The Ministry of ICT and Innovation (MINICT) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) sign a technical cooperation agreement that will enable the launch of a four-years project named “Digital and Innovation Promotion Project”.

The purpose of the project is to establish market creation for an innovation model for a vibrant ICT sector in Rwanda and support Rwanda’s journey of becoming an ICT hub in Africa. The project will focus on four major outputs, namely;

• Strengthening an entrepreneurship supply system by improving a nationwide ICT entrepreneur support environment,
• Strengthening innovation ecosystem of Rwanda through market creation,
• Building the capacity of government officials for orchestrating ICT related initiatives within Rwanda, and;
• Establishing “Rwanda Model” by expanding the market for innovation.

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Yves IRADUKUNDA, The Permanent Secretary of The Ministry of ICT and Innovation says “We are excited to renew our long term partnership with JICA. This phase will prioritize the digitalization of services and the expansion of our innovation ecosystem as a part of Rwanda's vision to become the leading ICT Hub in Africa.”

Mr. MARUO Shin, Chief representative of JICA Rwanda Office says “We are excited about Rwanda’s national transformation journey through digitilization and happy to support the efforts of Rwandan Government to position herself as an ICT HUB in Africa. This year,  the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8) will be held in Tunisia, and we expect Rwandan achievements in ICT sector and JICA’s contribution to be highlighted in the context of Digital Transformation agenda.”

The new project will specifically contribute to the already established innovation ecosystem mechanism and create the Rwanda Model that could be duplicated in other African countries.

For more than a decade, JICA has provided support for ICT sector in Rwanda. Since 2010, JICA has supported the sector by dispatching ICT advisors, establishing incubation centers such as Fablab and Klab, conducting “the ICT Innovation Ecosystem Strenghening Project” to build an ICT innovation ecosystem and contributing into realization of “Smart Rwanda Master Plan”.