Despite becoming an orphan at the tender age of 13 and dropping out of primary school in 1993 due to a miserable life, Emmanuel Simugomwa is currently a proud owner of a multi-million shoe-making enterprise in Nyaruguru district.

Born in 1980 and faced all sorts of hardships at such tender age, the entrepreneur has managed to beat the odds thanks to his resilience and timely support he obtained from Business Development Fund (BDF).

He makes shoes, belts, wallets and other leather products.

"The hard life I lived in during my childhood pushed me to seek how I could survive.  After dropping out of school, I suffered through the life of a homeless orphan until 1998 when I got support from World Vision and got trained in shoe-making. In 2003, I started shoe-making with only Rwf6,000 as capital,” he said.

He said that his hard work and proper planning earned him clientele and that is how he earned the trust of a microfinance institution that advanced him a loan of Rwf100,000 to expand the business. It was during the same year of 2003.

"I worked hard and paid back the loan. I got another credit of Rwf300,000 which I also paid back by 2005, when World Vision hired me to train other vulnerable children,”  he narrated.

In 2009, he said he had already accumulated about Rwf800,000 savings with which he then bought a plot in Kibeho sector to set up a home.

"I was generating money from both training other children and making shoes on a small scale. With the wages I got from World Vision, I would pay workers building my home in Nyamagabe,” he said.

In 2010, Simugomwa got married and continued to expand his business.

"I bought more equipment. I had a target to buy at least one machine every year,” he said adding that he was able to do this through small loans he got from microfinance institutions.

With a great deal of innovation in his enterprise, in 2012, he became the best shoe-maker in a competition organised by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

"By that time, the country was facing shortage of shoes, especially heels as raw materials. I then I started to refine tyres into heels, an innovation that made me win the competition,” he said.

His products, he said, have so far been exhibited in different trade fairs in both Rwanda and outside including the most recent one in Tanzania where he said they got a lot of mileage.

Why BDF support was timely

The entrepreneur said that with the wealth of knowledge he had accumulated in the shoe-making industry, coupled with the business acumen he had developed over the years, he was able to design a business proposal the he presented to Business Development Fund (BDF).

The proposal, which was part of an effort to further grow his business by acquiring a loan of Rwf20 million from a commercial bank, did not bear fruit at first attempt.

He said he had had the proposal for some time but other financial institutions were reluctant to give him such an amount.

"It took me two years to get the financing and this only became possible when I learnt about BDF. When I pitched my proposal, it did not take long for them to come and visit my business premises and immediately committed to financing my expansion,” he said.

He then obtained Rwf10.5 million loan from BDF in the same year.

"When BDF intervened, I expanded very quickly.  I had machinery worth Rwf2 million and when I got the loan, I bought more. Currently, all of them are worth Rwf15 million doing different works along the production line.”

He said that before he got the BDF, they would make three pairs of shoes per day "we are now producing 12 pairs. We also make and repair 30 pairs of sandals per day,” he said.

Simugoma has also increased on his workforce from two employees to ten currently.

He revealed that the price for a pair of shoes ranges between Rwf15,000 and Rwf30, 000 depending on the type and quality, while sandals are sold at between Rwf5,000 and 7,000

"I have market across the country,” he said.

"I save Rwf700, 000 per month from making new shoes and Rwf200, 000 from doing repairs,” he said.

"When I was about to finish paying back the loan, BDF gave me another loan worth Rwf15 million in 2017. I am currently using it and I will finish paying back in 2021,” he said.

Currently the father of four owns two residential houses worth Rwf60 million thanks to BDF support.

He also bought forest plantations and bought other pieces of land in Kigali.

Challenges

The shoemaker is looking for more financing to significantly expand his workshop, saying there is growing demand for the products they make.

He said he needs the challenge to be quickly addressed since he missed different opportunities.

"I sought support from Workforce Development Authority to train the youth but I didn’t get it because I have not yet got a standard operational workshop,” he said.

He testified that he has exhibited his products in different trade fairs both in Rwanda and abroad, including more recently in Tanzania.

He had machines worth Rwf2 million and when he got the loan, I bought more machines. 

Simugomwa's enterprise used to produce three new pairs of shoes per day but they are producing 12 pairs of shoes per day.