In partnership with
The Rwanda Economy Digitalisation Programme is a six-year digital transformation initiative by the Government of Rwanda, the Mastercard Foundation and Cenfri. The programme works with 71point4 and policymakers to develop evidence-based and inclusive policies to reduce poverty and digitise the Rwandan economy.
For more information on this programme, download the brochure or email either the Director General of Innovation and Emerging Technologies at MINICT at ekunda@minict.gov.rw or Cenfri Rwanda’s Country and Partnerships Policy Lead at Arlette@cenfri.org.
How Izere Services and Trading Ltd used discipline, compliance, and digital tools to graduate from a single Rwandan hotel’s backup supplier into a business ready to sell directly to consumers. For most business-to-business (B2B) suppliers, selling directly to individual consumers is not a natural next step. It requires a level
For as long as Rwanda’s Labour Force Survey has existed, someone has had to read a person’s description of their work, written in Kinyarwanda, and match it to a code. Not just any code, but the right line in the International Standard Industrial Classification, one out of thousands of possible
When Bella Twizerimana foreclosed on two houses during her time as a bank manager, she made a decision that would eventually reshape a corner of Musanze, Rwanda’s, economy. She couldn’t do it again. Watching people lose their homes through a system she was part of pushed her out of banking
Hawa Chloe Niyigena built a Rwandan juice company from scratch in her family’s kitchen but transitioning the business from survival to strategy meant learning to trust data over instinct. For years, Niyigena believed passion fruit was the backbone of her juice business. It was consistently moving in high volumes, and
Rwanda’s public sector has, over time, built substantial digital systems across ministries and agencies. These systems generate large volumes of administrative and operational data. Yet the presence of data has not always translated into its effective use. Across institutions, a consistent gap emerged. Data existed, often in large quantities, but
Introduction Harnessing the transformative potential of AI for positive outcomes requires careful navigation by decision-makers. To support this process, Cenfri has developed an AI Implementation Framework to help public sector decision-makers in emerging economies assess how AI tools should be integrated, localised, governed, and safeguarded within their specific institutional contexts.
At WASAC, Rwanda’s Water and Sanitation Corporation, data once sat in silos, fragmented, delayed, and difficult to act on. Today, its leadership can track water connection, consumption, revenue, production, and cost in near real-time through an executive dashboard. This data dashboard was developed as part of the Rwanda Economy Digitalisation
Across Rwanda’s ministries and agencies, years of digital investment have produced large volumes of data. The digitisation effort led to numerous government services being made available online, and the further development of infrastructure to support that. Even though that has been achieved an important task remains and that is the
Across the world, countries are exploring the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform public services, economic growth, and governance. Rwanda is no exception. At present, the country leverages AI models developed externally, including systems such as ChatGPT and other similar LLMs (large language models). There is growing ambition to develop locally built AI systems for national
Too often, financial systems overlook the lived realities of women, leading to products, policies, and market structures that do not adequately serve them. In an effort to change this, Cenfri applies a gender lens across its financial inclusion and market diagnostics work. We have developed a portfolio of related work
How Izere Services and Trading Ltd used discipline, compliance, and digital tools to graduate from a single Rwandan hotel’s backup supplier into a business ready to sell directly to consumers. For most business-to-business (B2B) suppliers, selling directly to individual consumers is not a natural next step. It requires a level
For as long as Rwanda’s Labour Force Survey has existed, someone has had to read a person’s description of their work, written in Kinyarwanda, and match it to a code. Not just any code, but the right line in the International Standard Industrial Classification, one out of thousands of possible
When Bella Twizerimana foreclosed on two houses during her time as a bank manager, she made a decision that would eventually reshape a corner of Musanze, Rwanda’s, economy. She couldn’t do it again. Watching people lose their homes through a system she was part of pushed her out of banking
Hawa Chloe Niyigena built a Rwandan juice company from scratch in her family’s kitchen but transitioning the business from survival to strategy meant learning to trust data over instinct. For years, Niyigena believed passion fruit was the backbone of her juice business. It was consistently moving in high volumes, and
Rwanda’s public sector has, over time, built substantial digital systems across ministries and agencies. These systems generate large volumes of administrative and operational data. Yet the presence of data has not always translated into its effective use. Across institutions, a consistent gap emerged. Data existed, often in large quantities, but
Introduction Harnessing the transformative potential of AI for positive outcomes requires careful navigation by decision-makers. To support this process, Cenfri has developed an AI Implementation Framework to help public sector decision-makers in emerging economies assess how AI tools should be integrated, localised, governed, and safeguarded within their specific institutional contexts.
At WASAC, Rwanda’s Water and Sanitation Corporation, data once sat in silos, fragmented, delayed, and difficult to act on. Today, its leadership can track water connection, consumption, revenue, production, and cost in near real-time through an executive dashboard. This data dashboard was developed as part of the Rwanda Economy Digitalisation
Across Rwanda’s ministries and agencies, years of digital investment have produced large volumes of data. The digitisation effort led to numerous government services being made available online, and the further development of infrastructure to support that. Even though that has been achieved an important task remains and that is the
Across the world, countries are exploring the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform public services, economic growth, and governance. Rwanda is no exception. At present, the country leverages AI models developed externally, including systems such as ChatGPT and other similar LLMs (large language models). There is growing ambition to develop locally built AI systems for national
Too often, financial systems overlook the lived realities of women, leading to products, policies, and market structures that do not adequately serve them. In an effort to change this, Cenfri applies a gender lens across its financial inclusion and market diagnostics work. We have developed a portfolio of related work
