Rudatsimburwa’s move within Football is truly laudable

What Albert Rudatsimburwa has done within the local football fraternity is not only a brave act by a local entrepreneur but something truly exciting. Entrepreneurs are risk takers. Rudatsimburwa’s move is a very calculating move that should confirm his standing within Rwandan society as a real business leader. In Rwanda, while it can be said that it is still early in the day for someone to take a close look at sports as an avenue to make real cash, honestly speaking the extent and breath that Rudatsimburwa has taken in his characteristic style as a social entrepreneur is but astonishing. I have personally known Rudatsimburwa for close to three years now. When I met him for the first time at Contact FM studios in Kicukiro, he came across as one person who could move mountains in Rwanda just by his thoughts about so many things. We discussed so many things in life and we connected immediately. However, I did not in my wild imagination think that Rudatsimburwa could make forays into Rwandan football. It did not cross my mind at all. That was 3 years ago. So many things have happened in between. Not only has Contact FM grown by leaps and bounds to be counted as a leading media house locally, but Rudatsimburwa is now Rwanda’s Roman Abromavich, to quote Shyaka Kanuma of The Rwanda Focus. It is indeed the truth when one looks at dynamics of Rwandan soccer scene. There is nobody so far who has made such a move. Rudatsimburwa’s moves combine business acumen and social consciousnesses. When such thought processes are combined in Rwanda, we should see wide ranging reforms coming up within the management of teams competing at The Primus National League. As one of the people closely watching the events unfolding within the local football fraternity, Rudatsimburwa’s moves taking over the running of Rayton Sports without a doubt should lead to wide ranging realigning within the 12 teams in The Primus National League. For starters, Rayon Sports will never be the same again. Gone are the days when the team which is endowed with such a huge fan base would go without taking care of its expenses. There is huge cash now at hand. Rayon Sports is now repositioned as a corporate body-the first ever in Rwandan soccer where profit is the over riding motive and mission. When one looks at it, Albert is dead right on that thinking. The bigger picture is that Rayon Sports has the potential to be a continental brand quite literally. Meaning that as the new season opens, Rayon Sports, now brimming with cash from Rudatsimburwa’s take over , will attempt so hard to upstage its arch rivals APR FC for supremacy. Such attempts will definitely create more excitement in the league. More excitement means more passion. More passion means more sponsorship. More sponsorships means that local football will ultimately never be the same again. Such a long but deeply refreshing chain reaction is, in one way or another, directly attributable to Rudatsimubrwa. In short, I can say that what Rudatsimubrwa did should be emulated by those who want to make a difference within society more so as Rwanda aspires to transform into a private sector driven economy. Bralirwa Ltd sunk in over Rwf 300 million to kick start this very challenging journey for change for the next 3 seasons. I am being reliably informed that Rudatsimburwa is talking of such figures getting into Rayon Sports coffers every season. If it is true such prospects are indeed very welcome. One can say with some level of certainty that Rudatsimburwa’s move is another master stroke. We need more people to join this bandwagon that was started by Bralirwa Ltd in order to deliver soccer to the Promised Land. If anything, we need to be reminded very loudly that President Paul Kagame is on record as saying that he would wish to see Amavubi featuring in a world cup tournament during his life time. One way of sending Amavubi to the world cup is to radically change how teams that feed into the national team are managed. Kudos to Albert Rudatsimburwa for showing local soccer clubs the way. Ojiwah@gmail.com