Acts of Gratitude (AOG), a Rwanda-based NGO that aims at fostering the culture of giving back in order to save more vulnerable people, initiated a programme called Ingenzi Social Enterprise that offers entrepreneurial and business skills services, especially for start-up companies with inadequate capital to run operations. From this programme, the organisation has created more than 800 jobs for the youth, supported 83 social enterprises and served 126,077 people. Israel Niyonshuti, CEO and founder of Tech Adopter, a start-up enterprise that specialises in this programme. “Many people have strong business ideas but it costs a lot to implement them due to starting capital,” he says. In addition to that, he adds, one may need to hire someone to come up with a business plan, but through Ingenzi, we are able to draft those proposals ourselves and save that money. In 2020, Ingenzi switched to an online service to adhere to the Covid-19 guidelines. The programme ends with a ‘Pitch Deck Competition’ which brings together outstanding business ideas, and the winner is awarded a cash prize of Rwf 1,000,000 to implement the idea or enhance operations. Niyonshuti, who won the aforementioned prize, says the funding will help his enterprise a great deal. “As an agricultural mechanisation social enterprise, it will help us buy new mechanised tools and enlarge our market,” he says. Benjamin Gisa Mushayija, a 21-year-old owner of a poultry farm in Bugesera District, says that the business creation skills he used to run his own start-up initiative were derived from the workshop. “As a high school graduate, I dreamt of my own enterprise but I didn’t know where to start. So, before university, I joined Ingenzi and it gave me a vision that helped me stand where I am today,” he says. “It also allows you to network with people, and makes you eligible to attend international business courses,” he adds. Ingenzi is a 12-session program that aims at providing learners with modern abilities. Denyse Iradukunda, AOG’s communications officer, says that during the programme, every student has free access to experienced mentors who provide consultancy services. Co-working spaces like offices, boardrooms conference halls, event space and hot table areas are also provided at an affordable fee.
