Youthful ICT entrepreneurs have been called upon to take full charge of shaping their future and to use ICT as an enabler for boosting the country’s development.

Patrick Nyirishema, the director general of Rwanda Utility Regulatory Authority (RURA), made the remarks on Wednesday while addressing over 70 young ICT entrepreneurs with startups spanning different sectors, including health, transport, hardware and mobile apps.

The one-day event, held in Kigali, was organised by Young ICT Entrepreneurs, an association under the National ICT Chamber of the Private Sector Federation and RURA, to explore ways of helping young innovators to rise up and build Rwanda’s own ‘silicon valley’.

The event also sought to recognise and celebrate various innovations championed by young people across the country.

Participants set a target of 100 IT startups over a period spanning nine and a half years, each valued at over $50m.

Nyirishema commended young ICT entrepreneurs for developing solutions that have transformed their communities, and highlighted how RURA can help them to develop further.

"As a regulator, it is RURA’s responsibility to the growth of ICT startups, for instance, in data hostage, pricing of internet, access to public data and privacy and security. This is one way to help young people to ensure the development of ICT sector,” he said

Nyirishema urged young innovators to become models for the next generation.

Patrick Buchana, the chairman of Young ICT Entrepreneurs, urged the group to align their business models to government strategies.

"We are setting up an accelerator under the 100 startups initiative and the startups will have quick access to trainings opportunities ranging from business and technical to human resource but also have access to finance.

But it takes a mindset change to maximise the potential in us. We need to take part in building Africa’s technological hub, to promote innovations and creation of employment opportunities,” Buchana, also a journalist with The New Times, said.

Alex Ntale, the executive director of ICT Chamber at Private Sector Federation, challenged the young entrepreneurs to exploit the available opportunities for growth.

According to Serge Tuyihimbaze, the managing director of CoolTuune, a company which deals in motion graphics, the session was a great moment to share experiences and ideas with other emerging entrepreneurs.

"We think of creating many projects, but at the end of the day, we meet financial challenges. This is, therefore, an opportunity for us to get to know which ways and what we need to get access to financial support for our ICT projects,” he said.

During the session, participants were classified in different fields in order to help achieve the set target of the 100 technological startups.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw