Tewe speaking to ALU students, Oct 1
Nigerian US-based Human Resource (HR) specialist, Olujimi Tewe has challenged university students in Rwanda to focus their innovation to solving issues underlined in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Tewe, the CEO and Founder of Jimi Tewe LLC and Jimi Tewe Foundation in Atlanta, Georgia, is a transformational specialist in HR consulting, career and executive coaching empowering thousands of Africans in more than 30 countries of the world.
“Every goal in the SDGs is about Africa and meant for Africans. When you look at some of the goals, one-no poverty, two-zero hunger, three good health and wellbeing and four-quality education, there are all African problems to solve,” Tewe said.
Tewe was this weekend speaking to African Leadership University (ALU) and UC Davis College Akilah in Kigali during a 2-day SDGs and African Entrepreneurship Symposium which provided a platform for training and dialogue on SDG-focused entrepreneurship in Africa.
Tewe sits on boards of a few commercial and development focused boards and mentors several business owners and executives whose enterprises have a capitalization in excess of $1 Billion.
With all the opportunities in the U.S, Tewe said that he has resorted to work hard and bring his investments and knowledge back to Africa with a plan to reach out more youths through his mentorship programs.
Tewe encouraged the students to always keep in mind that they are Africans and no matter how small they start they have something to contribute to the continent, not just as an African but as a global citizen.
“Think of yourself as a global citizen with global solutions even if you start locally your objective should be to go global and sustainable,” Tewe said.
University students also got first hand tips from successful social and business enterprises operating in Rwanda which through their services address some of the SDGs.
For example, Dr. Jennifer Batamuliza, the Head of Data Driven Incubation hub, University of Rwanda (UR) said that one of the success points is soliciting financing partnership and working with available infrastructure.
Batamuriza is also founder of Rwanda Tech Hub- a company that provides different services in technology sector, trains and mentors young girls in high school in the field of technology .
Albert Munyabugingo – Vuba Vuba- an online delivery company that emerged during COVID-19 lockdown said that the secret of successful entrepreneurship is to step out and be part of the implementing team, but also seek for more negative feedback than positive ones.
Former university students turned entrepreneurs also demonstrated innovations that implement some of the SDGs.
For instance, Coleen Bango, an ALU student founded Bango Hydro Farms to ensure that there is a diverse supply of nutritious vegetables, while adhering to circular economy principles through the use of sustainable hydroponics farming.
The other was Moses E. Katala co-founded Magofarm- a waste to nutrient insect-tech startup that converts food waste and post-harvest losses into organic fertilizer and protein for animal feed formulation located in Bugesera district.
Blandine Umuziranenge – also showcases her Kosmotive project which provides reusable locally made sanitary pads helping women and girls to turn their cramps into pride and power to reduce missing and dropping out of school.
Student innovators pitched their business to potential investors and three top pitches were awarded certificates.
