Meet the Gazelles: Celebrating ESP’s First Cohort of Gazelles under the Grow to Scale Program, in Partnership with the Mastercard Foundation
Friday, November 21, 2025, will mark a major milestone for the Grow to Scale Program, implemented in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation. On this day, the first cohort of Gazelles will officially graduate in a colorful ceremony, which will be held at the Mövenpick Hotel Kigali. They will be joined by 65 entrepreneurs from the second cohort of Bootstrappers, making it one of the largest gatherings of high-growth SMEs supported through the program. The companies are involved in tourism and hospitality, agriculture and adjacent sectors.
Throughout the nine-month program, companies benefited from tailored business development and advisory services, depending on their needs. Support included human resources development, executive coaching sessions, access to finance, marketing, branding, and more.
In this blog, our Grow to Scale Value Creation Lead, Zephanie Niyonkuru, shines a spotlight on the 20 pioneering Gazelles—their businesses, leadership, locations, and impact across Rwanda.
1. Lion’s Bridge Café — Kigali & Arusha
Established in 2021 by Mr. Faustin Casimile Mugisha and his wife, Aline Umwali, Lion’s Bridge Café is a fast-growing café and bakery brand operating in Rwanda and Tanzania. Known for its high-quality coffee and baked goods, the business employs 31 staff—mostly young people—and continues to expand its menu, corporate partnerships, and delivery services. Try it: visit the Gikondo branch for a well-brewed cup of coffee or order delivery.
2. Nyagatare Rice Company — Nyagatare District
Founded in 2011 by Laurent Basabira, an entrepreneur with extensive experience in food commodities, Nyagatare Rice Company processes three grades of white rice and produces eco-friendly briquettes from rice husk. The company established the district’s first modern rice-processing plant, partners with cooperatives representing more than 5,000 farmers, and employs more than 6o full-time staff. It is currently expanding its storage and briquette-production capacity to promote environmentally friendly fuel use.
3. Gafunzo Agro Processing Company — Ruhango District
Gafunzo Agro Processing Company, located in Ruhango District, is led by experienced rice processors Jean Bosco Rugamba and Peter Uwamahoro. The company has more than 30 permanent employees and hundreds of part-time workers. It operates a rice-processing facility producing three grades of white rice, maintains long-term contracts with farmer groups, and is expanding to the Eastern Province. The company is also enlarging its storage infrastructure and diversifying into complementary operations such as meat processing and rice-seed production.
4. Ihirwe Maize Processing Company — Kamonyi District
Founded in 2017 and led by Michel Niyonsenga, Ihirwe Maize Processing Company operates a major maize-processing facility producing high-grade maize flour. The company employs more than 78 full-time and part-time staff, maintains significant warehouse capacity, exports the majority of its products to regional markets, and continues to strengthen its processing systems and customer base.
5. Ntende Hotel — Rutsiro District
Ntende Hotel, established in 2018 by the Ntende Rice Farmers Cooperative (active since 2005), is a two-star hotel offering accommodation, restaurant services, conference facilities, and event hosting. With over 50 employees, the hotel has grown into a reputable hospitality brand, expanding capacity with additional rooms, constructing modern conference halls, and planning new recreational amenities. It also provides opportunities for young women to develop professional skills in hospitality. Ntende Hotel aims to achieve a three-star rating by 2028.
6. Akagera Transit Lodge — Near Akagera National Park
Launched in 2020 by young entrepreneurs led by Eric Bigirimana, Akagera Transit Lodge has become a comfortable eco-lodge minutes from the park entrance. The lodge is expanding with new rooms, family units, and recreational facilities including a gym, sauna, and swimming pool. It is an ideal stopover before entering or after exiting Akagera National Park.
7. Ikijumba One Stop Rwamagana — Rwamagana and Ngoma Districts
Ikijumba One Stop, founded in 2022 by Jean Marie Vianney Habumuremyi, is Rwanda’s pioneer in Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) bakery and flour processing. Leveraging more than 15 years of OFSP seed-production experience, he built a supply chain of more than 28,000 farmers and introduced a diverse line of OFSP bakery products, now sold in branches in Rwamagana and Ngoma. The business employs over 100 young people and is expanding into large-scale OFSP flour and purée production.
8. Delight Cuisine — Kicukiro District
Delight Cuisine, founded in 2020 by Kabungo Teta Gloria Shadia, provides outside catering for weddings, corporate events, and private functions. With a strong social-media presence and extensive hospitality experience, the company delivers consistent event services and is focused on strengthening its branding, improving operational management, and reinforcing its business systems.
9. Yalla Yalla Group — Kigali (Regional Operations)
Founded in 2020 by a team of young agriculture professionals led by Emmanuel Ndayizigiye, Yalla Yalla provides modern farming solutions including irrigation, greenhouse services, mechanization, and agribusiness consultancy. The company employs more than 70 permanent staff and 300 part-time workers. With support from the Grow to Scale Catalytic Fund, it introduced smart-greenhouse horticulture and established a seedling multiplication unit—creating 22 new jobs, 77% for youth.
10. Embasaf — Kigali
Established in 2022 by Emmanuel Rukundo following his career with RwandAir, Embasaf operates as an online travel agency serving clients across Rwanda and partnering with travel companies in Kenya and Tanzania. The company offers ticketing and travel-management services and plans to expand its geographic presence while investing in new service lines and equipment.
11. Straight Rwanda — Kigali
Founded in 2021 by MFIZI NKAKA Longin, Straight Rwanda is a tourism company operating across Rwanda and East Africa. With more than 15 years of experience in tourism, the founder built a company with a strong client base and long-term service agreements. The business aims to expand its tourist fleet, develop international partnerships, and strengthen its competitiveness in Rwanda’s tourism sector.
12. Crowd Minders — Kigali
Crowd Minders, founded in 2019 by Faustin Kwiramira, is an event-management company known for organizing major local and international events. Building on his security and event-operations background, Faustin developed a strong brand managing events at venues such as Zaria Court, BK Arena, and Amahoro Stadium. The company works with federations and leading organizers, coordinates a large pool of part-time staff, and plans to expand its logistics and professional equipment capacity.
13. Vakman Ltd — Kicukiro District
Vakman Ltd, founded in 2018 by Umwali Belyse at an early age, is a premium furniture design and manufacturing company serving hotels, offices, embassies, parks, and private clients. Known for high-quality craftsmanship and strong standards, the business continues to grow and plans to expand into a purpose-built facility in the Gahanga Industrial Zone.
14. Meze Fresh — Kigali
Established in 2012 by hospitality professional Désiré Ngamije, Meze Fresh is a popular fast-food brand in Kigali. Drawing on his training in the United States and at Vatel, Désiré developed a strong quick-service dining model. The business continues to grow and aims to open new locations and build partnerships with entertainment and corporate establishments. Taste it: order through Vuba Vuba or visit branches in Kacyiru, Carnegie Mellon University, or ALU in the Kigali Special Economic Zone (for staff and students only).
15. The Wine Club — Kigali
Founded in 2015, The Wine Club imports and distributes premium wines. The company serves high-end lodges, hotels and restaurants, but also private consumers through their outlet in Kigali. With a strong brand recognition and a well-trained team, the company provides support to the leading hospitality establishments across the country. The founder’s international experience in marketing and wine trade supports ongoing expansion plans and team-capacity development.
16. One Cup Roasters — Kigali
One Cup Roasters, founded by Andrew Gatera, is a specialty coffee company offering coffee roasting, barista training, a coffee shop, and export services. Andrew, an experienced entrepreneur in tourism and hospitality, also advises national institutions on sector improvements. The business continues to expand its branded coffee products, strengthen training programs, and explore opportunities including eco-lodge development.
17. Inka Steakhouse — Kigali
Founded in 2016 by Nicole Ansoni, Inka Steakhouse is an award-winning restaurant recognized multiple times as Rwanda’s top dining establishment and among the best in East Africa. With over 70 full-time and part-time staff embers, the business offers a high-end dining experience and maintains a loyal customer base. It plans to expand internationally, scale its catering services, and build a commercial kitchen to support growth.
18. NEZA Pro — Kigali
NEZA Pro, founded in 2020 by an entrepreneur with more than a decade of agro-processing experience, manufactures and sells multiple food products distributed nationwide. The company employs a large team, operates with FDA approval, and is expanding its retail footprint. It aims to enter export markets, open additional outlets, and significantly grow its workforce.
19. Kigali Clippers Zone Salon — Kigali City
Established in 2020 by three shareholders with extensive salon-industry experience, Kigali Clippers Zone Salon has grown into one of Kigali’s leading high-end grooming brands. The salon serves about 30,000 clients per year and employs 20 full-time and 32 part-time staff. It plans to expand by introducing women’s grooming, nail, and facial services, selling salon equipment, and establishing a TVET training school for youth recruitment.
20. Light Veil Makeup & Beauty Ltd — Kigali
Founded in 2017 by Lydie Kamaliza, Light Veil Makeup & Beauty Ltd is a fast-growing beauty and makeup enterprise built on eight years of experience. Starting with fewer than 100 clients annually, the business has expanded into a high-end salon serving more than 500 clients per year, supported by full-time and part-time staff. The company has invested in high-quality equipment and offers in-house and VIP home-service beauty solutions. Light Veil continues to strengthen its presence in Rwanda’s premium beauty market.
A Celebration of Growth and Impact
These 20 companies represent the entrepreneurial strength, resilience, and creativity at the heart of Rwanda’s private-sector transformation. From agro-processing and hospitality to creative industries and technology-enabled services, the first cohort of Gazelles has demonstrated what is possible when businesses receive the right mix of advisory support, financing, coaching, and market linkages.
As recruitment begins for the next cohort of Gazelles, you can express your interest here: https://tinyurl.com/yxkpke5r
