YOUNG RWANDAN entrepreneur, Prince Winyi Manzi has always had a unique approach to life. Born 26 years ago, to a Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) veteran, Manzi’s interest back in the day was music, dance and drama and he excelled in almost all creative arts activities. His passion for music and dance, prompted him to start his own high culture cultural show, or haute couture as is done in Paris -while still in primary school. High culture encompasses the cultural objects of aesthetic value, which a society collectively esteem as exemplary art, and the intellectual works of philosophy, history, and literature that a society consider representative of their culture. Manzi says although this is not quite new in Rwanda, most of such events don’t last because they require one to have patience for it to thrive, adding that one’s passion and determination matter a lot, in terms of events organising. “I grew up with a mother who was very passionate about entertainment in general, and she embarked on doing what she loved immediately after retiring from the army. This is when I also picked up the interest and started following in her footsteps,” he said. Eventually, Manzi, who is also a mass communication student at Mt Kenya University started organising events such as Rwanda’s Got Talent, Kigali Talent Week, Multicultural fashion Show among others. In 2017, he also organised the Crying Games at Kigali Convention Center, which aimed at ‘promoting creativity and proving to people that they can earn money out of crying. Currently, Manzi is however, focusing on two events namely; Kigali Talent Week and Rwanda’s Got Talent, which are all done virtually. Working on the prevailing challenges As 2013 came to climax, Manzi embarked on his adult venture as a cultural fashion producer. The venture however, flopped due to poor business acumen and lack of experience. He however, didn’t give up; he slowly began to learn the secrets of high culture. One year later, he organised Rwanda’s Got Talent with four of his friends “Even after borrowing money to organise the event, we were “hung out to dry” by the venue managers who stage the show,” he said. Jumping the cue to 2020, Manzi has grasped the fundamentals of business, which he juggles with studying, thanks to his long time friend and mentor Jesus Torres of U5 Association-a Spanish composer; who groomed him in the fundamentals of business. Moving forward, Manzi said he plans to have a talent academy aimed at grooming more talents across the region, which has been his dream since childhood.
