Cenfri contributes to building the fundamentals of welfare-enhancing digital economies. We prioritise digital transformation that is inclusive, sustainable, opportunity-creating and has appropriate safeguards. Digital transformation underpins much of our work and ranges from payments digitalisation to digital economy diagnostics, and digital skills assessments to direct digitalisation support.
Cenfri also collaborates with policymakers and other public and private sector stakeholders in data-driven decision-making that is calibrated to the data available and is designed to strengthen the existing skills and data governance processes within these organisations. The Rwanda Economy Digitalisation Programme is our flagship evidence-informed policymaking and data-for-decisions intervention, but we have considerable experience in using evidence to generate insights and inform policymaking and business decision-making with a view to improved economic development outcomes. Our expertise in data, payments and digital identity enables us to contribute to current DPI (digital public infrastructure) conversations.
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
Sharon Akanyana’s use of data has lifted Ishyo Foods from startup to scale-up. Ishyo Foods began as a small jam company operating from a home kitchen with just one person at the helm. In eight years, it has grown from producing jam to making yoghurt, scaling up from using about
Across Africa, as elsewhere in the world, governments are increasingly aware that data is essential for effective policymaking. Yet when ministries and agencies take the first steps toward using their data more systematically, they encounter a familiar set of technical and institutional challenges. These challenges are not unique to any
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
The global data governance landscape is rapidly evolving, presenting an opportune moment for African policymakers to reassess the role of domestic data protection authorities. A key aspect to good data governance is balancing the tension between enabling innovation in data driven technologies and protecting individual rights. Since 2016, African states have tended towards
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
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
Sharon Akanyana’s use of data has lifted Ishyo Foods from startup to scale-up. Ishyo Foods began as a small jam company operating from a home kitchen with just one person at the helm. In eight years, it has grown from producing jam to making yoghurt, scaling up from using about
Across Africa, as elsewhere in the world, governments are increasingly aware that data is essential for effective policymaking. Yet when ministries and agencies take the first steps toward using their data more systematically, they encounter a familiar set of technical and institutional challenges. These challenges are not unique to any
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
The global data governance landscape is rapidly evolving, presenting an opportune moment for African policymakers to reassess the role of domestic data protection authorities. A key aspect to good data governance is balancing the tension between enabling innovation in data driven technologies and protecting individual rights. Since 2016, African states have tended towards
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
