Through the Fintechub project in Rwanda, UNCDF in partnership with the Government of Rwanda, the ICT Chamber and Kigali Innovation City held on 16 February 2021, a discussion on how startups can navigate the Rwandan fintech space.

The online event brought together fintech startups supported by the Fintechub initiative, project partners, and other key stakeholders in Rwanda’s financial and digital innovation sectors to discuss the environment and factors that influence the growth of fintech startups in Rwanda these days.

The Rwanda Fintechub is a dedicated virtual accelerator that supports selected Rwandan fintech startups to scale by addressing their needs for skills, partnerships, access to capital and markets, and navigating the regulatory environment.

The main speaker at the event and Country Director of TransUnion Rwanda, Emile Kinuma, encouraged startups to strive and survive the COVID-19 pandemic as they work on innovative solutions to adapt their businesses to the current situation. Kinuma has been in Rwanda’s digital financial solutions sector for several years and has been supporting the Fintechhub through mentorship and guidance to the startups.

“Things changed during the pandemic, it is true and sad that customer needs went down but fintech startups should hang in there and focus on growth. First, they have to make it through the pandemic, they should find solutions that are well working for them during this pandemic. You have to focus on the problems that are needed to be solved and focus on growing what you can. You have to also focus on developing your products by making them viral products,” Kinuma advised.

A second key takeaway from the discussion is that fintech startups need to try different practices as they grow and see which one is giving more profits. Recommended techniques include adjusting prices, cutting costs, revising investment models, continuously learning from their peers, and investing in strong relationships or ‘bond’ with their customers so as to better understand them. “To maximize profits, some expenses must be cut. For example, some start-ups in early stage, they do not need offices to operate. Your home can be your office.” Kinuma suggested as he reminded startups owners that stopping should never be an option at any stage of the development of fintech solutions for the growing market in Rwanda and outside.

Thirdly, companies that have multiple investors and shareholders, need to figure out how they will win at the end of the day. “How will they make profit at the end of the year? The shareholders will understand it is a pandemic, but they will be looking at where you will drive them in the future. If they have to invest in you, what will they get from it? If you have already proven yourself and have a model that’s working, what they want to know is, are you able to survive a crisis, can you be trusted to keep moving in tough times? That is when you need to show them how you are surviving the crisis, and your course to growth,” commented Kinuma.

The event participants also reflected on the importance of balancing both clients and Investor and the value of having a solid team that can interact with investors and support the CEO to peach to investors. However, Kinuma cautioned startups owners and managers that they should keep in mind that they have to keep customers happy, “You should not be spending too much time on how to figure out how to raise money and the beauty of the product that you forget about customers,” he warned.

You can watch the full Rwanda Fintechub community event in the video below:

Webinar - How to Navigate the Rwandan Fintech Space as a Startup - YouTube

To learn more about the Fintechub initiative, watch the video below or visit the project’s site at https://fintechub.rw/

Accelerating FinTech Startups in Rwanda - YouTube