Africa’s Young Entrepreneurs Shine at Educate!’s National Student Business Club Competitions

It has been a particularly eventful summer here at Educate!, as we organized not one but two National Student Business Club Competitions in Uganda and Rwanda. The competitions brought together the brightest Clubs in each country for a day of innovation exchange, ingenuity, and of course, friendly competition.  

The national competitions marked the end of a year-long journey of learning and growth for Educate! Clubs. Clubs that won regional and district competitions earlier in the year earned an invitation to compete at the national competitions and vie for the title of top Student Business Club. Students were also joined at the events by a panel of distinguished judges and keynote speakers from a variety industries, including Ricky Thompson of Uganda’s motorcycle taxi service SafeBoda, the Director of African Leadership University’s MBA program Christian Muhawenimana, and the Honorable Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi, in Uganda Honorable Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi. All shared learnings, advice, and inspiration with the budding young entrepreneurs.

Take a look at some of the highlights below:

Educate! Rwanda

The Building our Bright Future Club (BBF) created quite a buzz at this year’s National Student Business Club in Kigali. Not only did the Club win last year’s event but they brought along an impressive display of new products to showcase at the Competitions – determined to keep the title of Rwanda’s top Club.

At the competition, the Club lined the front of their display with neatly packaged jars of golden-brown honey, emblazoned with the Club’s “BBF” brand. Next to the jars, the Club presented man-made beehives made from clay and banana fibers. These two products are their most lucrative business and initially began with a simple idea – to sell pre-made beehives to local farmers in their community.

To identify the most favorable shape of hive, the Club began observing the design of their first hive daily. Next, they iterated on its design to pinpoint which shape of hive would attract the bees fastest in order to cut down on the time it takes for the bees to begin producing honey. After determining the most favorable shape launching their first design, the popularity of the hives skyrocketed, and the students then decided to set up a beekeeping operation themselves. Today, they sell the honey they harvest alongside the pre-made hives, maintaining seven hives that produce 4 kilograms of honey per hive.

What started as a simple beehive making endeavor has blossomed into a successful beekeeping business, and BBF took home first place in the community impact category at this year’s competition!

Educate! Uganda

A total of 42 Clubs took part in Uganda’s National Student Business Club Competitions this year in Kampala, and first prize went to the students of Ntungamo Secondary School! After a year of building their business and one final day of pitching products to the judges, Ntungamo’s Perfect Producers Club was selected to take home the overall title after impressing the judges with their intricate and eco-friendly carpentry.  

The Club was inspired to begin furniture-making when they observed members of their community continuously discarding and burning old car tires. “All of the burning is affecting the formation of rainfall and weather patterns across Africa causing severe [drought],” said one Club member. Recognizing the large role that Uganda’s agricultural sector plays in the country’s economy, the Club set out to combat this damaging cycle by up-cycling waste products into useful items household items. The Club began to collect the old tires, clean them, and reshape the durable material, transforming the tires into neatly matching sets of tables and chairs. Once the frame of the furniture was formed, the Club attached foam padding, covered it with brightly colored kitenge fabric, and detailed the pieces with intricately coiled rope and beads. What once looked like trash, now looks like treasure - and is a lucrative business opportunity!

“We saw our nation being degraded by these waste materials, and [decided] our mission is to clean the environment and help keep Uganda healthy”

- Immaculate, Perfect Producers Club member

When asked about their accomplishments thus far, the students of Ntungamo are proudest of their ability to create products that are not only sustainable and practical but also creative and aesthetically appealing. The Club believes they have gained the important business and transferable skills to develop their entrepreneurial ideas and advocate for themselves and their futures after school.