For any Rwandan travelling abroad, it is now predictable to hear compliments and admirations about the progress made by the country to rise from one of the darkest periods of human kind history to an era of impressive sustainable socio-economic development. It is obvious to all that the development engine is launched and efforts are being made in various sectors to work and walk towards a common solid vision that will raise Rwanda to a knowledge-based economy.
ICT is a key player in the process, and so are the youth who are determined to take the lead in making the Rwandan dream a reality. This is noticeable in both private and public sector where leadership and decision making positions are given to a young generation of entrepreneurs. Hundreds of tech startup initiatives are youth founded and led.
Saying that Clarisse Iribagiza is among the most successful of her peers, is not an overstatement considering her accomplishments in the last three years spent in the industry. Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder with Amiri Mugarura, Diane Ukwishaka and Richard Mujyambere of HeHe limited, a mobile applications development company that moved from startup status to an engineering firm exporting software beyond the borders of Rwanda. Clarisse and team have been inspiring and motivating number of youth to dare to launch startups, making self-reliance a reality in their lives.
Together with her team, they’ve been working on developing cutting edge mobile solutions to leverage service delivery and customer satisfaction; she has also been actively engaging in promoting tech entrepreneurship through initiatives such as Girls in ICT Rwanda, and Hack Out Loud. Winning the Inspire Africa Entrepreneurship reality TV show (2012) that brought together 24 young brilliant minds from East Africa to compete in the Apprentice-Like TV show was an additional reward, over and above her company’s success and recognition, for her tireless efforts and undisputable problem solving skills that keep hoisting the company to the top.
In July 2013, the enterprising women magazine, an American magazine published exclusively for women business owners recognized her with the Enterprising Woman of the year award for Rwanda in recognition of her efforts as a woman who goes beyond her business and impacts her community.
The journey is still surely long as HeHe grows into an engineering firm, allowing for more innovations that have a greater impact. As HeHe’s latest addition to an extraordinary team, my work as Creative Director has been nothing short of exciting and challenging at the same time but acknowledging the work done so far is the essence that pushes a great vision to limitless heights.