Proto is expanding its AI-based citizen support agents in Rwanda through a collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC) and the Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA). With support from the Gates Foundation, this initiative will deploy multilingual AI to automate citizen engagement and complaint resolution, reinforcing trust in Rwanda’s digital economy and public sector.
This deployment is part of a broader supervisory technology scale-up supported by the Gates Foundation, which has provided $1.8 million in funding for Proto to deploy its AI agent and consumer complaints management system across six low- and middle-income countries. The Rwandan project joins concurrent rollouts in the Philippines, Liberia, and Namibia.
Gates Foundation Senior Program Officer Jeremiah Grossman said: "The Foundation is investing in consumer protection AI tools to build trust in digital services for the lowest-income communities. Through these projects, we aim to demonstrate the value of automated grievance redress for citizens, regulators, and governments — and spark wider adoption across emerging markets."
Local government is the hub for citizen communication
In Rwanda, the Ministry of Local Government plays a central role in ensuring that citizens’ concerns are heard, coordinated, and resolved efficiently across all levels of government. As the institution responsible for promoting good governance and effective local administration, MINALOC manages the contact centre through which citizens engage their local leaders, report issues, and seek redress. However, much of this process still relies on manual review, categorisation, and routing of citizen cases — creating delays and limiting visibility into national trends.
Recognising this, MINALOC is now taking a forward step toward automation through Mbaza — a flagship digital transformation initiative developed with support from the Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA).
Mbaza will introduce a standardised and intelligent approach to managing citizen interactions, making it easier for local government to respond quickly, track progress, and strengthen accountability across the country.
This need aligns with the Gates Foundation’s implementation funding for Proto in Rwanda, allowing for the extension of this project beyond financial service into general public services. Proto and MINALOC kicked-off an Mbaza AI agent design phase last month with the aim to deploy before the end of 2025. The Proto platform will support following capabilities for Mbaza:
- Voice and text AI for local languages powered by Proto’s proprietary natural language understanding engine.
- Data protection with options for on-premise hosting, citizen authentication, and enterprise-grade security.
- Multi-channel engagement via WhatsApp, SMS, and Messenger to ensure citizens can access help in their everyday apps.
- Supervisory analytics to offer real-time insights into complaint trends, misconduct signals, and regulatory performance.
MINALOC Permanent Secretary Bob Gakire said: "In Rwanda, local government plays a critical role in receiving, routing, and resolving citizen cases. Technology that helps us make this service more efficient and inclusive promises to improve trust in public institutions. This partnership with Proto and the Gates Foundation is an important milestone in modernizing citizen engagement and service delivery."
The Mbaza AI agent will further support the objectives of Rwanda’s National Artificial Intelligence Policy, launched earlier this year to build the country’s capacity in both AI innovation and regulation. It also complements RISA’s work through its Innovation Hub, which provides a safe environment for public-private collaborations to test and scale digital solutions.
Why local channels are critical for consumer protection
Prior to the Mbaza expansion, Proto has been active in Rwanda for five years, notably in the digital finance sector.
Across Africa, digital financial services such as mobile money and microlending are reaching more people than ever before. While these services offer increased convenience and inclusion, they also open the door to scams, mis-selling, data exploitation, and opaque terms and conditions.
These issues tend to disproportionately affect the world's poorest consumers. When consumers are not protected, it damages their trust in financial systems and prevents them from accessing life-changing tools proven to lift citizens out of poverty, such as micro-loans and digital payments. Once this trust is lost, it is very difficult to regain.
Public institutions recognise that traditional enforcement mechanisms are no longer sufficient to keep up with increasingly complex and numerous threats. In this context, AI agents are seen as a critical enabler of inclusive and efficient consumer protection, especially when combined with real-time analytics and local language support.
Proto CEO Curtis Matlock said: "Rwanda’s deployment of AI agents across multiple government agencies — especially at the local level with MINALOC’s Mbaza agent — provides last-mile access for rural and underserved citizens to public services. This is especially important when urgency exists, such as during emergencies and financial scams. Making engagement easy for Rwandan citizens during critical moments can reinforce trust in public institutions.”
The country’s central bank, the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR), has been a leader in responding to these challenges. In 2021, the BNR first deployed its Proto-powered Intumwa AI agent to process complaints across more than 500 financial institutions. Following the financial sector’s feedback, the Intumwa system is being expanded with Kinyarwanda voice AI capability and deeper integration into existing customer support systems.
The extension of this capabilities into Rwanda’s 30 local districts with MINALOC’s Mbaza represents a new milestone for inclusive public service delivery.
About Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA)
The Rwanda Information Society Authority is a public agency mandated to lead Rwanda’s digital transformation. It supports e-government, digital skills, national ICT infrastructure, and cybersecurity programs. RISA accelerates the country’s journey toward a knowledge-based, inclusive digital economy.
About the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC)
The Ministry of Local Government is responsible for good governance, citizen service delivery, and community development through Rwanda’s decentralized system. By championing transparency and accountability, MINALOC works to ensure that public institutions are responsive and inclusive. Its participation in this initiative reinforces its vision of a citizen-first approach to service innovation.
