Meet KivuHub, the Incubator Braving Post War Challenges to Groom DR Congo’s Next Gen Startups

Establishing a startup in a country like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) is a monumental decision due to the fact that the country is just emerging from a two-decade war. So, saying the country is politically and socially unstable is an understatement. This factor alone has worked against the growth of the Congo-Kinshasa tech space. Despite this instability, an incubator cum accelerator dubbed ‘KivuHub’ was floated by Eliud Aganze Murhabazi. KivuHub is currently contributing its quota to build and support Congolese startups. But How? Murhabazi shares how and much more in this exclusive interview with Innovation-village. Excerpts

Can you tell us about KivuHub and what prompted you to establish KivuHub?

Back in 2016 when I finished my studies in Nairobi, I found lack of IT training among our countrymen and women who came from the DRC despite having finished their academic training and graduated. We had to share our experiences in entrepreneurship, innovation, technology as a way to enhance our daily life. we decided to come up with a technology Hub like our friends iHub in Kenya so that we can actively support the development of our country and the east region of DR Congo which was the epicentre of conflict for decades. So, I called a meeting with various friends who had experiences in IT such as programming, networking, telecommunication, robotics and skills in management. Kivuhub is mainly sustained by the co-founders who are providing the necessary financial and material resources. However, as we gain traction and help launch successful businesses into the eastern DRC market and the neighbouring countries, we have agreements that Kivuhub as the enabling partner will have a 5% return on investment for a period of 5 years after tax.

What does KivuHub have to offer Congolese startups? How will you describe the reception of KivuHub?

Kivuhub provides training services on technology, entrepreneurship, Cybersecurity and Digital marketing. We also organize different workshops, Conferences with speakers and experts in the above areas. This also gives you an opportunity to network and the opportunity to collaborate with other entrepreneurs leading to new business opportunities. We expect to have more women involved in technology and coming up with a social solution for the problem we are facing.

What do you have to say about the tech and startup space in Dr Congo since the country is just recovering from a 20-year civil war?

The great lake region (DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda) have been a centre of all the human right violation. The lack of electricity is one of the major factors that handicap and slow down the acceleration of startups in DRC. IT equipment is very expensive, which explains low ownership rates. Internet connections are slow, expensive and unreliable. Consequently, chances are high that a connection will disappoint during an online meeting or call.

Are there any startup(s) that is currently being incubated by KivuHub?

The startups in our portfolio are: Deedasb.org: Deedasb is a network of environmental entrepreneur dealing with renewable energy and other environmental issues. Upasso.org: Upasso which is a local NGO providing financial support to marginalized women Afrikaaffaire.com: an e-commerce site Kivu10:  job seeker site Kwanzatechnologie: an e-waste startup working on recycling electronic waste and create different products from the waste.

You can count the number of women in the technology sphere, what is your tech hub doing to ensure that more women and girls feature in the Congolese tech space?

We are currently working with Noëlla Coursaris Musunka, the founder and director of Malaika School in the south-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The model, philanthropist, entrepreneur and mother explains why she is passionate about improving the lives of African children through education – and shares her advice for young girls.

Have you received any government support since you launched?

Since the country come from decades of war, the government has not done anything the support local business and startup. Also, the current political instability has pushed away tech investors to invest since any time things can change negatively.

 At the moment, how will you measure success? What are your metrics?

We monitor the progress from the moment when the startups join us our accelerator program and after they leave the program, we keep our eyes on them even if they have graduated.

What are your plans for the next five years?

In the next 5 years, we want to expand into 2 other cities that-Goma and Kisangani which have tremendous entrepreneurial potentials. Our current forecast is to have an innovation space of our own that can accommodate between 10-20 startups at the same time, hire more support staff to assist in training and logistics that will see our revenue grow between 10-50.000$.

What are the challenges you face in running your technology hub in Congo?

Among the challenges we have are- Low internet penetration which remains one of the pillars for under development for the tech startup ecosystem. Since the fibre optic network is not covering a large part of the country so we still rely on the satellite network. We believe once the fibre network will be covering 50% of the country’s area, we may expect a good internet connection and other related services. The lack of electricity is one of the major factors that handicap and slow down the acceleration of startups in DRC. IT equipment is very expensive, which explains low ownership rates. Internet connections are slow, expensive and unreliable. Consequently, chances are high that a connection will disappoint during an online meeting or call. Also, funding is quite hard to secure since investors are not convinced about our country’s political instability and lack of ICT infrastructure.

Can you tell us about yourself? If you weren’t running KivuHub, what will you be doing?

Actuality I work for an international NGO. So I am kind of running a hub at the same time. I like empowering others and support young entrepreneurs.

What advice do you have for young and aspiring founders or entrepreneurs?

Push and never give up because the day they will start enjoying their effort.