The research, presented during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda, outlines three possible scenarios. Under a low-impact scenario, AI could contribute an additional $115 million to Rwanda’s GDP. The central estimate is $237 million, while a high-impact scenario puts the potential contribution at $360 million.
The projections, based on data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, illustrate the potential difference AI could make to Rwanda’s GDP over a ten-year period.
The report notes that for young Rwandans to benefit from these opportunities, training programmes should be aligned with the skills employers need and the challenges entrepreneurs can address.
In agriculture, for example, trainees could learn to develop applications that help farmers identify signs of crop diseases. Such applications could reach more people if they were available in Kinyarwanda.
Rwanda Ranks Fourth Among East African Community Countries Assessed
In the Ayre Index, which assesses how 56 Commonwealth countries have created conditions for young people to use and benefit from AI, Rwanda ranked 47th, with a score of 38.1%.
Kenya ranked highest among the four East African Community (EAC) countries assessed, placing 22nd with 48.7 points. It was followed by Uganda in 23rd position with 47.0 points, while Tanzania ranked 25th with 45.5 points.
Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and South Sudan were not ranked because they are not members of the Commonwealth. Of the 56 countries assessed, only 15 reached the benchmark score of 53 used by the researchers to compare countries’ readiness.
Training Among Rwanda’s Strategies
Rwanda has approximately four million people aged between 15 and 29. According to the report, 4G network coverage reaches areas inhabited by 98.8% of the population, while access to electricity stands at 72%. Researchers say young people also need affordable devices and internet access to benefit from AI.
The government established the Rwanda AI Agency in June 2026. In October, the agency called for proposals to develop AI curricula in Kinyarwanda and English. Planned training programmes are also expected to target people working in agriculture and healthcare, as well as initiatives to teach the wider population how to use the technology.
In the education sector, a programme involving the Ministry of Education, the Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had trained more than 5,000 teachers to use AI by the end of 2025. The training continued in 2026.
The report’s authors say there is still a gap in available data on how young people in Rwanda are using AI.
