The National AI Policy

Introduction and vision

Rwanda's national AI policy aims to leverage artificial intelligence for economic growth, improved quality of life, and responsible innovation, with a vision of positioning the country as an African innovation leader and global center for responsible AI research. The policy pursues five national objectives: establishing Rwanda as Africa's leading AI nation, building AI skills, creating an open and secure data ecosystem, driving public sector AI adoption, and accelerating private sector responsible AI use.

Skills, infrastructure and data strategy

The policy recommends investing in workforce reskilling, establishing university-level AI education and research programs, integrating AI into school curricula, facilitating student and professional exchange, and ensuring affordable access to computing resources and cloud infrastructure for Rwandan companies and researchers. The policy directs the government to establish a multi-sectoral task force to develop data governance frameworks for ethical and secure data sharing, guide public sector digitization and AI-readiness, and position Rwanda as a host for regional and continental cloud infrastructure.

Public sector AI adoption and ecosystem support

The policy requires strengthening regulatory capacity in AI, establishing partnerships to measure Rwanda's global AI competitiveness, investing in public service improvement through AI pilots and capacity building, supporting private sector adoption through use case identification and financing, and establishing a Presidential Council on AI. The government will promote Rwanda's ethical AI guidelines through the national AI community, with implementation led by RURA, to ensure AI solutions benefit citizens without causing harm.

Policy framework and responsible AI office

The policy establishes a framework for responsible AI adoption in Rwanda with an annual consultation forum, a network of government AI Ethics Officers, and international participation in AI governance platforms such as OECD, UNESCO, and the African Union. It includes sectoral deep-dives for healthcare, banking, e-commerce, transportation, and agriculture, alongside ethical guidelines to manage risks and capture opportunities, and proposes creating a Responsible AI Office within the Ministry of ICT to coordinate implementation, lead domestic responsible AI efforts, and represent Rwanda in global AI policy forums. The Responsible AI Office will coordinate key actors and drive action through the Ministry of ICT to accelerate AI adoption in Rwanda, achieving objectives linked to sustainable and inclusive development and capacity building.

Skills development and workforce training

The policy requires conducting skills gap assessments, establishing professional training programs, implementing tax relief and grants for employers, and rolling out annual AI-related meet-ups, while also establishing industry-led apprenticeship frameworks. It mandates creating public-private funding for advanced degrees abroad, coordinating university partnerships and online courses, integrating AI and data science into university curricula and secondary school education, establishing train-the-trainer programs for teachers, and creating national tech labs in schools, with indicators tracking the number of trained professionals, graduating students, international collaboration programs, and citations in AI papers. Tracks enrolment of foreign scholars in AI-related university courses and their participation in research initiatives based in Rwanda.

Infrastructure and data strategy

Establishes measures to monitor how many AI professionals trained in Rwanda relocate to other countries for work, and defines actions to attract and retain skilled talent through immigration reform, workforce platforms, and awareness campaigns. Creates conditions for affordable, secure, and scalable computing infrastructure and cloud services, with an intended outcome of establishing a pan-African hub featuring a high-capacity data center in Rwanda. The policy requires developing a roadmap for establishing a continental hyperscale data center and upgrading Rwanda's internet throughput to ensure low latency and high network quality.

Capacity building and global positioning

Rwanda must establish a multi-sectoral taskforce to develop data sharing frameworks, create local data value-chains, improve AI-readiness of public datasets, develop procurement guidelines that incentivize data sharing, conduct feasibility studies for data sharing platforms, and organize workshops and capacity building to encourage data sharing among public and private stakeholders, while also establishing an AI policy and regulatory capacity building program aligned with global standards. Rwanda aims to train civil servants in AI policy implementation and establish itself as an African and global leader in AI by developing an annual AI Readiness Index, adopting a global AI Maturity Index, and conducting workshops with ministries and agencies. The policy targets improved public service delivery through AI adoption in government, including capacity building programs, procurement guidelines, hackathons, and a shared risk fund for AI projects in public institutions.

Private sector AI adoption and ecosystem development

Rwanda will promote private sector AI investment by organizing workshops with industry experts, conducting economic impact studies, establishing five National AI Projects, and developing sector-specific deployment plans. The policy also aims to build a strong startup ecosystem through a Technical Assistance Facility, co-investment funds alongside Angel and venture capital investors, an industry program for joint innovation, and a sandbox platform for matching AI companies with opportunities. Rwanda will apply to join international and regional platforms on AI governance, such as the OECD AI Policy Observatory and Global Partnership on AI, to provide thought-leadership on AI governance and position itself as a leader in guiding adoption of standard guidelines across partner countries.