A Ugandan born initiative, Inspire Africa, Friday, launched its operations in Rwanda and Burundi during an event held at Hotel des Mille Collines, Kigali, .
The initiative principally targets young and successful entrepreneurs in Africa, whose desire is to enthuse other young people willing to make it to the summit of the business world.
The co-founder and Chief Executive officer of Inspire Africa Nelson Tugume, who started as a shop attendant at the age of 11 and a taxi operator, challenged the younger generation to be part of the project.
“I couldn’t believe that with my background as a shop attendant and a taxi operator, I could make it to stand here today to launch this initiative not only in Rwanda but also in other countries in Africa,” Tugume pointed out during the launching ceremony.
“Today, I come as a prophet to tell the African youth and others with a business mindset that we can achieve our targeted dream,” he added.
The government welcomed the initiative and promised its support if required.
“The initiative fits in Rwanda’s strategic goal of boosting entrepreneurship. We do believe that we will support the initiative among young people to bring it to its peak of success,” Clare Akamanzi, the Chief Operating Officer of the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) said.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Francis Kanimba challenged the Inspire Africa to facilitate young entrepreneurs and particularly those involved in small and medium enterprises by equipping them with requisite business skills.
Tugume said that Inspire Africa would run a television reality show dubbed ‘Project Inspire” would soon be launched to test their business skills and abilities. It will bring together young entrepreneurs across East Africa to compete, with the winners walking away with US$50,000 (Rwf29.6m) as startup to their business.
According to Tugume, “Project Inspire” is a great opportunity for East Africans to showcase their business acumen besides winning the grand prize.
Project Inspire is an eviction based TV game where locally selected and trained entrepreneurs will tussle it out in several competitions.
The winner and the last three runners-up will share US$50,000 prize money depending on the level at which they will be evicted.
Application forms can be obtained at all Eco Bank branches and Simba Telcom outlets.
Inspire Africa is a human capital development organisation with the sole goal of engineering successful entrepreneurship in Africa through identifying the best business minds and supporting their entrepreneurial cause.
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