Prime Minister Justin Nsengiyumva has said that affordable computing and energy remain Rwanda’s biggest challenges as the country seeks to expand use and development of artificial intelligence. He said this on Monday, September 21, while speaking at the Global Africa Business Initiative’s (GABI) high-level event, “Unstoppable Africa 2026”, in New York. ALSO READ: PM Nsengiyumva to represent Kagame at UN General Assembly Unstoppable Africa is the flagship event of the GABI, an African Union and United Nations initiative hosted by the UN Global Compact. The fifth edition, held on September 20–21 during the UN General Assembly High-Level Week, brought together government leaders, business executives, investors and policymakers. “In Africa, we are no longer satisfied to be passive consumers of technology. We want to build, adapt, and deploy it at scale, in our own context and in response to the needs and opportunities of our people,” the Prime Minister said. “We believe this is possible, and in Rwanda we are testing what it looks like.” Nsengiyumva said Rwanda’s approach to AI sovereignty is not about self-sufficiency or excluding global technology companies, but about where decisions are made and where value is recorded. “We test that with three questions. Can a state govern the data its own citizens produce? Can its institutions reach the infrastructure they need, on terms they can predict? Can African firms earn margin, or only distribute?” “If the answer to all three is no, that country is a market, not a participant. I can assure you: Rwanda intends to be an active participant in shaping its AI future,” he said. ALSO READ: Inside the newly approved National AI Agency The Prime Minister said Rwanda has invested in digital infrastructure. He cited the country’s national fibre-optic backbone, 4G coverage reaching nearly all the population, ongoing 5G pilots, more than 250 digitised government services and a national digital payment platform. The government has also adopted a National AI Policy, established a data protection framework and, in June, approved a National AI Agency to drive AI strategy, research, development and adoption. “AI cannot thrive on algorithms alone. It needs connectivity to carry it, digital services to put it to work, and rules that people can trust. In Rwanda, we have worked on all three at once. That is the foundation on which we now build,” he said. However, the Premier noted that Rwanda still faces challenges in expanding its AI capabilities. “Affordable compute and energy are still our biggest constraints. And these constraints are precisely why sovereignty matters so much to us.” He also called for greater regulatory coordination across African countries to make it easier for technology companies to expand beyond individual national markets. “That requires an enabling environment that extends across borders. An application licensed in Rwanda should not have to be argued again in 54 jurisdictions.” Nsengiyumva said Rwanda supports Smart Africa and the Africa AI Council as part of efforts to align policy and regulation with the scale of Africa’s ambitions in AI. “We are not asking to be included in someone else’s AI economy. We are building our own, safely, equitably, and responsive to our own needs and opportunities,” he said.
