President Paul Kagame and American billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates met on Monday, July 20, for discussions on collaboration in various areas, including health, artificial intelligence (AI) and agricultural transformation. According to the Office of the President, they discussed strengthening the [Gates] Foundation’s longstanding partnership with Rwanda, including accelerating collaboration in health, agricultural transformation, AI, and digital public infrastructure to advance Rwanda’s development priorities. ALSO READ: Bill Gates tours Rwamagana projects expanding access to healthcare The Microsoft founder and chair of the Gates Foundation began his visit in Rwanda on Monday. He visited Kigali Genocide Memorial, where he paid tribute to victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. He also toured various projects in Rwamagana District that are helping to expand access to healthcare. ALSO READ: How Rwanda’s new health intelligence centre could transform healthcare Accompanied by Minister of Health Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, Gates toured Mwulire Health Centre, a newly constructed facility serving more than 37,000 residents. He also met with community health workers in Mwulire Sector. He learnt about health ministry's efforts to use technology to improve healthcare delivery through the rollout of Community Electronic Medical Records (cEMR). The digital system is expected to reduce paperwork for healthcare workers while providing real-time data that can support faster decision-making and responses to emerging health needs. The American billionaire also toured TKMD Syringes Manufacturing, a producer of auto-disable syringes supported by the Gates Foundation. The company supplies syringes locally and exports to multiple countries through the United Nations children's agency UNICEF. The visit comes months after the Gates Foundation and OpenAI announced a partnership to expand artificial intelligence-powered healthcare solutions across Africa, with Rwanda selected as the starting point for a pilot programme under the Horizon 1000 initiative. ALSO READ: Why Bill Gates, OpenAI chose Rwanda for $50m AI healthcare initiative Announced in January, the $50 million initiative aims to deploy AI tools across 1,000 primary healthcare clinics and surrounding communities by 2028. The programme is designed to support healthcare workers in using artificial intelligence to strengthen diagnosis, improve resource allocation and support decision-making within health systems. Rwanda has already been investing in digital health systems, including the National Health Intelligence Centre, which was launched in April 2025. ALSO READ: How Rwanda slashed child mortality rate The facility uses data from community health workers, health centres and hospitals to improve patient outcomes, strengthen health financing and support evidence-based decisions across the healthcare system. The country has also digitised community healthcare through cEMR, while platforms such as E-Ubuzima and E-Fiche allow healthcare providers to track patients’ medical journeys from initial consultation to discharge.
