With the official debut of Norrsken slated for the end of this year, the company is looking forward to hosting about 1000 entrepreneurs in its state-of-the-art hub in Kigali, Norrsken Country Manager told The New Times. Norrsken, a global entrepreneurship hub, has designated $20m as an investment into the hub located in the premises of the former Ecole Belge de Kigali in the city center. Speaking to The New Times, Norrskens Managing Director Pascal Murasira said they will host about 1,000 entrepreneurs in Rwanda and will provide working space to them, plus investing in some startups depending on their needs and Norrsken’s venture capital requirements. All that will help local entrepreneurs in starting and growing their problem-solving businesses. Murasira said that Norrsken hopes to help a local company to achieve a market value of $1 billion by 2030. “Local entrepreneurs already have great ideas, and there’s the potential to build big businesses, ” said Murasira Norrsken Foundation will offer different help to entrepreneurs, including providing infrastructure in the form of world-class working space, capital and connecting them to famous foreign entrepreneurs who achieved big things to mentor local entrepreneurs. They will also buy shares in some of the start-up companies as a way of helping them. Murasira added that Norrsken will moreover be working with other organizations that will offer support services to those entrepreneurs here in Kigali. Norrsken purchased the plot of the former Belgian school in the city center to build what will become the biggest hub for entrepreneurs in East Africa. The hub will house a mix of start-ups, incubators, accelerators, investors, lawyers, accountants, and other corporates, forming an ecosystem that enables entrepreneurs to build strong companies that solve local and global challenges. Norrsken announced its debut in Rwanda in 2019, which is its second global hub after Stockholm (Sweden) hub, and is expected to boost Rwanda’s vision to become a regional entrepreneurship and innovation hub. Murasira said the main reason they chose Rwanda was that it has the potential to become the gateway to East Africa for international businesses. Plus, the supportive Rwandan government and agile policies that not only apply to young entrepreneurs but also to different people who want to do business in Rwanda. ”In Rwanda, there’s a sense of security and stability which is a prerequisite for a thriving entrepreneurship ecosystem,” he added. Lack of financial access being the most significant issue that new entrepreneurs in Rwanda face. For many years there have been many opportunities and companies helping them solve that, but it is still a standing issue to many. Some start-up businesses agree that the Norrsken Foundation just came on time since there were many challenges that new entrepreneurs and enterprises are facing. There were fewer alternatives to tackling those challenges. “We face a lot of challenges, especially on the capital part, and that acts as a big barrier in many businesses. Norrsken will be a big help to us,” said an entrepreneur.
