The new African campus of Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Mellon University is set to open in Kigali, Rwanda. Kigali Innovation City, where the new campus is located, is a public-private $2 billion development with a goal of creating more than 50,000 jobs in Kigali’s Special Economic Zone.
CMU-Africa’s new home, a 6,000-square-meter facility, is designed to accommodate about 300 students, more than double its current enrollment of 130. The location will contain twice as many labs as its previous location, more classroom space, and modern distance education facilities.
Carnegie Mellon University-Africa is in its eighth year operating two graduate programs; a master’s degree in information technology and a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering. The new campus will greatly expand the university’s footprint in Africa.
Vijayakumar Bhagavatula, director of CMU-Africa, stated that “for the last seven years, I would say the location has been in startup mode. We were a brand new location, starting from scratch in a completely new place, and learning a new culture. And kudos to the whole team that brought us to the position we are currently in. But now — we are ready for the next step.”
