Having its inaugural cohort graduate and join the alumni community, Tourism Inc is excited to grow this vibrant community of youth and women business leaders in the Tourism and Hospitality industry. Supporting these innovators is particularly important as the tourism sector has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Tourism Inc program has really supported me in turning my business ideas into actionable plans that can be easily implemented despite the current environment we are in. Working with a coach gives me the discipline to persevere and therefore perform better. Also, having a free co-working space is an added advantage, as I get an opportunity to not only focus on my company but also to collaborate with other entrepreneurs in the larger community of women in business,” said Divine Uwase, a participant in the program.
Access to business skills, financing, and mentors are key challenges that prevent youth from starting and growing a business in tourism and hospitality in Rwanda and beyond. In response, Tourism Inc will select 35 entrepreneurs who will receive the right mix of capacity building, financing, and mentorship to become leaders in the sector.
Beyond capacity building and access to finance, the top three entrepreneurs in this cohort will receive seed funding of up to $20,000 to further build their ventures. The program will nurture Rwanda’s top tourism and hospitality innovators and inspire them to embrace entrepreneurship as a career path.
“The individuals and businesses that this round of recruitment is targeting have proven to be extremely resilient. They’ve held on to their innovations amid challenging times and they are inarguably deserving. Investing in them is both a validation of their tenacity and an act of hope—the hope that we will emerge on the other side of the pandemic stronger. And I have no doubt that the next cohort of Tourism Inc entrepreneurs will help to ensure that,” said Rica Rwigamba, Country Head, Rwanda at the Mastercard Foundation.
Applications are now open for the third cohort to enroll in this exciting program.
{{Applicants who meet the following criteria are encouraged to apply:}}
● Must be a start-up (or have start-up idea) in the tourism and hospitality sector (or supplier to the sector
● Must be between 18 and 35 years of age
● Must be based and operating in Rwanda
● Must be committed to complete the course
Also, women entrepreneurs are highly encouraged to apply.
ESP will be hosting online information sessions to provide interested Tourism and Hospitality entrepreneurs with further details on the program and on how to apply.
{{For more information:}}
Visit the ESPartners website: espartners.coor contact ESPartners Rwanda by email:
The 37 fake currency notes were in the denominations of US$100.
Credible information about Muhawenimana’s criminal dealings was shared by a community policing partner close to her, according to Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Bonaventure Twizere Karekezi, the police spokesperson of Western region.
“A resident and partner in community policing saw Muhawenimana with many fake dollar notes and confirmed existing suspicions that she is involved in counterfeiting money. The resident then alerted the police, and she was arrested red-handed with the counterfeit money,” CIP Karekezi said.
He added that the suspect also had other 44 pieces of paper that she was yet to print into other fake dollars.
After her arrest, Muhawenimana disclosed identities of other two people she works with to counterfeit money and distribute it.
The two accomplices still at large, according to Muhawenimana, are the ones with the gadgets used to counterfeit currencies.
Muhawenimana, however, declined to give further details into their alleged economic crime, including how long they have been into this criminal business, how much fake money they have so far distributed and if they also counterfeit other currencies apart from dollars.
CIP Karekezi commended the proactive and responsive spirit of the person, who unearthed the criminal ring.
He warned of serious legal actions against anyone involved in these economic crimes and called upon the general public to report such individuals to save losses incurred especially by small businesses that are mainly targeted.
Muhawenimana was handed over to Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) in Gisenyi for the next legal steps to be taken.
Article 296 in the law relating to offences and penalties in general, says “any person who, fraudulently counterfeits, falsifies or alters coins or bank notes which are legal tender in Rwanda or abroad, notes issued by the Treasury with its stamp or brand,
either banknotes or alike that have legal tender in Rwanda or abroad, or one who introduces or issues in Rwanda such effects or notes with the knowledge that they are forged or falsified, commits an offence.
Upon conviction, he/she is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than five (5) years and not more than seven (7) years.”
According to the Ministry of Health, of the new cases, 18 were detected in Kigali’s high risk groups, whereas two cases were identified in Rubavu district, Western Province.
Kirehe and Nyabihu districts also reported one each.
The latest results were obtained from 1,935 sample tests taken in the last 24 hours.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country in mid-March, Rwanda has conducted 466,518 tests of coronavirus.
Confirmed cases are now 4,624 among which the active cases are 1,835 and 22 deaths.
The photo was posted on the President’s Twitter page on Tuesday night carrying a baby in a happy mood, and the caption said that he had a wonderful weekend with “this little human being”.
The head of state had recently announced that he had a granddaughter, after his daughter Ange Kagame and her husband Bertrand Ndengeyingoma gave birth to their firstborn on August 19, 2020.
Ange Kagame Ingabire is the second child of President Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame; she was married on July 6, 2019 during a very colourful and royal ceremony. It was at the end of December 2018 that Bertrand Ndengeyingoma officially asked her hand in marriage, in a traditional dowry ceremony that was held at President Kagame’s home in Rwamagana District in Muhazi Sector.
On July 20, 2020, President Kagame announced the birth of the baby on Twitter saying that “Since yesterday we are very happily and ‘officially’ grandparents. Congratulations A&B!! ..:):):) What a joy!?”
“First time is even more exciting!” he added.
On September 6, in an interview with the public broadcaster, Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA), President Kagame talked about his grandchild, for the first time, confirming that it was a girl and that he was enjoying being a grandparent for the very first time.
The Head of State said that he takes time off his busy schedule to visit her, pointing out that he was promoted from being a father to being a grandfather and he was enjoying it.
“She is a healthy girl, she is growing up fast, and when I get time after work, I rush to visit her,” President Kagame said. Asked “do you go as President Kagame or as Kagame the grandparent?” to which he replied: ”As Kagame.”
It is a training course called “National Entrepreneurship Summer Camp-2020”, which aims to “help young people develop entrepreneurship and build their skills, hence continuing their work in these critical times of Coronavirus and beyond”.
The training will be attended by about 20 young people between the ages of 18 and 35. They are young people who have graduated from ULK University who already have profitable projects, but need technical and financial support.
There will also be young people in their final year of university at ULK, who have a good idea that may produce powerful business establishments, which will provide employment to other young people and benefit the country as a whole.
The training will focus on selected projects in the fields of agriculture, energy, and technology, and will have three objectives, namely: to promote a culture of self-reliance and innovation in the youth, especially in these times of Coronavirus; to enhance the level of knowledge and performance of the private sector, as well as to promote the cooperation of higher education and industry through collaboration and dialogue.
Inaugurating the training, the Director-General of Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation, Jonas Munyurangabo, said the program would complement the government’s plan to encourage young people to be brave and create jobs, instead of waiting for jobs while they can create it.
“What we are doing is helping young people to have a mentality that leads to where everyone doing business is headed. This will help them to expand their mindset and take advantage of their opportunities, even if others find it difficult. It also builds capacity to help them make the most of the opportunities they have in general,” he said.
The training comes at a time when the global economy is facing the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, which is particularly affecting small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Munyurangabo said that to address these challenges, the Government of Rwanda has recently launched the Entrepreneurship Development Policy (EDP), where similar trainings are being advocated for as it does not discourage young people from entrepreneurship through to give them the knowledge they need.
“It’s one of the things that help in implementing that new policy, it will help people have a sense of entrepreneurship,” he said.
He added: “Finding a job is not a bad thing, but there has been a change in the way people go about it, and instead of looking for a job, it would be better [for the national economy]. So that comes from the ideas, as well as from the capabilities and resources that young people receive from the relevant authorities. So today is what we are going to do to help them, to know that they can be self-sufficient, and then to make progress, based on the knowledge they will be given,” he said.
Munyurangabo said that, in particular, the fact these activities are taking place in these difficult times of Coronavirus, there is a lot that will help these young people.
The training will be conducted in a traditional way where the presenter is physically in front of the participants, but there will also be the use of technology while the expert teachers from Kempten University of Applied Science will be contributing to these courses.
One of the directors of Kempten University of Applied Science, Prof. Dr. Tobias Peylo, said the training will not only provide knowledge, as it can also help participants get to know each other and work together in the future.
He added that the training “will help young people to innovate in their work, thus increasing the productivity of what they do”.
“These ideas will help the world to cope with its problems. These are not just money-making ideas, they are ideas that will make the world a better place because it will bring about a change in the lives of its inhabitants through solving the problems that the world has today.”
Becky Balinda, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kigali, ULK, said they would use entrepreneurs who have achieved success and tell these students the process they went through and what they can do to make their ideas more profitable.
“Most importantly, we will bring in other entrepreneurs who have started like them, to tell them their journey from idea to where they are now.
“They will share with them how they got their money, their helpers and so on. The reason we will do this is that these advanced entrepreneurs have also started at the grassroots level, so they will share with them the path they have gone through to make progress,” she said.
She added that they will monitor the development of these entrepreneurs’ projects, two of which will be funded and monitored for six months thereafter.
Maria Knappstein, the Country Director of SBFIC said entrepreneurs who saw the opportunity should not waste it, as it was the beginning of their entrepreneurial journey.
“We expect these entrepreneurs to be willing to learn and learn more. We want them to have an entrepreneurial mindset and are willing to implement it. ”
Some of the lessons to be learned from this course include preparing and analyzing ideas for projects that can generate profits, making scholarships for developed institutions, creating ideas that can generate profits, and so on.
The Managing Director of Rwanda Institute for Cooperatives, Entrepreneurship, and Microfinance (RICEM), Dr. Olivier Mukulira as he welcomed the trainees, encouraged them to explore the training to the maximum.
The National Entrepreneurship Summer Camp 2020 is being held for the first time but will continue in the coming years, to help young people with development projects make it productive.
The Coronavirus pandemic has changed the schedule of the workshop, as it was scheduled to take place in July, attended by 20 students from ULK, and 10 others from the Kempten University of Applied Science in Germany. However, as the Coronavirus pandemic subsides, there are plans to continue on that schedule but with just 20 students from the ULK.
Popular ABC groups in countries such as Qatar, Oman, China, Uganda, and Tanzania have now opened a branch in Chic, MIC room, where buyers can find modern Bathx and Toto toilets.
In this ABC group branch, one can find taps of the Grohe type of Germany, Toto of Japan, and Bathx.
In an interview with IGIHE, the Director of ABC Group Rwanda, Ajay Kumar said that they have decided to open a branch in Rwanda after realizing that the country has the best security systems in the region, backed by the ease with which investors are facilitated to do business.
Kumar says the uniqueness of ABC Group is that it has affordable and durable products.
In ABC Group Rwanda you can also find Estonian bathtubs, Bathx, and Toto bathtubs. Porcelain, Ceramic, and Smart toilets.
Kumar says there are plans to expand its operations in the near future and add lighting and kitchen appliances.
ABC Group is the pioneer enterprise engaged in the field of building material industry with the purpose of helping people to transform their world. It’s committed to make the world a better place through an innovative business which provides inspiration for luxury living. It has the largest collection of high-quality tiles, sanitary wares, bathroom fittings, and allied building materials.
ABC Group started its journey in December 1998 from Taliparamba, Kerala, India. It has been taking the high road of success for the last 20 years.
The 66-year old, who faces 13 charges including terrorism, conspiracy to create an illegal armed group and murder, among others, preferred not to plead guilty or not stating that he would prefer to explain himself on each charge when the trial goes into substance.
The Prosecutors detailed the charges, dating back to 2009, when he allegedly financed former members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), with an aim of starting armed groups to fight the Government of Rwanda.
The prosecution stated important reasons as to why Rusesabagina should not be granted bail. Prosecutors said that his activities to wage war against the Government of Rwanda started way back in 2009, when he was the head of PDR Ihumure, where he was facilitating members of FDLR, through a one Col. Noel Habiyaremye.
Rusesabagina later worked with Gen. Wilson Irategeka, the leader of the FDLR breakaway faction, the National Council for the Democratic Renewal (CNRD), with the main purpose of forming armed organisations to wage war against the Government of Rwanda.
Prosecutors dwelled more on the activities of National Liberation Front (NLF), the armed wing of Rusesabagina’s Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD) coalition, highlighting the attacks carried out on Rwandan territory between 2018 and 2019, mentioning how the attacks left scores dead and many injured while homes were ransacked.
Prosecutors said they have letters detailing Rusesabagina’s activities, including some given to Rwanda by Belgian authorities, as well as chats involving Rusesabagina and others who were plotting to overthrow the Government of Rwanda, as well as money transfer evidence.
Prosecutors further mentioned money transfer details to support armed groups, including money sent by Mukangamije Tatiana, Rusesabagina’s wife, amounting to $970, in 2019, to Nsabimana Callixte, the NLF Spokesperson, who was in Comoros at the time, which was part of the support.
Furthermore, Prosecutors said Belgian Police shared many documents with Rwanda, detailing different fundraising and money transfer activities led by Paul Rusesabagina and his people, involving hundreds of thousands of euros and dollars, which were aimed at sustaining NLF operations.
Rusesabagina said that throughout his interactions with investigations and prosecution, he has been clear that if there are some bad actions that were committed by the groups he supported, leading to loss of lives, he regrets them.
“I regret these actions and I am seeking forgiveness from all Rwandans as well as the victims and all those who were affected by these actions,”
Regarding the 2009 claim by Prosecution that as President of Ihumure, he sent financial support to a one Col. Noel Habiyaremye, with the aim of starting an armed group, Rusesabagina said that at the time he wasn’t the President of PDR Ihumure.
At the time, he was the president of the Rusesabagina Hotel Rwanda Foundation and he occasionally supported Rwandan refugees financially, out of kindness, a claim which Prosecutors dismissed.
He, however, doesn’t deny sending the money, but by claiming that he was the President of PDR Ihumure then, Rusesabagina said that Prosecutors want to add more weight to the charge.
On sending money to CNRD’s Gen. Irategeka, Rusesabagina said it is true he sent 3000 Euros to the former but he sent it out of kindness after he pleaded to him for support; he also said that the amount sent to Gen. Irategeka of CNRD was to support him personally, in a charitable way but the money was not meant to finance the creation of an armed group or to NLF.
On the amount his wife sent to Callixte Nsabimana, he said it was also for ‘survival’ because his wife is known to Nsabimana since his mother originated from the same place as his mother.
Rusesabagina said that when the film Hotel Rwanda came out, many Rwandan refugees looked at him as a millionaire and often reached out to him for financial support and for those he supported, he did so out of kindness, not because he was financing their armed activities.
Prosecutors, however, punched holes in his claims, pointing out that the chats and correspondences, as well as pronouncements by Rusesabagina on media and other recordings, say otherwise.
On the alleged money transfers, he said it is true money from his end was sent to some individuals under NLF or other groups but out of the many names he was shown, he only recognized 2 people, a one Munyemana Eric and Marie Claire Ingabire, who were known to him but he was not the one initiating these transfers. His lawyer David Rugaza said that the documents from Belgium and those obtained from his computer or phone are not strong evidence to incriminate their client.
After lengthy deliberations, Prosecutors said that Rusesabagina would be a flight risk if released on bail, given the nature of charges he faces and the fact that he had eluded justice for a long time. They said he would do so again given another chance.
Rusesabagina told the court that he is not in good health and that he has been to the hospital 3 times since he arrived in Rwanda, pleading to the court to consider that and release him on bail. He emphasized that he is ready to continue with the legal process.
The hearing has been adjourned to Thursday, September 17, when the court will pronounce itself on the matter.
The Ministry of Health said that on Monday, September 14, 2020, 11 new cases were found among 1687 sample tests taken, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 4602.
The new patients include five people from Kigali City, three from Nyamagabe District while in Rusizi, Bugesera and Rulindo Districts each has recorded one new case.
With the new recoveries registered, the total number of recoveries has now reached to 2,773; 1844 are still active cases and 22 deaths.
Coronavirus symptoms include coughing, flu, and difficulty in breathing. The virus is said to be transmitted through the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract.
Rwandans are required to continue complying with government regulations, especially with frequent washing of hands and water and soap, wearing masks when leaving home or in public.
The decision to reopen was based on a health assessment and the level of Covid-19 prevention preparedness of people who work in the market, said the City of Kigali management.
In a statement, City of Kigali noted that reopening does not apply to wholesale traders or those selling fruits, vegetables, and potatoes; their work station will remain in Giti cy’Inyoni and Nzove markets.
On August 16 the Kigali City Administration decided to close the Mutangana market after days of widespread exposure to COVID-19.
The decision immediately went into effect, with vendors of perishable items asked to remove them, others were to keep their belongings properly stacked.
In a bid to avoid overcrowding that may lead to the spread of the virus, vendors without stands or those with stands that were not in the housing master plan are not allowed to reopen.
Like all other markets country-wide, only 50 percent of all workers of Nyabugogo Market will be allowed to work in shifts.
The decision to reopen Nyabugogo Market follows the recent reopening of Nyarugenge Market; both markets were closed for two weeks after a spike in Covid-19 cases in Kigali was traced to both markets.
The support was officially launched on Thursday, September 10, 2020. The girls who will be assisted are from the sectors including Munyaga where there are 60 girls and in Fumbwe with 40 girls.
Each of the girls will be trained in one vocational profession for six months, then provided with related equipment, as well as start-up capital. The girls will then be monitored for six months as they’re guided in how to apply skills they will have acquired.
Children of the teenager mothers will be educated from nursery to primary school, provided with health insurance, and receive the necessary school materials.
The director of Empower Rwanda, Kabatesi Olivia, said they initially started with 100 girls and their children but they will later move to other areas, especially those in the Eastern Province, as there are still a large number of unplanned teenage pregnancies.
She added that these girls will be helped to learn to save both in banks and for the future so that they have a secured future.
The support by Empower Rwanda will be will stay put for at least five years.
Rwamagana District Mayor Mbonyumuvunyi Radjab recently noted that census they have recently registered 412 young with mothers with children under the age of five and the organization support has come in handy.
“When a child is born at home it does not mean that life is stagnant, it has to continue with the life of the one who gave birth. The most important thing that Empower Rwanda is going to help us with is to analyze the problems they have and what caused them to give birth at home. Once we identify the problem we will know how to help them to find a way out.”
Mayor Mbonyumuvunyi called on pregnant girls to take advantage of the opportunities they have been introduced to and take care of their babies.
Some of the pregnant girls said they are ready to take advantage of the opportunities they had to get from Empower Rwanda’s vocational training and educating their children.
Empower Rwanda is a non-governmental and non-profit organization that started in January 2020, which will help girls who gave birth at home between the ages of 15 and 30 and also take care of their children.
The girls will be trained in tailoring and plaiting hair and will then be provided with tools to start practice what they learned, will be advocated for children’s rights, shown their children’s rights, taught family planning, training their families and much more to make them more successful.
