SpaceX confirmed the takeover of xAI , the company behind the Grok chatbot, in a memo from Musk published on its website.
He described the merger as the creation of an “innovation engine” bringing together AI, rockets, satellite internet and media under a single structure.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but a source familiar with the deal said xAI was valued at about $125bn, while SpaceX was pegged at $1tn, potentially making it the world’s most valuable private company.
The move follows Tesla’s $2bn investment in xAI announced last month. At the time, Musk told Tesla investors that xAI could act as an “orchestra conductor” for the company’s factories, particularly as it shifts toward autonomous robots. Tesla has since said it will stop producing two vehicle models to focus on robotics, a decision that faced resistance from some shareholders.
Industry analysts see the deal as a step toward a future stock market debut. Emily Zheng, a senior analyst at Pitchbook, said the consolidation “has all the markings of a company preparing for a public listing,” citing the high costs of AI infrastructure and energy.
“Consolidating these companies ahead of an IPO [electric car company] allows SpaceX to present a differentiated, capital-efficient growth narrative,” she said.
In the memo, Musk argued that space offers the long-term solution to AI’s energy demands.
“In the long term, space-based AI is obviously the only way to scale,” he wrote, pointing to AI satellites and space-based data centres as a near-term focus.
xAI, which emerged from X (formerly Twitter), has also faced scrutiny in Europe over Grok’s image-generation features. The company said it has since imposed new restrictions on users.
At the same time, the Commission extended an ongoing investigation opened in December 2023 into X’s compliance with rules governing recommender systems.
According to the Commission, the new probe will assess whether X properly identified and mitigated risks linked to the integration of Grok’s functionalities on its platform within the European Union.
These include risks related to the spread of illegal content, such as manipulated sexually explicit material, including content that may amount to child sexual abuse material. The Commission said such risks appear to have materialised, potentially exposing EU citizens to serious harm.
Investigators will examine whether X met its obligations to assess and mitigate systemic risks, including those related to gender-based violence and negative effects on users’ physical and mental well-being.
The Commission will also check whether X conducted and submitted a required ad hoc risk assessment report on Grok before deploying its functionalities.
Separately, the Commission has widened its earlier investigation to determine whether X adequately addressed all systemic risks associated with its recommender systems, including its recent shift to a Grok-based recommender model.
Indonesia announced on Saturday that it was temporarily blocking access to Grok, citing serious concerns over the production of sexualized deepfakes. A day later, Malaysia followed suit, saying it had suspended access to the chatbot while regulators assess whether adequate safeguards are in place.
“The government views the practice of non-consensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of human rights, dignity and the security of citizens in the digital space,” Indonesia’s minister of communications and digital affairs, Meutya Hafid, said in a statement. Indonesian authorities have also reportedly summoned representatives of X, the social media platform owned by Musk that is closely integrated with Grok, to discuss the issue.
In Malaysia, the Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said the temporary block followed repeated misuse of Grok to generate “obscene, sexually explicit, indecent, grossly offensive, and non-consensual manipulated images,” including content involving women and minors. The regulator said it had previously issued notices to X Corp and xAI on Jan. 3 and Jan. 8, demanding technical protection measures that were not sufficiently implemented.
“This temporary ban is imposed as a reasonable precautionary measure while the legislative and regulatory process is still ongoing,” the MCMC said, adding that access to Grok would remain restricted until effective safeguards, particularly to protect women and children, are in place.
The actions by Malaysia and Indonesia represent the most aggressive response so far to a controversy that has drawn attention from regulators worldwide. In recent weeks, Grok has generated sexualized AI images, sometimes depicting violence, when prompted by users on X. X and xAI are part of the same corporate group.
Elsewhere, India’s IT ministry has ordered xAI to take steps to prevent Grok from producing obscene content, while the European Commission has instructed the company to preserve documents related to the chatbot, potentially paving the way for a formal investigation. In the United Kingdom, media regulator Ofcom has said it will conduct a swift assessment to determine whether there are compliance issues that warrant action, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer voicing support for regulatory intervention.
In the United States, however, the Trump administration has remained largely silent on the issue, even as Democratic senators have urged Apple and Google to remove X from their app stores. Musk, a major Trump donor who previously led the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, has pushed back against criticism, writing in one post that regulators “want any excuse for censorship.”
xAI initially issued an apology via the Grok account, acknowledging that certain posts violated ethical standards and potentially U.S. laws related to child sexual abuse material. While the company later restricted AI image generation to paying X subscribers, the standalone Grok app reportedly continued to allow unrestricted image generation, prompting further backlash.
The event brought together representatives from both the public and private sectors, including major banks, insurers, and national agencies such as Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA), BPR Bank, I&M Bank, BK Insurance, REG, and RURA, among others.
Held at Ubumwe Grande Hotel, the forum focused on strengthening cyber resilience across Rwanda’s rapidly digitising economy. Discussions emphasised the importance of preparedness, clean data recovery, and proactive security approaches as cyber threats continue to evolve globally.
Sachin Jadhav, Country Lead for Computech Rwanda, highlighted the urgency of building stronger institutional cyber resilience at a time when digital threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated. He noted that the event was designed to deepen organisations’ understanding of what true resilience entails, beyond basic security measures and into practical preparedness.
“In today’s world of evolving cyber threats, it’s very important to educate our customers on what to do in case a cyber-attack occurs. How do you back up your data? How do you restore it quickly and cleanly?” he said.
The company plans to host more engagements in the coming months to help clients navigate the fast-changing technology landscape.
“This is something Computech Rwanda will continue doing, educating customers about the different cybersecurity and resilience solutions available and demonstrating how we can help them understand, implement, and support these solutions,” Jadhav added.
Building on Computech’s emphasis on practical preparedness, Commvault, the event’s lead technology partner, demonstrated its cutting-edge cyber resilience solutions. These included cleanroom environments, immutable backups, rapid recovery tools, and automated threat detection systems, showing why modern organisations need multi-layered recovery strategies to counter sophisticated ransomware attacks.
Noel Cynthia Anyango, Marketing Manager for East Africa at Computech, said the forum was part of a broader effort to push organisations to move from reactive to proactive approaches.
“Throughout 2025, we’ve seen organisations across the region struggle with cyber threats. Many are still reactive, waiting for an attack to happen before taking action. Our message is clear: organisations don’t have to wait until a threat is at their door to become immutable and resilient,” she said.
Anyango further reaffirmed Computech’s plan to deepen its engagement with Rwandan institutions.
“Our target is to host quarterly engagements here in Rwanda. For us, it’s not just about doing business, it’s about sharing knowledge, fostering collaboration, and driving real impact.”
The event also highlighted Rwanda’s growing importance as a strategic technology market. Joseph Kinyua, Regional Director at Tech First Gulf, said Rwanda’s digital transformation has made it an attractive destination for technology vendors and distributors.
“People used to think Rwanda was small, but while they were looking the other way, it has grown into a very significant and strategic market,” he noted.
Kinyua also revealed plans for TFG to establish a permanent office in Kigali.
“We’re actively working on opening a TFG office in Rwanda by Q1 2026, with local staff, local billing, and local warehousing. You’ll be seeing a lot more of TFG here in the coming months and years,” he said.
On the customer engagement side, Briceline Uwonkunda, Client-Focused Account Manager at Computech, said many organisations still underestimate the impact of ransomware and data breaches.
“Many people feel that cyber attacks won’t reach us, but the reality is that ransomware and other threats are global; they don’t respect borders,” she said.
She added that while Rwanda has not seen widespread public incidents, the risk remains significant.
“You can never say a country or an organisation is 100% safe. The more we digitise, the more attractive we become as a target. That’s why institutions must prepare now, not later.”
Computech is a premier technology partner in Africa that has been operating for nearly four decades. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, the company has a significant regional footprint, with offices across five countries, including Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia.
The company provides comprehensive, end-to-end IT services, including cloud, network infrastructure, enterprise software, and cybersecurity solutions. Computech’s ability to deliver advanced solutions is backed by strategic partnerships with global technology leaders such as Commvault, as well as Oracle, Cisco, Dell, HPE, Microsoft, Huawei, Symantec, Juniper, and NetApp, allowing them to assist major institutions across the public and private sectors in building robust, proactive cyber resilience.
Unveiled on Monday, November 17, 2025, at The Atelier by Design in Kigali, Chidi is built on Anthropic’s Claude model and provides inquiry-driven guidance, contextual understanding, and personalised feedback to help learners develop deeper problem-solving skills.
“This collaboration marks a bold step in redefining how African talent learns, works, and leads in the age of AI,” said Fred Swaniker, Founder and CEO of ALX. “We are ensuring that Africa’s youth are not just consumers of AI, but creators shaping the innovations that will define the global economy.”
The initiative follows a successful Phase 1 rollout of Chidi to ALX learners across Africa, which recorded over 1,100 conversations and 4,000 chats within just two days. Phase 2 expands the technology into Rwanda’s public education system, including the Rwanda Coding Academy, allowing up to 2,000 educators and a select group of civil servants to participate in ALX’s AI Career Essentials programme.
Participants gain hands-on experience using generative AI tools, including Claude Large Language Model, to enhance teaching methods, lesson planning, and workplace productivity. Graduates receive a year of access to Claude Pro, Claude Code, and Claude for Education, ensuring AI literacy continues to shape classrooms and workplaces beyond the program.
Chidi acts as a personalised tutor for students and a teaching partner for educators. It prompts curiosity, encourages critical thinking, and provides guidance without giving away direct answers.
A joint working group from ALX, Anthropic, and the Rwandan government will document insights from the pilot to inform national AI policy in education and develop future innovations, including Chidi for Schools and African language models.
Commitments for the initiative are shared among the partners, with Anthropic covering costs associated with the large language model and API access, ALX providing training, delivery, and implementation infrastructure, and the Government of Rwanda contributing policy guidance, institutional support, and access to schools, without any financial obligations.
The collaboration combines ALX’s focus on nurturing African tech talent, Anthropic’s expertise in safe and responsible AI development, and Rwanda’s progressive approach to digital transformation. Together, the partners aim to provide Africa’s youth with learning tools on par with those available in global tech hubs such as Silicon Valley, Beijing, and London. Plans are already underway to explore expansion to other parts of Rwanda and Africa.
During the ceremony, Swaniker highlighted Chidi’s unique design for African learners, combining high-quality, scalable, and low-cost education with safeguards for reliability and cultural relevance.
“Chidi uses Claude as an ingredient, but we’ve wrapped it in 20+ years of African pedagogy and context. We have over 150 PhDs continuously researching, fine-tuning, and iterating with real African learners. We’re not just consumers of AI, we’re producers, adapting it to our realities,” he said.
Minister of ICT and Innovation Paula Ingabire highlighted Chidi’s role in cultivating curiosity and critical thinking among Rwanda’s youth.
“When my daughter was little, she would ask ‘why?’ about everything. As parents, we sometimes get tired of all the ‘whys,’ but that curiosity is how children truly learn and understand the world. Chidi is designed to do the same, to keep asking ‘why,’ to push our learners, and to help them learn from their mistakes instead of just handing them the answers,” she said.
Joseph Nsengimana, Minister of Education, represented at the ceremony by Pascal Gatabazi, Chief Technical Officer at the Ministry of Education, added that Chidi aligns with Rwanda’s Education Sector Strategic Plan and National Strategy for Transformation, supporting teaching quality, enhancing digital literacy, and driving measurable improvements in student outcomes.
A panel discussion moderated by Nimie Chaylone, General Manager of ALX Rwanda and Kenya, explored the rationale for choosing Africa and Rwanda for the pilot. Drew Benton, who leads Education within Anthropic’s Beneficial Deployments team, emphasised Africa’s young population, talent ecosystem, and capacity for innovation.
“Over half of Africa’s population is under 25, creating an enormous talent ecosystem and opportunity for innovation,” he said.
Early results from Chidi’s use demonstrate significant engagement. Within two weeks of the pilot, learners exchanged 20,000 messages and processed approximately 80 million words of context, showing the platform’s capacity to scale personalised, interactive, and critical-thinking-driven learning.
Learners participating in the pilot praised Chidi for enhancing self-learning and boosting confidence. Shyaka Caleb, a 22-year-old Software Engineering and AI Career Essentials graduate, described Chidi as a “sidekick” that provides in-depth answers and allows learners to ask questions without hesitation.
Giselle Akuzwe, another learner, highlighted how Chidi turned vague project ideas into concrete solutions. “Seeing Chidi rolled out across Rwanda and Africa, especially for girls in tech like me, will be incredibly empowering, not just technically but in bringing our ideas to life,” she remarked.
As Chidi begins its pilot in Rwanda, the initiative signals a new chapter in AI-powered education across Africa. By equipping learners, teachers, and public servants with advanced, safe, and contextually relevant AI tools, the partnership sets a precedent for scalable, transformative learning solutions developed in Africa and shared globally.
The launch, however, came after a brief delay, with Musk explaining that the team needed additional time to “purge out the propaganda.”
At its initial release, GrokPedia featured over 885,000 articles, though technical issues caused the site to briefly go offline. The platform returned later the same day, showcasing a dark-themed homepage with a single search bar and font styling reminiscent of both Wikipedia and the Grok chatbot.
Labeled as “version v0.1,” the site is still in early beta, with a significant gap compared to Wikipedia’s more than seven million English-language articles.
Unlike Wikipedia, GrokPedia is entirely AI-driven. Content is managed and fact-checked by Grok rather than edited by users. Corrections can only be suggested through a form, which the system then reviews.
Each entry includes subheadings and citations, reflecting Wikipedia’s familiar structure. Much of GrokPedia’s content is adapted from Wikipedia itself under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license, allowing reuse with proper credit.
Lauren Dickinson, a spokesperson for the Wikimedia Foundation, said, “Wikipedia’s knowledge is and always will be human. Through open collaboration and consensus, people from all backgrounds build a neutral, living record of human understanding… even GrokPedia needs Wikipedia to exist.”
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Musk has long accused Wikipedia of holding a left-wing bias, claiming the platform gives unfair treatment to conservative viewpoints and relies heavily on liberal-leaning sources. In 2019, he called his own Wikipedia page a “war zone with a zillion edits” on X. Earlier this year, he urged followers to “defund Wikipedia until balance is restored.”
In September, Musk described GrokPedia as a “massive improvement over Wikipedia” and “a necessary step towards the xAI goal of understanding the Universe.”
The launch follows Musk’s pattern of creating alternatives to mainstream platforms he perceives as politically slanted. Notably, Larry Sanger, one of Wikipedia’s cofounders, voiced support for GrokPedia’s creation.
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Unlike Wikipedia, which relies on volunteers to edit and discuss entries, GrokPedia limits public editing to suggested corrections. While this is intended to reduce misinformation, it may slow updates to fast-changing topics.
As of the beta release, the platform lists under 900,000 entries, roughly an eighth of Wikipedia’s English total. Musk has stated that the AI will rapidly expand the database, though the project remains in early testing.
GrokPedia also highlights ideological differences. Users have noted stark contrasts in entries on politically and socially sensitive topics. For example, the AI entry on George Floyd positions him as an “American man with a lengthy criminal record,” while Wikipedia describes him as “an African American man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest.”
Critics argue that GrokPedia, rather than eliminating bias, appears to replace Wikipedia’s perceived left-leaning bias with a more conservative or “anti-woke” perspective. Controversial topics such as transgender issues, U.S. slavery, and Musk’s own biography have sparked debate over content framing and ideological slant.
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Despite Musk positioning GrokPedia as a rival to Wikipedia, early analysis revealed instances of content nearly identical to Wikipedia, with only minor adaptations and a disclaimer noting its source. The AI model, like any large language model, is prone to hallucinations.
Additionally, GrokPedia lacks Wikipedia’s open editing history and decentralised moderation, making independent verification of information difficult. Critics argue that the AI-driven approach, intended to eliminate human bias, may instead reflect the ideological views of its creator and the training data used.
While GrokPedia remains in beta, Musk touts it as “the world’s largest and most accurate knowledge source without centralised control.” It aims to serve both human readers and artificial intelligence models. Whether GrokPedia will evolve into a credible alternative to Wikipedia or remain a controversial, AI-driven encyclopedia will depend on how its content, bias, and reliability are addressed in the coming months.
Spearheaded by the GSMA Handset Affordability Coalition, the initiative unites six major operators, Airtel, Axian Telecom, Ethio Telecom, MTN, Orange, and Vodacom, to lower smartphone costs and expand digital access. According to the organisers, South Africa’s recent exemption of smartphones priced below USD 150 from luxury taxes serves as a model, having boosted connectivity for millions.
President Paul Kagame, opening the event for the third year, underscored the urgency of addressing existing connectivity gaps.
“If this [connectivity] gap persists, the same technology meant to expand access will instead widen inequality,” he warned, tying Rwanda’s vision for a knowledge-based economy to universal access.
Vivek Badrinath, GSMA Director General, emphasised device costs as a key barrier. “Africa’s mobile sector is dynamic, but high device costs must be tackled to make digital inclusion affordable,” he said.
The GSMA Mobile Economy Africa 2025 Report, launched at the event, reveals that 416 million Africans use mobile internet, yet a usage gap of 960 million people, including 790 million in Sub-Saharan Africa, persists, largely due to unaffordable handsets.
Rwanda’s ICT Minister Paula Ingabire showcased how policy and partnerships cut costs, growing mobile users from 500,000 in 2023 to 5 million 4G users by June 2025.
MTN Rwanda’s 5G rollout and connectivity for 1,000 health facilities and 4,000 schools demonstrate the impact.
The GSMA report projects the mobile sector’s economic contribution will rise from $220 billion in 2024 to $270 billion by 2030, with $77 billion in network investments. 4G adoption is expected to grow from 45% to 54%, and 5G from 2% to 21% by 2030, but affordable devices remain critical.
MWC Kigali also tackled inclusive AI language models and energy resilience. A continent-wide AI collaboration, “AI in Africa, by Africa, for Africa,” involves operators and developers like Masakhane African Languages Hub to embed African languages in global AI. With over 80% of the world’s unelectrified in Africa, the GSMA Ministerial Programme explores energy-digital alignment to power connectivity.
“Africa has the talent and ambition, but reforms on affordability are essential to ensure everyone benefits from the digital economy,” Angela Wamola, Head of Africa at GSMA, stated.
Hosted at the Kigali Convention Centre, MWC Kigali 2025, under the theme Converge. Connect. Create., has drawn over 4,000 delegates from 109 countries.
The Minister of State in the Ministry of ICT and Innovation, Yves Iradukunda, revealed this while presenting to the Senate how Rwanda is integrating AI into its development agenda. He said the government’s strategy focuses on embedding AI across priority sectors, including education, health, and agriculture, which directly impact citizens’ livelihoods.
“These are areas where AI can create measurable impact,” Minister Iradukunda noted. “For instance, if community health workers can use AI-based tools to assess a patient’s condition and receive guidance on first-line medication or whether referral to a hospital is necessary, it significantly strengthens service delivery.”
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Rwanda adopted a five-year National AI Policy in April 2023, becoming one of the few African nations with a formal AI framework. The policy outlines a pathway to accelerate AI adoption across key sectors, supported by an estimated investment of $76.5 million.
According to the Ministry, effective implementation of the policy could add $589 million annually to Rwanda’s GDP by improving productivity, efficiency, and innovation.
In agriculture, AI is expected to revolutionise farming methods, from smart irrigation and pest control to efficient fertiliser use and improved yields. The technology could help close persistent gaps such as the 40% productivity shortfall, 30% post-harvest losses, and the 33% child stunting rate linked to food insecurity.
The State Minister referenced India’s “Saagu Baagu” project, where over 7,000 farmers used AI to cultivate chillies, resulting in a 21% yield increase before scaling to more than 500,000 farmers.
Rwanda is pursuing a similar approach under the Artificial Intelligence for Agricultural Innovation programme, which leverages AI to analyse soil health, recommend interventions, and connect farmers to markets.
If fully adopted, AI is expected to boost agricultural productivity by 25%, reduce water and fertiliser use by 20%, and increase farmers’ incomes by 50%. The government is also developing satellite-based systems to determine suitable crops by region, initially focusing on maize, beans, rice, and potatoes, to inform planning and strengthen agricultural insurance.
“If farmers can access timely weather and soil information and adapt seed varieties accordingly, it will help achieve national productivity targets,” Iradukunda explained.
Rwanda aims to increase agricultural productivity by 50% by 2029, achieving 100% food self-sufficiency, up from 79.6% in 2024.
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AI integration in education is also expected to address systemic challenges, including the teacher-student ratio (1:65), limited technology adoption (36%), and a 30% repetition rate.
Drawing on lessons from India, Rwanda plans to deploy AI-based learning assessment tools that analyse reading accuracy, speed, and comprehension in real time. This allows teachers to provide individualised support efficiently.
Over 23,000 primary school teachers and six million learners have already benefited from similar programmes elsewhere. In Rwanda, pilot projects have reached 5,400 students and 107 teachers across 14 schools in seven districts, showing promising results.
Expected outcomes include a 30% improvement in learning outcomes, a 20% rise in teacher productivity, and a 25% reduction in study time.
Rwanda also plans to introduce an AI-powered WhatsApp tool to support secondary students in learning mathematics, along with teacher-assistance tools for lesson preparation, pedagogy improvement, and automated marking.
“This will enhance critical thinking and reduce rote memorisation,” said Iradukunda. “Students will engage more deeply with content, while teachers can focus on higher-order learning.”
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In the health sector, Rwanda’s partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, signed in April 2025, is accelerating AI adoption under the AI Scaling Hubs initiative. The collaboration, which also includes Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal, aims to build AI capacity, infrastructure, and research ecosystems.
Initially, Rwanda received $7.5 million, but this has now grown to $17.5 million (over Frw 25 billion) to fund seven flagship projects focused on education, health, and agriculture.
Among these is the AI-Enabled National Telemedicine Services project, which will expand access to remote healthcare, enable early diagnosis, and improve treatment outcomes.
Another initiative supports Rwanda Medical Supply Ltd (RMS) to use AI for managing medical inventories, forecasting demand, and optimising procurement. The system will help RMS, which spends around Frw 5 billion annually on medical equipment, access real-time market data and ensure the timely availability of essential drugs.
In maternal health, Rwanda is introducing AI-powered ultrasound imaging tools that enable nurses and community health workers to detect pregnancy complications early. Using AI, a worker can complete key examinations such as measuring foetal head and bone length in under 10 minutes, facilitating timely referrals and reducing maternal and neonatal mortality rates.
“The aim is to detect risks early and save lives without requiring specialised personnel,” Iradukunda noted.
In agriculture, AI-enabled advisory services will soon allow smallholder farmers to access essential guidance in Kinyarwanda, while new tools will help primary school teachers assess students in English and Mathematics.
Modelled after India’s AI-assisted education system, which delivers six million assessments to two million pupils annually and cuts assessment time from six minutes to 40 seconds per learner, Rwanda aims to achieve similar efficiency gains.
These initiatives complement Rwanda’s national plan to train one million children in coding, in partnership with Google, Huawei, Oracle, IBM, Udacity, and other technology leaders offering tailored courses.
The launch took place at the University of Rwanda’s College of Science and Technology (CST-UR) on Friday, October 10, 2025.
Using Internet of Things (IoT) technology, the devices, designed to be mounted on both motor vehicles and motorcycles, continuously gather and transmit air quality data in real time. They monitor key indicators such as temperature, humidity, particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), and gases including ozone (O₃), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and sulfur dioxide (SO₂).
Data will be analysed in real time, enabling city administrators and researchers to identify high-risk pollution areas and take early preventive action.
Representing the university, Professor Richard Musabe said the initiative will be highly beneficial to Kigali and its surrounding areas.
Dr. Eric Nizeyimana, the researcher behind the project, explained that the idea began in 2020 as a response to rising global air pollution. The research was conducted at the African Centre of Excellence in Internet of Things (ACEIoT).
“Air pollution is a major challenge in Kigali and beyond. It is crucial to develop sustainable solutions to protect both current and future generations,” Dr. Nizeyimana said. The project will initially focus on Kigali, with plans to expand to other provinces.
Eddah Barasa, Research Grants Officer at the Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund (RSIF) under PASET, praised the initiative for its innovative use of technology and potential impact. RSIF/PASET also financially supported the research.
The Clean City IoT Device project not only collects and analyses real-time air quality data to guide preventive measures but also aims to raise public awareness, foster scientific collaboration, and engage communities in protecting urban environments.
Key partners in the project include the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), Meteo Rwanda, the National Council for Science and Technology (NCST), Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA), and RSIF/PASET.
The initiative, running from October 6 to 10, aims to spark curiosity and inspire young Rwandans to explore careers in space technology and innovation.
The campaign is part of a broader effort to raise awareness about opportunities in Rwanda’s growing space sector and the global space industry. This year’s World Space Week, themed “living in space,” celebrates humanity’s achievements in exploring the cosmos and encourages the next generation of innovators.
During the first day of the outreach at the Rwanda Coding Academy and the University of Rwanda, students presented projects demonstrating practical applications of space technology.
Among them, a group of students from the Rwanda Coding Academy showcased an AI-powered project that uses satellite data to monitor security and assist humanitarian organisations in responding to crises.
“We hope to collaborate with the Rwanda Space Agency to access satellite information that will help users make informed decisions,” Diane Iranzi said during the presentation.
Her teammate, Joyeuse, added, “Our project also aims to help humanitarian organisations predict potential crises, such as flooding in Nyabihu, enabling timely assistance to citizens. By using real-time dashboards and AI technology, we can forecast problems and address them before they occur.”
Through this outreach, RSA hopes to nurture a generation of students who will contribute to Rwanda’s vision of leveraging space for socio-economic development.
Over the week, RSA will visit several schools, including Hope Haven Christian School on October 7; Gashora Girls Academy on October 8; Ecole Secondaire Saint Ignace on October 9; and Green Hills Academy on October 10.
