If you visit Kigali’s Central Business District for the first time, one of the most eye-catching buildings is the I&M building.

Dubbed "Nine on the Avenue”, the building which houses the I&M Bank Head Office, has been recognised as one of Rwanda’s true green buildings, due to its environmentally conscious features and cutting-edge technologies that ease accessibility, and promote safety and functionality for both staff and customers.

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The building, which was inaugurated on February 16, 2023—cost more than Rwf25 billion, and took four years to build—boasts of a stylishly curved roof that generates 210kW solar power — more than 50 per cent of the electricity needed, as well as a water treatment system that recycles water for reuse.

It is a building that got many talking during its construction phase not only because of its gigantic, imposing nature but also because of its unique brown-brick look that makes it different from the ordinary glass or plastic façade-finishing seen on most new buildings.

Today, it stands among Kigali’s outstanding buildings and for good measure, adding a whiff of fresh air to the fast-growing skyline of Kigali with its unique appearance and design.

However, little is known about the brains behind the unique building and how it came to be. For a project of such magnitude, there are indeed brains and minds behind it—from start to finish.

For a ‘green’ building to stay fully functional and operate at 100 per cent, there must be someone behind the scenes who guarantees seamless operations.

That has been the role of civil engineer Annick Ndabirorere, since 2017, when she joined the project as a supervisor, charged with following up on everything to ensure that the construction project progressed as intended.

"I had to follow up with the contractor, with the sub-contractors, with the architects, attending all those meetings,” Ndabirorere said, pointing out that it was a challenging task, which allowed her to learn and deal with the rigours of supervising a project of such magnitude, from the beginning to the end.

"The most challenging part was when the main contractor at that time decided to just abandon. He went bankrupt and then left the site. At the time, we had, as the bank, to be the main contractor of our project,” she recalled.

With the bank determined to deliver the project, Ndabirorere’s job was to work with architects, sub-contractors, and all the people involved to ensure that each one played their role.

A tough role she pulled off

"Having everything on your head wasn’t something easy but it was possible because today when I look at it, it was a very good experience and I’m proud of it because we are occupying the building, even if we finished without the contractor.

"The building is iconic, but not only an iconic building, we are an environmentally friendly building. We are not only environmentally friendly. We are a green building,” Ndabirorere explained.

‘Green’ building is not just a tagline or cliché. Ndabirorere said they can save 58 per cent on energy, thanks to the solar roof that produces more than 200Kw, and 51 per cent on the water bill as a result of a plant that collects, treats, and reuses rain water.

Ndabirorere said achieving a ‘green’ building required the efforts of many engineers and architects, to look at every aspect—from the bricks used to windows and all the other things that make it environmentally friendly.

"The management didn’t know how to make the building green, but from the beginning, their wish was to have a green building. All the engineers had to put their effort together to make sure all those components are together to make it a green building,” she said.

Why women need support systems

As an engineer and a woman, it is a tough call because "you have to be at the site most of the time to supervise the work.” She joined the I&M project with a six-month-old baby.

It was a project that had strict timelines and she was expected to deliver by all means. Ndabirorere attributes her ability to deliver the project to the support she had from her husband and mother.

It is a challenge many women face, juggling their careers and life, especially motherhood because they are expected to deliver both at work and at home, which can be exhausting.

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"As a mother, if I go back a bit, I came into this building project when my baby was six months old. So, it was very challenging, but I had the support of my husband, and my mum being around somehow helped.

"Having someone that you know is there is very important because I would not only be expected to be a mother, but also to deliver at work. I would be here full time, even after sleepless nights,” she said.

It was challenging in the sense that even after spending sleepless nights feeding the baby, in the morning she knew she had to be at work.

"I had to be perfect at work but I also had to be perfect at home. It’s not something very easy. It’s very challenging,” she said, emphasising that every working woman deserves to have such support systems.

It is a privilege she does not take for granted—having a supportive husband and mother—but many working women who don’t have such, and often find themselves in tough and exhausting situations.

"My message to working mums; I know it’s not easy. I know it’s something very challenging. Work-life balance is something that only mums can understand. You have to take care of yourself,” she said.

Among other things, she encourages working women to maintain a tight-knit group of friends to spend time with and have a meal together when they need to relax and take a breather.

However, what is more important is to ensure that they have the right support systems, "whether it is your spouse, parent, relatives or reliable maids, who can take care of other things while you are busy out there working.”

"Everyone needs that support system,” she said, urging women not to try to juggle everything along the way, which can also come with its consequences.

Swapping doctor for engineer

Born 45 years ago in Bujumbura, Burundi, with three other siblings, Ndabirorere grew up as a ‘tomboy’, dressing up and behaving like boys.

Like many other girls, she did not know what she would become in the future.

"Growing up, I always had my mother saying ‘one day you'll become a doctor’ and I was like, ‘okay, I think that’s what I’ll have to do’ because it was something that my mother used to say.

"I grew up saying ‘I'll be a doctor’. As a child, you always want to please your mother. I wanted to please her, I wanted her to be happy,” Ndabirorere recalled.

When she joined secondary school, she took up science subjects and later wanted to do biochemistry. However, to do that she had to pass some tests to be accepted in the university.

Biochemistry proved to be tough and she was told to choose another option in engineering, whether it was IT, electromechanical, or civil engineering.

She settled for civil engineering at Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), and there were just about six female students in the entire class. The course itself proved to be hard, requiring a lot of effort and twice the energy, compared to male students.

"It wasn’t easy, not only for me but even for the other female students. I actually fell in love with the engineering part very much,” she said, adding that it was mind-awakening. Just as a baby is born, engineering projects are conceived and implemented, starting from the foundation to the final product.

For Ndabirorere, each project is a baby delivered. The pride and satisfaction come from monitoring each step of the project to the final part, the handover.

"Just imagine how proud I can be by seeing the I&M building?” she said, adding that when they were developing the building, people made all sorts of comments, some referring to it as a church, but deep down she couldn’t wait to show them the final product.

In the beginning, she had a lot of explaining, but as the building progressed, many started to see the beauty.

Ndabirorere previously worked on several other projects, including being part of the supervising team for the construction of 81 housing units in Masaka, under Real Contractors Ltd.

"To me, it was very exciting but it was also very challenging. We had to be on sites, we had to talk with the workers all the time and we had to be aggressive,” she said of one of the first modern housing estates built in the post-Genocide era.

To be an engineering supervisor, you must brave the rain and sunshine to ensure things go as planned. A small lapse can have dire consequences on the entire project. While she did not complete the project, today she is proud to see how the estate has come of age.

She joined I&M as a quantity surveyor, or property valuer, having been into property valuation since 2010. Ndabirorere was one of the professionals who founded the Institute of Real Property Valuers in Rwanda (IRPV).

She previously served as a chairperson of the body which brings together real property valuers in Rwanda and she said through IRPV, they have been able to achieve a lot as the engineering fraternity.

Ndabirorere encourages girls to pursue courses often deemed difficult or "for boys’, much like she did entering engineering, a predominantly male-dominated field where she succeeded despite the obstacles.

"It’s not easy, but it is possible. Put in your effort, and show that you can. Make sure you have that in your dreams, make your dream possible. You’re the one to make it happen and you can,” she said.