Joy S. Rwamwenge

Answers questions about: entrepreneurship and SME development, Business incubation, and leadership development.

Having worked in the field of entrepreneurship and SME development for more than 12 years, Joy S. Rwamwenge currently works at RDB (Rwanda Development Board) as SMEs Advisor in the Export and Business development department, and she is a non-executive director of Rwa Capital. Joy has pioneered business incubations in three African countries and worked with young entrepreneurs to spur the creation of innovative start-ups in ICT, Tourism Management and Hospitality, Design and innovation, Creative Multimedia, Architecture and Communications. Joy is very passionate about social change through entrepreneurship development.

She holds a Master’s of Business Administration from Management College of South Africa, and an honours degree in Economics from Makerere university Uganda and has worked in multicultural environments including Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Malaysia and Rwanda.

Livingstone Nkuusi, Business Development Fund (BDF)

Answers questions about: SME Development & Access to Finance

Livingstone Nkuusi is the BDF Branches Coordinator, responsible for growing the network of BDF across the country and in charge of the branches operations that enables BDF to strengthen its working relationship with end borrowers in an effort to better serve them. He is also the focal person and a technical committee member of the National Employment Program (NEP).

Before joining BDF, Livingstone worked with the Rwanda Development Board as a Senior SME Development officer, where he was overseeing the implementation of the National SME development policy with other institutions; he has also worked with Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry as the head of human resource at a senior managerial level.

Pascal Murasira, Hollanda Fairfoods

Answers questions about: Agri-business, market development, business structure & external relations

Pascal Murasira is a Rwandan entrepreneur active in the agricultural sector. Together with his Dutch colleague he started the company Hollanda FairFoods Ltd, and set up a potato processing factory in Musanze to make crisps known as WINNAZ.

Prior to going private, Pascal worked for various local and Dutch NGOs promoting agribusiness in the Great Lakes Region. The interest areas for Pascal are market development, business structuring, and managing partner relations."

Learn more at: Startups and established businesses

Maia Gedde, Spark Rwanda

Answers questions about: Business Development and Innovation

Maia Gedde is the Country Manager for SPARK in Rwanda (www.spark-online.org), an organisation, which supports entrepreneurs through the start-up and growth phases. She is passionate about innovative business models and business ideas, especially those which can be scaled and produce jobs for young people. She is especially keen on promoting communication, learning and understanding amongst entrepreneurs and organisations to support entrepreneurs, and has been behind the creation of this website. She understands the challenges that many new business face, and is looking forward to use her experience to support you in your questions.

Colombe I.Ndutiye, INCO Fashion

Answers questions about: the fashion and design sector, starting a business, expanding and growing your brand.

Colombe Ndutiye is a fashion designer and the creative director of INCO fashion; Rwanda’s first born fashion brand that produces unisex clothing and cutting edge accessories for men and women urging to experiment with African traditions combined with modern, urban lines.

Deciding at a young age to pursue her dream of becoming a fashion designer, combining her traditional culture with modern designs, Colombe started her own brand INCO. Her creations have been showcased in several renowned fashion shows both in and outside of Africa, latest in the Hub of Africa Fashion Week in Addis Ababa 2015.

Colombe’s newest project is 100n1 Signatures, a physical and online retail initiative aiming to highlight and promote the creative abilities within Africa, particularly Rwanda. 100n1 Signatures aims to bridge the long existing gap between buyers and designers and by bringing together several fashion brands under one roof, enabling young fashion signatures to educate people about their heritage through a diverse range of creations and designs.