Chief Executive Issue 2 | Page 26

PEOPLE INSIDE story SERGE NDEKWE Why I’ll never give up By Donah Mbabazi B orn and raised in the Demo­cratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Serge Ndekwe is a very ambitious, hardworking and respectful man who sees the future from afar. He came to Rwanda in 1994 and did human resource management from Kigali Institute of Science and Technol­ ogy (now the University of Rwanda’s College of Science and Techonology). At the age of 36, his entrepreneur’s success story is overwhelming. Ndekwe is best known for setting up the Kimihurura-based Papyrus premises that ac­commodate a nightclub, a bar, coffee shop, a restaurant and a fitness centre. On top of that, he owns the New Papyrus and the Masaka Farms, the latter of which processes more that 1,000 litres of milk very day, churning out dairy products such as yogurt, fresh cream, cheese and butter. Ndekwe’s success stems from the fact that he had passion for business at a tender age. Speaking to Chief Executive, he explains how he went from being a taxi driver to owning a whole business empire. “I started working at the age of 18 because of financial difficulties. Also, being the first born in the family gave me a lot of responsibilities,” he says. “By the time I came to Rwanda,” Nde26 - CHIEF EXECUTIVE kwe goes on, “there was little possibility of jobs, so I got employed as a taxi driver and did that for one year. When I was 19, I got a job with a USAID project called Africare, again as a taxi driver. I worked there for three years, before moving to Women in Transi­tion (WIT) for a year-and-a-half stint but by then I also was doing little businesses. I owned pharmacies and a number of public phones,” he explains. At the age of 24, he established Papyrus and that was his break-through. It was his luck to have a friend who inspired him in the restaurant business, and from then on it was always success on the young entrepreneur’s side. Not-so-rosy journey As it always is hard in the beginning, Ndekwe narrates his not-so-rosy journey while building his company from scratch. “One of the biggest obstacles I met when I was starting was the parking issue,” he says. “The situation in Kigali was different back then and the noise was also a hindrance to the residents, which at one time brought issues with the city mayor, leading to the closure of my business for a whole year. “Luckily we solved the problem in a good