Rwanda aspiring to become hub for AI, nuclear research in Africa

Rwanda has recently signed two landmark deals that may see the East African country become a hub for research in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and nuclear energy — both of which are part of Rwanda’s ambitious aspirations to become an upper-middle income country by 2035, and a high-income country by 2050.

Rwanda has been chosen by a global technology company for its new office from which to conduct AI research and solutions for Africa. The London-based company, InstaDeep, has recently opened its office in Kigali, with the mission to strengthen African AI. Artificial Intelligence, commonly known as AI, is any technology that enables machines to emulate human capabilities to sense, comprehend, and act.

According to Tunisia-born Karim Beguir, InstaDeep CEO, “it makes sense to deploy and grow our team in Kigali as Rwanda emerges as a leader in building the economy of the future. We’re excited to share this news at the Deep Learning Indaba with this dynamic community of African AI researchers and developers.”

While the Rwandan government estimates a potential AI ecosystem worth $589 million in the next five years, implementing the policy will require an investment worth $76.5 million within the same period.
The government also seeks to turn Rwanda into a nuclear energy hub in Africa, when it recently signed a nuclear energy generation deal with Canadian-German nuclear company, Dual Fluid, as the country takes a big step in exploring nuclear in expanding its energy sources needed to power its development.

The first outcome of the deal will be the construction of a demonstration Dual Fluid nuclear reactor in the country, to be operational by 2026, which will be followed by testing of the Dual Fluid technology, to be completed by 2028. The nuclear energy project is expected to contribute up to 300 MW to the grid, according to the CEO of Rwanda Atomic Energy Board (Raeb), Ndahayo Fidele. “This deal is intended to expand Rwanda’s energy generation mix, Dual Fluid has patents to this technology, it will provide laboratory equipment and set it up, train our people in this technology and conduct tests,” Fidele added.