Kelly Igue Gahunga, a small business owner, decided to chase a childhood dream and started a clothing brand he named ‘Rwagasabo’ in September last year, which focuses on making hoodies.

Born and raised in Kigali, Gahunga is a student at Adventist University of Central Africa and has had a passion for fashion from a very young age. As he grew older, he thought of starting a business and of course many ideas came to mind, but starting his own clothing brand is what stood out as it is what he has always wanted to do. Even though he never took any course on making branded hoodies, save for entrepreneurship lessons he had in school, he took a shot.

"I chose to name the clothing brand ‘Rwagasabo’ because it originally comes from ‘U Rwanda Rwagasabo’ which represents and differentiates Rwanda as a country and has a lot of meaning to Rwandans. 

Models dressed in the hoodies.

"I wanted to do something that represents Rwanda and the people of Rwanda with a focus on hoodies. Growing up, I always dreamt of becoming self-employed so when I started getting different ideas I did my best to make the dream a reality and hire other people as well who can help me throughout the whole journey,” he says.

Gahunga used money he had been saving as capital to start he dream business. Eventually, he hired five skilled permanent workers who currently help him with the whole process of making hoodies using materials from China. They make the hoodies based on the client’s preference. 

The 21-year-old entrepreneur runs his business with the help of friends whom he says have been of great help since the beginning.

Talking about his first hoodie sale, he mentioned that the order was made online by socialite and social media influencer Shaddy Boo, and he could hardly believe it, as it was the best thing for a start-up brand.

He now markets his business through social media, mostly Instagram.

Vision

"I want my brand to be recognised locally and internationally so that whoever sees ‘Rwagasabo’ apparels will definitely tell that they are a brand that uniquely represent Rwanda.

"I have always dreamt of having my own business since I was young so starting this has been a dream come true. I chose to make hoodies because we have a lot of clothing brands, but hoodies are rare and that is how I knew I should go for that,” he says.

In the period Rwagasabo has been operating, he says the feedback has been great and he hopes for the brand to grow bigger and attract more customers than it does today.

The most challenging thing is that Rwandans haven’t yet really warmed up to online-based businesses, which is a struggle, however, they keep pushing and hope for change.

"My advice to anyone trying to start out in business, especially young people like me, is to not fear anything, not even failure, because problems will always be there and fear only limits you. You will never know how far you can go or even what the future holds unless you try to make your dreams come true. Believe in yourself and go for what you want,” says Gahunga.