{Africa’s leading high-level education and ICT forum is coming to Kigali. Innovation Africa 2014 will open on the 18th November at the Serena Hotel Kigali. This year’s summit is held under the patronage of the Government of Rwanda, led by the Ministry of Education. The summit will see Africa’s leading ministerial and government decision-makers take part in bilateral discussions with industry investors for education, communications, publishing, teacher training and information technology.}
Minister of Education, Hon Prof Silas Lwakabamba said “It is hugely encouraging to see so many industry partners and international investors who have travelled from far and wide to take part in this summit.” In fact 40 African ministerial delegations for education, higher education, ICT and communications will be participating in an agenda that represents 25 African countries. They will be joined by board level members from some of the world’s leading companies including the likes of HP, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Pearson, Samsung amongst others.
This is now the 5th year of the Innovation Africa Summit, it was conceived and is organised by AfricanBrains, a division of the international Brains Network Group that is dedicated to bringing investment into education and technology through building public-private partnerships.
Previous events have taken place in Morocco, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana. John Glassey, Managing Director of AfricanBrains said “I am delighted this year’s summit is being held in Kigali. We always wanted to bring Innovation Africa to Rwanda simply because it is one of Africa’s most innovative countries. Rwanda spends more on education as a percentage of GDP than the OECD average, has invested and continues substantial investment in ICTs, has a young population with a desire to learn new skills, to innovate and to become entrepreneurs. Apart from all that Rwanda is the most connected country in Africa, has political and economic stability and a liberal free-market economy. Being here is perfect.”
That sentiment has been borne out by the many partners and investors of AfricanBrains who have committed to come to Kigali, not just for the summit but the potential of Rwanda as a country to invest in and above all for the people. Hospitality, skills, responsiveness, stability and being well-organised are human talents that investors find irresistible.
One example is the Argentinian-Brazilian consortium called Positivo BGH. This is Latin America’s largest laptop and mobile phone manufacturer. They have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Rwanda Development Board to build an assembly plant in the free trade zone – making it Africa’s first mass production laptop, tablet and mobile device plant. This represents just the tip of the iceberg and as Mr Glassey has said, “the floodgates will open.
The new airport terminal and new hotel facilities increase the attractiveness of business leaders coming to Kigali and when our many partners see this clean and safe city in action they will want to come back for more – and when they do I hope they find time to visit the rest of the country and see Rwanda in all its beauty.”
As Minister Lwakabamba has said, “Rwanda is open for business.”
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