KIGALI INNOVATION CITY

Kigali Innovation City 1

 “Africa cannot accumulate wealth, merely consuming technology produced elsewhere.
The purpose of initiatives like Kigali Innovation City is to unlock value by better adopting
technology to our economies and social context. The pressure is on, to catch up and keep
pace. So Africa is not left behind in the wave of technological progress.”

H.E Paul Kagame - President of the Republic of Rwanda,

in his address to the Next Einstein Forum 2016

“The fourth industrial revolution that we are living in now, is based on the human brain.

In Africa, we have a real opportunity to catch up with any other continent.”

Dr. Hamadoun Toure – Executive Director, Smart Africa

“We believe in Kigali Innovation City’s approach to human capital, which complements
our own values. We see a great opportunity to share technological, scientific and
policy expertise, develop meaningful partnerships that can positively affect the global
community, and exercise our deeply rooted commitment to enhancing the human
condition.”
INTRODUCTION
The Fourth Industrial Revolution will be synonymous with the digital transformation of economies
Dr. Suresh, President, Carnegie Mellon University
on the planet. This digital transformation is enabling global reach in all economic activities.

By systematically undergoing digital transformation Africa’s economies can exploit this global
“If we can succeed in getting similar hubs like Kigali Innovation City across the continent,
reach and achieve exponential growth.
that will have a multiplier effect. Absolutely, we are talking of weapons of mass
Rwanda embraced this concept in its Vision 2020 implementation of which has systematically
construction for this continent.”
prepared the country for economic transformation from an agrarian economy to a knowledge
Dr. Dorothy Nyambi, Executive Vice President, African Institute for based one, by investing heavily in the development of its human capital, its ICT infrastructure, and
Mathematical Sciences. its business-friendly environment.

For instance, in its quest to attain the right human capital for innovation-led economic
transformation, the site which in 1994 housed military barracks was immediately turned into the
home for the University of Rwanda’s College of Science and Technology.

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 It now graduates engineers, scientists and mathematicians required to power the economic KIGALI INNOVATION CITY – At a Glance
transformation to a knowledge based economy.
Kigali Innovation City is an Africa-focused innovation hub comprising three inter-dependent
Such deliberate actions have transformed the country from having 4000 students in institutions of
platforms which enable the innovation hub to sustainably deliver digital products and services for
higher learning in 1994 to 86,000 in 2016.
accelerated digital transformation of Rwanda’s economy and for export to other African economies.

Technology
Companies

Rwanda

World-class Innovation-
Learning The three inter-dependent platforms of Kigali Innovation City are:
friendly
Institutions Financing
• The digital innovation platform of technology clusters in which technology
companies establish and operate innovation labs within a technology cluster
aligned with their intellectual property;

Rwanda has installed extensive fibre optic infrastructure covering the whole country and now 4G
LTE deployment is on track to provide fast internet access to 95% of citizens by 2017.

Rwanda is Africa’s second easiest place in which to do business – World Bank Doing Business
Report 2016. Based on this level of preparedness Rwanda is confident to launch Kigali Innovation
City - its flagship initiative to catapult the country into a knowledge based economy.

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 • Human capital development platform to supply the required scale of professional
talent to the technology companies, and to up-skill the employed talent in a
range professional industry skills required throughout employment;

• Innovation-friendly financing platform to nurture technology companies within

Industry
the innovation hub throughout their stages of growth; Companies Skills
The institutions anchoring these three platforms are the community of Kigali Innovation City.
Academy

COMMUNITY OF KIGALI INNOVATION CITY

Engineers
Technology Companies Mathematicians
Scientists
Kigali Innovation City is the natural home where indigenous Rwandan technology companies can
innovate and serve the whole market of the African continent.

It is also the best home in Africa for multinational technology companies to domicile their Higher Learning Research Institutions
subsidiaries, bring their technologies and skills, and conduct the innovation necessary to create
The ecosystem is anchored by world-renowned higher learning institutions supplying a critical
optimized products and services for the African market.
mass of world class engineers, mathematicians and scientists.

Some of the best startups from the region and from anywhere in the world will also find their Carnegie Mellon University is the anchor tenant of Kigali Innovation City, producing the next
natural home in the community of Kigali Innovation City. generation of technology leaders and innovators in Africa.

All technology companies operating in Kigali Innovation City are assured of a scalable supply of Consistently ranked #1 in Computer Science and #4 in Engineering by U.S. News & World Report,
high caliber engineers, mathematicians and scientists from co-domiciled higher learning research CMU has been a birthplace of innovation with over 1,000 companies started by faculty and students
institutions whose postgraduates are picked from the best on the whole African continent. transforming research innovation into commercially viable enterprises.

This high grade pool of professional talent will also be able to rapidly up-scale their industry skills The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences also domiciled in Kigali Innovation City will provide

through the convenience and efficiency of being co-domiciled with a world-class industry skills a critical mass of Africa’s best mathematicians.
academy. From its African home in Kigali, the International Centre for Theoretical Physics will supply top
scientists. Altogether amounting to the highest concentration of talent to drive innovation within
All technology companies in Kigali Innovation City can access innovation-friendly financing from
Kigali Innovation City.
the co-domiciled Rwanda Innovation Fund.

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 Industry Skills Academy public, philanthropic, and angel funding, supporting companies during incubation/accelerator
stages of growth.
Kigali Innovation City will house an industry skills academy in the form of many-academies-in-one.

• Many notable academies of multinational technology companies either supporting

MILESTONES
their domiciled subsidiary or supporting domiciled strategic partners using their
technology platforms to create products optimized for the African market; 2016:
• Facilities to support delivery of programs for business/entrepreneurial capacity • September: First closing ($100 million) of the Rwanda Innovation Fund of;
building; 2017
Rwanda Innovation Fund (Innovation-Friendly Financing) • July: Completion of Carnegie Mellon University campus, housing
Growth of the ecosystem will be measured in terms of the number of new technology companies 0 0Carnegie Mellon University post-graduate programs and research;
and how big they become. It will be achieved through locally domiciled innovation-friendly
financial capital, supporting technology companies through all stages of growth. 0 0Innovation labs center shared by technology companies;

The Rwanda Innovation Fund occupies a critical part of the financing value-chain, starting at the 0 0Industry Skills Academy shared by the innovation community for sustained up-
early stage of growth and nurturing companies through growth stage till initial public offering skilling of the professional talent employed in the community;
(IPO).
• Time TBD: Second closing of the Rwanda Innovation Fund
The Government of Rwanda is co-investing in this fund alongside private investors.

Preceding the Rwanda Innovation Fund are other forms innovation-friendly funding, including
2018 - 2022
• Completion of ever-increasing number of office buildings to house startups, fast-
growing small- and medium-sized enterprises, local operations of multinational
companies as well as new partners for skills development and funding.

• Completion of support facilities such as shopping centers, apartments and hotels

to make Kigali Innovation City a mixed-use livable 24-hour city. Kigali Innovation City
will be “green”, offering:

• Assistance in business establishment ( One Stop Center, Special Economic Zone

status application);

• Entrepreneurial development including incubator and capacity building programs

• High quality urban environment – clean and safe, State-of-the-art infrastructure

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 (roads, electricity, and water) and ICT facilities including bandwidth and highly
reliable electricity supply;
OPPORTUNITIES in KIGALI INNOVATION CITY
1. Your Home in Technology Clusters of Kigali Innovation City
• Commercial buildings and private housing;
Establish an Innovation Lab focusing on any of these technology clusters, initially housed in the
new Carnegie Mellon University campus opening in July 2017, and later shift into a dedicated
PROJECTED IMPACT Innovation Labs Centre.

• Highly skilled ICT jobs in Rwanda will ramp up to 4,500 by 2022

• Export earnings up to an estimated UD$180 million by 2022.

Powered by high security data centres and and cyber security of the highest
• Top 10 companies generating combined annual revenues of $500 million by 2025;
international standards for FinTech. Opportunities include:
• By 2030, Rwanda will have attained at least 90% self-reliance in skilled human • Deployment of the physical infrastructure for FinTech grade data centre;
capital and in financial capital required to sustain its digital transformation. FinTech • Deployment and operation in such a data centre of cyber security systems
also of international FinTech grade;
• Deployment and operation in such a data centre of FinTech systems with
INVESTMENT INCENTIVES scope for international mobile transactions;
Fiscal and non-fiscal incentives include among others: BioMed: A technology cluster built around the Center of Excellence in Biomedical

• Preferential corporate income tax rate of zero percent (0%) Engineering which is being established with an initial fund of $18 million provided
by the African Development Bank to strengthen the synergy between the academia,
• Preferential corporate income tax rate of fifteen percent (15%)
the Government and the Private Sector while harnessing the transformational
• Corporate income tax holiday of up to seven (7) years: power of biomedical engineering and Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) for cost-effective healthcare service provision in the East African Community.
• Corporate income tax holiday of up to five (5) years:
BioMed Three other centres of excellence are being similarly established in Kenya, Uganda and
• Exemption of customs tax for products used in Export Processing Zones: Tanzania, covering other areas of health services.
• Exemption of Capital Gains Tax • Opportunities exist for technology companies with technologies and know-
how in biomedical engineering to join this technology cluster by establishing
• Value Added Tax refund an innovation lab in which they can optimize their technologies for deployment
in the developing economies of Africa.
• Accelerated depreciation

• Immigration incentives:

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 A technology cluster bringing together high-class technologies, services, and
2. Invest in the Rwanda Innovation Fund
processes for creation and management of data, knowledge, and content applicable
to all economic activities. Round 1:     $100 million
Data
Invest in: Public - $30 million,
Knowledge Private - $70 million
Content • The establishment of Rwanda’s Big-Data platform including analytics, covering
all sectors of the economy; First closing   September 2016
• Development and deployment of digital content for Rwanda’s learner-centric
curriculum;
Indicative terms

A technology cluster bringing together all aspects of securing a digital economy. Structure: Close-ended, privately managed fund of US$100 million, 70% from private

Rwanda runs an incident management centre (CSIRT), but this is only the beginning. investors, including GP commitment
Cyber
Security • Invest and establish extensive commercial grade cyber security services to
support the digital transformation of economies of the region. Limited Partners GoR, and Private investors

Africa now has a population of a billion people. Few of them are connected to the Term: 10 years (+2) from Final closing date (planned for Q3/Q4)
traditional energy grid and it is expected this out outcome will take many decades to
Investment Period 4 years (can be extended by up to 1 year)
Smart Energy be achieved. Africa cannot wait that long and in any case technology options based
on micro-grids are available to power Africa much more quickly. Geography Focus Rwanda and the rest of East Africa Community

• innovation lab in a shared micro-grid research centre of excellence; Target Early growth high impact tech-enabled sectors, with potential to scale re-
gionally: EnergyCleanTech & Energy Access solutions, Smart Transport & Logis-
• I nvestment proposals are also welcome in Smart Logistics and AgriTech.
tics, ecommerce, AgricTech, Digital Health, Medical and Technology devices,
and Inclusive Fin-tech, EdTech.

Management Fees & Carry 2% /yr of Commitments, Carry 20% of profits in excess of hurdle rate

Target Return & Hurdle 25% (USD) Gross SI-IRR, 7 - 8%

Rate

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 3. Develop and Own Real Estate in Kigali Innovation City 4. Secure Your Career in Kigali Innovation City

Stage 1 of the Kigali Innovation City real estate: A career in Kigali Innovation City is an opportunity of a life time for the best engineers,
• Construction of all the additional buildings in the precinct dedicated to Carnegie mathematicians, and scientists from Africa and beyond.
Mellon University; Prepare yourself by enrolling for a postgraduate (Masters and or PhD) programs in one

• Construction of key the buildings (estimated investment of $150 million): of the three world-renowned higher learning and research institutions:

• Carnegie Mellon University:

0 0Innovation Labs Centre catering for all technology clusters of Kigali Innovation
City; 0 0The anchor tenant of Kigali Innovation City, producing the next generation of
technology leaders and innovators in Africa. Consistently ranked #1 in Computer
0 0Industry Skills Academy building;
Science and #4 in Engineering by U.S. News & World Report, CMU has been
0 0Smart Rwanda Centre; a birthplace of innovation with over 1,000 companies started by faculty and
0 0Corporate Centre building to be shared by technology companies domiciled students transforming research innovation into commercially viable enterprises;
in Kigali Innovation City, until they move to their own headquarters elsewhere • African Institute of Mathematical Sciences also domiciled in Kigali Innovation
within Kigali Innovation City; City and developing Africa’s best mathematicians.
0 0Innovation Growth Centre building housing the Rwanda Innovation Fund and an • International Centre for Theoretical Physics which from its African home in Kigali
accelerator hub for startups; develop top scientists for the ecosystem of Kigali Innovation City.

Stage 2 of real estate development (estimated investment - $850 million):

• To be scoped and constructed commensurate with demand within the innovation
hub.

Estimated Project Lifetime: 10 years

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 KIGALI INNOVATION CITY

For more information on the

Kigali Innovation City visit:
www.rdb.rw

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