Today/Tuesday the Embassy of Belgium, Enabel and Wallonie-Bruxelles International (WBI), along with European and Rwandan development partners have organized a #TeamEurope event at the Kigali Conference and Exhibition Village to showcase the diversity and creativity of female entrepreneurs in the Rwandan cultural sector. On this occasion, Enabel’s Awa Prize was awarded to Rwandan Credia Umuhire Ruzigana.
The event is part of a series of events piloted by the Delegation of the European Union in Rwanda in the runup to the Women Deliver 2023 conference from 17 until 20 July 2023 in Kigali. In a #TeamEurope effort, several themes closely related to the cross-cutting issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment will be highlighted.
This Tuesday, the Embassy of Belgium in Kigali, the Belgian development agency Enabel, Wallonie-Bruxelles International (WBI) and European and Rwandan partners have brought together women entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative industry in Rwanda and gave them the opportunity to showcase their companies, products and services.
Visual artists, advocates of the Rwandan culinary culture, illustrators, fashion designers, authors, etc., a wide range of talented creators responded to the call and came to celebrate their achievements with an audience of 200+ participants from different backgrounds : entrepreneurs, private sector development experts, government bodies, artists, institutions, etc.
The cultural fair was animated by an artistic program, curated by L’Espace, which is a creative lab, arts gallery and theatre space in Kigali headed by a female entrepreneur. The guests were treated to a variety of musical performances, theater reading, poetry, slam and dance, all performed by talented Rwandan artists.
Special honors went to one Rwandan cultural entrepreneur in particular: Credia Umuhire Ruzigana, winner of Enabel’s Awa Prize 2022. With her company, Imanzi Creations, Credia develops entertainment and educational tools for youth, based on Rwandan cultural references. With illustrated story books, games and puzzles, Imanzi takes inspiration from forgotten Rwandan heroes. In doing so, she promotes Rwandan heritage and makes an impact on society.
Her efforts were crowned by victory in the category ‘Scale-up’ of the first edition of the Awa Prize, Enabel’s new initiative for women entrepreneurs. With co-laureats from from Burundi, Mali and Marocco, she received the prize a first time on 26 January 2023 from the hands of Her Royal Highness Queen Mathilde of Belgium and Belgian Minister for Development Caroline Gennez. The idea behind the prize is to show women and men that entrepreneurship can be synonymous with social success, personal development and positive effects on the community – without upsetting the family balance.
“I feel honored to be among the winners of this first edition of the Awa Prize” the winner said. “The exposure, the network and the platform will be good for us. It’s also an opportunity for me to meet new people, to develop partnerships to grow the business and create more value and impact in my country and beyond.”
In his opening speech, Mr. Versmessen, Belgian Ambassador to Rwanda, highlighted: “Women empowerment is a joint ambition of Rwanda and our Team Europe. This event is meant to inspire us. How can we contribute to further enable female entrepreneurship in the Rwandan cultural industries?”
Team Europe is a strong partner of the Rwandan authorities and society to promote women’s entrepreneurship. The development of women entrepreneurship is a global challenge, including in Rwanda. Indeed, globally, one in three businesses is owned by a woman. Encouraging and supporting women’s entrepreneurship is therefore tantamount to taking action to achieve several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), by fighting poverty (SDG 1), taking a step towards gender equality (SDG 5), promoting the creation of and access to decent jobs and participating in economic growth (SDG 8).
The Awa Prize will be awarded again between 5th and 15th September, 2023. Pre-registration is already possible on https://stories.enabel.be/awa-prize/ (End)