In 2011 when he was a fresh high school graduate, Edmond Kwizera was devastated when he unexpectedly lost his first job – a post-harvest labourer in the Bugarama marshland – in Rusizi District.

To him, at the time, being fired was the end of the world, especially considering that all he had for qualifications was a high school certificate.

Kwizera believed he would never find another meaningful job. He tried to join university but failed due to financial constraints.

Today, however, the 31-year-old father of two has an inspiring ‘never say die’ story. It begins shortly after he got married, in 2017, when he mustered the courage to explore opportunities in the real estate brokerage industry so that he could feed his family.

"I had no capital at all. I asked for advice from friends who were real estate brokers. That is when I realized that they lacked an important element, which is doing real estate brokerage in a professional manner by using ICT and the internet. I straightaway planned to do brokerage on e-commerce platforms,” he told Doing Business.

He relocated to Kigali and made friends with real estate agents who mainly used WhatsApp groups to advertise houses and other properties on sale.

That’s when he eventually partnered with a colleague to find a client for a Rwf8 million house that was on the market.

"In August 2017, I used Facebook to advertise the Rwf8 million house.  We managed to link the owner to a buyer and he paid us Rwf400, 000. Each one of us got Rwf200, 000. This money is the foundation of my life and the business I am doing today,” he said.

Edmund Kwizera tapped into real estate brokerage industry.

With the cash, he was able to buy a smart phone which he started using, linking property sellers and buyers through social media platforms.

"I continued brokerage and found more clients on Facebook. Things got even better when we linked connected another big client who bought a Rwf85 million house. We were paid Rwf3 million and I got my Rwf1.5 million share,” he said.

The real estate broker who lived in tiny Rwf20, 000 residential rental with his wife moved into a decent Rwf150, 000 house. In December 2017, he opened a company, Expat For Africa Ltd, specializing mainly in properties for sale, rent and lease.

"I opened an e-commerce platform for my real estate brokerage services. Since the platform helped to explore the market, I reached the level of generating from Rwf3 million, or Rwf4 million, to Rwf5 million, per sale of a house,” he said.

Kwizera spent part of the income in opening an office for his business.

"I started renting a Rwf100, 000 office.  I continued to use digital platforms in real estate brokerage and managed to buy my own Rwf3 million car as income kept increasing. Later, I bought a plot of land and built my own residential house. I have now bought other plots of land. I can now buy a Rw10-15 million plot of land.”

Through the e-commerce platform, he expanded his business to tap into the market in regional countries.

"I am expanding real estate brokerage services in Kenya, and DRC, among others,” he said.

Diversifying sources of income

The real estate broker said that he has also expanded the business to car dealership, property management, hospitality (advertising hotels) and events management.

"To do brokerage, it only requires being honest so as to be trusted. I am also helping other real estate brokers to take their real estate brokerage services to my e-commerce platform so that they can easily link buyers and sellers of properties,” he said.

According to Kwizera, the youth should have an open mindset to explore business opportunities that do not necessitate huge capital.

"Initially, whenever I thought of business I thought it could not be possible because I always only had just about Rwf3, 000 in my pocket after expenses,” he said.

"But by using the network of friends, I managed to beat the odds. There are many business ideas and opportunities that do not require huge startup capital.”

Like Muhammad Yunus, the 2006 Peace Nobel Prize laureate and founder of the Grameen Bank, said, unemployment is an artificial fiction. Create jobs, don’t search for them.