Three university students have started an enterprise, which uses cement to produce wood-like garden tables and chairs, an innovation they hope will reduce the number of trees that are cut down to obtain to make furniture.

The trio including, Aime Jules Simbi, Tharcisse Ndahimana and Eric Nshimiyimana, are students of Construction Technology studies at the Musanze based Integrated Polytechnic Regional Centre (IPRC). They launched their enterprise in March 2017 in a bid to contribute to Rwanda’s efforts to protect the environment. Rwanda seeks to increase forest cover to 30 per cent by 2020.

"Through different conversations that we have as school friends, we came up with an idea to actively support government policy to increase forest cover,” said Aime Jules Simbi.

He added; "We, therefore, agreed to create a company to manufacture garden furniture mainly chairs and tables from cement instead of timber”.

Raising capital

After agreeing on details of their projects, the students agreed to start saving Rwf10,000 each from their monthly stipend of Rwf25,000, which they receive from government as part of their scholarship.

It took them eight months to raise Rwf320,000 as capital, which they used to start a company called Reinforce Concrete Garden Furniture (RCGF) Ltd.

"It was not an easy commitment as there was a lot to do with the stipend that we are given. With the collective goal ahead, we decided to forego some of the things to achieve our target,” Simbi narrated.

He underscored that their idea also demonstrates that everyone can play a role in the ongoing struggle to protect the environment forests.

"For example, our cement-made chair is paved as the normal timber in a bid to showcase that there is no need to cut down trees to find timber to assemble garden chairs…our chairs are better than the ones from mahogany wood and they have a particularly added value of protecting trees that are cut down to make furniture.”

Simbi said their project was informed by their own study, which revealed that by 2020 they will be able to reduce 0.7 per cent of the quantity of trees cut down annually.

Less costly

In order to minimise costs, the students use cement as well as pieces of reinforcement bars, pieces of welded mesh and metal sheets, which also ensures durability of the chairs.

However, their products are made in a weight-reduced style to the level of 20 per cent in a bid to facilitate the transportation.

"Our chair is made in 12 parts that are movable separately and each part weighs 50 kg, we opted this measure to facilitate our clients.” explained Simbi.

Simbi expressed that with the help of their university lecturers they carried out research based on buildings that have been constructed in Ohio in the US  in 1900s with the same products as their furniture and they realised that their products have a guarantee of 150 years.

Chairs and tables produced in cement by Simbi and his colleagues are sold between Rwf400,000 and 600,000 depending on workers specification. Their main clients are hotels, non-governmental organisations and expatriates, among other.

Simbi said that they make at least Rwf600,000 monthly from which they pay their 10 workers and taxes leaving them with a take-home of about Rwf400,000, which they consider as a collective salary.

 "We also aim at reducing unemployment among our fellow youth by offering jobs to the needy,” He stressed

International award

Last year, RCGF Ltd won the overall price in the African-German Entrepreneurship Academy Awards, which took place in Germany.

The competition was organised by Leipzig University to showcase entrepreneurship innovations by university students from Africa, Southern America and German universities.

Moreover, the young innovators told The New Times that they are still grappling with the low levels of production because they lack modern equipment.  Their requests for bank loans to increase production have not been successful.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw