Miss Rwanda 2021: Who will win Bank of Kigali’s ‘Most Innovative Project?’
With less than 48hrs left to the Miss Rwanda 2021 final, fingers are crossed as the contestants wait to see who will win the most innovative project, which will be financed by Bank of Kigali for a whole year.
Bank of Kigali, the premium sponsor of Miss Rwanda 20201, will not only finance the project, but it will also pay a consultant to support the winner to execute the project, which is expected to make a difference in the society.
All the 20 finalists on Tuesday, March 16, had an opportunity to pitch their projects before a panel of Judges, who included Nicole Kamanzi, the BK Regional Branch Business Manager, Patrick Ndahiro, BK’s Corporate Credit Manager, Paulette Mpano, the Communications Manager at Inkomoko Entrepreneurship Development, Teddy Kaberuka, an Economic Analyst and Serge Gasore, the founder of Gasore Foundation.
Amanda Akaliza, 24, was the first to present her project on Mental Health. Akaliza wants to develop a digital platform where people can access mental health services for free or for a small fee, without going to the hospital. The project is aimed at promoting mental wellness.
Akaliza Hope (No.2), representing the Eastern Province, said that her project is about creating an organisation of tutors who support parents/guardians with school going children as well as caregivers in hospitals, as a way of creating jobs for young people, especially university students. The 20-year-old said the project would help fill an important gap for such services which are lacking.
Contestant No. 5, Gaju Evelyne, 21, representing the City of Kigali, presented a project to manufacture sanitary pads and mesh for braiding hair from banana fibres. She said the project will employ young people.
On the other hand, Ingabire Esther (No.6), representing the Western Province, pitched a project to create a digital learning platform where students can access online lessons. The 19-year-old said the platform would offer both remote & online courses.
Ingabire Grace (No.7), representing the City of Kigali, pitched a project to promote dance classes, inspiration clubs and dance theatres to boost competence-based learning because informal education complements formal education.
The 25-year-old said the project would make children more open minded and expressive as well as improving debating skills through debate club.
Isaro Rolita Benita (No.9), representing the Northern Province, presented a project on fruit farming and trading, to reduce the shortage of fruits for local consumption and for export. The project will create employment for youth.
The 20-year-old said she would focus on watermelon, mangoes and more, with the purpose of exporting them to the Middle East.
Ishimwe Sonia (No. 10), representing the Western Province pitched a project about cross-border mobile banking linking Rwanda and DRC to ease trade. The 18-year-old said the project would greatly boost cross-border trade.
Kabagema Laila (No.11), representing the City of Kigali, presented a project to fight indoor pollution through safe & clean cooking energy sources that replace firewood and charcoal, using coffee husks and maize cobs. She is 19.
Karera Chryssie (No.12), representing the City of Kigali, pitched a project on recycling face masks. With face masks being a necessity for the foreseeable future, her project focuses on a sustainable way to discard them.
Kayirebwa Marie Paul (No.13), representing the City of Kigali, presented a project on encouraging youth to go into farming. The project will mainly focus on adding value to Cassava as well as recycling cassava residues into packaging materials.
Kayitare Isheja Morella (No.14), representing the City of Kigali, presented a project on strengthening Made in Rwanda through skills development, by coming up with a platform that offers courses and creates linkages between industry players.
Musana Teta Hense (No.18), representing the City of Kigali, presented a project on producing environmentally friendly paper cups, not only for Rwanda but also the region.
Musango Nathalie (No.19) representing the City of Kigali, presented a project on supporting needy women with disabled children, who are facing stigma, especially in rural areas, with income generating projects, particularly mushroom farming.
Teta Larissa (No.23), representing the Northern Province pitched a project on banana export. She said research she did showed that the demand for Rwandan yellow bananas in Europe is high.
Umutesi Lea (No.27), representing the Northern Province, said her project is about adding value to tree tomatoes for export. Her project focuses on producing the Tamarillo fruits for export.
Umutoni Witness (No.28) representing the City of Kigali, seeks to create a project that will equip the girl child with digital skills from an early age. The project would bring together women computer scientists to train girls and also offer scholarships to needy girls.
Umutoniwase Sandrine (No.29), representing the Western Province, pitched a project to set up a centre to promote the development of arts & talents, as a major industry that can generate revenue and jobs. She would set up talent shows and competitions to join the centre.
Uwankusi Nkusi Linda (No.32), representing the Eastern Province, pitching an agriculture project, focussing on growing pepper for local consumption & for export. She already has experience because she started. She wants to expand her project if she wins.
Uwase Kagame Sonia (No.34), representing the Western Province, pitched a project on digital farming for sustainable development of the agriculture sector.
Under the project, she would introduce field sensors to predict what farmers need, water, amount of farm inputs, access to extension services and a website connecting farmers to the market, Agri-dealers and financial institutions.
The last contestant to pitch was Uwase Phiona (No.35), representing the City of Kigali. She pitched a project on offering technical and skills development services for students to make them employable.
The winner of the Most Innovative project will be announced during the Miss Rwanda finale on Saturday, March 20, at Intare Conference Arena.
The final will be broadcast on Rwanda Broadcasting Agency’s KC2 channel from 7pm for people in Rwanda, while those outside Rwanda can join by clicking on this link: www.missrwanda.rw/grand-finale
