Alexis Ngabo Karegeya, the entrepreneur commonly known as Ngabo, or Ibere Rya Bigogwe – on social media, has big plans for his company after he recently inked a deal with the government giving him land to upgrade his unique tourism project in Nyabihu District, Western Province.
In an exclusive interview with The New Time, on Thursday, February 9, Ngabo disclosed that he "has bigger plans to make Bigogwe an attractive tourism destination” with various activities.
This comes after a cabinet meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame, on January 30, allocated state land in its private domain for investment to his company, Ibere rya Bigogwe Tourism Co.
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"Now that the government has availed the land, what’s next is to properly develop the zone so that visitors will get an opportunity to experience Rwandan culture through our cows as well as a kind of modern but unique dairy farming that is different from what you see in other farms,” Ngabo said.
"This is like a starting point where we implement all the plans we had such as better equipping our camping site without necessarily tampering with the natural environment of the area but help visitors to spend a night comfortably in a place with many cows.”
Providing milk for children
Ngabo said that going forward, they will support the district in providing milk for children as part of their effort in fighting malnutrition as well as participating in protecting the environment through a project dubbed "one tourist one tree” where visitors will plant trees.
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Among others, he intends to start "a Bigogwe milk bar where people will be served milk in our traditional milk guards (ibyansi) and they learn different skills such as how to milk cows,” as well as learn many other Rwandan cultural customs about cows.
In Rwandan culture, the cow is a sign of several things including partnership, collaboration and togetherness. Cows are a sign of riches and friendship when given as gifts. They are used as dowry and referenced in traditional dances, among other things.
Ngabo said he plans to bring Inyambo cows to Bigogwe, for the very first time.
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Inyambo, as they are called in Rwanda, are a special indigenous breed of cows with long horns.
Ngabo wants to "transform Bigogwe into one of the top five Rwandan tour destinations” exclusively famous for a special type of tourism that is hinged on the country’s cow culture, among others.
Ibere rya Bigogwe became famous a few years ago when Karegeya took to social media publicising the project and the brand ‘Visit Bigogwe’.
His publicity stunt quickly attracted many visitors including foreigners who flocked to the green hilly Bigogwe region of rural Rwanda to get a first-hand experience with the area’s cattle culture as well as enjoying hiking, milking and playing traditional games.