Bottlenecks of ICT Innovation in Rwanda

Abstract

Despite some successes, Rwanda's ambitious plan to become an ICT-led economy faces challenges. Through 31 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, we explored the reported strengths, weaknesses, and potential lessons of Rwanda's ICT sector, especially as relevant to the country's economic development. We find that (1) there is sincere, widely shared aspiration toward ICT-led national development; (2) support for ICT entrepreneurship is successful at helping to start ICT-based businesses, but not at continuing or succeeding with them; and (3) some of the challenges of continuing ICT-based businesses have to do with Rwandan higher education, availability of start-up financing, and a weak sense for entrepreneurial initiative. We situate these findings in the literature on global technology hubs and national development, and discuss policy recommendations for countries seeking ICT-based economic growth.