a dynamic teaching approach from the instructors.

The grant will also be used to finance on-job training for teachers and equipping the school with the necessary tools to facilitate the learning experience of students.

Nnenna Nwabufo, Acting Director-General for the African Development Bank’s Eastern Region. Said that this proof-of-concept has profound implications on how the education sector can adopt an effective response to the persistent skills mismatches in the labour market, not only in Rwandan but in Africa at large.

"This collaboration between the Bank and the Government of Rwanda aims to demonstrate that empowering African youth with demand-driven skills and providing them with opportunities to be part of the ICT ecosystem as early as possible will enable them to claim their space in the digital sector and be equal drivers of innovative ideas that are shaping the present and the future of Africa and the globe,” she said.