Rwanda ICT And Innovation Minister Paula Ingabire Received $7.5M From Gates Foundation To Build Out AI Scaling Hub
Rwanda is scaling up its stake in AI.
ICT and Innovation Minister Paula Ingabire is an active player in the country’s path forward in AI. Her bio reads that she is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s system design and management program, jointly offered by the School of Engineering and Sloan School of Management. She also has a bachelor’s in computer engineering and information technology from the former Kigali Institute of Science and Technology.
Her career trajectory includes time at the Rwanda Information Society Authority as a business and private sector development officer and head of the ICT Business Development Department of the Rwanda Development Board. She was also a coordinator at the Kigali Innovation City Project, where she brought in talent by creating “high-value academic centers,” according to her LinkedIn profile.
Based on Ingabire’s LinkedIn, in her current role, she strategically oversees policy, infrastructure, and partnerships to advance Rwanda’s technology sector. Her profile also explains that she is guided by inclusivity, digital transformation, and innovation, and seeks to make Rwanda a leading digital hub on the continent.
$7.5M To Build AI Scaling Hub
Rwanda is well on its way with Time reporting that the Rwanda AI Scaling Hub is in the works. In April, Ingabire’s ministry received $7.5 million from the Gates Foundation to build the hub, the outlet reports. It will be deployed over three years, according to a press release, and there are talks to plant hubs in Senegal, Kenya, and Nigeria.
“We’re excited about this partnership with the Gates Foundation around the AI Scaling Hub, designed to be a platform where we can scale AI solutions — starting with three sectors: health care, agriculture, and education,” Ingabire said in a press release.
president of also made a statement in a press release.
“The Gates Foundation is proud to support the launch of the first AI Scaling Hub, in partnership with the Rwanda Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Government of Rwanda. We look forward to continuing this effort with partners across the continent, working together to break down barriers to scale and help move promising AI innovation to impact,” Mundel stated in April 2025.
