When Papy Biganza’s grandfather died because he could not access the necessary medicine on time back in 2019, it fueled in him the idea of creating an e-commerce platform that would play a vital role in saving people’s lives. “He died of asthma and this is because the medication was so expensive and he couldn’t travel easily to the city to buy it and it inspired me to create a digital platform where one can get medication at any time and everywhere.” Biganza is the CEO and co-founder of Afia Pharma, a fully licensed pharmaceutical e-commerce platform that makes medicines affordable and accessible to patients in Rwanda. The company based in Gikondo Sector, Kicukiro District, has been able to serve about 4000 people across the country thanks to a team of seven members including pharmacists, nurses, marketers, and riders. However, over the period of operation, Biganza says that they had an issue with tracking the business cash flow and organizing proper digital marketing strategies. This pushed him to join BK Urumuri Initiative which helped him address them, he adds. BK Urumuri Initiative is a program run by Bank of Kigali in partnership with Inkomoko to support 25 innovative entrepreneurs selected out of a pool of applicants to instantly gain access to six months of training, consulting and business assessment as well as get a chance to compete for zero-interest loans offered by Bank of Kigali for their business development. “So far, we are able to keep financial statements and obtain forecasts, and we have gained knowledge on how to improve our digital presence to create more traffic and increase our revenue,” Biganza cites. In the long run, he predicts that the company will be able to generate investments due to improved data in terms of revenue and traffic. “We also see a great social impact of delivering affordable and accessible products to the community in Rwanda and Africa at large.” According to him, BK Urumuri is a great initiative that helps entrepreneurs not only learn about their businesses with a one-on-one coach but also creates a networking environment to learn from each other’s experience, something that he recommends to those who haven’t joined yet.
