Delegation visits KIC and ABE Initiative graduate at the research and innovation lab she set up after returning to Rwanda
In May 2016, Kobe’s Mayor Hisamoto and Mayor of Rwanda’s capital city Kigali, Mayor Mukaruliza signed a Declaration of Partnership to further the economic exchange between the two cities.
The Declaration of Partnership aims to create an innovation ecosystem with IT at its core, and includes mutual cooperation in the fields of business, technology and the public sector. Representatives from 10 companies joined the Mayor of Kobe’s delegation to Rwanda, visiting members of the Rwanda ICT Chamber of Commerce, incubator facilities, and holding opinion exchanges with Rwandan companies and entrepreneurs.
Kobe flourished after WW2 with a focus on its strong shipbuilding and steel industries, and more recently over the past 20 years it has become known for its Biomedical Innovation Cluster. But the city is now looking to IT companies and startups to fuel its continued economic growth.
The genocide 20 years ago caused terrible suffering in Rwanda, but in these 20 years its restoration has become known as “the miracle of Africa”, achieving over the past 10 years an average GDP growth of more than 7%. The country is moving from a dependency on agriculture to a knowledge-based society, and has created the IT-focused Smart Rwanda Master Plan to create 2 million jobs in non-agricultural sectors.
Mayor Hisamoto and Kobe delegation with Rwandan IT innovators
As such, Kobe City, in close cooperation with the city’s private sector, is expanding its economic exchange with Rwanda. The agreement of cooperation with Kigali City is one step on this path. But why Kigali and Rwanda? One of the reasons behind this partnership lies in the Kobe Institute of Computing (KIC), which receives Rwandan students under the Japanese Government’s ABE Initiative. This Initiative was launched by Prime Minister Abe in his opening speech of the 5th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) in 2013, and involves welcoming 1000 African young people to Japan over 5 years on master’s courses and as interns in Japanese enterprises.
There are currently 49 students from 12 African countries at the KIC both from the ABE Initiative and other national government schemes. The Institute’s course which teaches finding solutions to social problems using IT is popular with Rwandan young people, and students from the country are the most numerous at 12. With 38 ABE Initiative students, the KIC has the second largest number of any educational institution in Japan.
Business matching session between members of Kobe and Rwanda IT sectors
In collaboration with Japanese organisations such as JICA and JETRO, Kobe City is seeking to promote capacity building in Rwanda which complements the flow of the ABE Initiative. Specifically, to provide a KIC training program in Rwanda with ABE Initiative students who have returned home, thus leading to new and expanded business opportunities with IT companies in Kigali.
Exchange with Rwanda is expected to bring about innovation to Japanese companies and society. Kobe is the first Japanese local government to embark on economic exchange with Africa, but in the mid- to long-term, working together with emerging areas with untapped potential is certain to bring mutual benefits and contribute to Japan’s socio-economic sustainability.
This article was translated by Kobe City PR Officer Louise Dendy, former UK participant in the JET Programme
