Local Start-Ups to Benefit From African German Entrepreneurship Summer Course

By Régis Umurengezi

University students from Germany, Ghana and Rwanda with best entrepreneurial prototypes are set to meet in Rwanda for a two-week intensive summer course that seeks to expose their projects to international market.

The summer school will be hosted in the Musanze-based Ruhengeri Institute of Applied Sciences (INES) from August 5th with 30 students expected to attend.

Participating institutions include Leipzig University of Germany, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology from Ghana and 12 higher learning institutions and universities from Rwanda.

The universities are under the umbrella of African German Entrepreneurship Academy (AGEA) that aims to promote cutting-edge entrepreneurship education, according to officials.

AGEA also looks to establish practice-oriented cooperation with start-ups and businesses so as to improve employability of graduates.

Student pitched prototypes that won entrepreneurship competitions.

The rector of Ines Ruhengeri, Fr. Dr Fabien Hagenimana, explained that the summer school is a golden platform for students to learn best practices, which will boost their entrepreneurial knowledge for them to create jobs rather than seeking for them.

"We are teaching students not only to get good degrees but also to be entrepreneurial, this summer school will help to bring the knowledge and science they have acquired to the possibilities of creating projects personally as entrepreneurs or to boost the business where they are going to be working," He noted, adding; "We are particularly contributing to the policy of our country and the plan of the national strategy for transformation to create one million and five hundred thousand jobs, given that we are training our students how to create their own jobs."

Hagenimana revealed that during the two-week intensive course, students will be receiving lectures from some reputable entrepreneurs from across the world, academicians and government officials.

"The students will particularly learn how to bring their prototypes to the market through pitching; this will really expose them to how to get to the international market," He said

Gad Nishimwe, one of the Rwandan students who is set to attend the summer school after his robot project emerged among the best prototypes at the country level said he expects to take his project to another level.

"My prototype is about a robot that should alleviate people and breakdown machine among other machines by lifting up masses using water as the source of power, I am looking forward to expanding my project thanks to connection I will build through the summer school," He noted

Business Incubation Centres

AGEA also empowers Higher Educational Institutions in entrepreneurship promotion activities especially through establishment of the business incubator centres in which students are mentored to shape their business idea into prototypes and profitable businesses.

Dr. Jacob Mahina, the Dean of the Faculty of Business at University of Tourism, Technology and Business Studies (UTB) one of the universities that are in the AGEA forum told The New Times that the incubation centres started paying off through helping students to create jobs.

"In the business incubation centre we develop our students from the business idea to the prototypes and it doesn't end on the prototype only, we keep accompanying them to the level where they will start their own businesses. Something interesting is that some students join the market before they graduate," He noted

At the end of the summer school 10 students with best prototypes will be rewarded with different prices that include taking their prototypes to international markets.

The two previous summer schools took place in Germany and Ghana respectively with projects from Rwandan students emerging among the best three prototypes.

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