By Mubiru Ivan
Rwanda has started to construct the Kigali Innovation City, which is poised to have a Pan-African human and economic development impact to step up Africa’s transformation agenda.
The Kigali Innovation City (KIC), a Private Public Partnership between the Government of Rwanda and Africa50, an infrastructure investment platform that was founded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and African states, will serve as the continent’s Silicon Valley;-emulating Silicon Valley located in San Francisco Bay Area of California and home to tech giants Apple, Facebook and Google.
According to Africabusinesscommunities.com, the Innovation city is a flagship, pan-African project whose final value could approach $2 billion. It will house international universities, technology companies, biotech firms, and commercial and retail real estate in an area of 70 hectares.
As a key component of Rwandan government’s Vision 2020 development program, Kigali Innovation City aims to attract technology companies from all over the world to Rwanda to create an innovation ecosystem and further a knowledge-based economy.
It should create over 50,000 jobs and generate $150 million in ICT exports annually, as well as attracting over $300 million in foreign direct investment. Over 2600 students are expected to graduate annually from its universities over 30 years, adding to Rwanda’s and Africa’s pool of tech-savvy entrepreneurs.
Africa50 will invest $400 million into the project to “help boost the innovation ecosystem in one of Africa’s top knowledge cities,” the AfDB pledged during the recent Africa Investment Forum held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Rwandan government said Africa50 will focus on the real estate portion of the project which includes building retail and commercial complexes estimated to cost $315 million. They will also work on the Digital Innovation Precinct which will house all the technology companies in Kigali Innovation City and residential facilities for the employees working for companies within the ecosystem.
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