The University of Rwanda in collaboration with the African Centre of Excellence in Energy for Sustainable Development (ACEESD), through Grid Innovation and Incubation Hub (GIIH) is hosting the second Innovation Week to discuss issues pertaining to innovation in Rwanda and beyond.
This event, held in partnership with local and international partners, coincides with the Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) in Rwanda themed "Entrepreneurs Thrive Here” and hosted by JASIRI. UR plays a big role in GEW as one of its key partners.
The event brought together over 250 delegates, including innovation experts and stakeholders from Rwanda and the global entrepreneurship network.
Under the theme "Scaling up university enabled innovation for a thriving Rwanda and Africa”, participants from the academia, public and private sectors, policymakers, and young innovators, engaged in discussions about opportunities and priorities in innovation that can address challenges, create impact, and contribute to the national strategy for transformation, vision 2050 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The event included time for panel discussions where experts and innovators addressed various challenges and attempted to find solutions in a way that is easily understandable and packed with essential information most especially for young people.
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Pascal Nyiringango, the Head of Grid Innovation and Incubation Hub at the African Centre of Excellence in Energy Sustainable Development, said that the graduation of most start-ups and their survival rate, is very low.
"This is a big challenge,” he said.
"The reason is actually coming from a couple of reasons but the most tangible one is that when you look at our students, they mostly run businesses jointly with somebody who is helping from outside or initially working on their own. Majority of them have no clue of what is happening in the market,” he added.
"Therefore, they are lacking awareness, if I can say, of what they are doing and should be demand-driven, not supply-driven.”
Nyiringango said "the scariest thing is running a business with a capital that is very expensive to repay. It will be very hard to run it as a new entry while paying the interest rate at 18 percent and sometimes even beyond. Most funders like banks and micro finance should consider lowering the interest for the most start-ups.”
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He discussed what makes Rwanda a distinctive model of innovation and Africa a unique case.
Nyiringango said that the matter of visa free for Africans means a lot. "It is now very easy to invite someone from Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt or other countries to chat and discuss our own challenges at the same time looking at how we can contribute to each other as Africans.
"On the other hand, what makes an African innovation hub locally embedded and how do we identify and track the impacts of an embedded hub is very simple, "we should stop copying from others.”
"We need a unique model within the case of Africa which requires responding to natural challenges based on the way it is. We need to replicate, document, publish, trust and believe in what we are doing,” he said.
Pascal Gatabazi, a technical advisor in the Ministry of Education, stated that the week signifies a crucial juncture for the institution, where creativity, knowledge, and ingenuity converge to shape the future of students.
"I encourage all participants to seize this opportunity to learn from each other to collaborate across disciplines and to explore the boundaries of their imagination.”
Gatabazi urged them to embrace challenges, celebrate the successes, and use this platform as a launchpad for their ideas to make a tangible impact on Rwandan society and Africa alike.
Equally, Francoise Kayitare Tengera, UR Deputy Vice Chancellor of Finance, said: "Our university is committed to providing an environment that nurtures innovation, and this commitment is evident through our innovation incubation hubs.”
"These incubation hubs serve as the breeding grounds for creativity and innovation. They are the bedrock where ideas are cultivated, refined, and developed into projects that address real-world challenges,” she noted.
She added: "The benefits they [innovation hubs] offer are multifaceted. They provide a space where students can experiment, collaborate, and refine their ideas under the guidance of experienced mentors and professionals.”
"Therefore, the launch of our ‘Second Innovation Week’ reaffirms our dedication to providing our students with the resources, mentorship, and opportunities necessary to flourish in an ever-evolving world."