The Influencer Magazine - Issue 1

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Nyirangarama Headquarters Kigali-Ruhengeri road Email: info@sinarwanda.com Phone: +250 788 305 122 +250 788 388 888 www.sinarwanda.rw

Owner & Managing Director

SINA GERARD

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Quality Products

Premium Products

Being competitive worlwide and enhancing social economic development.

SINA Gerard/Ese Urwibutso is an international agro-processing industry with premium quality.

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IN THIS ISSUE

THE FOLMARITIES 03 CONTENTS On this page.

05 PUBLISHER’S NOTE Message from the managing director of “The Influencer Magazine.

LOCAL & INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY

12 INVESTING IN RWANDA’S UNTAPPED MARKET Renee Wang the supervisor at China Star Construction in Rwanda.

18 CAPITALIZING ON AFRICA’S DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND According to the World Bank, six of the world’s ten fastestgrowing econo mies are in Africa.

36 HOW TO SUCCEED IN THE WORLD’S NEXT BIG GROWTH MARKET There is a trillion-dollar opportunity to industrialize Africa, to meet rising domestic demand and create a bridge-head in global export markets.

PROMOTING BUSSINES Cover featuring the CEO of Songa Logistics Ltd, Jean Bosco Songa. Read this story on page 20.

08 HARNESSING YOUTH POTENTIAL TO PROMOTE MADE IN RWANDA Education and training play an important part since this is a significant skills-building period for the youth and empowers the future of labour force.

14 RWANDAN COMPANY MAKING BREAD AND BISCUITS FROM SWEET POTATOES Carl Group is excited to now offer Vita bread in over 35 market locations in the greater Kigali area.

40 STRAWTEC SUPPLIES COMPLETE HOUSING SOLUTIONS STRAWTEC Supplies complete housing solutions with a focus on medium to large-scale neighborhood developments.

COVER STORIES

30 IMAGINE WE RWANDA “Literacy sector a virgin market” 38 PASSION DROVE ME TO PHOTOGRAPHY Passion, skill and creativity led Sandrine Gatera into a maledominated field of photography.

SPORTS & OTHERS

06 H.E PAUL KAGAME TIPS AMAVUBI H.E Paul Kagame Tips Amavubi Players On Discipline And Hard Work.

32 THE MYTH AND TRUTH ABOUT FITNESS Bad advice can make achieving your goals next to impossible.

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Kigali Arena is a 10,000 capacity indoor arena which is meant for indoor sports such as basketball, volleyball, and tennis, as well as concerts and conferences.

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Publisher’s note sector of promoting business, including producing an annual list of the fastest growing private companies in Rwanda, The magazine provides in depth special reports on topics related to the best places to invest in business and the country’s most productive entrepreneurs as well as daily news on currency related issues.

MIGISHA Jean Aime Dieudonne Managing Director, The influencer Magazine

The Influencer Magazine is the place for the business owners and startup folks to revel in the awesome world of entrepreneurial business. It was founded by Migisha Jean Aime Dieudonne an entrepreneur business based and is becoming an industrial leader in the

Some people are not entrepreneurs, they are looking for too much profit at one ago, which is impossible. Other business people do not take the time to do market research before starting a business while some lack basics skills for successful investment. However, business people in Rwanda also face a challenge of competition which is very high, yet the purchasing power is low, accessibility of capital is still a challenge. The influencer magazine is there to help solving the issues talked above by providing the reliable information you need to achieve accelerated and sustained economic growth led by a dynamic and competitive private sector.

Managing Editor Renzaho Christophe +250 788 696 317

Contributors

Sales and Marketing Manager Mukamire Mathias +250 783 588 344

Design / Layout Singizwa Cedric +250 787 198 264 singizwacedric@gmail.com

Migisha Jean Aime Dieudonne Uwizeye Charmant Ishimwe Bernard

The Influencer Magazine Kicukiro District- Niboye Administration and Marketing Tel: +250 784 279 428 +250 784 678 065 Email: influencermag@gmail.com Twiter: @influencermag Facebook: influencermagazine www.influencermagazine.com The reliable information you need

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H.E Paul Kagame Tips Amavubi Players On Discipline And Hard Work President Paul Kagame, on Sunday, February 7, 2021 met with the national football team players and officials who represented the country at the African Nations Championship (CHAN), in which Rwanda reached the quarter-finals of the tournament.

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The “Amavubi” put up a spirited show at the tournament, coming out second in Group C with 5 points before they fell to Guinea in a closely contested quarter-final match.

Speaking to the team, President Kagame, among other things tipped them on the significance of discipline and picking lessons from whatever they do.

“Every game you played, the ones you lost, won, or drew, each of them has a lesson,” he said.

“Discipline gives you the ability to learn. Discipline helps you to exercise restraint. When you show anger on the field, you have to ask yourself, who are you proving a point to? You are instead failing your team. Arguing or being angry does not give you any points,” he

added.

He gave them an example of how far Rwanda as a nation has been able to go due to discipline and resilience, despite the difficult challenges faced on the way.

“With all the challenges we have gone through, if we were not people with discipline, with resilience to keep trying even when we fail, with respect for the rules, we would not have made progress.

Discipline is needed in all aspects of life.”

The president commended the performance the team put up in Cameroon, despite the challenges that they may have faced while preparing for the tournament due to the unusual times caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

He further urged them to have a

common understanding among themselves, working as one team under one coach.

“The coach has to do his job and the players should play their role.

They can discuss the issues at hand and find solutions with each one of them playing their part but the players cannot replace their coach.

Discipline enables such an environment to be put in place,” he said. He pledged more support to the team in their endeavors, so that they can perform even better.

Meanwhile, he said he had already engaged with the Ministry of Sports to give the players a prize to appreciate their performance in the CHAN tournament.

BY DAMAS SIKUBWABO

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INVESTING IN RWANDA’S

UNTAPPED MARKET

STAFF WRITER Renee Wang is busy supervising her employees and giving i nterviews to journalists. All at the same time. The supervisor at China Star Construction in Rwanda has been doing her work for one year, employing more than 1000 people. The construction company entered Rwanda in 2010 and has built warehouses, supermarkets and expansion of Kigali International Airport among other projects. “Rwanda is a very attractive market for us.

Rwanda is also one of the safest in the region and we also have government support,” Wang explains.

Wang says the company’s objective is to expand in the region using Rwanda as a base. Her company is located inside a 300-hectare special economic zone, which is also modelled on the zones that

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contributed to China’s economic opening in the 1980s. Officials from Rwanda Development Board (RDB) say businesses in special economic zones enjoy low tariffs, rent and electricity costs, as well as fast customs clearance and simplified regulations. China is trying to woo African leaders to trade together, in Rwanda, China’s investments are estimated at US $419.5 million to date. In countries like Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Angola and Morocco, the Chinese companies have initiated mega projects and changing lives of the people.

Winifred Ngangare, acting head of investment promotion at RDB says that investments constitute the main pillars of the economic cooperation between Rwanda and China. “The two countries have

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built strong trade and investment relations over the past decade.

Rwanda is emerging as one of the biggest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) destinations for China,” she said. Chinese business interests in Rwanda are expanding, as the private investment targets manufacturing, tourism, construction and real estate sectors among others.

Some of the Chinese companies that have successfully established their operation in Rwanda include; New Century Development (Owners of Marriott Hotel), Star Africa Media a high tech electronic multimedia service provider, China Star construction, Paragon Mining Industry among others.

There are several activities that are being undertaken by the government of Rwanda to boost

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the attraction of Chinese investments to Rwanda These include increased collaboration with the Chinese entities (State & Private) to reach out massively to their members in the spirit of promoting Rwanda and the investment opportunities. Promoting local industries The Rwandan government is putting in place adequate infrastructure by developing Kigali Special Economic Zone and other industrial parks to ensure that land for manufacturing is readily available especially Chinese investors. “We believe that the quality of infrastructure comprising of waste treatment, water electricity, fibre optic cables and roads and site location makes this an attractive location for foreign investors,” observed Ngangure.

Rwanda has embarked on the process of promoting “Made in Rwanda” policy that is designed to promote value addition and exports oriented projects. It is in line with this policy that Rwanda has decided to benchmark experience in the development and operation of the Industrial Parks in China.

tions in Rwanda are straightforward and there is also a market here,” Jontilano says. She says she wants to transform the idea of “Made in China” come to Rwanda and become “Made in Rwanda”.

Apart from the local market, her company also produces for Europe and America market. Currently, the trade volume between African and China stood at 170 billion dollars last year; surpassing both the United States and France, formerly the continent’s main trading partners. At the just concluded Forum on China-Africa Cooperation with many African leaders, President Paul Kagame who also the Chairman

of African Union said Chinese action plan is intended to boost Africa. “If we remain guided by the spirit of the 2018 Beijing Summit, I have no doubt that we will have even more good results to celebrate at our next gathering in Africa,” Kagame said. “Our focus now should be implementation. This will require continuous engagement and attention from leaders at the highest level in between Summits.” When Chinese President visited Rwanda in July, Rwandan President praised China’s treatment of Africa “as an equal,” calling it “a revolutionary posture in world affairs” and “more precious than money.”

This shall help to develop adequate Industrial Parks and smooth the establishment of FDI in general and Chinese investments in particular. Malou Jontilano, the managing director of Chinese clothing manufacturer C&H Garments also based in Special Economic Zones has been in this business for over 20 years and she is employing thousands of employees. “Business regulaThe The reliable reliable information information you you need need

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Rwandan Company Making Bread And Biscuits From Sweet Potatoes We have been friends as we went to the same high school and we knew the four of us that we had a passion in food processing and we also had an ambition to revolutionize our food processing industry in our community, when we were at the second year at University 2 years ago, myself Clarisse Murekatete, Ada Elyse Irirashenono, Regis Umugiraneza and Larissa Uwase, we co-founded CARL Group a youth led company which is specializing in the transformation of Orange fleshed sweet potatoes into well processed and affordable products rich in vitamin A namely biscuits, crisps, donuts, bread and noodles.

Vita Bread now available online and in over 35 stores within Kigali area.

Carl Group is excited to now offer Vita bread in over 35 market locations in the greater Kigali area. Moreover, Vita bread is available on several online platforms. We hope that you and those around you stay safe. We are privileged to have you as a customers and even in this unprecedented situation, we’re working hard to continue to serve you.

Check us out online or the closest market near you!

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Vita bread, the current unique product of CARL Group

Featured in “How we made it in Africa”, our dedicated and hardworking C.E.O Umugiraneza Regis tells the story of the CARL Group.

CARL Group – Ready to eat delicious and nutritious sweet potato bread The entire team safely arrived in Kigali, Rwanda, the country of a thousand hills, and met our partner, the CARL Group. The CEO, Regis Umugiraneza, focused on sharing with us the history of the company in more depth to strengthen our knowledge of their mission and help facilitate our collaboration.

They produce and sell bread made from Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potatoes (OFSP) a bio-fortified sweet potato highly rich in beta-carotene, a precursor of Vitamin A. These products help to address the high levels of Vitamin A deficiency among young children and pregnant/lactating women in Rwanda.

viate nutritional deficiencies among vulnerable communities.They also seek to increase the income of smallholder farmers, promote commercial agriculture and support youth employment.

CARL Group sources its raw materials from individual farmers and cooperatives in the southern province in Rwanda, and also partners with various institutions for capacity strengthening and research purposes. The end products are processed daily by a highly qualified team of young visionaries. CARL sells the products in supermarkets and grocery stores across several neighborhoods in Kigali, primarily to low- and middle-income urban consumers.

Moving forward, the company plans to open stores in other parts of the country and reach more consumers nationwide. They are also looking forward to adding more products like sweet potato biscuits, pasta and cassava gluten-free bread to their production to reach a broader range of consumers.

The SMART team is eager to collaborate with the CARL Group to develop a marketing and branding strategy, create record-keeping and financial management tools and offer insights into the human resource and operational strategy currently employed by CARL Group.

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Youth in agribusiness forum have made a tremendous journey in adding value to locally produced food. CARL Group’s Chairman Regis Umugiraneza said that they have made an improvement on their processed products from orange sweet potato to help Rwandans boost their nutrition.

The company that is among the factories of youth in agribusiness is made of four members including three girls and one boy who is Umugiraneza.

They add value to orange sweet potato where they produce breads, cakes and biscuits rich in Vitamin A. Umugiraneza was speaking during the ceremony to taste and mark the new boosted breads, cakes and biscuits at

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the company’s headquarters where various people were invited to give their contribution in tasting and ranking the products.

“We currently have andazi, cheeps, breads, cakes, and biscuits all from potatoes but not in an advanced manner, we did not have enough modern equipment including the processing machines. Today it is the reason why we invited people to come and see our progress, taste and feel the new aroma of our products after we have improved the processing manner. We have modern equipment, we have capacity and for sure we get prepared to put on market tasteful and nutritious food that Rwandans will appreciate,” Umugiraneza said.

Since three years, he said the company was striving to get to the level of having the products that will serve the purpose of consumers.

The way forward “After this event we are going to do the market research and we want to have a shop before the year ends. We will reach out the super marks, schools, health centers, education development centers so that Rwandans access our products. Our products have specialty of originality as we do not add sugar while processing.” He said.

Challenges He said that infrastructures and packaging materials are still the key threats to small factories of food processors.

The company produces between 300 and 600 kg per day while their machines have the production capacity of 2.5 and 3 tons per day. “We will increase the production according to the market expansion,” Umugiraneza noted.

The products are sold at the factories’ location in Kanombe sector, Gasabo district and they will have a shop by January 2019.

These products will also be sold countrywide in all provinces and supermarkets.

Umugiraneza thanks the business development fund (BDF) that gave him the machines.

Christophe Rutonesha, one of the people who tasted and ranked the CARL group

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The comprehensive food security and vulnerability analysis(CFSVA) which is conducted every 3 years has shown That stunting among children aged under 5 dropped to 36.7 percent in 2015, down from 43 percent at the time of the last analysis in 2012. Stunting, where a child is short for their age, is an indicator of chronic malnutrition and permanently affects brain development and health.

One of the solutions that Rwanda is implementing so far are Kitchen garden and Girinka Program which aims at transforming livelihoods which includes fighting malnutrition in vulnerable families with malnutrition problems. It is very clear that Rwanda is making improducts said that have the aroma of a potato, which makes them differ from other breads, cakes and biscuits o the market.

“I can tell them to keep up the good work by reducing unemployment and boosting nutrition. I encourage other youth to follow these young innovators as they are good role models in bringing changes. What I liked most is that they have invited people to taste and rank their products before they put them on market.” Rutonesha said.

Diana Kareba, BDF Staff in charge of agribusiness and quasi-equity said they have worked for a long time with CARL Group in designing their project. “ It is a pride that today they are at such a good level. We partnered to design the project and we supported them to implement it,” she said.

VIT-A against Malnutrition Malnutrition literally means “bad nutrition” and technically includes both over and under nutrition. Malnutrition also means a state in which the physical function of an individual is impaired to the point where he or she can no longer maintain adequate

bodily performance process such as growth, lactation, physical work and resisting and recovering from diseases.

By Florence Dushime Entrepreneur , Creative Writter and Economic Development Passionate. Accountant and administrative assistant at TractAfric Equipment Rwanda.

The effects of malnutrition on individual can lead to poverty though the latter is also another cause of malnutrition; That said, sweet potatoes are grown as a food crop in most of developing countries like Rwanda and plays a primary role in food security especially in rural areas for both home consumption and to supplement household income by sale. Thanks to Carl Sweet Food. I’ll come back to this later.

According to a study conducted by the Rwandan Ministry of agriculture (Minagri) and the World Food Program(WFP) in the middle of 2016, the rates of chronic malnutrition in Rwanda had fallen significantly in the last 3 year, though it also showed that the rate was still stubbornly high in some rural areas of Rwanda comparing to the urban areas.

pressive progress in its fight against food insecurity and undernutrition.

Carl Group Ltd as an agricultural entreprise with Carl Sweet food as one of their departments aims at fulfilling customers ‘ needs, ensuring their health and a well entertained environment with affordable and reasonable means.

They are one of the most trusted, efficient and innovative nutritious food provider in Rwanda with their Vitamin A bread (VIT-A bread) which is to be launched soon. If you are looking forward to join others in the fight against Malnutrition I recommend you to start thingking about the Vit-A bread, biscuits and pasta made from the Vit-A sweet potatoes.

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Capitalizing on Africa’s Demographic Dividend

BY CARL MANLAN

Africa is home to the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population. With as many as 20 million young people poised to join the workforce every year for the next three decades, the continent has an opportunity to shift the balance of local and global growth with a purpose: jobs. But it is far from inevitable that it will do so.

For African countries to capitalize on this demographic dividend, the future workforce must be educated, trained, and have adequate employment opportunities.

Putting all the pieces in place will not be easy.

These are uncertain times for the global economy. Trade tensions between the United States and China are threatening the integrity of global value chains, and Britain’s looming exit from the European Union has the potential to cause even more disruption. The

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International Monetary Fund’s October forecast warns that as historic economic drivers stall, global Capitalizing on Africa’s Demographic Dividend growth this year and next could fall to 3.7%, a decline of 0.2 percentage points from previous estimates.

But as this slowdown gets priced in by stock markets around the world, new drivers of growth will emerge. Africa is well positioned to become one of them.

According to the World Bank, six of the world’s ten fastestgrowing economies are in Africa.

Intra-African trade might be the gateway to future local and global growth, with the continent’s burgeoning population forging new opportunities across borders.

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Most significantly, Africa’s labor force is on the verge of a dramatic expansion. Today, 60% of Africans are younger than 25, and 41% are under the age of 15. By 2050, Africa’s youth population is expected to reach 840 million.

But this massive pool of potential talent is a doubleedged sword.

Despite strong GDP growth over the last ten years, the majority of young people in Africa could not capture economic opportunities.

Furthermore, the African Union/ OECD report Africa’s Development Dynamics 2018 highlights that if the underemployment trend continues, Africa’s young people will suffer the most.

Failing to employ Africa’s young people fully could marginalize an entire generation and lead them down a path of disruption for which we may not be prepared.

For countries to experience jobled longterm growth, the provi-

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sion of quality opportunities in agriculture is vital. If that does not happen, and quality jobs remain scarce, the economic expansion of which Africa is capable will not happen.

In other words, African governments are facing a deadline to match job growth with skills training. Unfortunately, at the moment, few countries are addressing this challenge effectively.

According to the African Development Bank, the unemployment rate for young people in Africa is already double the rate for adults.

In fact, young people are being let down even before they start looking for work. Too many primary schools suffer from crippling teacher shortages, for example, and gender discrimination prevents millions of girls from even attending high school. To overcome these shortcomings will require significant investments of political and financial capital.

Some leaders are moving in this direction. At the Paris Peace Forum (PPF), held earlier this

month, African and global leaders gathered to discuss the powerful idea that international cooperation is the key to tackling global challenges and ensuring durable peace.

On the sidelines of the PPF, the focus fell on African youth. The AU-EU Youth Cooperation Hub, one of 119 projects selected to participate in the Forum, attended the meeting to discuss the AUEU Youth Agenda. Striving to involve young people across Africa and Europe in decisions that impact them, now and in the future, this initiative aims to showcase strategies for bringing Africa and Europe together to address challenges such as the demographic dividend. One approach to capitalizing on Africa’s demographic boom is to expand the availability of training initiatives that pair employers’ needs with African talent. As a former fellow with the Ibrahim Leadership program, I can attest to the transformative power of toptier educational schemes and their value as incubators for job-related skills.

Africa’s success relies on its ability to harness its demographic dividend by equipping its youth with technological and innovative skills, which will be a catalyst for economic growth. This includes training and agriculture-focused programs to absorb skills along the value chains that connect raw materials to industries and markets across Africa. By 2030, one in every five people on the planet will be African. Because of its size alone, Africa’s labor force will have the potential to drive global growth for decades. But to do so, Africans must implement the necessary reforms today. As our demographic dividend matures, governments, institutions, and organizations must help position young people for success. If African countries can meet this challenge, prolonged economic growth – at home and abroad – will be the reward.

Carl Manlan is Chief Operating Officer at the Ecobank Foundation

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Songa Logistics committed to deliver supper service to all clients of business, he mentioned its progress.

He Said:” In fact by starting this Logistics field, I Started with helping businesses in tax consultancy and declaration, and after I have joined the public warehouse team at MAGERWA as Branch coordinator for five years. By gaining required experiences, I decided to start my new business of Logistics”.

“The challenge was about convincing new clients for Songa Logistics Ltd is working together, whether this Rwanda’s fast-growing company in field requires a big network and freight-forwarding, transportation being truthful with strong and logistics with the mission to knowledge of logistics. I have provide their customers safe and tried to create my own efficient logistic services in the innovation in marketing in country and around the globe. several ways, and tried to work with other partners. In Songa Jean Bosco Songa CEO at Songa Logistics we provide uniqueness Logistics, explaining the starting services with affordable prices,

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we have big dreams to become a big company in the country and worldwide”. He added.

By making trust to customers of his organization, Jean Bosco assuring them that they will be successful.

“Songa Logistics Ltd, will be your one stop Logistics partner for all your supply chain requirements where we will help design the ideal transportation process for your distribution network model so that the right product reaches the right place at the right time”. He said.

Songa Logistics Ltd, established in 2017, with the services of; Air freight, Ocean freight, land freight, warehousing, Logistics one stop centre, road transportation, local transportation and distribution leader which is offered world.

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Local Logistics and Handling

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International Shipping

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Air Freight

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Logistics One Stop Center

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Land Transporatation and distribution

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Warehouse Handling We take pride in our global Partenerships www.songalogistics.com The reliable information you need

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RWASHOSCCO: PROMOTING Rwanda’s Speciality Coffee To promote speciality coffee six farmer cooperatives in 2005 formed the Rwanda Small Holder Specialty Coffee Company (RWASHOSCCO Ltd) that would help improve the value chain and market Rwanda’s speciality coffee on the international market. The farmer-owned coffee roasting, marketing and export company was charged with providing key services to the six (6) cooperatives which are spread across the country that include; Abahuzamugambi ba Kawa/ Maraba (Huye), BUFCOFFEE (Nyamagabe), COCAGI Gashonga (Rusizi), COCAHU Humure (Eastern Province), Dukundekawa Musasa

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(Northern Province) and KOAKAKA (Nyamagabe and Huye).

The company was created towards the end of a USAID funded project that aimed at aiding local coffee producers to process and setup coffee washing stations. Although the project helped in bringing together farmers into the cooperatives it lacked sustainability due to cooperatives total dependency on grants, yet coffee was fetching good revenues for the farmers.

Angelique Karekezi, the Managing Director of RWASHOSCCO observes that her company helps the coopera-

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tives to market, advertise and take coffee to international markets.

This ensures that the cooperatives can harvest, process and add value to deliver a final product to the market. The company does not buy coffee from member cooperatives to re-sell but links cooperatives to foreign roasters or buyers.

As a company, its fully owned by cooperatives which pays a fee per kilogramme of coffee that passes through the company to cover its operating costs. The Brand ‘Café de Maraba’ The brand name originates from Maraba in the southern Rwanda, the area that first owned a washing station which also attracted other coffee farmers to visit and train in coffee processing. As the first speciality producers of coffee and among the founders of RWASHOSCCO, the brand Café de Maraba’ was selected to market the company’s products. The Managing Director of the company explains that Maraba coffee was marketed internationally to show the speciality coffee produced in Rwanda, this encouraged the adoption of its popular name on the international coffee market.

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RWASHOSCCO specializes in high quality specialty coffee and this is achieved by empowering farmers with trainings, improving the processes and provides special care to the whole coffee quality control system. “Quality is our primary focus, we only take up coffee graded above 84%, so we ensure that farmers are given the essentials to deliver coffee that has quality,” emphasises Karekezi.

Value addition Since establishing RWASHOSCCO much has improved for the cooperatives, at the start each cooperative only had one washing station but currently they have seventeen (17) washing stations. Plans are also in the pipeline by next year where four cooperatives will each have a dry mill which is the second category plant in coffee processing, this will enable processing coffee from the farm to the market without going through other private processing companies in Kigali. Karekezi notes that, as farmers continue to operate the whole value chain the quality of coffee is enhanced because farmers pay more attention to the processes which gives them more knowledge to improve as well as providing them with jobs. “For farmers to farm and process their own coffee greatly helps RWASHOSCCO to follow-up and obtains quality speciality coffee,” says Karekezi.

Quality is not only what has been achieved since the establishment of the company, production has increased over the years. At its inception the company exported

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only five containers (90 tonnes) but today exports range between 40 to 50 containers annually.

RWASHOSCCO also sells coffee on the local market, the company has a plant at its headquarters at Mulindi in Kigali that roasts coffee sold in the country.

Initially, coffee sold on the local market was less than 10 tonnes but this has grown to 50 tonnes ready to consume coffee sold locally. The company also has a modern laboratory which is at the fourth level of coffee value chain process. This facility helps to identify any irregularities that may occur during the processes from the farm to determine what each customer has ordered.

Over the years, the company has improved the quality of coffee, earned farmers’ profits as well as foreign exchange for the country. RWASHOSCCO helps the cooperatives in price negotiation with buyers in Europe, Asia and the USA, marketing the coffee, export docu-

ments and shipping on behalf of producers. The coffee producers receive various socio-economic benefits ranging from specialized trainings on crop and cooperative management to medical insurance. The cooperatives organises regular trainings for farmers to increase their capacity and knowledge to produce quality coffee. The cooperatives also organises study tours for the farmers to learn from others. Whereas the company provides specialised trainings for the management of the cooperatives or any other trainings that the cooperatives deem important. The company also provides trainings on quality based on the past season.

Educational trips for the cooperative heads or managers are also provided by the company to visit neighbouring countries, they have visited Burundi, Uganda, Ethiopia and plans to visit Kenya this year.

Karekezi observes that such study tours help members to

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self-evaluate because they get a chance to learn from other farmer cooperatives hence improve their own activities. The road to improve value chain of coffee have been a satisfying one for RWASHOSCCO, however some impediments to their activities make it difficult to run everything smoothly. One of the primary challenges to coffee production is climate change, the changing weather conditions affect coffee mostly on the farm which can impact on production and this brings along pests that affect coffee subverting quality. Packaging is another challenge that the coffee company faces, package materials used for roasted coffee are imported mostly from China yet this source has remained unreliable with time line and price fluctuations. The coffee market poses other challenges which include competition from other producers and price fluctuations on the international market. To mitigate some of these challenges RWASHOSCCO targets to bring more innovations to the coffee market. The company is looking at introducing more speciality coffees like organic, honey, natural and women coffee. Some of these innovative ideas are already fetching high revenues for the farmers like the organic coffee where four containers are exported while women farmers to earn additional income there is now a Rwandan chapter for the International Women Coffee Alliance to promote their coffee on the international market.

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Together To Create Farming Opportunities

BY AIMABLE TWAHIRWA I n the past, Veneranda Mukanyirigira, a female rice farmer from Kayonza District in the Eastern Province only knew savings in a form of the famous traditional solidarity group model -a long cherished heritage of the farming communities in rural Rwanda. But thanks to a new village savings scheme that was initiated in late 2013, after

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the peasant rice farmers were grouped in a cooperative, now farmers are selling their produce directly to the newly established rice processing plant. Kayonza Rice Product Limited, one of the growing rice processing plants in Eastern Rwanda has generated significant new income thanks to its increased productivity of rice it is buying from these local farmers from irrigated lowland in Eastern Rwanda. The rice processing plant with the milling capacity of 50 tonnes a day works with over 2,000 farmers by milling their rice at a fee, provides storage facilities, market space for free and sells farmer’s rice for an extra commission. Little known however, is that the plant has also opened up new income opportunities for female rice farmers like Mukanyirigira who developed a sense of business in the farming activity by demonstrating how with even a small opportunity to gain farming skills, they can improve their own lives and those of their families. But thanks to a new village savings scheme supported

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by the rice processing plant, the mother of four from Murundi village in Kayonza District is now part of this growing financial inclusion crusade, bringing some fresh air to the functionality of the village economy. One of the secrets behind the success for this rice-growing system in Kayonza has been for the plant to promote indigenous varieties of rice as the best way for local farmers to deal with changing climate with periodic droughts in the country’s eastern lowlands. Now soil health improves after two to three years of regular organic farming, so do yields with the increasing number of growers which rose in a period of two years from less than 100 to 1,574 farmers who were cultivating rice by 2017.

According to Augustine Nyagatare, the Managing Director of Kayonza Rice Product plant, strict production and milling standards have been since applied to ensure consistent quality.

Nyagatare is one of the local members of business community most involved in the sustainable development plan in Kayonza

District. “Some few years ago, women in Kayonza’s rural villages had no job opportunities and hardly owned a bank account,” he said. Now most women farmers have various opportunities and bettering their lives. “The plant has become an important source of jobs and income for local families,” Nyagatare observes.

Now the facility which is on track this year to process additional tons of rice, also has made some innovation by expanding its production of briquettes out of rice husks to replace the use of charcoal in the cooking stoves in

several remote rural areas in the country. Women winnow rice at the farm effectively manage water use, improved seeds and irrigation. The current system is based on a short and highly interactive value chain where by rice farmers’ cooperative are linked directly with the food processing plant for both the local and export market. Yet the dry seasons as described as the “most prominent hazard” are threatening the agriculture sector in Eastern Rwanda. Water availability is the limiting factor for the expansion of rice production, and farmers have been constructing earth dams to capture rainfall runoff.

Currently, more than 50 per cent of the rice acreage in Kayonza District is irrigated by these dams.

“Rice farming is slowly but surely becoming another important business in Kayonza district,” Mukanyirigira said.

Former peasant rice farmers in Murundi Sector, Kayonza district have undertook profitable commercial activities thanks to their increased productivity.

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IMAGINE WE Rwanda

“

Literacy sector a virgin market

”

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A nonprofit firm ‘IMAGINE WE Rwanda publishers’’ founder and current CEO , Dominique Alonga, expresses her impression towards a reading culture which covers hidden wealth that young ones need to explore as she managed to come up with a solution upon that inquiry and hence established “IMAGINE WE publishers’’ that enhance kids’ mindset capacity which is seated in Rwanda.Asked what made her cherish the world of literature”from my early age mumused to give me books to read then I grew up loving it’’ she replied.IMAGINE WE Rwanda publishers aims at empowering children to read by making age-relevant reading materials available to them and also using participatory approaches to encourage them to read and write. With her colleagues, Alonga supplies reading materials to different primary schools across the country with the aim of stimulating Rwandan children to have fun while reading, and empower them with the capability of being great people who devote their lives to literature hence rising the Rwandan literature on the international level which can boost our economic development as well.

Asked whether the road to her achievement was straight without bumps , Miss Alonga stressed that there were impediments along her

way, but most importantly age has been a problem to her since she raised the idea when she was only 22 years old.

‘I knocked and presented my idea, people didn’t believe in me. Another barrier was lack of experience,furthermore culture was an additional impediment.’’ she explains. ’Rejection is a part of the journey, you send like hundreds emails and you receive like five emails back and I think if somebody wants to be wise,he /she needs to know that rejection waits all along the journey and this asks to work on our convincing games, and not everyone will say yes for our proposals.’’ She added.

She furthermore stressed that literacy sector is a virgin market in Rwanda which is quite different from other developed countries like USA ,Nicolas sparks is earning a lot of money among other authors ,when you ask him , he will tell you that his career is an author ,thus earning trust in our readers herein Rwanda , several doors will be open to us.

Alonga moreover called upon youth to explore their talents and abilities at early age as they do not have much preoccupations and be transformative agents of our country’s development rather than staying abroad after they finish their studies.“I am a pan African and I do believe that solutions for my country and my continent will come if I struggle with my people’’. she adds.

IMAGINE WE Rwanda supply books to schools,public libraries, hosts reading and writing competitions, and publishing books written by Rwandans.After she graduated from India where she pursued undergraduate studies in Media Studies from Jain University, Bangalore and specialized in Public Relations and Event Management.Dominique Alonga wrote her first novel ‘’Rwanda ABCD’s’’. she is therefore devoting her time in writing, and she longs to write three novels per year.

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The myth and truth about fitness

BY REGINALD KARIUKI If you are new to fitness, you might unknowingly get stuck reading fitness fiction. Bad advice can make achieving your goals next to impossible.

Health and fitness is not just a week-long, it is a life-long pursuit.

Each new gain should bring about a slew of new goals: If you lose 5kilograms, sign up for a group run, if you reach a new squat, see what you can do about your deadlift. There’s no end to how far you can take your fitness. The problem for most is just getting started.

As a beginner, you may fall prey to the inconsistencies and falsehoods spread by the uneducated and the untrained. The best way to go into the fitness world is through the doors of knowledge. If you learn a little before you start, you will be much better equipped to deal with setbacks, nutrition questions, plateaus and training debacles.

I will start with the myths that we have heard and not heard about, related to fitness.

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.MYTH ONE CAN SPOT REDUCE FAT IN ONE PARTICULAR AREA. EXAMPLE BELLY FAT OR FAT IN THE ARMS

TRUTH: spot reduction is not Possible, unless one goes for Liposuction surgery which is very Expensive and a health risk.

2

.MYTH YOU CANNOT BE FIT PAST THE AGE OF 40

TRUTH: Age does bring wear and tear, but one can be fit at any age be it 40 or 60, it may be a little challenging than when you were younger but it is possible.

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.MYTH THE MORE YOU SWEAT THE MORE FAT YOU LOOSE

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TRUTH: Sweat has nothing to do with fat loss, it is your body’s way of regulating temperature, fat is oxidizedinside your body, and it is not going tovaporize because you are sweating.

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.MYTH DOING CARDIO BEFORE WEIGHTS WILL HELP YOU GET SHREDDED FASTER

TRUTH: If you run on a treadmill before you hit the weights, you will be too fatigued to train. You need muscle, not miles to burn fat.

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.MYTH THE ONLY WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT IS BY CUTTING OUT ALL CARBS

TRUTH: The way to lose the right amount of weight is by adopting a nutrition plan that supports your goal, training with weights, and doing some cardio.

Your program should include all of these aspects long enough to see a difference. Nutrition, weights, and cardio -the holy trinity of fitness!

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.MYTH IF YOU WANT TO GET IN SHAPE, YOU HAVE TO RUN FOR LONG DISTANCES

TRUTH: Your fitness success depends upon your goal. If you want to be able to run 10kms without breaking a sweat, then yes, you’ll have to run. If your goal is fat loss or muscle gain, running for miles and miles may not be the best way to lose pounds. The more efficient your body becomes at running, the fewer calories you’ll burn.

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.MYTH BIG MUSCLES ARE STRONG MUSCLES

TRUTH: There’s a difference between training your muscles to be big and training your muscles to be strong. For physique athletes, size and shape—not strength—is the ultimate goal. For athletes, strength for maximum effort is most important.

I’m not saying that big muscles aren’t strong, but put a bodybuilder and an Olympic lifter in front of a loaded barbell and see who can clean the most weight. Either person is capable of being strong or built—it’s all a matter of training for a specific goal.

The author is a Fitness Consultant based in Kigali.

Email:reginaldkariuki@gmail.com

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Morocco Wins CHAN 2021 “Become 1st Team to Win 2 Consecutive Titles” Morocco retained the 2021 African Nations Championship (CHAN) after thrashing Mali in a thrilling finale in Cameroon on Sunday night.

Soffiane Bouftini header opened the score at 69th minute after a superb corner cross.

Ten minutes later, Ayoub El Kaabi netted in another header to finalize the scores against the Malian team.

Kenyan referee Peter Waweru who

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officiated the match had a hard time calming down the tense game that was stopped on many occasions following numerous disagreements amongst players of both teams.

Morocco is now the first team to retain the title and also join the Democratic Republic of Congo in winning the cup twice.

The national team began the competition in Group C, alongside

Togo, Rwanda, and Uganda.

Morocco’s first two performances — a 1-0 win against Togo and a 0-0 draw versus Rwanda — were unconvincing and planted doubts in many fans.

However, in the third game, the Moroccan team appeared to finally regain the offensive prowess that characterized it in the 2018 CHAN. It thrashed Uganda with a 5-2 score, finishing the group stage at the top.

Morocco proceeded to beat Zambia 3-1 in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, the Moroccan team eliminated the tournament’s hosts, Cameroon, with a dominating 4-0 score, sending a strong message to their opponents in the final.

The CHAN 2021 topscorer is Moroccan striker Soufiane Rahimi who netted a total of five goals.

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Passion drove me to photography Women entrepreneurs who follow their passion and turn it into a business are more likely to find success, as they are driven each day to fulfill their creative ambitions.

By JEJJE MUHINDE Passion, skill and creativity led Sandrine Gatera into a maledominated field of photography.

The 28-year old travel and tourism graduate shared with journalist Jejje Muhinde about her life as an entrepreneur and her vision for the future.

Tell us about yourself and your

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startup.

I am Sandrine Gatera, I studied travel and tourism management at my university, I also trained as a photographer and graphic designer.

After five years working with a media company, I founded my own called LA FOTOLIA Ltd, which deals in photography, videography and promotional materials services.

What inspired you to start your company?

Passion inspired me to start Q&A: Passion drove me to photography working for myself. When I was an employee it was very tough, I was overworked in all departments as a photographer, editor, accountant, adviser, human resource, storekeeper and as a marketer all at the same time.

I had no defined position yet there were people in charge of some of the tasks I performed. My employer

would have me doing all that work because I did it overwhelmingly well, on the other hand, it was an advantage to learn more, gain experience and start mine.

Why should anyone want your services or products?

Nine years in this domain has earned me great experience and clients to have trust working with us. Offering quality services and on time has pulled many individual clients, companies and NGO’s our way.

We have overcome many challenges along the way which made us strong and having a good team on board has played a big part in overcoming some of these challenges plus investing in modern and quality equipment.

Quality in what we offer matters so such, our images should not be a pile of all things, I can use composition, lighting is a key in our photo shoots. The secret I have employed is to work tirelessly with my team to avail to clients with quality photography and video services.

Personally, my power is making clients feel at ease in front of the camera when its wedding photography for instance, I make them feel calm and confident, it shows in their images. I’m not just photographer, I’m a confidence crusader.

What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?

My dreams came true, when I see where I am and where I came from it gives me hope for the future of my business. Likewise, we are playing a role in developing our society, providing services, employing Rwandans and inspiring the youths as well as women.

I love taking daily action towards my goals and watching the story of

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my success unfold. As I discover my authentic self through my own experience, I can share my lessons with others and hopefully impact and inspire them too.

I love seeing my clients get emotional when the veil of selfjudgment, self-criticism, and self-deprecation is lifted to reveal a woman who can see herself, accept herself and love herself, perhaps for the first time.

What are your future plan and aspirations for your company?

To expand the business by opening out more outlets not only in Kigali but in other provinces. There really is nothing to fear when making huge life-changing decisions as long as you have some backup plan. What is the worst that could happen?

What’s the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to startup?

Know yourself first - discover yourself. Find out what makes you happy, what you would do even if you didn’t get paid so much for doing it.

Once you discover that and why you need to do it, remind yourself of the endless possibilities and outcomes of your efforts every day.

There will be days when you question the long hours, the hard work and the lack of money, but when you know why you’re doing what you’re doing, you’ll get on with doing what needs to be done.

Women we are able, and I can tell them that there is nothing we can achieve without working hard.

There are many opportunities in Rwanda and my advice is to make use of them, by developing own projects and converting them to reality.

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STRAWTEC Supplies complete housing solutions STRAWTEC Advantages: High Performance in Fire Protection and Sound Protection, Fast Construction, Eco-Friendly, Healthy.

Best Solutions for Affordable & Sustainable Single-Family Homes, Commercial Housing & Public Buildings.

STRAWTEC Supplies complete housing solutions with a focus on medium to large-scale neighborhood developments.

STRAWTEC standardized, pre-fabricated housing kits can be delivered and assembled at high speed, providing a cost-effective yet high quality solution.

not require a framework and can be constructed up to three times faster than traditional partitioning walls. Pre-cut wall modules allow for Optimum constructions rates and are therefore a highly economical alternative for contractors. In addition STRAWTEC has

Commercial construction is a key area for STRAWTEC Wall partitioning solutions, which do

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developed construction techniques enabling buildings to be made solely with STRAWTEC panels.

Construction of the first two-store office building in Rwanda made entirely from STRAWTEC STRAWTEC Technology combines heat and compression in a dry extrusion process that allows the natural adhesives contained within agricultural fibers to bind the fibers to form a continuous high-quality strawboard panel.

High strength recycled paper

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is used to seal the strawboard panels and to give a finish-ready surface. The manufacturing process produces zero toxic waste, is completely nonhazardous and requires very low energy input. No water or gas is needed. Although wheat straw is the preferred Primary raw material, the STRAWTEC panel has been success-fully manufactured from a variety of cereal straws and grasses in a wide range of climates throughout the world. These agricultural waste fibers are typically burned for disposal, a process that releases harmful pollutants into the atmosphere.

manufacturing process uses one tenth of the energy needed to manufacture standard drywall.

With a core made from renewable resources, STRAWTEC already fulfills the future requirements for energy-efficient, healthy building materials.

A STRAWTEC strawboard wall is self-supporting and construct-

ed more easily, quickly and efficiently without studwork.

Solid, robust walls can replace conventional hollow drywall at no additional cost.

STRAWTEC comprises a core of untreated wheat straw with no added resins or harmful chemicals, covered with recycled cardboard, designed to be humidity-regulating and breathable for a healthy indoor living environment.

STRAWTEC is 100% recyclable and biodegradable, with an excellent CO2 footprint and the The reliable information you need

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Water Access Rwanda Water Access Rwanda is a social impact company that provides clean water solutions to Rwandans, Their goal is to eradicate economic water scarcity while using young people as solution providers.

Water Access Rwanda is a social enterprise committed to increasing access to clean water for all Rwandan people.

As humans we need water to live. Water is very important and necessary in all of our daily life activities. Someone may need water for cooking, for drinking, for washing clothes, dishes and so on. If you were to state every one’s needs for water you couldn’t finish....

The L6 ULTRA FILTER has log 6 cleaning capability, which means it removes 99.9999% of protozoa, bacteria, parasites, suspended solids and larger viral contaminants.

The filter can operate at a water pressure up to 50 psi (0.33 MPa).

It can filter more than 400 liters in a day.

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Ecole D’art De Nyundo Options: Graphic Arts, Sculpture and Ceramics Location: West, Rubavu Status: Public School

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