Rwanda, a country located in the Eastern part of Africa, is quietly championing artificial intelligence innovation across the continent. The country, which is already considered a leader in innovation and technology, is now on pace to become the central hub for AI research in Africa.
InstaDeep Set to Establish AI Hub in Rwanda
The New Times reported on Monday that a London-based technology company InstaDeep is planning to expand Rwanda with the mission of strengthening the African AI ecosystem. The CEO of the company, Karim Beguir, made this known during an annual meeting of the African machine learning and artificial intelligence community.
InstaDeep intends to open offices in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, amid the country’s friendly stance and policy on AI.
“Rwanda is at the forefront of policy, with the recent example of hosting a top AI global conference–ICLR–for the first time in Africa. Having an office in Kigali makes it possible for us to give many more opportunities for African AI talent from all corners of the continent,” said Arnu Pretorius, InstaDeep’s head of AI research in Africa.
According to the reports, Rwanda is among the first major economies in Africa to introduce a national policy on AI. The policy establishes the guidelines for AI literacy, infrastructure, data strategy, and adoption in both the public and private sectors in Rwanda.
By launching the AI policy, Minister of ICT and Innovation Paula Ingabire noted that Rwanda was positioning itself as the leading destination in Africa, exploring and developing AI technologies contextualised for the African continent.
“To achieve this vision, the country has adopted an ambitious plan to leverage the power of AI to drive economic growth, enhance public service delivery, and foster inclusive and sustainable development,” said Ingabire.
Google is also Leading the AI Movement in Africa
Besides InstaDeep, several companies have been driving AI adoption across Africa, including tech giant Google.
In August, Cryptopolitan reported that Google launched an accelerator program for AI startups called the “Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First” to bolster African startups employing the technology to address local challenges.
The program offers startup founders access to a wealth of benefits, including access to Google’s AI expertise, technical resources, and a remarkable $350,000 in Google Cloud Credits.
