Meet Six of Burundi’s Leading Young Entrepreneurs

This week, I had the opportunity to make my first visit to Burundi as IFC Vice President for Africa. I reaffirmed IFC’s commitment to the country, met with H.E. President Évariste Ndayishimiye and members of his government, and engaged with leaders in the private sector.

One engagement left me particularly inspired. I sat down with six young entrepreneurs who are starting and running businesses, tackling the effects of climate change on their communities, and leveraging the digital economy.

Burundi's young people represent over 35 percent of the country’s workforce, with about 150,000 young people entering the labor market each year. Empowering the country’s young visionaries, providing them with an environment that fosters entrepreneurism and innovation and access to finance and networks, will not only be critical to create jobs, but it will also drive innovation.

COVID-19 has taught us that location no longer matters. Being trained allows anyone, anywhere to contribute to economic good if the infrastructure is in place to connect people to communities and the wider world.

Here are six entrepreneurs helping to grow Burundi’s economy:

Darlene Nahayo along with about a dozen other young Burundians launched the #VisitBurundi initiative in 2021 to spur tourism in the country. Using social media, Darlene and the Visit Burundi team are telling a story about Burundi that others aren’t telling.

Innocent Sangwe, cofounder of tech company Hogi Online, and Donatien Ndayishimye, CEO of Mediabox, a computer engineering and telecom company, are working to connect more Burundians to the digital economy. I heard from Innocent and Donatien that there is significant opportunity to grow this space with the right infrastructure and support.

Epitace Nsavyimana, the co-founder of ARK Group, a company specializing in the fields of architecture, construction, land development, and drinking water supply, is proud his business has grown to the point where he can provide jobs for other young people. Epitace stressed the importance of not only access to finance but also trust from established partners in the public and private sectors to open up more opportunities for young entrepreneurs.

Cyrique Ndayiragije, president of COPIMUCOPO, a fish farming project that was initiated by seven young graduates in the western province of Bubanza, started his entrepreneur journey to address fish preservation in Lake Tanganyika and soon after built a cooperative with more than 450 members producing claria and tilapia fish across 50 fishponds.

Aime Alda Izere, founder of Izere Green, grew her business from producing and selling potato seeds to adapt to changing growing patterns, to one that also focuses on empowering women and promoting food security. She is demonstrating that passion for a project can turn into a business doing good.