Two Countries, Two Playbooks: What Rwanda’s Startup Surge Reveals About Governance
What happens when good intentions meet structural inertia - and what it’ll take to map a way forward.
📚 New to this series? Start with our deep-dive into Botswana's Startup Paradox to understand the foundational challenge we're addressing.
"It’s not the ingredients, it’s the recipe."
That was our core message in a previous post, Cracking Botswana’s Startup Paradox. The country has the right fundamentals, stability, education, and infrastructure, but still struggles to generate the kind of startup dynamism seen in other African markets. Why?
We argued then that it’s not a lack of talent or vision, it’s a mismatch in structure. Ecosystems that look supportive on paper can still fail to flow. And unless that structure is made visible, mapped, and rebalanced, the ecosystem stalls, despite best intentions.
In this post, we zoom out from Botswana and draw a comparative lens: How does a similarly small, landlocked country like Rwanda seem to consistently punch above its weight in innovation? And what does this tell us about the role of governance, execution, and visibility in shaping startup success?
🧩 The Structure Problem (Revisited)
Let’s revisit the Botswana paradox. Stakeholders agree that startups are essential. Government is pro-business. There’s even discussion of a Startup Act. But capital remains stuck. Procurement systems are slow. Local investors hesitate. Founders often wait for international donor funding instead of raising from local markets.
As our colleague, Mooketsi Tekere shared on the GrowthWell podcast, this isn’t a lack of desire, it’s a lack of throughput. Everyone wants to help. But no one can see the full system. That makes it hard to move fast, to collaborate, or to identify and remove bottlenecks. The ecosystem has people, but no map.
That’s where our ecosystem mapping approach comes in.
We believe what’s needed is not another white paper or summit, but a real-time discovery layer. One that maps relationships between founders, funders, support organizations, regulations, and demand signals. Not just who exists, but how information, capital, and trust flow. Or don’t.
And here’s where the comparison gets interesting.
🇷🇼 Rwanda: Policy as Product (In Progress)
Rwanda faces many of the same constraints as Botswana: a small population, landlocked geography, and limited domestic venture capital. But its institutional coordination and policy discipline have positioned it as a serious contender in Africa’s innovation landscape, even before a dedicated Startup Act is passed.
Rwanda’s Startup Act is still in draft form, but it reflects one of the most comprehensive and founder-informed legislative efforts on the continent. The proposed law includes streamlined incorporation, founder visas, tax incentives, IP protections, and public procurement access, all co-developed through sustained engagement between policymakers, local startups, and international partners.
Meanwhile, Rwanda’s Law No. 006/2021 on Investment Promotion and Facilitation has laid the foundation for ecosystem development, enabling initiatives like Kigali Innovation City and partnerships with institutions such as Carnegie Mellon Africa.
The Rwanda Innovation Fund, backed by the African Development Bank and the EU, provides a rare example of public-private collaboration to seed early-stage capital in a frontier market.
Critically, Rwanda treats innovation as a governance challenge, not just a private sector issue. Ministries coordinate. Programs are piloted before being scaled. Feedback loops exist between government, academia, and funders.
The ecosystem isn’t perfect, but it’s intentionally designed and increasingly navigable. While Botswana’s potential remains latent, Rwanda’s machinery is already turning, even if the flagship law is still in process.
You may not yet be able to trace every flow from founder to procurement, but in Rwanda, you can see the contours of what’s coming.
⚖️ Two Mindsets, One Race
Botswana and Rwanda offer two distinct approaches to building startup ecosystems. While Botswana’s Startup Act remains under discussion, Rwanda’s version is still in draft, but notably ambitious and co-designed with stakeholders. Botswana’s ecosystem relies more on donor funding and operates in fragmented, informal structures, whereas Rwanda benefits from a government-backed innovation fund and increasing coordination across government and academia. Execution in Botswana tends to follow a policy-first model with slower rollout, while Rwanda favors pilot-driven, feedback-informed implementation. Perhaps most importantly, Rwanda is making real progress toward centralized data sharing and visibility, an area where Botswana remains limited and siloed.
🔍 Why Mapping Matters (Now)
This is why we’re building a prototype ecosystem discovery engine, initially in partnership with stakeholders in Botswana, with a broader pan-African lens. The goal isn’t another directory or startup database. It’s a living network map of how people, capital, services, and rules actually interact.
Because if you can’t see the structure, you can’t redesign it.
And if you can’t trace the flow, you can’t fix the friction.
We want to help ecosystem builders, funders, and governments shift from snapshots to systems, and make more founder-centric decisions in the process.
🌍 Where This Goes
The quiet race isn’t about who has the flashiest tech hub or the slickest Startup Act. It’s about who can build a governance model that learns, adapts, and stays grounded in actual startup journeys.
Rwanda is showing that coordinated execution works.
Botswana has all the right pieces, but needs flow.
Other countries, Senegal, Ghana, and Kenya, are choosing their models in real time.
And as more governments wake up to their role as ecosystem orchestrators, the tools they use to see and shape those systems will matter more than ever.
We’re betting that discovery, not control, will win.
Join us. We’re actively partnering with pilot sites, local collaborators, and funders who believe startup ecosystems must be as dynamic, visible, and navigable as the founders inside them. If that sounds like you, let’s build together.
I'm looking for a government ready to put in place infrastructure to better identify, distinguish, and develop early entrepreneurs. With my coverage of Botswana and this perspective of the region, I'm curious if it shouldn't be there.