Rwanda has been working to position itself as an ICT hub for the continent through continued investment in digital infrastructure, education, and innovation.
This year, Kigali hosted the biggest gathering on mobile technology, the Mobile World Congress (MWC), bringing together leaders from across Africa’s digital and telecommunications sectors to discuss innovations shaping the continent’s connectivity and digital transformation.
Speaking to The New Times, James Zhang, Vice President of Carrier Sales at Huawei Technologies, lauded Rwanda’s digital ambition and infrastructure as a model for Africa.
He noted that the country has all it takes to become the continent’s hub for artificial intelligence (AI) and ICT.
Below are the excerpts;
From Huawei’s perspective, how can Africa and Rwanda improve their digital connectivity and infrastructure?
As one of the most visionary countries, Rwanda is actively building the foundation of a connected continent, such as national broadband, Cloud, and data centers, etc.
The AI and ICT Hubs, such as Singapore in Southeast Asia, UAE's Dubai in the Middle East, and Ireland in Europe, are all small in land. Still, they are very strong in the ICT area because they have a clear vision and focus on ICT infrastructure and education.
Rwanda also has a powerful vision and practical actions. Rwanda is cultivating DICT talents through smart education initiative in 1,500 schools.
I believe that Rwanda continues to advance along this strategy and is bound to become Africa's ICT Hub.
In Singapore, Dubai, and Ireland, their network is the best in their region, not just slightly better, but much better.
If you want to introduce an AI company, and it takes three months to download data from servers, how can it work? The best infrastructure for universities and startups is very important, and I think Rwanda already has one of the best infrastructures on the African continent.
If Rwanda combines strong ICT infrastructure with top talents, it can become the ICT hub in Africa. Huawei is committed to working with governments and operators together, not only to expand connectivity but also to build the AI and digital infrastructure that empowers people and businesses across the continent.
What role does Huawei see for AI in Africa’s development, and how can Rwanda benefit from it?
Now is the right time for an AI vision and policy. In the past, AI was mainly driven by hyperscalers. These large companies from both the East and the West relied on massive computing power and large models to advance AI, thereby creating a high barrier to entry for improving AI..
But now, open-source models have arrived, and they lower the barrier for every country, every company and every person to use AI.
I think Rwanda can benefit from AI by introducing it first into its own applications, like local language models, digital tools, or apps focused on markets such as mobile payments.
If we move in the right direction and focus on practical use, progress will come faster and faster.
This year’s MWC also highlights Africa’s digital frontier. What defines that frontier, and how is Huawei working with Rwanda to reach it?
The digital frontier can mean technology leadership, being first or most advanced. But another way to see it is how technology becomes the core engine of industrial transformation.
In China, AI is enabling all industries as soon as possible, such as agriculture, mining, education, and other sectors.
Rwanda represents this frontier spirit perfectly — investing in national cloud, e-government, digital education, and AI governance, and accelerating AI adoption in health care, education.
Developing AI is a step-by-step process. First comes connectivity, then infrastructure, then large models, and then applications. It’s like a pyramid.
When the government has a strong vision, investors gain confidence to invest.
Huawei remains a long-term partner in Rwanda’s digital journey: Supporting the development of key national AI and DICT infrastructure as an essential enabler for public services and the digital economy; Working with stakeholders to advance AI and digital talent initiatives — as highlighted during the recent Smart Education Project Completion Ceremony; And contributing to Rwanda’s vision of becoming a regional model for sustainable and inclusive digital transformation.
In short, the next frontier is African-led innovation — and Huawei stands ready to build it together.
