The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) has today handed over the newly constructed Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Africa Campus to the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC).

The US$ 10 million facility was constructed by RDB and funded by the African Development Bank.

The handover aims to transfer the management and operations of CMU Africa as an institution of higher learning to the custodian ministry.

The campus is moving to the newly constructed state of the art facility located in the Kigali Special Economic Zone this year from Telecom House in order to offer a better teaching and learning experience to its students.

Speaking during the handover event at the Ministry of Education’s offices, Dr. Eugène Mutimura said:

“The new CMU-Africa campus is part of the 15-hectare land designated by the government as the Kigali Innovation City with an aim to address the issue of limited capacity in hardware and software engineering, network design, and large-scale ICT project management in Africa. We are pleased of this opportunity that has been extended to us by RDB to manage the new modern facility that will continue producing the finest graduates in Information Technology, Electronic and Computer Engineering that can share their attained knowledge with others in the country.”

Ms. Clare Akamanzi, the RDB Chief Executive Officer said:

“CMU Africa is envisioned by the Government of Rwanda as one of the ICT Centers of Excellence that can drive the much needed talent that can drive the country’s economic growth through digital transformation. It is worth noting that since its establishment in Rwanda in 2011, CMU Africa is the only U.S. research university offering its Master’s degrees courses with a full-time faculty, staff and operations in Africa. Over 145 students have graduated from the new facility so far who can work anywhere in the world. This new facility is capable of receiving extremely competitive students from all over Africa with modern classrooms and amenities to ensure that they attain Masters degree certificates that are of the same standards as those offered at the varsity’s headquarters at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the USA.”