Hi Jamii Finance Reader,
We at HQ have been working extra hard to keep money management atop your mind. If you find our newsletter insightful, consider joining our regular ClubHouse chats and following us on Twitter for a chance to engage with the Jamii Finance team (we’re trying to be cool).
We have spent time speaking with entrepreneurs in the region and are excited to share their reflections with you. For this issue, we spoke with a software engineer, primarily based in Kigali and with remote consultancy experience in Japan (I was intrigued as well when he mentioned this). Meet Eric Kubwumucunguzi, techpreneur at Novasys, a software development services company dedicated to helping corporations, small and large, take their business to the next level by harnessing the power of technology. See my footnotes for lighthearted commentary.
Hi Eric, thanks for gracing our newsletter. What do you do?
I am the CEO & Co-Founder of Novasys. I’m also a software developer serving tech needs for top companies and organizations in Rwanda. On the side, I work as a full-stack1 developer with a consultancy in Japan. I am considered a remote partner with a Japanese firm2. I’m a self-taught programmer and started learning to code when I was 12 after observing my older brother who’s an IT professional. I watched tons of YouTube videos, and have taken Coursera and Udacity courses.
What was so exciting about technology and what are your reflections on Rwanda as a tech hub?
Honestly, I heard about the ad revenue business model and that piqued my interest. Consequently, I started building websites and interfaces for websites as an S1 student, driven by my desire to earn money at a young age3. I see Rwanda as a kitchen where one can test product-market fit before shipping to a wider market. We’ve seen some of our partners develop their products here and easily expand to other countries (AC group, famed for Tap&Go will be launching in Kenya4 and Ghana.) “If any product can work in Rwanda, it can work elsewhere”.
Any challenges in your entrepreneurship journey?
I find that we’re still ways away in accessing financing. Many of us have great ideas but those become hard to implement without the startup capital. The market is also not too keen on adopting new products and it’s especially challenging with B2C products. However, I enjoy entrepreneurship as it allows me to leverage my skills and talents to build products that better the lives of people in my community. Additionally, I have the flexibility to diversify my interests.
Finally, how do you manage your personal and company finances?
At Novasys, we manage our risks by conducting thorough due diligence before we settle on investment decisions. We are also big planners, ensuring we have set financial goals for each quarter and never going over budget if we can control it. Personally, I budget, have an accountability partner in my wife who ensures I don’t spend too much, and of course ensuring I understand the fundamentals of any business or investment idea before parting with my money.
And now to the fun stuff:
Resource of the Month:
This Twitter Profile teaches concepts on finance and investing in an interactive way. I’ve spent hours scrolling through their page because it’s engaging and the content is friendly to non-finance nerds.
ICYMI: Is it obvious we took a side?
Full-stack, for the non-techies like me, is a software expert who's equally proficient in frontend (client-side) development and backend (server-side) development, as per Google.
Come through multiple income streams! Eric was attuned to the Time Value of Money young, whether or not he knew it. Cue Work by Rihanna
Preach! Also, coding skills have been proven to place you ahead of the pack. His resource-recommendations are worth checking out.
Can’t wait to see what effect this will have on the matatu business! But here’s a clip of matatu culture in Nairobi, which a friend of mine referred to as party buses, haha.