Search for best entrepreneurs kicks off

ASPIRING entrepreneurs have a chance to win capital and mentorship programmes in a business competition that was launched in Kigali yesterday.Dubbed “The Real Business Accelerator”, the competition will feature 20 Rwandans, amongst which the overall winner will be rewarded with the Real-Bank Populaire Rwanda Entrepreneurship Award 2012, and six months of free office space at a business incubator. The week-long competition is an initiative of Educat, a Danish organisation in partnership with Bank Populaire Rwanda (BPR).The competition will take place during the Global Entrepreneurship beginning on 12 - 18th November. At the ceremony, the best three entrepreneurs will pitch their businesses to a panel of local and international business experts.“Registration is open to talented, visionary, innovative, brave, risk taking and ambitious entrepreneurs who are between 18 and 35 years of age and have been working on a business for at least one year,” Andreas Noerlem Christensen, the CEO and Founder of Educat said during the launch.“Other than the two million cash prize and the award, the winner will be given a chance to represent Rwanda at the Pan-African start-up competition dubbed “Meet the Lions” in South Africa next year.”The head of marketing and communication at BPR, John Magara, said that the competition is an opportunity for young entrepreneurs who want to accelerate their businesses.“We believe in the power of business promotion as a solution to alleviating poverty in Rwandan communities. Rwanda has a very large youth base that needs entrepreneurial skills and mentorship and that is what this competition is here to provide,” Magara said.More than 78percent of Rwanda’s population is under 30 years and these are young people desperate to have a good life. With good work ethics, risk taking minds and innovative mentorship services, they will blossom and contribute greatly to our economy,” Emmanuel Bigenimana, the Coordinator of One Stop Youth Centers at the Ministry of Youth and ICT said.

National

Search for best entrepreneurs kicks off