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The African Innovation Prize is a UK based nonprofit organization founded by three CambridgeUniversity Graduates to spur student innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa, through university based business planning competitions.AIP encourages Rwandan university students to DREAM, DESIGN, and DEDICATE themselves to their business ideas.This is AIP's 2013 Impact Report.

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  • MADE POSSIBLE BY THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF

    Copyright African Innovation Prize 2013.

    All rights reserved.

  • InsideTHIS REPORT

    FOREWORDS DEDICATE

    6 AIP 2013 in numbers7 We couldnt have done it without you8 Our background8 Vision8 Mission8 Our story | Why Rwanda? 8 Why Sierra Leone? 9 The need 9 Our sponsors 9 De La Rue 11 Segal Family Foundation

    12 DREAM13 What is entrepreneurship training13 Phase 1 launch & business idea generation training 14 Business idea challenge15 Phase 1 industry breakdown

    16 DESIGN 17 Phase 2 launch and business planning training 17 The business plan challenge19 Phase 2 industry breakdown20 Judging21 Meet the grand prize winners21 Kigali Institute of Science and Technology22 National University of Rwanda23 School of Finance and Banking

    26 Enterprise Rwanda 201327 The daily themes28 Day 1: Business idea generation29 Day 2: Market insight30 Day 3: Business modelling31 Day 4: Unique selling points32 Day 5: Pitching34 Enterprise Rwanda survey37 Enterprise Sierra Leone 201338 Day 139 Day 239 Day 3 & 440 Day 5

    41 LESSON LEARNED42 Conclusion42 Partners

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  • 4Trustees &Country DirectorFOREWORDS

    Alexander HandyCo-founder and Trustee

    Julia Fan LiCo-founder and Trustee

    2013 has been a remarkable year for AIP. Our

    programme has continued to grow reaching over

    700 students resulting in a 100% increase in business

    plan competition entrants. The quality and potential

    of this years winners continues to impress with ideas

    ranging from biogas production to statistics training

    for students. Excitingly, the future looks even more

    promising. 2013 was the first year that we have added full-time hires to the team both in Rwanda

    and the UK and their impact continues to be seen

    across the organization. With plans to expand in

    Rwanda and East Africa, 2014 promises to be our

    highest impact year to date.

    2013 has been a brilliant year for the African

    Innovation Prize! We welcomed our first Rwandan Country Director Herve onboard and the AIP

    community presence has expanded throughout

    Rwanda. We have been thrilled with the

    development of the Entrepreneurship Clubs at KIST,

    NUR and SFB with high levels of student engagement

    and excellent AIP Student Ambassadors. Following

    Herves leadership and work of committed AIP

    Student Ambassadors, the 2013 edition of Enterprise

    Rwanda week was excellent, culminating in the

    seed funding of three new student-led businesses in

    renewable energy, education and innovative uses

    of avocado oils. 2013 also marked the first edition of Enterprise Sierra Leone and we seek to support

    the youth entrepreneurship community and alumni

    from the University of Sierra Leone. We head into

    2014 with enthusiasm and a view to consolidate our

    Rwandan business plan competition, training and

    mentorship and we hope you will enjoy us on this

    exciting journey.

  • 4Sarah TeacherCo-founder and Trustee

    Herve KubwimanaRwanda Country Director

    Roland RuhumurizaRwanda Advisor and Trustee

    It is incredibly exciting looking back at this years

    AIP programme, and also hearing the feedback

    from the direct beneficiaries, as well as to see the developments the previous years participants and

    prize winners have made. 2013 has proven that

    not only are we on the right track in stimulating

    entrepreneurship in Africa, but more so in impacting

    the university students experiences. With the

    continued help of our dedicated funders, volunteers

    and partnering organizations, 2014 will no doubt

    produce more impact.

    2013 has been another super year for AIP. Our key

    theme was to consolidate for growth, and that is

    exactly what we have done. Our funders De La Rue

    and the Segal Family Foundation have ensured that

    we could develop the core strength to do our work,

    supporting us to develop our internal capacities as

    well as running an enhanced training programme,

    and growing the volume and quality of entries to

    the competition. Through their visionary investment,

    more and more students are benefiting from our entrepreneurship work. These strengthened core

    operations means that 2014 is set to be a time of

    enormous excitement for the team: We have a

    wonderful presence in Rwanda, and are now in a

    position to register as international NGO in Rwanda,

    and explore East African growth. We are privileged

    to have a body of advisors, volunteers, partner

    organizations and funders that are taking this

    journey with us. Thank you all so much!

    It is my great pleasure to report to you on a year

    that has been remarkable and rewarding. We had

    a great opportunity of helping students to improve

    their business ideas. As a result, we saw students

    teaming up with their entrepreneurial peers from

    different universities to achieve more. Along with the

    inspiring team of student ambassadors, I was very

    proud to organize Enterprise Rwanda 2013 where

    for one week, young innovators benefited from the expertise and experience of previous generations

    while bringing their own pioneering ideas to fruition.

    This synergy across generations is something that

    continues to motivate us to grow and reach as

    many students as possible in the upcoming year.

    5

  • 6AIP 2013 IN NUMBERS

    84 Business Plan

    RWANDA SIERRA LEONE

    21 Business Plan

    216 Business Ideas 05 Business Ideas

    578 Students 150 Students

    20 Volunteers 07 Volunteers

    13 Judges 04 Judges

    07 Keynote Speakers 09 Keynote Speakers

    04 Supported N/A Supported

    03 Seed Fund 01 Seed Fund

    01 Business Service N/A Business Service

    03 Universities 01 University

    Entries Entries

    Entries Entries

    Trained Trained

    Engaged Engaged

    Engaged Engaged

    Engaged Engaged

    Entrepreneuship Clubs Entrepreneuship Clubs

    Businesses Business

    Provider Provider

  • 6 7The success of this year lies in the contribution of

    various individuals across continents, universities,

    government institutions, private companies, and

    business leaders. Their support has been crucial to

    AIPs Business Plan Competition and the African

    Innovation Prizes Program in general.

    Firstly, AIP is grateful to our generous donors,

    De La Rue and the Segal Family Foundation for

    funding all our activities and programs. We couldnt

    have done this without their support, trust and vision

    to invest in the next breed of Rwandan and Sierra

    leonean Entrepreneurs. We are enormously grateful to our friends at Inkomoko, who not only provide a home

    for us in Rwanda, but who will be working with our Phase 2 winners this year moving forward! Thanks to

    Bourbon Coffee Rwanda for generously sponsoring Enterprise Rwanda 2013 networking cocktail and award

    ceremony.

    In Rwanda, the School of Finance and Banking (SFB) and the National University of Rwanda (NUR) have been

    helpful in supporting the delivery of trainings and campus-based activities. Kigali Institute of Science and

    Technology (KIST) has been a crucial partner during our events. Special thanks go to The Rector of KIST,

    Dr. Marie-Christine Gasingirwa, Mrs Immacule Mukabayire, Mr. Didier Nkubito and Mr Eric Serubibi.

    In Sierra Leone, the Institute of Public Administration and Management, Fourah Bay College and TrainingSol

    have also been great partners for Enterprise Sierra Leone. Special thanks go out to Ms Lola Aforo the PRO and

    director of Career Advancement & Professional Services (CAPS) at University of Sierra Leone (USL), the Vice

    Chancellor, Karim Noah, Desmond Coker, Samuel Weekes, Thomas Yormah, Winston Webber and Samuel

    Braima.

    AIP is greatly indebted to the judges who committed their time to assessing the Business Ideas in Phase 1 as

    well as Phase 2. Thanks to Anneke Evers, David Sengeh, James Schneider, Jay Zimmerman, Jean Claude

    Rwubahuka, Jean Paul Rutagarama, Jonathan Wolf-Phillips, Lydie Hakizimana, Manisha Garg, Natasha

    Haguma, Nikki Germany, Norbert Munana, Oscar Karekezi, Patrick Cyusa, Prosper Ishimwe, Samzu Agbaje,

    and Zainab Koroma.

    We appreciate the participation of our keynote speakers during Enterprise Rwanda and Enterprise Sierra

    Leone. In Rwanda, we thank Lydie Hakizimana, Serge Mushinzimana, Julienne Oyler, Roland Ruhumuriza,

    Emile Murekezi , Sam Barigye and Isaac Nkusi. In Sierra Leone we thank Daniel Osei-Antwi, William Conteh,

    Fatou Wurie, Claudette Ahiabor, Evelyn Lewis, Fatu Yumkella, Udozima Ulasi and Edmond Nonie.

    Finally, the stellar team of Rwandan student ambassadors and UK based volunteers did an incredible job

    during AIPs yearly activities. Thanks to Aline Sine, Bernard Nkurunziza, Bosco Rusagara, Brenda Mutoni, Brian

    Mudahigwa, Chantal Iribagiza, David Karuranga, Domitille Akeza, Elie Nzayisenga, Emily Newton, Fabrice

    Niyibizi, Hannah Marshall, Jean Pierre Hodari, Joshua Ishimwe, Lucy James, Maurice Ndamukunda, Milly

    Hennayake ,Nomfundo Magudulela, Priya Khetarpal and Robert Karamuzi.

    The AIP Team.

    We couldnt have done it without you

  • 8The African Innovation Prize is a UK based non-

    profit organization founded by three Cambridge University Graduates to spur student innovation

    and entrepreneurship in Africa, through

    university based business planning competitions.

    AIP encourages Rwandan university students to

    DREAM, DESIGN, and DEDICATE themselves to their business ideas.

    In December 2008, the Rwandan President Paul

    Kagame delivered a public policy lecture at the

    University of Cambridge. He spoke of a country

    committed to moving forward, moving upwards

    and realizing its potential as an emerging economy

    in the African region. Importantly, he believed that

    models of trade, not traditional aid were the means

    by which Rwanda would heal its economic, political,

    ethnic and psychological scars and move forward as

    one country committed to making for itself, a better

    future. He ended with an open invitation to students

    to visit Rwanda and form their own views of the

    country today.

    Today Sierra Leone still bears the scars of its history:

    2.6 million of the countrys 6 million population are

    aged 15-35, and more than two thirds of these young

    people are under-employed or unemployed. This

    challenging context is in contrast with the enormous

    potential of the country, not only of its abundant

    natural resources, but also its rapidly developing

    institutions. There is a growing optimism in Sierra

    Leone, led since 2007 by President Ernest Koroma that

    through capitalizing on its people and a tight focus

    on economic growth, the country can maintain its

    positive trajectory. Its this energy for positive change,

    and focus on private sector development that the

    African Innovation Prize is so thrilled to be a part of.

    In the summer of 2009, inspired by President Kagames

    lecture, AIPs founding Trustees visited a number of

    higher education institutions in the countrys capital

    Kigali. Despite a commitment to stimulating economic

    growth, prospects in business and entrepreneurship

    for University graduates in Rwanda are little within

    the university curricula. It was this experience that

    provided the final catalyst for the launch of the African Innovation Prize in Rwanda.

    In 2011, with the support of De La Rue, we explored

    the feasibility of initiating the African Innovation Prize

    in Sierra Leone. We discovered that entrepreneurship

    is a key emerging discourse in the country, with strong

    government and academic interest in catalyzing

    start-ups and a nascent enterprise development

    sector. Though there are some fantastic organizations

    doing excellent work in Sierra Leone, none were

    working specifically with the soon-to-graduate population.

    African universities with vibrant entrepreneurship culture.

    Stimulating and supporting university entrepreneurship

    in Africa

    Our Background

    Our Story | Why Rwanda?

    Why Sierra Leone?

    Vision

    Mission

  • 8What does De La Rue do, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa?De La Rue is the worlds largest integrated commercial banknote printer and we work with central banks

    issuing authorities and commercial organizations all over the world. Africa is a really important market for us

    and we work with a number of African nations to provide Identity Management systems including passports,

    identity cards, voter registration systems, driver licenses, birth certificates and software solutions.

    As highlighted in the Economic Development &

    Poverty Reduction Strategy 2 (EDPRS 2) program, in

    2011 Rwandas formal private sector employed only

    4% of the countrys labor force, and only 0.5% of

    firms had more than 30 employees. The small size of Rwandas

    private sector is a major limiting factor to future

    prospects for economic growth and economic

    transformation. The private sector needs to undergo

    significant structural transformation to be able to become the main driver of economic growth. With

    a number of university graduates every year, the

    majority aspiring to public sector jobs, AIP believes

    that entrepreneurship and access to finance should be considered as a high level priority. This can be

    done through empowering these students when still

    at the university to create their own businesses thus

    create the large number of jobs the Rwandan

    economy requires.

    AIP tackles this issue by providing a world-class

    We develop connections between students and

    the local enterprise community through seeding

    entrepreneurship clubs within universities, and

    brokering mentorship between students and local

    business leaders.

    One of the cross cutting issues of the Vision 2020 is

    the adoption of science, technology and ICT. It has

    been noticed that the integration of science and

    technology in socio-economic life is very low and

    the shortage of technically qualified professionals is visible at all levels. There is a need to generate,

    disseminate and acquire scientific skills as well as technological innovations, in addition to integrating

    them into the social and economic development

    drive. AIP encourages students to develop innovative

    businesses especially related to the information and

    communications technologies. This approach will

    continue to bring down the costs of sharing

    information, increase business efficiency, and reduce communication and payments costs for consumers.

    The Need

    Our SponsorsAt AIP, we see significant value in supporting university entrepreneurship, and are inspired by the novel ideas and opportunities that students can commercialize. We like to explore our own

    networks for organizations that both innovate in their own practice, and support

    others to do the same.

    De La RueNo organization exemplifies these characteristics more than our lead funder De La Rue an organization that has managed to sustain its technological lead in

    business for almost 200 years, and helps us support young business people in both

    Rwanda and Sierra Leone. The African Innovation Prize team, talked to De La Rue

    Key Accounts Director, Tony Mullen, to understand what we and our students can

    learn from the companys practice.

    9

  • 10With almost 200 years of operation, how does De La Rue stay ahead of the competition?As a company with such heritage De La Rue is proud

    to be able to lay claim to a number of enduring

    customer relationships with our longest partnership

    spanning over 150 years. We place a huge amount

    of value on our customers and it is by listening to

    their needs, understanding their requirements and

    producing value for money products which allows

    De La Rue to continue to deliver excellence. It is

    also through the support of schemes such as the

    African Innovation Prize which allows us to show our

    commitment to the progress and development of

    the countries we work in.

    De La Rue is a huge multinational corporation, but students that the African Innovation Prize is working with are embarking on start-ups. Is there any advice you would give from a 200-year-old to a start up? No matter what kind of business you want to develop

    make sure youve done your research. Having a

    sound understanding of the market you are entering,

    the challenges you will face and developing your

    own unique selling points will be invaluable. Another

    key element is the development of your customer

    base. Customer loyalty can make or break a business

    so it really is worth taking the time to nurture your

    working relationships, listen to your existing customers,

    establish best practice to deliver to future customers

    and make sure you are offering a product or service

    which your customer not only needs but also loves.

    Why is the company interested in supporting the African Innovation Prize in Rwanda and Sierra Leone?Rwanda and Sierra Leone are both long standing

    customers for De La Rue and by supporting the African

    Innovation Prize we are able to give something back

    to both counties, proving our long term commitment

    and intention to create a lasting footprint. Both

    Rwanda and Sierra Leone are making great strides

    towards stability and through the encouragement

    of an entrepreneurial culture, private sector

    development and innovative thinking we believe

    that schemes such as the African Innovation Prize

    can really start to make a tangible difference.

    De La Rue is also involved in the production of

    national currencies, the manufacture of cash

    processing machines and revenue protection and

    product authentication systems, including tax stamps

    and track and trace technology.

    You have been working in sub-Saharan Africa for decades, and have witnessed some highly turbulent times. With that long-term perspective, do you share in the new optimism around the future of the continent? Yes. Africa has a growing, vibrant economy and all

    the factors are currently pointing to enrichment of

    the continent and its people. In particular, we have

    seen countries such as Rwanda and Sierra Leone

    entering a stable phase in their history and we would

    like to help them to continue to achieve this stability.

    How have you tailored your products to cater for the Rwandan / Sierra Leonean market? Every product we produce is bespoke to the individual

    country as no two countries are the same. With

    national documents such as passports and currency

    we are able to produce intelligent and striking

    designs which offer the highest levels of security whilst

    also demonstrating iconic designs which represent

    the nation.

    What innovation in those markets has De La Rue led, that you and your team are most proud of?Several of our products have been modified so that they can operate in harsh environments with

    unstable electricity supplies and little or no access

    to the internet. This pragmatic approach to the

    manufacture and issuance of our products has

    ensured that we can combat any environmental

    challenges! In regard to products we are in the

    process of implementing Rwandas first ever national eID card and support system which is the latest phase

    of the Rwandan National ID Project. This document

    is at the cutting edge of technology and innovation

    and will allow citizens easier access to services whilst

    providing improved levels of security.

  • 10 11

    Segal Family Foundation

    The Segal Family Foundation is one of our

    generous funders in our work of inspiring students in

    entrepreneurship. We spoke with Andy Bryant, the

    Executive Director of the Segal Family Foundation. He

    oversees the foundations team and implements its

    vision.

    What is the mission of the Segal Family Foundation, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa?SFFs mission is to partner with outstanding individuals

    and organizations that improve the well-being of

    communities in Sub Saharan Africa.

    What is your long term perspective on the future of entrepreneurship in Africa? There is a growing ecosystem of support for African

    entrepreneurs. The impetus has often come from

    abroad but there is increasing African ownership

    of these incubators, ideas, competitions, & even

    funding. The journey taken by AIP in bringing on

    strong local leadership reflects this evolution.

    What is the SFFs approach in supporting entrepreneurship in Africa?We are interested to find the minimum viable package of support services that will empower

    African entrepreneurs to build successful enterprises

    (both for-profit & non-profit).There are a lot of well-intended capacity building

    services that are not necessarily worth the opportunity

    cost of participation by entrepreneurs. We need to

    identify what services are a net positive for them &

    eliminate others that are superfluous.

    What advice do you have for aspiring student entrepreneurs in Africa?The most important components of a business plan

    are the Today & the Five Years from Now. How will

    you sell your first fifty units right now & do you have a product or service that is valuable enough to your

    consumers that you can sell fifty thousand of them in five years? Everything in between is fiction.

    Also, if you are at a very early-stage & just have a

    great idea, try to be strong enough to avoid taking

    on debt or equity investment before you have a

    sense of your revenue & valuation. (Research is risky

    & unprofitable. It should be grant-funded).

    In addition to the African Innovation Prize, what other resources and initiatives would you recommend to student entrepreneurs?Unreasonable Institute- East Africa is run by some

    young Ugandans based in Kampala. They will be

    building a truly African incubator in the next few

    years. Ashoka East Africa is always looking for more

    fellows & they have a wide & deep network to tap

    into if selected.

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    What is entrepreneurship training

    The entrepreneurship training launched AIPs activities in 2013. The training, led by AIP advisor Roland

    Ruhumuriza, gathered 75 students from the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology, the National University of

    Rwanda, and the School of Finance and Banking. During this training the students learnt why entrepreneurship

    is needed in African countries and the characteristics of an entrepreneur.

    This training marked the official launch of AIPs Phase I Business Idea Challenge and it took place at the three different universities, KIST, NUR and SFB on March 6th, March 9th and March 12th respectively. The trainings

    were well attended by the members of the entrepreneurship clubs especially at NUR, where we saw an

    incredible number of 105 attendees. KIST and SFB entrepreneurship clubs registered a turnout of 39 and 54

    attendees respectively.

    Phase I Launch & Business Idea Generation Training

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    The big turnout at Nationa University of Rwanda (NUR) was

    driven by support from two student associations; the Junior

    Chamber International (JCI) and the Students Association for

    Graduates Integrated into Private Sector (SAGIPS). This shows

    how student entrepreneurship can be increased at the

    universities once the right associations are chosen to spread

    the news. For instance, in KIST and SFB the Entrepreneurship

    clubs should approach other relevant associations to have

    partnerships and involve them in the activities. By doing

    so, the message is conveyed by different associations and

    reaches a bigger number of students.

    Business Idea Challenge

    The improvement in entries has primarily been driven by increased presence and activity on the ground. The

    implementation of a full time secretariat supported by engaged student ambassadors has been central to

    this effort.

    The Business Idea Challenge was open to students from all three major universities in Rwanda. All the entries

    were submitted exclusively online using the ISTART Platform: http://africaninnovationprize2013.istart.org. During this phase students were required to submit a profitable business idea in less than 250 words. It took place from March 1st to March 31st.

    Phase I of AIPs Business Plan competition saw a considerable increase of entries compared to 2012. The

    student entries more than doubled during the year 2013 and again the National University of Rwanda (NUR)

    recorded a high number of entries compared to KIST and SFB.

    The following table shows the evolution of Phase I entries from the year 2010 till the year 2013:

    YEAR

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    KIST

    36

    18

    25

    40

    NUR

    n/a

    n/a

    33

    135

    SFB

    n/a

    n/a

    16

    41

    TOTAL

    36

    18

    74

    216

  • 14

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    Phase 1 industry breakdown

    Challenges do, however, remain. Students continue to find the ISTART platform difficult to use. Previously, students submitted business ideas by sending an attachment to AIPs email address. We noticed that some

    students continued using this way, but remedial action was taken by giving them feedback and pointing

    them in the right direction. Three different workshops on the use of the istart platform to submit business ideas

    were organized at the universities. Now students are getting more and more familiar with the use of istart and

    the student ambassadors are always there to help the students in their respective universities. During this same

    period, judges for the competition were recruited to assess the business ideas. In total the business ideas have

    been assessed by 13 judges, 4 international and 9 from the local enterprise community. The judging period

    took place from April 1st to April 21st and each business idea has been reviewed by 2 judges separately to

    allow the process to be as fair as possible.

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    DESIGN

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    Phase 2 Launch and Business Planning Training

    Phase 2 entries

    This training marked the official launch of Phase II of the competition and took place in Kigali at KIST

    on April 27th 2013. Generally the training gathered

    around 85 students from the three major universities.

    Most of these students had participated in the

    Business Idea generation training as well as Phase I of

    the competition.

    The training was about giving an insight on why a

    business plan is needed, what to put in a business

    plan and what make a successful business plan. It

    ended in a question and answers session.

    A total of 84 entries were received into this phase

    from the three major universities as follows:

    The Business Plan Challenge was open to students

    from all three major universities in Rwanda. This

    phase demanded a more rigorous analysis, writing

    a full business plan in under 1,500 words. Successful

    participants needed to clearly identify and quantify

    a market niche, as well as build a team to make the

    idea happen. It took place from May 1st to June 15th.

    This year marked an improvement in both the number

    and the quality of applications as compared to the

    previous competitions. This can be attributed to the

    number of training sessions and workshops geared

    to improve students skills in business planning. The

    table below shows the evolution of the number of the

    entries from 2010 to 2013.

    The Business Plan Challenge

    YEAR

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    Entries

    KIST

    25

    26

    16

    28

    NUR

    n/a

    n/a

    10

    35

    SFB

    n/a

    n/a

    9

    21

    TOTAL

    25

    26

    35

    84

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    All the entries were submitted exclusively online using the ISTART platform. Every university had a personalized

    platform as follows:

    KIST: http://africaninnovationprize2013kist.istart.org/ NUR: http://africaninnovationprize2013nur.istart.org/ SFB: http://africaninnovationprize2013sfb.istart.org/

    All the personalized platforms had forms where students had to fill in details of their business plans. This was done in order to harmonize the submission process as well as making sure the entries were brief and concise.

    The following table shows what the required sections were:

    Business Name

    Executive Summary (250 words)

    Business Model (400 words)

    Marketing (250 words)

    Product Development ( 150 words)

    Financial Considerations(200 words)

    Business Name

    Name of the business

    Provide a brief and comprehensive summary of your business plan

    which highlights its key points such as the product or service, why

    the product is needed, the customer, the management team, etc.

    Describe how your business will be making money, What are your

    products and what value they create to the customer, Who will be

    your clients and how many of them are you targeting, who are your

    competitors and what is your competitive advantage, etc

    Describe how you will communicate your products/services to your

    target customers; How your products will reach your customers,

    what are your strategies to reach as many customers as possible?

    Describe how you will manufacture/deliver your product/service.

    What are the needed resources and who will provide those resources

    to your business?

    Discuss in general financial considerations i.e. timings of business start-up, the nature of fixed and variable costs, budget of the business and how it is spent, product/service pricing strategy,

    working capital requirements and financing strategy, Budget and its source

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    Budgeting

    Balance Sheet

    Income Statement

    Cash Flow Statement

    Management Team (125 words)

    Economic and Social Impact (125 words)

    Upload a document showing all the needed funds and their

    intended use i.e. purchase of equipment, salaries, rent, etc.)

    Upload a document showing your Assets, Liabilities and the

    Owners Equity

    Upload a document showing your expected revenue in the first year, Taxes, Bank Loans, Net Profit, etc)

    Upload a document showing cash inflows and outflows in your business

    Describe the management team that will be running your business

    and the skills and knowledge necessary required to make the

    business profitable. You can also indicate any possible partners and their roles

    Indicate the local economic and social welfare of the business

    in the place it will be located i.e. number of people employed,

    tax payments, etc.

    Phase 2 industry breakdown

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    The judging of the Phase 2 took place from June 16th July 10th. 9 judges participated in the 2nd phase of the

    competition, 3 judges per university. Every business plan was assessed by 3 separate judges to ensure 100%

    fairness of the competition. The judges followed the following judging criteria:

    Judging

    Question

    Does the business plan demonstrate clarity of market?

    Does the business plan capture competitive position?

    Does the business plan describe product or service reality ?

    Is the business plan well presented?

    What is you general feedback to the participant?

    Ranks

    0 None

    1 Vague unsubstantiated assertions about market size and growth rate.

    2 Adequate description of market, size and growth rate with limited factual support

    3 Thorough fact-based description of market, size and growth rate based on direct

    experience

    0 None

    1 Poor description of existing competitors. No obvious reason for continued growth.

    Not sustainable

    2 coverage of existing competitors, some issues on competitive edge, defensibility/

    sustainability.

    3 Existing competitors described. Clear competitive advantage for the proposed

    team. Defensible

    0 None

    1 Unclear how product will work or what value it gives customer.

    2 Convincing story on how product will work but limited idea of future generations.

    3 Convincing story of how the product will work and capability of diversifying into

    new areas.

    0 None

    1 Rambling structure, missing information, typographical errors.

    2 Clear and does not include irrelevant material.

    3 Well-organized. No irrelevant sections, no careless errors, all superlatives are

    supported.

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    Kigali Institute of Science and Technology:

    Bosco Nyandwi, My Village Heat

    Bosco Nyandwi along with Jean Bosco Nzayimanas Business Plan is to build of a simple household biogas

    plant in their home village in Kitabi sector in the

    south province to address the villages problem of

    lack of electricity. This biogas plant will be powered

    by collecting wastes from households, cow dung

    in order to use them in feeding the biogas digester

    which will in turn allow the plant to generate more

    gas to all people in the village.

    Three students scooped our Rwf 2 Million seed funding each as the Grand Prize Winners of the 2013 Business

    Plan Competition. The Award ceremony took place on 12th July 2013 at KIST. These winners impressed our

    judges and emerged as the top scorers of the assessment. And the winners are:

    Did you have any experience in business before the competition?So far, this is my first business initiative.

    What are other competitions have you participated in and/or won?I have participated in several competitions with

    different prizes. I am still waiting for feedback from

    some of the other competitions Ive participated

    in. There are others which dont reward money

    but training and workshops. In the past I have

    participated in Educat as well as UN workshops.

    How did you meet your business partner (if any)?Bosco and I were born and raised in the same village.

    How did you approach writing your business plan?My motivation to writing the winning business plan in

    AIP was to provide a source of energy for efficient cooking and lighting in my village. Now that Ive

    won I am working with experts from INKOMOKO to

    help me finalize all the details.

    How do you hope to develop your business in the future?My business is for my native villages interests, I

    expect not to stop until I make something of great

    importance. I will achieve that objective by working

    hard and using new technologies.

    What do you think of entrepreneurship?Entrepreneurship is a key to development for every

    nation. If this spirit starts from youth, the world will

    be safe and many people will flourish economically. I hope that my business will be a way to earning

    money but the more importantly, contribute to

    peoples welfare by proving jobs.

    What are you excited about being a young entrepreneur?Starting while I am still young gives me confidence to achieve great things in my life. I will be proud

    when on my graduation date, I will not be thinking

    of applying for jobs but rather providing them!

    Meet the grand prize winners

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    What would be your message to other young entrepreneurs out there?If you are thinking of doing something great, you are

    in the right way. So, just be you and move ahead.

    The world will be bettered by our ideas and we have

    to be the ambassadors of the change. We have to

    shape our future because now is the right time to do

    it.

    National University of Rwanda:

    Elie Nzayisenga, Data Ltd.

    Elies Business Plan is to establish a company that provides training in statistical software. Their training

    will be focused on Statistical software training,

    Questionnaire design, data collection and entry,

    data analysis and report writing and will be targeting

    students conducting research projects at NUR.

    Did you have any experience in business before the competition?No other business experience before winning the

    competition.

    What are other competitions have you participated in and/or won?No other competition but this is my second year in

    AIP business plan competition.

    How did you meet your business partner (if any)?I met my business partners at school at the National

    University of Rwanda.

    How did you approach writing your business plan?As I am a graduate in statistical studies, I used

    some books. Participating in some business

    planning workshops organize by AIP as well as other

    organizations also helped me in writing my business

    plan.

    How do you hope to develop your business in the future?I hope that in the next few years my business will

    be profitable and generate more money as a big statistical consultancy company

    What do you think of entrepreneurship?Entrepreneurship is essential in general as the

    demand of public jobs exceeds the supply.

    Therefore, it is better to create our own jobs to fill that gap and also provide jobs to others.

    How do you hope the prize will help you achieve your business goals?The AIPs prize is the most interesting and motivating

    seed fund which will help me to get many other

    opportunities. Many banks require the business

    owners contribution when applying for a loan.

    Because of this prize, I think I will secure a loan. This

    is also an important part of the capital needed and

    I hope that with it I am able to achieve my business

    goals.

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    School of Finance and Banking

    Dieudonn Dusengumukiza, Kigali Oil Company

    Dieudonns business plan is to process oil out of

    avocadoes. Avocadoes are a very common fruit in

    Rwanda and they are grown in almost every part of

    the country. Avocado oil helps to reduce cholesterol

    levels as well as protect the heart against diseases.

    It can be used for baking, preparing salads and

    dressings etc. This oil can be used as an alternative

    to olive oil which is very expensive as it comes from

    Europe.

    Did you have any experience in business before the competition?Before AIPs training and competition, I didnt have

    any other business experience

    What are other competitions have you participated in and/or won?Apart from winning the AIP business Idea Challenge,

    I havent won in any other business planning

    competition.

    How did you meet your business partner (if any)?Till now I dont have a business partner.

    How did you approach writing your business plan?First off all I found theres an untapped avocado

    supply in Rwanda that can be diversified in other value added products than just fruits.

    With that in mind, I participated into the competition

    by writing about exploring how to make oil out of

    avocadoes in Rwanda.

    How do you hope to develop your business in the future?I am confident that my business will grow by my efforts and having partnerships in the future. I am

    continuously searching for an efficient way of producing avocado oil and I am confident that in the future Ill be selling avocado oil.

    What do you think of entrepreneurship?In my point of view, entrepreneurship is the best way

    of creating and designing my own job as well as

    employing other people. This helps in exploring an

    entrepreneurs individual potential.

    What would be your message to other young entrepreneurs out there?We have what others lack: ambition, time and

    energy. So, let put together our efforts and share our

    business ideas and be the solution for our problems.

    How do you hope the prize will help you achieve your business goals?I believe this prize will help me to achieve my dream

    of establishing a statistical consultancy company

    that I was expecting to start after five years. Now that Ive won this prize, I am going to start this year.

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    Sierra Leone

    Sunah Keili, Mabel Fatu

    Mabel Fatu will be a bag assembling outfit that utilizes raffia, decorative canes and African fabric stems and the decorative arts to create beautiful

    accessories. Design will focus on traditional African

    fabric and kontri cloth which may be colored,

    tie-dyed, hand painted or hand finished giving a unique fusion of color coordination to create in

    style products.

    What are you excited about being a young entrepreneur?Its a great achievement and it helps to unleash

    my full potential by contributing to my personal

    development as well as the countrys economic

    development in general.

    What would be your message to other young entrepreneurs out there?

    My message would be that they should be confident, believe in themselves and work hard to achieve their

    goals no matter how difficult or challenging the road seems to be.

    How do you hope the prize will help you achieve your business goals?The prize will be helpful as it will be the foundation of

    my business finances. It will help to do more at the startup stage as buying some of the assets needed.

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    DEDICATE

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    Enterprise Rwanda 2013

    After two successful editions, the 3rd edition

    of Enterprise Rwanda took place from July

    8th-12th at Kigali Institute of Science and

    Technology. This weeklong interactive

    training and workshop for budding student

    entrepreneurs from universities across

    Rwanda gathered on a daily basis around

    140 students.

    The main theme of this years edition was DEDICATE. Students were given the opportunity to dedicate

    themselves on their business plans and network with their entrepreneurial peers. Each day, local business

    leaders came to share their experiences and provide to students with advice and frameworks to consider

    for each key phase of starting a business.

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    The Daily ThemesDEDICATE was the overall theme of the 3rd edition of Enterprise Rwanda. However, each day had its own

    theme. During this time, a group of students volunteered to do a write up of our sessions as an essential

    summary of the presentations as well as their impression of Enterprise Rwanda 2013. This was aimed for fellow

    students who couldnt make it to the conference.

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    Day 1: Business Idea Generation by Bosco RUSAGARA

    I was among the student that had a chance to

    volunteer as a student ambassador during Enterprise

    Rwanda 2013. I first participated in AIPs activities in 2012 when I was invited with a friend of mine

    to participate. I really liked the organization and

    decided to be part of team that will coordinate the

    next edition.

    The sessions were developed into various daily

    themes spread over the week as the business idea

    generation, business modeling, and market analysis

    and pitching. The first day started with opening remarks from Tony Mullen, De La Rues representative

    which is the major supporter of the African Innovation

    Prize. He emphasized on their choice of supporting the

    organization as part of De La Rues term commitment

    and intention to create a lasting footprint in Rwanda.

    Bosco RUSAGARA is a 3rd year student in the Faculty of Economics and Management at the National University of Rwanda. He is planning to start his business in Green and Service sector.

    The first Keynote Speaker Roland, explained about the first influential steps in business idea generation were viewing a problem, thinking of an idea, writing it

    in details, and interacting with local business leaders

    or friends for more support and insight. The second

    Keynote Speaker, Lydie, Managing Director of

    Drakkar Ltd, inspired the students by telling the way

    she started her business of writing books out of her

    reading passion and advising them to not be afraid

    of following their dreams and passions. The session

    ended up with a question and answers workshops

    where students asked questions and expressed their

    gratitude to the speakers for their motivating sessions.

    Keep on bringing more entrepreneurs, the

    training was inspiring and full of innovative

    entrepreneurs. NGENZI Elvis

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    Day 2: Market Insight by Fabrice NIYIBIZI

    The second day of Enterprise Rwanda was about

    Customer Insight. Knowing who my customer is and

    acquiring skills on this topic is one of the reasons I

    applied to attend Enterprise Rwanda 2013.

    As a successful local entrepreneur, the speaker

    begun by explaining concepts regarding knowing

    the personality and behavior of your customers.

    Basically one should try to understand his/her clients

    even better than they understand themselves in terms

    of the particular need. I felt that in order to achieve

    this, I have to understand them deeper and jump into

    their feet and try to see things from their perspective.

    The 2nd speaker, Serge, the Managing Director of

    Bourbon Coffee Rwanda, who is another successful

    local entrepreneur, also, stressed on the importance

    Fabrice NIYIBIZI a 3rd year student at Kigali Health Institute (KHI) in the department of dentistry and planning to start a business in the field of Dentistry- Iwacu Dental Clinic!

    of knowing and understanding your customer as a

    very crucial step in developing business relationships.

    Serge quoted Gandhi that A customer is the

    most important visitor on our premises. He is not

    dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He

    also talked about the importance of doing Research

    and Development for product development and

    updating prices to match with customer needs.

    Personally I have found the sessions to be helpful and

    important to any aspiring entrepreneur in equipping

    them with the basics any one would know if they are

    to venture into business.

    The training was very important and inspiring.

    Plan for many trainings within one year.

    MURENZI John

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    The session that I am reporting on, was about Business

    Modeling by Julienne Oyler, the Managing Director

    of Inkomoko Business Development. She spoke on the

    importance of knowing all the components of the

    business (customers, cost, revenues, competitors and

    suppliers) and how they fit together when making a Business Plan. She also emphasized that we have

    to take the time to know our customers, who they

    are, their needs and using this information to start

    something that we are passionate about.

    In business, more people do the same mistake of

    focusing more on the products rather than the

    customers that will buy those products. We do not

    give them the chance to participate in our price

    strategy. I was so interested by the lean canvas which

    I considered as the perfect format for brainstorming

    possible business models, prioritizing where to start,

    and tracking ongoing learning.

    Elie NZAYISENGA, is graduating in Applied Statistics at National University of Rwanda. Winner of AIP 2013 Challenge and Start-up entrepreneur in statistical software training & management consultancy.

    I was thrilled to know the difference between the

    product and the market, where many of us start up

    entrepreneurs, always focus more time on product

    and forget how it will generate money. Here I have

    learned that first I have to know my customers and their needs and come up with solution for their

    problems.

    Day 3: Business Modeling by Elie NZAYISENGA

    I find this training most important and full of knowledge related to business. I`d like to

    continuously be attending all the next sessions

    even though I am about to graduate.

    UMUHIRE Liliane

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    The theme of the fourth day of Enterprise Rwanda

    was about Unique Selling Points in a business. It was

    a perfect combination from Business idea generation

    until the time you know what will be the unique selling

    points of your business.

    The First speaker, Emile Murekezi, Co-founder and

    Head of Operations of Igihe Ltd started by telling us

    their Unique Selling Point as a business which is the

    first Rwandan news website that uses Kinyarwanda. He told us that it requires effortless experimentation

    of activities you find appearing in your business and that youre good at. It also requires identifying

    your market opportunity by knowing the customers

    needs, finding what is lacking and addressing it in the most efficient way.

    Domitille AKEZA is currently a student in Bio-medical Laboratory Sciences in the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences at the Kigali Health Institute.

    Sam Barigye and Esperance Umulisa from Workforce

    Development Authority came after to talk about

    the customer care services in Rwanda. Sam begun

    by introducing the state and the quality of customer

    care in Rwanda. He told us that in a much globalized

    world with market saturation, rapid technology

    advancement and increasing competition, no

    one can succeed without satisfying his customers.

    He added that a satisfied customer will more likely become a partner and bring more and more

    customers to your business. He ended with a Maya

    Angelou quotation saying that People will forget what you said, People will forget what you did, But people will never forget how you made them feel.Personally I felt that as an aspiring entrepreneur,

    I really have to make my future customers feel like

    partners instead of treating them as outsiders because

    without them the business will not be.

    Day 4: Unique Selling Points by Domitille AKEZA

    The training inspired me to innovate my own

    business. The customer care session was

    amazing. NGABOYISHEMA Olivier

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    The fifth and last day of Enterprise Rwanda 2013 started with the largest number of participants in the

    week. The large number was due to the fact that it

    was the last day of Enterprise Rwanda with everyone

    eager to know who will eventually become the Grand

    Prize Winners of the 2013 Business Plan Competition.

    Isaac Nkusi, the managing director of the East African

    Reference was the first speaker, with a very active and participating audience. He interacted and gave

    key important notes on how to present a business to

    potential investors or other people who may be willing

    to offer help, and he also hinted on pitching due to

    the interest of one of the students who wanted to

    know the difference between presenting a business

    and pitching. Isaac gave his experience which

    spurred a wide interest from students who started

    asking him different questions. He insisted that being

    passionate at what you do is important. However

    much you see yourself below others, you should

    struggle in order to progress those were his

    inspirational words.

    The second presentation of the day was about Pitching

    in details. Herve, AIPs Country Director presented the

    importance of pitching for entrepreneurs since it acts

    as a basis to capture investors interests and get you a

    second meeting to discuss in details on whether they

    are willing to offer their support or fund your business

    plan, depending on how convincing you are. Toward

    the end of his presentation questions were asked and

    answered and then followed pitching session where

    different students pitched their Business ideas in one

    minute.

    After a short break the awards ceremony kicked

    off around 6.30pm with an increased number of

    students plus various guests who were judges of the

    competition, government officials, and academic staff and AIP partners. Amongst the guest of honors

    was the Rector of KIST Dr. Gasingirwa Marie Christine

    whose remarks were an encouragement to all

    students who had attended Enterprise Rwanda as

    she pointed out how fortunate they are to obtain

    such knowledge on how to write and make their own

    business plans which they obtained in a

    week-long training provided by AIP.

    Day 5: Pitching by David KARURANGA MWIZERWA

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    During her closing remarks, the guest of honor,

    Rosemary Mbabazi, the Permanent Secretary in

    the Ministry of Youth and ICT also emphasized on

    the importance to participate in such training and

    also reminded the students that the government

    of Rwanda is always ready support youth initiatives

    through various institutions and programs that are

    established to support creative and innovative

    entrepreneurs

    With the award ceremony coming to an end, all the

    invited guests and university students enjoyed the

    networking event which portrayed how important it

    was to students who were eager to learn and know

    how other entrepreneurs view business development

    in Rwanda. Finally, Enterprise Rwanda 2013 came to

    an end at around 9:30pm.

    David KARURANGA MWIZERWA is a 3rd year student in Monetary Economics at the National University of Rwanda. He is the 2012 AIP Business Plan Competition winner at NUR.

    This workshop revealed the ability we have to

    run businesses in us. Now I feel ready to set up

    my own businesses. Great work done by AIP.

    UMUTONI Jasmine

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    Enterprise Rwanda Survey

    At the African Innovation Prize, we value the opinions of the students our program is dedicated to. As they

    are the main reason AIP exists, we seek their suggestions on ways of improving our program by taking into

    account their experiences and asking them what they would expect from it. This is why during Enterprise

    Rwanda we distributed daily feedback forms to the attendees to learn from their experience.

    Everyday students rated the quality of the sessions and gave their own comments on how they think we

    should improve generally the program. Heres what our students suggested to improve:

    Most of the students suggested that we increase the time for the speakers to allow them to ask more questions and have longer interactions with the speakers. This is true because most of the keynote speeches

    lasted for an average of 55 minutes followed by 15 minutes questions & answers sessions. This was done

    to make sure that we had at least two different speakers as well as a group session at the end of the day.

    The time for group sessions proved also to be very limited. An hour was allocated to the groups interactive sessions at the end of the keynote speeches during the last hour of the daily program. This proved to be

    very short. Students in their comments suggested putting group sessions in the middle of the program after

    each session. This would help them reflecting on the session and concealing it with their own experiences.

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    A certain number students also suggested that we should bring more speakers during Enterprise Rwanda. These students in their comments also suggested that AIP should think of a way of running the sessions

    the whole working day and provide lunch to the attendees to make an optimal use of the week. Some

    students said that having lunch and spending a whole day with their peers would be a great opportunity

    to network with their peers

    We were thrilled to see that attendees advocated for other students who were not able to attend the conference. They suggested to us to allow other students from both public and private higher learning

    institutions in Rwanda to participate in AIP events. Managing logistics and expectations is the main reason

    to limit the number of the students that can be allowed to the conference.

    Students also requested that AIP should at least provide some transportation fees to the attendees to allow them to be on time and increase the number of turn up. The venue of the conference was at KIST which

    can be considered as the centre and most convenient venue for the majority of the students. Unfortunately

    providing transportation fees as a way of motivating students proves to be an inefficient strategy. Students need to take ownership of the conferences. However, AIP is exploring a way of organizing the next edition

    of Enterprise Rwanda on two different venues to be as close to the student as possible.

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    As shown in the figures above, students learnt a lot from the keynote speakers invited during the workshop. With the guest speakers sharing their experiences on various business skills and concepts as human resource

    management, business financial management, teamwork, etc. students improved their skills consistently as shows the trend going from very poor skills to excellent skills.

    We also asked students to tell us more about their overall experience of the whole week and to rate it.

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    Enterprise Sierra Leone 2013

    To round-up the end of the first post-pilot year of running the African Innovation Prize (AIP) , Enterprise Sierra Leone 2013 took place from the 2nd 6th of September at the Sierra Leone Library Board. The week of

    interactive training and workshops drew about 40 budding student entrepreneurs daily from Freetown. This

    inaugural week of training in Sierra Leone followed the structure, format and contents of Enterprise Rwanda;

    itself a workshop with three years track record.

    Below students share their experience of Enterprise Sierra Leone, either of individual sessions, or the entire

    week itself.

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    Day 1

    I am thinking of starting my own business upon

    graduation from University, and Enterprise Sierra

    Leone 2013 helped me greatly with the knowledge

    on how I could fulfil my dream in starting my own business with little or no capital.

    The workshop was a wow from start to finish, especially with the presence of young successful

    local business enterprise men and women who spoke

    on different topics. They covered issues including how

    they started to get to where they are which helped

    me greatly to get an insight into the opportunities

    and constraints of starting and running a business.

    Successful entrepreneurs who constituted speakers

    for example Daniel Osei-Antwi, Managing Director

    of Splash awakened the Entrepreneur in me on the

    first day, the young Harvard Masters holder in Business Administration did not only mesmerise me with his

    ideas and achievement but also with his young age.

    This was backed up by the great presentations from

    the rest of the speakers.

    Studying for a Bachelor of Arts Degree with very little

    business background I can today boast of knowledge

    in understanding entrepreneurship,

    drawing a business plan, generate, develop and

    refine my business idea, market insight or research, idea generation to business planning and financial management and customer strategy amongst many

    others.

    A big thank you to all those who made it possible for

    the Enterprise Sierra Leone 2013 with a special kudos

    to the AIP Country Volunteer Milly Hennayake for her

    time and hospitality, and the African Innovation Prize

    and the University of Sierra Leone.

    I was attracted to Enterprise Sierra Leone to help me to

    be creative and innovative in going into the business

    and to build my business plan to be an entrepreneur.

    The session on the first day was about awakening the entrepreneur in you and the speaker, Daniel Osei-

    Antwi, taught us that inspiration without perspiration

    is hallucination. The experience was relevant to me

    because it helps me to become a job creator. An

    example being Bill Gates, Brian Scudamore, Shane

    Pannell etc. and how to build up my business plan as

    an entrepreneur.

    I learnt to:

    Make meaning- build up your desire to make a difference in the world.

    Make a mantra- think big and work towards it. Make the move- surround yourself with people who will inspire you to act.

    Make money- make sure you have a business model and how you are going to make them transfer

    that money into your pocket.

    What interested me is to be an Entrepreneur and the

    most important thing I learnt is to be become a job

    creator and to improve my idea. I learnt that I need

    to create winning mentality that will help me become

    successful.

    Hassan Sannoh is a Final Year student at the Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. He is planning to start his own business in Cocoa Production upon graduation.

    Amadu Bangura is in his 2nd year of a Bsc. Business Administration at IPAM, USL. He is planning on starting business in Palm oil.

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    First of all, I would like to say a thanks to the African

    Innovation Prize for giving us the opportunity as

    University Students in Sierra Leone to be able to be

    part of the training they provided in order to help us

    widen out brains and encouraging us not to be afraid

    of the dreams we have in making a difference in the

    lives of our fellow Sierra Leoneans and even beyond.

    The 3rd day of the training was also an awesome

    one. Two presenters with different topics both aimed

    to inspire us as students not to be afraid to choose

    the path of entrepreneurship. Presenter Evelyn Lewis,

    CEO of SBTS Group and TrainingSol and Claudette

    Ahiabor, of SMILE enterprise. Claudette is currently

    a mentor to me with my business ideas and she is a

    great supporter of young entrepreneurs, it was great

    to see her inspiring others.

    I was attracted to ESL by the advertisement and

    the way it was made. The most catching word was

    entrepreneurship. On this note, I applied because I

    want to have more knowledge on entrepreneurship.

    The Tuesday session was very exciting to me because

    it was about how to generate ideas for the success

    of business and how to start a business without a

    capital.I enjoyed the two presentations made by

    both Fatou Wurie of MamaYa Campaign and William

    Conteh of Capitalism Without Capital as I was able

    to learn a lot from them. The experience gathered

    would serve as a kind of motivation and guide to

    start up my own business. From the session, the thing

    that interested me most was the experience gained

    about strategic branding and steps involved in it.Amongst the things I learnt, the most important thing was

    that in a business,one does not necessarily need to start big, you start small and grow big. As a result of this

    session, I can endeavour to start my business irrespective of the size of my capital and I will never give up.

    Joseph Koroma is a final year student at FBC, USL. He wants to start a business in Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

    Day 2

    Day 3 & 4

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    Dream Design Dedicate

    Zainab Nasiru, a third year student in Business Administration, IPAM, USL. She is planning to do a business. Zainab also volunteered during the week of training and her help was invaluable!

    Day 5

    The 5th of September marks the 4th day of the

    training. Fatu Yumkella, from Dallan Consulting,

    was very wonderful with the presentation on market

    insight and competition Analysis. Many of us never

    knew how to analyze the market before starting out

    businesses so we learnt a lot and I definitely will put it to action. The other motivating thing also that we

    were fortunate to meet with the last years winners of

    AIP, Edmond Nonie and Udozima Ulasi, who shared

    their experiences with us and letting us believed that

    we are no different from them and that we can do it.

    On the 5th of September Leah Mansaray, from

    AFFORD, taught us about Business Plans and Pitching,

    which was also an achieving one as many of us

    use to have problems with writing business plans.

    The most beautiful part of all the sessions is that we

    were free to ask questions and answers were given

    to us as we have as, also, for each session, a group

    work was given to us by Milly, which she carefully

    explained how to go about it and at the end of the

    day each work was presented successfully.I gained

    so much knowledge on how to become a successful

    entrepreneur. Thank you once again for AIP for giving

    us the road map to success.

    On Day 5, after an inspiring presentation on business

    pitches by Leah Mansaray from AFFORD, which

    emphasised the need for students to use simple,

    approachable language to communicate their

    ideas and how to sell them quickly. The students

    then practiced this in groups on the ideas they had

    been working on throughout the week. Although the

    session had to be cut short for the prize giving, it was

    great opportunity for the students to give feedback

    to each other and highlighted the importance of

    establishing entrepreneurship clubs and learning

    from and giving feedback to peers. The feedback

    from the students is resoundingly positive and overall

    the main of inspiring and encouraging the students

    has been achieved. Students mention how they

    feel encouraged to pursue their ideas, think big,

    create employment and make a difference in their

    community. One student mentiond that AIP should:

    Always continue using speakers who have made

    positive changes in entrepreneurship in SL for students

    to see the reality of entrepreneurship.

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    In addition to the successes outlined above, we have

    experienced challenges which have helped us to learn and

    grow as an organisation. Here are a few things we learned in

    2013:

    Planning our activities and events calendar to align with the academic year is of paramount importance. In 2013, we

    started with an introductory workshop in January and phase 1

    in March while the academic year had started in September. This deprived us of a precious time to start

    engaging the students way ahead of the competition and running other activities.

    This same lack of alignment with the Rwandan academic year also led to average success in engaging university staff in charge of entrepreneurship. With the beginning of the introductory workshops in March

    we made sure to correct this.

    The adoption of an online platform in submitting the business ideas and business plans caused a few challenges to the students who had previously submitted their ideas/business plans as an email

    attachment. We recognized thatwhile iStart was organizationally beneficial to AIP as it provided one single platform for all competition-related mattersstudents would need to be better informed in order for

    everyone involved to reap its benefits. Our response to this issue was to organize campus-based training sessions for students. They were then able to use the platform to engage effectively in all stages of the

    competitionfrom the call for entries in Phase 1 to the final judging round of Phase 2, providing them with more functionality and taking up less of their valuable time.

    Students have repeatedly requested that we open the competition to all higher learning institutions in Kigalipublic as well as private. As we currently work with the main public universities, students from other

    universities had let us know that they felt left out. While we are aware of this challenge and would like to

    make our training and competition accessible to as many students as possible, we provide a full package

    within our budget and are not able to include all the universities. We are, however, proud to be reaching

    over 20,000 students within our current partner institutions.

    As we gear up for 2014, we can look back and acknowledge that 2013 has been a fruitful year for our

    organization but, most importantly, for the students we have impacted. Our presence within the universities

    has never been as visible as it is now and for that we thank all the students, faculty members, business leaders,

    donors and everyone else who has supported us throughout the year. As 2013 draws to a close, we are

    excited to see that this years grand prize winners are already far advanced with their business plans and are

    enjoying the support of our dear partners at Inkomoko.

    We are looking ahead to 2014 with enthusiasm and a view to consolidating our program, engaging an

    increasing number of strategic partners and making sure that our hearts and minds are fully prepared to

    effectively support ever more university students in dreaming, designing and dedicating themselves to their

    business ideas.

    LESSON LEARNED

    Conclusion

  • University Supporters

    Business Supporters

    Entrepreneurship Clubs

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