Kigali is building an innovation city. Here is what it plans to bring together.

Kigali Innovation City is a mixed-use, master-planned innovation city being developed on about 60 to 70 hectares in Kigali’s Special Economic Zone, in Gasabo District. It aims to facilitate the development of pan-African talent and to act as a technology innovation hub.

What is planned

The plan includes four universities, office space, startup incubators, and supporting retail, hospitality and accommodation. Carnegie Mellon University Africa is already based in Kigali Innovation City, along with large corporations and technology companies. The Government of Rwanda hopes to attract domestic and foreign universities, technology firms and biotech companies.

How it is organised

The project is part of Rwanda’s Vision 2020 programme and a public-private partnership between the government and Africa50, an infrastructure investment platform founded by the African Development Bank and African states, which is a co-sponsor and partner in financing it.

Kigali has also drawn the attention of other African hubs. In 2019 Nigeria’s CcHUB opened a design lab in Kigali. For founders weighing where to base a company, the city represents a bet that deliberate planning, with universities and startups in one place, can compete with hubs that grew organically.