Rwandan Hehe Ltd scoops Transform Africa honors

President Kagame answering questions at the Youth event last evening (Photo: PPU)

Hehe IT solutions a local Rwandan firm was among the top five young African entrepreneurs recognized at the Transform Africa Awards for developing socially transforming IT solutions.

Hehe Ltd, founded by Clarisse Iribagiza, one of the most successful Rwandan women, emerged the best receiving US$7500 (Rwf4.8 million) cash prize for a tech startup that is changing society. Other four firms from Kenya (two), Ghana and South Africa were also awarded respectively.

Clarisse Iribagiza is among the most successful of her peers, considering her accomplishments in the last three years spent in the industry.

The award ceremony was presided over by President Paul Kagame, who hosted the Transform Africa ICT summit in Kigali.

Hehe Ltd founder Clarisse Iribagiza and her team receive their prize (Courtesy photo)

President Kagame and the founder of Athgo, Dr. Armean Orjuan presented awards to 5 African youth startup companies that excelled in IT innovation.

At the event, Kagame asked the youth to look into themselves for solutions to advance in life, because they have limitless potentials.

During an interactive session on ICT and Africa today, President Kagame also asked the youth to invest in themselves and their passions in order to attain what they want to achieve.

“Success doesn’t always come on the first try when you fail; If  you want success, try over and over again. When you are down, you should never be out. There is no single secret to success, you have to work hard. There is no short cut to success; you have to simply work hard. The potential is unlocked when we are committed to being the ones to transform our country.” Kagame said.

President Kagame asked the youth to not despair about the future but take responsibility for what they can do and challenged them to hold their leaders accountable and make it more meaningful by also playing their part.

Counselling African youth to live meaningful lives, President Kagame said:

“As our future leaders, we want to move forward together and look at what we can do together to transform our societies. We live for a purpose and we must do the best we can.”

 

Rwandan Hehe Ltd scoops Transform Africa honors