Prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus, small businesses grappled with lack of funding and the right skillset to scale up their products.

Now that the virus is in our midst, the biggest nightmare for young entrepreneurs is the uncertainty about tomorrow.

Bonfils Bayingana, co-founder of Africa Educational Toys, says the lockdown put entrepreneurs on a psychological test.

"Hearing that your business is over, you’re not allowed to do business, you’re not allowed even to leave home, you start thinking what will be next. The next thing that comes to your mind is, ‘I am going to fall flat, I am going to close’.”

Although Bayingana’s story relates to those of many Rwandans, the blow to Wilson Habimana who operates a travel company stretched out to victimize his team.

Wilson Habimana

When clients cancelled their bookings, he had to lay off workers.

"And when they reopened tourism, people don’t have money to travel. The challenges are so many,” says Habimana.

During three months of lockdown, Rwanda’s tourism revenues hit a record zero, becoming one of the sectors worst hit by the pandemic, along with fashion industry.

More than four months grappling with the coronavirus, Rwandan businesses had to pick up tactics in order to survive one of the worst crises of the 21st century.

With Kwa Muganga (business clinic) programme, Shibuka, a Rwandan NGO registered just a week before the first infection was diagnosed, has been supporting a bunch of young entrepreneurs break through the challenges brought by the pandemic.

On Monday, May 27, Shibuka ran its fourth fully virtual Kwa Muganga clinic.

During these sessions, the entrepreneurs gain practical tips from a panel of business experts to develop new business models necessary to navigate through the crisis.

Deborah Rose and Darrell Kofkin, both lecturers at the University of Westminster in the United Kingdom, co-founded Shibuka, and act as coaches for each Kwa Muganga session.

During previous events, the duo was joined by global business experts such as Dr Spinder Dhaliwal, author of The Millennial Millionaire and Professor Kevin Lane Keller, a world-leading marketing and brand management expert.

At every session, a panel of business cadre shares practical tips with the entrepreneurs to take their businesses forward.

The young social entrepreneurs say that the workshop has been therapeutic.

"We had a chance to hear from different people, specialists in business, they showed us you can survive during a pandemic, how you can keep going, how you can overcome the situation,” says Bayingana, describing the Kwa Muganga initiative as "a typical clinic.”

The Covid-19 crisis, according to the entrepreneurs, has been a difficult time, but also a surprising one - a time to innovate and look at things from a new perspective, as Christelle Ishimwe who runs Nish fashion brand put it.

Christelle Ishimwe

Throughout the programme, they come up with new business models. To Segond Fidens Iragena who owns Park and Pick, a grocery delivery service, such a programme in such a period offered an opportunity to invent and roll out new solutions.

Segond Fidens Iragena

Iragena says that the pandemic has pushed him to change the business model, from "sitting behind the website” to going out to the source and creating partnerships with farmers and market vendors.

Angelos Munezero, the acting Director General of Innovation and Business Department at the Ministry of ICT and Innovation, congratulated the young entrepreneurs for being resilient in the tough times, and applauded their contribution to the economic recovery of the country.

Commending the programme, the official also showed enthusiasm to expand its impact through partnerships with the ministry.

Shibuka was born from collaboration between the University of Westminster and Rwanda Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs (CYE) of the Private Sector Federation (PSF).

The organisation uses a public-private partnership to support the development of Rwandans social enterprises.

David Indekwe