Jasiri, in partnership with the Rwandan Ministry of ICT and Innovation, Inkomoko, Westerwelle Foundation and the Norrsken Foundation launched CORONA ACTION RWANDA, an initiative that supports entrepreneurial projects addressing the impact of COVID19.

Today, Corona Action Rwanda is pleased to announce that grants have been awarded in varying amounts to support the following essential entrepreneurial initiatives:

❖ The Ihangane Project

❖ IPRC Kigali Consultancy/ Made in Rwanda Emergency ventilator

❖ Insightiv

❖ Iriba Water Group Ltd

These winners are selected from among 435 applications, representing entrepreneurial initiatives in the country that can mitigate the health or socio-economic impact of COVID19. Each application was reviewed, scored and selected by a team of 10 representatives from Jasiri, Rwandan Ministry of ICT and Innovation, Inkomoko and Westerwelle Foundation, guided by an assessment criterion which includedinnovation, scalability, sustainability and market readiness.

“The CoronaActionRwanda initiative is timely in accelerating the implementation of solutions that will save the lives of many during the Covid19 crisis and beyond. The grant funding combined with business development support will ensure that these solutions immediately benefit people in Rwanda and potentially scale in other countries” said Yves Iradukunda, Permanent Secretary, Rwandan Ministry of ICT and Innovation.

During the grant period, all the projects will be provided with additional support in the form of business advisory and consultancy. Corona Action Rwanda has also partnered with 13 organisations in Rwanda that have offered to provide support to 30 entrepreneurial initiatives that were not selected for the grant but showed immense potential in mitigating the COVID19 impact.

“We are excited by the willingness of partners to come forward in this way to demonstrate the strength of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Rwanda. It is only through these collaborative efforts that we will be able to defeat COVID-19” adds Anthony Farr, CEO of Jasiri.

The support from the 13 partners ranges from pro-bono business services to coaching and mentoring and we are happy to have partnered with the following support organizations: 250STARTUPS; 510.Netherlands B.V; African Management Institute; BPN Rwanda; Bridge2Rwanda – The BRIDGE Career Services; German Rwandan Tech Network; Hub&Fund; Inkomoko; Muraho Technology; ProfeTech Rwanda LTD; Resonate; Seeds&Chips and Venture Platform Foundation.

“As borders are closed and other countries have limited their exports, Rwanda has the need and opportunity to create our own innovative solutions for Covid19 recovery. Corona Action Rwanda offers valuable grant capital to ensure these businesses can respond directly to the economic and health challenges in communities across Rwanda,” said Sara Leedom, COO, Inkomoko Business Development.

Westerwelle Foundation also stated that the COVID19 crisis has impacted all sectors of the economy. Rwanda has in the past overcome numerous challenges by growing solutions locally. Entrepreneurs have been at the forefront of this dynamic and are confident that these solutions will address some of the challenges facing Rwanda.

Jasiri provides entrepreneurship development programs for high potential individuals and teams in East Africa and soon will be launching their programs in Rwanda.