Carnegie Mellon boosts Kigali tech leaders

Carnegie Mellon University’s commitment to educating Africa’s next generation of technology leaders and entrepreneurs received a boost yesterday with a $10.8 million commitment from The MasterCard Foundation.This new partnership, which will be established at Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering program in Kigali, Rwanda, will benefit 125 academically talented but economically disadvantaged students from Sub-Saharan Africa as part of The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program.

Carnegie Mellon University will join a global network of 23 Scholars Program partners, comprising educational institutions that are committed to developing Africa’s young leaders. These Scholars will go on to use their knowledge and skills to lead change in their communities and contribute to meaningful transformation across the continent.
Since 2011, Carnegie Mellon University in Rwanda has contributed to enhancing the quality of the engineering workforce in Africa. This effort has addressed the critical shortage of information and communication technology (ICT) skills required for Africa to compete in the Fourth Industrial Revolution where physical, cyber and biological systems converge through information, computing and communication technologies to transform the lives and livelihoods of citizens around the world in unprecedented ways.

The talented graduates of Carnegie Mellon in Rwanda play a strategic role in Africa’s trajectory, leveraging ICT to digitally leapfrog socio-economic development across the continent. With transformative support from The MasterCard Foundation, Carnegie Mellon will be able to multiply its impact on higher education and the ICT sector in Africa, as part of the Rwandan government’s vision to create a Regional Center of Excellence in ICT and to serve as a technological hub for the region.

“We are excited to partner with Carnegie Mellon University in Rwanda, an exceptional institution committed to training the next generation of African engineers, innovators and entrepreneurs to meet pressing global challenges,” said Reeta Roy, President and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation. “Investment in STEM education is pivotal to Africa’s future and will ensure that African nations have the opportunity to identify, develop and deploy their wealth of talent.”