Beyond Borders With Rwazi
Eric Sewankambo and Joseph Rutakangwa are ALUmni who carry within themselves a powerful entrepreneurial spirit. They embody the true definition of mission-driven and will stop at nothing to see their continent transform for the better. Eric and Joseph share a similar mission of making data from developing countries available to facilitate effective decision making in companies and to create avenues for young people in Africa to have financial freedom.
While Joseph realised he wanted to solve the unemployment problem during a session with Acha Leke, the Senior Partner and Chairman of McKinsey in Africa organised by ALU in 2016, Eric took a detour from wanting to be an Engineer after discovering the Entrepreneurial Leadership course in Leadership Core.
“Leadership core was the best thing that ever happened to me. It reshaped my career vision.”
Eric Sewankambo
Joseph shares how the ALU space enabled them to connect with one another and even become best friends. He knew they were perfect for long term venturing because they share the same risk appetite, values and they have each other’s backs.
“The ALU Leadership Core program was without doubt the most valuable learning program I had been part of up to that point. Applying concepts of iterative design and human-centred design, among many others, is how I made and shelved many ideas before succeeding with Rwazi.”
Joseph Rutakangwa
Rwazi is a data services company providing organizations with fresh, on-ground data on products, services, and consumer activities from sub-Saharan Africa. Rwazi means “rock” in Luganda (Eric’s language) and Oluhaya (Joseph’s vernacular language). Like a rock, data is a strong foundation for any decision. With both their experiences working as consultants in companies like Airtel and Doctors Without Borders, they realised the need for reliable and accessible data on African markets for companies and organisations which wanted to expand and launch projects on the continent.
Today Rwazi has secured multiple clients and provides data collection gigs for more than 5,000 youngsters, called mappers, to make a living no matter where they’re from.
Joseph as the CEO of Rwazi and Eric, the COO, their mission for the company is to provide 10 million+ gigs to young Africans by 2025 and expect to reach 100 million young people globally at the turn of the decade.
Even during the current Covid-19 era, Rwazi is moving forward and breaking borders. The company now harvests data in real time from 40 African Countries! Rwazi holds multiple achievements including being nominated for People’s Choice award, globally, by the Global Startup Awards, being the first and only startup from Africa awarded the Vienna Startup Package by the Vienna Business Agency, and being the first and only startup from Mauritius to get into the Facebook Startup Circles Program.
However, Rwazi’s achievement goes beyond the awards, the company is able to employ a minimum of 500 people and 5000 people during the data harvesting process. Better so, the company is able to empower young people to launch their own businesses through the money they earn at Rwazi. This was the recent reality of one of the part-time employees at the company. If this could be true for one African Youth, then it can be true for millions of young African Entrepreneurs.
There is always something to learn from one another as we go through life. Joseph urges all university students to take their years in university as a grace period that should be capitalised to the fullest. As he puts it,
“University is essentially a 4-year grace period to get our lives in order before the mountain of responsibilities falls on our shoulders. I spent this time building and failing in as many ventures as I could until I found one that worked.”
If you are an entrepreneur or aspiring to be one, Eric suggests that you should make your entrepreneurial journey a priority rather than something you simply do on the side or even worse, your back up plan.
“If you have an idea and you are even scared of it, then it is what you should pursue. You will never know how it will pan out until you do it. Start with the little things, create a business plan and work towards your idea in bits.”
Eric Sewankambo
Visit Rwazi’s Website: https://rwazi.com/
