Rwanda’s Minister of ICT, Paula Ingabire, joined the AI & Digital Transformation Roundtable at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi today, staking out an ambitious position for the continent in the global artificial intelligence race: Africa must be a co-designer of AI — not a passive consumer.
Speaking before an audience of regional policymakers, technology leaders, and digital economy investors, Minister Ingabire made clear that the continent’s engagement with AI cannot be limited to adopting tools and platforms built elsewhere.
Africa, she argued, must be present and influential in the rooms where the foundational decisions about AI are being made.
To drive that vision, Minister Ingabire anchored her address around three pillars she described as the continent’s non-negotiable foundation: Infrastructure, Skills, and Governance.
She warned that without sustained investment across all three, Africa risks becoming a marketplace for foreign AI products rather than a producer of homegrown solutions tailored to its own needs and realities.
The Minister’s case was backed by powerful numbers. Africa is home to the world’s youngest population — a demographic dividend that, properly harnessed through education and digital skills development, could position the continent as a global hub for AI talent and innovation.
Meanwhile, Africa’s digital economy is on course to exceed $180 billion this year, signalling that the market depth and momentum to support serious technological ambition already exist.
“The opportunity is ours to shape,” she said — a statement that resonated as both a challenge and a rallying call to every stakeholder in the room.
As Rwanda’s ICT Minister, Ingabire has been a prominent voice in shaping the country’s digital agenda, and her remarks at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi position Rwanda once again at the forefront of Africa’s technology policy conversation.
