Rwanda taps MTN and Airtel to train its next generation of cyber defenders 🇷🇼💻

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Rwanda is bringing its telecom operators into the effort to fix a cybersecurity skills shortage. On October 22, 2026, the country’s National Cyber Security Authority (NCSA) signed agreements with MTN Rwanda and Airtel Rwanda to bring training closer to what employers actually need. The deals are meant to give students and graduates of the CyberHub, the national cybersecurity training centre, easier access to internships and first work experience, at a time when highly qualified specialists are in short supply.

The goal is to grow the pool of professionals able to protect the country’s networks and digital services. Industry players keep flagging the lack of advanced-level talent as a concern, and linking training providers to employers is seen as a way to prepare specialists for the real demands of the job market.

Internships to ground training in the real world 📡

Under the agreements, both operators will take part in the hands-on training of learners, notably through internships and workplace experience. The idea is to let students apply what they have learned and get familiar with the technical realities of the sector.

MTN Rwanda also plans to help adapt study programmes to the skills employers are looking for. Airtel Rwanda, for its part, offers internships across several areas: networks, IT, business solutions and mobile financial services.

If it works as intended, students and graduates will build skills they can put to use straight away. The approach also aims to narrow the gap between what is taught and what the companies running the country’s digital infrastructure and services actually need.

The CyberHub: Rwanda’s training base for cyber talent 🛡️

These partnerships build on earlier steps Rwanda has taken to strengthen its national cybersecurity capacity. In October 2025, the country launched the CyberHub, a national training and innovation centre hosted at the University of Rwanda’s College of Science and Technology in Kigali.

According to its announced goals, the centre aims to train up to 200 participants a year, with women making up at least 30% of learners to encourage their participation in these specialised programmes.

Skills-building also extends to technical and vocational training. In September 2026, 24 teachers from that sector completed a ten-day specialist course, part of a programme involving the NCSA, the Rwanda TVET Board (the body responsible for technical and vocational education) and the International Labour Organization.

Taken together, these initiatives show Rwanda trying to steadily widen the pool of people able to meet its digital sector’s needs.

How big is the skills gap, really? 📊

Despite these efforts, finding highly qualified professionals remains a challenge for the cybersecurity sector. At a conference held in Kigali on October 5 and 6, 2026, representatives of ISACA’s Rwanda chapter, the local branch of an international association of IT audit and security professionals, pointed to the small number of specialists with advanced qualifications.

There is a catch, though. To our knowledge, no official figure quantifies the national shortfall. Professionals say the gap is real, but its exact size is hard to pin down.

Even so, specialised training and hands-on experience in companies are levers for better preparing the next generation. The telecom partnerships are meant to let learners get acquainted with the sector’s technical needs before they enter the job market.

Training at the heart of the national strategy 🌐

Skills development is also one of the priorities of Rwanda’s national cybersecurity strategy for 2024–2029, which calls for more specialised education and stronger public-private partnerships.

By bringing MTN Rwanda and Airtel Rwanda into the CyberHub, the NCSA is trying to align national training goals with the operational needs of the companies that run the country’s networks and digital services. Rwanda is thus continuing to build its cyber talent base by betting on closer collaboration between training bodies and telecom operators.

What remains to be seen is how many internships will actually materialise, and whether they lead to jobs for graduates. That is the test of whether the Rwandan model can travel to other African countries, Cameroon included, where operators and training institutions could also move closer together.

What other initiatives could better prepare young people for digital careers? Tell us in the comments.