Are you an entrepreneur with an innovative solution that can respond toa challenge posed by the novel coronavirus pandemic? You could access a financial package of up to $40,000 thanks to a new initiative, dubbed Corona Action Rwanda. The initiative is a partnership between Jasiri, the Ministry of ICT and Innovation, entrepreneurship development partners Inkomoko, Norrsken Foundation, and Westerwelle Start-up Haus. Under the new initiative, entrepreneurs across Rwanda who have diverse solutions to address the impact of COVID-19 will have access to grants, mentorship, technical expertise, and legal services, among others. According to Yves Iradukunda, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of ICT and Innovation, the initiative is collaborative work that seeks to increase the likelihood of success, and mitigate the damage caused by the global crisis. “We have taken an approach of an ecosystem partnership. Government is not bringing money, the role of the government is to bring together all these partners from public to private,” he said. “We want to make sure that we get projects that will increase the likelihood of alleviating the impact of COVID19 and be able to support them, but in collaboration with the ecosystem,” he added. The initiative will support innovative, time-sensitive solutions that directly address issues caused by the coronavirus. Those are solutions with the potential for scalability and sustainability. Successful applications will have access to grants of between $20 000 and $40,000 depending on need and potential impact, needs analysis and expert advisory support, and consultancy services.
