The second Africa Innovation Summit (AIS) openedWednesdayin Rwandan capital Kigali, with a focus on innovative and disruptive solutions to major challenges facing African countries.

Rwanda’s Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente said at the opening that while Africa has invested in infrastructure and regulatory environment improvement to attract private investment, the continent has not been able to leverage private sector as an engine for the transformation.

According to him, African countries are creating national support institutions for innovation, including developing innovation policies and strategies.

He said that technology and innovation hubs in many African countries have sprung up to take advantage of mobile technology to resolve problems.

He said the major challenges that African countries are facing include energy access, water, food insecurity, health systems and governance.

The three-day summit drew participants from all parts of the continent and elsewhere, including government officials, corporates, innovators, investors, policymakers and academics, researchers, as well as policy, science and technology experts.

The summit aims at creating a community of innovators that will not only meet to dialogue on solutions but also create a community ecosystem that will enable them to share ideologies beyond the summit, it said.

The summit started with an exhibition providing a stage to showcase homegrown innovations and innovators on the continent. (Xinhua/NAN)