Bank of Kigali, through BK Foundation’s ‘NextGen’ programme, which is aligned with the Nanjye Ni BK initiative, hosted a mentorship session on December 3 at the BK headquarters, bringing together ALU student founders and senior BK leadership.

The session, led by Bank of Kigali Chief Executive Officer Dr Diane Karusisi and BK Foundation Executive Secretary Ingrid Karangwayire, highlighted the Foundation’s ongoing commitment to empowering Rwanda’s next generation of innovators.

Students from across Africa engaged directly with the executives, discussing leadership, partnership opportunities, financial discipline, and how BK’s ecosystem, including technology, digital assets, and market access, can support young entrepreneurs as they scale solutions across the continent.

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Karusisi emphasised the remarkable creativity and problem-solving capacity demonstrated by the ALU student founders, noting that many already have tested products, clients, and revenue, signaling strong entrepreneurial maturity.

"What really stood out is the diversity of solutions they are bringing to solve real challenges, and the creativity with which they approached these problems. They already have tested products, clients, and revenue. They have moved past the stage of just having a concept,” she said.

She stressed the importance of resilience, stakeholder alignment, partnerships, and long-term relationship building when scaling solutions across Africa.

"One very key principle is alignment with stakeholders, government, the private sector, so you know exactly what problems you are solving,” she noted

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Karusisi also highlighted financial discipline, transparency, and the ability to navigate challenges as fundamental qualities that earn investor trust.

"Partnerships and sustainable relationships are critical. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Build relationships that will last decades,” she added.

She reaffirmed Bank of Kigali’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurs by sharing industry insights and fostering an ecosystem that drives sustainable growth through collaboration.

Gideon Gitonga, an ALU founder from Nairobi, expressed enthusiasm about Bank of Kigali’s openness to emerging technologies, particularly blockchain and digital assets, which he views as essential to building the future of financial systems.

"It’s been fantastic to learn how they’re employing technology and how eager they are to get into blockchain and digital assets. We came here to understand what Bank of Kigali is doing for founders like us, and, amazingly, they have a whole ecosystem through the BK Foundation,” he said.

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Gitonga highlighted the value of learning how BK integrates technology and their willingness to collaborate with fintech innovators. For him, the most impactful part of the visit was the opportunity to understand BK’s ecosystem, especially its reach to customers, which presents a major market-access advantage for startups entering Rwanda.

"One of the biggest challenges we face as founders is go-to-market, but partnering with BK gives us access to a huge market. Another thing that stood out is talking to the CEO of the bank and the executive secretary of the BK Foundation, which is a huge opportunity, and their interest in our solutions validates the work we’re doing,” he added.

Gitonga also praised BK Foundation for creating a supportive environment for founders and expressed admiration for Rwanda’s beauty, order, and resilience.

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Derrick Awumey, a Ghanaian and founder of Agrium Assurance, described his startup’s mission to protect smallholder farmers from agricultural risks using technology-driven insurance.

He said the session at BK was invaluable because it offered the rare chance to sit with senior decision-makers and explore practical partnership pathways.

"We use technology to provide agricultural insurance to smallholder farmers, protecting them from drought, floods, pests, and disease attacks. One of the key things is being in the same room with people who call the shots. Today has been an amazing experience,” he said.

For him, the discussions centred on how Agrium could enter the Rwandan market with support from BK Foundation, and how these collaborations could improve farmers’ resilience in the region.