Enterprise Africa, an NGO focused on women incubation based in Rwanda and their partners, Acts Of Gratitude hosted a conference on the 22nd November, 2019 to celebrate the journey and impact of entrepreneurs in Rwanda with a theme that states “Growing your Enterprising Muscles and Mindset.”
The goal of this Entrepreneurship conference which was to; Inspire, Connect and Celebrate successful Rwandan business youth and women and to learn from their failures and regrets was met to satisfaction as a number of youth and women entrepreneurs graced the event. Although not so many women among the key selected panelists, the audience was mostly women who have taken a step to start up their own businesses and were seeking to grow their enterprising mindsets.
With the help of the quote “You were made for these times”, one of the leaders and co-founders of Enterprise Africa, Violet Busingye encouraged the youth not to give up on their dreams and aspirations because of tough times but rather to build from that and fight harder to stay focused on growing their enterprising muscles and strive for a better future, to keep on trying.
Violet Busingye, co-founder Enterprise Africa
The speeches made by the made by the members of Acts Of Gratitude and Enterprise Africa were inspiring to the audience comprised of the youth, women, prospective entrepreneurs, different private companies, social enterprises, NGOs and some government leaders. Acts Of Gratitude, on top of the engaging interactions also invited aspiring entrepreneurs to confide in them in case of any setbacks or loss of morale to keep pushing during their business journeys.
This conference, through different investors and NGOs introduced opportunities of long term investment to a few exceptional prospects all over the Great Lakes Region which are to be confirmed in the near future after fulfillment of the required procedures. Job opportunities were also suggested to the audience, preferably University graduates by one of the panelists, Eric Rukundo S. who called on to the youth to search for jobs in order to be able to fund their projects.
The Youth Leader for Gasabo district, Mr. David Musirikare was also in attendance and encourages the youth to continue engaging in more ventures that will contribute to their futures and the development of Rwanda at large.
Youth Leader for Gasabo district , David Musirikare
The main panelists comprised of Frank I. Mugarura – founder of Gravity Rwanda, a local Branding and Marketing agency, Henri Carl – founder and Managing Director of GSG Café, a local instant Coffee producer , Eric Rukundo Sebasore – co-founder of Bright Future Cornerstone, a social enterprise that provides alternative educational support in the areas of Leadership, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship to children and young people to fully explore their potentials to create their future , and Noble Nziza – co-founder and Human Resource Manager at City Buddiz , a youth-led tour company and community of young freelance adventurers. They altogether shared their journeys to success, including the setbacks and how they managed to overcome in such a tough business world, the values of a good entrepreneur, answered questions form the audience on various sectors in their fields of expertise and encouraged the youth entrepreneurs to work harder because it is the key to the top.
A mini expo was conducted in the compound by young entrepreneurs and women to showcase their products and also inspire those who haven’t taken a step to accomplish their goals to pick a leaf from their achievements. The youth-entrepreneurs included Imfura Arts, a group of youngsters that showcased their talents on canvas and also mind-blowing spoken poetry, Love to Help Organization Rwanda (LHOR), a Christian organization helping Rwandan families living with HIV/AIDS to achieve a better, sustainable life, Lemantis Farm, dealers in small vegetable gardens for domestic use, Vermicomposting and pig farming. These among other talented entrepreneurs showcased their products at the event with the aim to coin clients, investors and also inspire and be an example to those who may have the fear of beginning to invest in their owns enterprises , be it financially, physically, mentally or emotionally.
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”
~ Chinese proverb. (Courtesy of Steven Byarugaba)
Albeit Enterprise Africa being an NGO still under registration process, they have extended a hand to the community around them by helping youth and women to start up and grow income generation projects for free and have paid medical insurance for at least 25 people in Gasabo District.
Mont Jali News.
