The construction of the Kigali Innovation City, Rwanda’s flagship project for the development of an innovation hub in Africa, is set to commence in September this year.
It was earlier planned to commence in the year 2022.
The development was made on 31st of may during the signing of implementation agreement by the Finance Minister of Rwanda Uzziel Ndagijimana and Alain Ebobissé Chief Executive Officer of Africa50, a pan-African infrastructure investment firm.
It happened during the sidelines of the African Development Bank Annual Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, that Ndagijimana was present at.
Construction cost
The cost of infrastructure development of the project aimed at positioning Kigali as a regional hub for innovation is expected to cost $300 million and will be developed near the Special Economic Zone.
As per its master plan formulated in 2021 the City will be spread over 61 hectares of land and will have world-class universities, offices, and start-up business incubator, technology companies, bio-tech firms including support infrastructure for retail, food and beverage, and accommodation.
To date, there are already three structures that are within the city these are; African Leadership University, Carnegie Mellon University Africa and a University of Rwanda.
During the signing ceremony, Ndagijimana noted that the agreement was developed to enhance the acceleration of the implementation part of the project, stressing the technical work devoted to framing it.
KIC is one of the key projects in Rwanda that will significantly enhance our plan to advance the use of digital technologies as well as our mission to develop a knowledge-based economy. ”
According to Ebobissé, the innovation city will position Africa not only as a consumer, but also as a producer of technology; the signed document will finalise the legal requirements for the project’s financing.
Now we can go to the next level of the financial plan and begin construction. Ideally it should begin by September as it is considered when being more realistic about the timeframe. So we can go ahead with this project. ”
He said: “We should develop a culture of delivering things on time. ”
Scope
The support of Africa in infrastructures and facilities will make it possible to establish the ecosystem for Innovation where the local and international organisations can develop different innovations to address the challenges of the continent and other parts of the globe, according to Paula Ingabire, Minister of ICT and Innovation.
”We are very excited about this partnership and the potential to support startups across the continent,” she said.
According to Rwanda Development Board Chief Executive, Francis Gatare the partners used involved have continued to support the realization of the project even with the delays.
We now come to the implementation section. It can no longer be discussions but let’s get down to doing it. ”
Within the implementation regime, the project has drawn more partners such as the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and other development finance institutions and private players on the lending side.
The KIC is projected to bring in $150 million of ICT exports per year, more than $300 million in FDI, and create over 50,000 jobs after its establishment.
Also worth mentioning is that it is expected to have over 2,600 students graduating annually from the Rwandan Universities over the next 30 years to foster Rwandese and Africa’s pool of tech-savvy entrepreneurs.
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