KIGALI, Rwanda — On the 12th floor of the Kigali City Tower, a modern blue-glass office building on the side of one of this capital’s famous hills, the latest endeavor in the effort to transform a tiny rural economy into a financial and high-tech hub is trying to find its footing.

A commodity exchange, with its dozen terminals and state-of-the-art software provided by Nasdaq, held its first six auctions over the past year — a fledgling venture, but the kind that helps explain how a nation with no oil, natural gas or other major natural resources has managed to grow at such a rapid clip in recent years.

“The feeling was that it could serve the region and perhaps be a springboard for the rest of Africa,” said Paul Kukubo, the chief executive of the commodity East Africa Exchange.

The swirl of potential, outsized ambitions and lingering problems like yawning income divides is typical of the story of booming Africa, which has caught the eye of foreign governments and corporations alike as a rich frontier for business. The International Monetary Fund said that economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa would average 6.1 percent this year, compared with 3.7 percent worldwide.