Source: In2EastAfrica.com | May 6, 2014
Most young people are unemployed because they have a misconception that one can only start an income-generating venture when they have a lot of money. Lydie Hakizimana, the chairperson of Rwanda's Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs at Private Sector Federation, said this mindset was partly responsible for the increasing rate of unemployment in the country.
- Lydie Hakizimana is co-founder and Managing Director of Drakkar Limited, a specialist reseller and distributor of educational textbooks. It all started back in 2006 when this avid bookworm decided to follow her passion and opened a small bookshop. Before long, her entrepreneurial instincts had her developing relationships with numerous publishing companies. Eventually, she struck a deal that was to be the making of her company with UK publisher, Pearson Education. Drakkar rapidly evolved into a leading educational textbooks reseller in Rwanda, becoming an important enabler of her country's vision for building a knowledge-based economy. Today, Lydie manages 45 employees and thirty part-time distributors covering the five provinces of Rwanda. Lydie has also added exclusive distributor deals with Longman, Heinemann and Penguin to her Pearson contract.