The competition between the United States and China in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) on the African continent is escalating. At the Artificial Intelligence Influence Summit in New Delhi this week, Paula Ingabire, the Minister of Information Communication Technology and Innovation of Rwanda, revealed that Rwanda signed a memorandum of understanding with the American AI company Anthropic on Tuesday (February 17th) for a three-year cooperation agreement.
Ingabire stated that the purpose of this move is to introduce AI technology into healthcare, education, and other public sector systems in Rwanda to improve the healthcare industry, assist teachers in curriculum planning, and help farmers increase production by selecting high-quality seeds and fertilizers.
According to a report by Nikkei Asian Review, Anthropic company and the Rwandan government initiated an AI education project based on the Claude model called Chidi last November. In a statement, Anthropic mentioned that this latest agreement was reached on the basis of the announced collaboration last year and marks the first official interdepartmental government cooperation agreement the company has entered into on the African continent.
Elizabeth Kelly, head of philanthropic deployment at Anthropic, stated that the company is investing in training, technical support, and capacity building to expand the scope of AI applications, allowing teachers, healthcare workers, and civil servants in various regions of Rwanda to safely and independently use artificial intelligence.
Ingabire mentioned that Rwanda previously had similar collaborations with OpenAI and the Gates Foundation in the healthcare sector. In January of this year, OpenAI and the Gates Foundation announced a $50 million pilot project for AI applications in grassroots healthcare in African countries, with Rwanda being the first pilot country.
When asked whether Rwanda’s AI applications could serve as a model for other African countries, Ingabire expressed optimism, stating that everyone faces similar challenges and hopes that Rwanda can serve as an experimentation ground for other African countries.
Rwanda has also successfully attracted some other AI companies. Barbara-Chiara Ubaldi, Senior Director of Government Innovation and AI at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, revealed that the institute has been working in Rwanda for over a decade and currently has agricultural projects in collaboration with Rwanda, exploring the use of AI to help implement agricultural policies and address specific issues related to crop production, food production, income generation, and employment.
Following Microsoft, Google, and IBM, Anthropic is the latest U.S. AI company assessing the demand in the African market. Currently, Chinese companies such as Huawei and Alibaba are competing with American tech giants in the African continent.
A recent report from Georgetown University indicates that U.S. private enterprises heavily rely on African labor and resources for AI development, while China is utilizing national initiatives like the Belt and Road infrastructure project to expand its services in the African continent.
A report by Microsoft in January stated that another key factor in the development of Chinese enterprises in Africa is the open-source AI platform, which, with its openness and affordability, enables Chinese AI startups like DeepSeek to seize the underserved market in Africa compared to Western AI platforms.
It is estimated that DeepSeek’s usage rate in Africa is two to four times higher than in other regions.