RWANDA: Africa’s Silicon Valley

“We want to make sure that we’re inclusive and creating opportunities for organizations like Hurone ai to receive the support that they need”. By Forbes Africa

Dr Ndoh with Danielle Morris, the AWS Global Social Impact, Global Public Health-Health Equity Lead. By Tiana Cline

Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, is slowly becoming known as Africa’s Silicon Valley thanks to the multi-billion-dollar Kigali Innovation City (KIC) and the government’s push to digitalize the country’s economy.

“The reason we chose Rwanda is that it is a small country and as a startup, I have to look at everything that can increase my odds of success,” explains MedTech entrepreneur Dr Kingsley Ndoh. In addition to its smaller size, Rwanda is already home to an ecosystem of thriving technology companies, from Zipline, a drone logistics startup that delivers medicine, to Babyl, which is currently the largest digital health service provider in the country.

Ampersand Electric Motorcycles is also fast becoming known worldwide for their production of more affordable electric vehicles and charging systems throughout East Africa. “It’s also the least corrupt country in Africa,” adds Ndoh. A big part of Hurone AI’s growth is due to Ndoh working with AWS Health Equity.

“There’s a global organization in Seattle called Path and I was listening to a talk where they said they had been supported by Amazon Web Service (AWS) Health Equity so I decided to apply,” he says. “The best news was when I was awarded because they’ve really helped us. As a startup, the cost of being in the cloud can be around $10,000 a month and we don’t need to worry about that. It’s the technical support, the networking opportunities… I’m really just filled with gratitude that I got the opportunity.

” The next application cycle for AWS’s health equity accelerator closes at the end of March. “We want to make sure that we’re inclusive and creating opportunities for organizations like Hurone AI to receive the support that they need,” says Danielle Morris, the AWS Global Social Impact, Global Public Health-Health Equity Lead.

“That’s one of the lovely things about the Gukiza app and Hurone AI – it’s linguistically responsive care, care that understands who you are, your values and doesn’t judge or dictate what you should do but offers meaningful suggestions.”