By: Nana
Appiah Acquaye
Egypt and Rwanda have
reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation in digital
transformation, artificial intelligence, and digital capacity building
following high-level talks between senior government officials from both
countries.
Egypt’s Minister of
Communications and Information Technology, Raafat Hendy, received Rwanda’s
Minister of ICT and Innovation, Paula Ingabire, for discussions focused on
expanding collaboration in emerging technologies and advancing shared
priorities for Africa’s digital future. The meeting was also attended by the
Ambassador of Rwanda to Egypt, CG Dan Munyuza.
The talks centered on the
development of a shared African framework for responsible and inclusive
artificial intelligence, with an emphasis on ensuring that AI systems are
aligned with development needs across the continent.
Both sides explored
opportunities to implement pilot AI-driven projects in key sectors, including
healthcare, agriculture, local language technologies, and government services.
These initiatives are expected to deliver practical, measurable outcomes that
demonstrate the role of AI in improving public service delivery and
socio-economic development.
The two ministers also
discussed strengthening institutional collaboration between government
agencies, universities, research institutions, and innovation hubs in both
countries. Key Egyptian institutions highlighted during the discussions
included the Egypt University of Informatics (EUI), the Applied Innovation
Center (AIC), and the Information Technology Institute (ITI), all of which play
a central role in developing digital skills and supporting innovation.
Officials agreed on the
importance of formalizing cooperation through a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) to provide a structured framework for long-term collaboration in the ICT
sector.
During the meeting, Minister
Hendy reiterated Egypt’s commitment to supporting African cooperation in
artificial intelligence and digital transformation, noting the country’s active
role in the African Union’s AI Working Group and contributions to continental
initiatives such as the Africa AI Council under Smart Africa.
He also highlighted Egypt’s
national AI strategy, which aims to expand AI adoption across multiple sectors
while building a strong pipeline of skilled professionals to support the
country’s digital economy.
Rwanda’s Minister Paula
Ingabire reaffirmed her country’s commitment to deepening cooperation with
Egypt, emphasizing the importance of AI, digital transformation, and digital
upskilling as key drivers of sustainable development.
The discussions further
covered enhanced coordination in regional and international platforms focused
on AI governance, with the aim of shaping unified African positions on emerging
technology policy issues.
