Solving Rwanda’s housing crisis, one brick at a time

“The best lesson we learned was how to embrace a growth mindset and never give up.”

Team @issb_rwanda with Titus Lugero, Interim Dean BME, Davis College

In February 2021, our Business Management & Entrepreneurship faculty organized the first round of pitches for the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge (FGSIC), an annual competition that inspires student entrepreneurs around the world to create social ventures that promote positive, sustainable change, and provides the opportunity to secure seed funding.

During the initial weeks of preparation, mentorship, and coaching, groups of Davis College and Akilah students from BME, INS and HTM programs conceived their social ventures, which included solutions to reduce water wastage, address food insecurity, avoid early pregnancies, deliver inclusive and equitable quality education to teenage mothers, and install smart solar public benches, among many other ideas. The first round saw a panel of internal and external judges shortlist eight teams for the round two qualifiers in April.

The ISSB Rwanda team presenting their innovation

Fast forward to early June when, after months of training and hard work, two teams of energetic young men and women represented Davis College in the finals for the FGSIC and competed against 49 other teams across the world. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, all pitches were delivered virtually, yet that did not dampen their spirit or passion for their projects. One of our teams had the idea of Interlock Stabilized Soil Bricks (ISSB) to solve the housing problem in Rwanda, East Africa, and the rest of the world, by providing affordable bricks for house construction. Our second team’s idea was Tetra Fino Aseptic packaging to promote environmental sustainability by proving alternative materials for liquid cartons (e.g. water, juice, and milk) to stop the use of plastic packaging.

In the end, the ISSB Rwanda team — consisting of Pascal Niyomuremyi, Pacifique Iyamuremye, and Josue Mugabo — took 16th place, winning a 500 USD award to invest in their venture. Read more below from these aspiring young entrepreneurs.

What inspired your idea?

Having been affected by the problems of not having a house or shelter and suffering for a long time trying to afford rent, we conducted research and found that many other low and middle income families were facing such challenges. Some of the people we interviewed said that they had worked for more than 10 years saving to see if they may own their homes, yet failed.

This serious challenge is caused by the high cost of building materials and expensive housing finance. Due to the housing price range, the available housing units are only affordable to the highest income percentage of the population. And the existing solutions are also only targeting high income families.

Statistics show that the cheapest price for renting in Rwanda is 35,000 Rwf/month, the cheapest price for building a new house is 13,000,000 Rwf, and the cheapest price for buying a new house is 23,000,000. For low and middle income families, however, this is still a big problem to get such amounts. And when it comes to housing finance, these families can’t afford the mortgage loans or their terms and conditions (high interest rates, long-terms, etc.).

That is where the idea of INTERLOCK STABILISED SOIL BRICKS (ISSB) comes from. We hope to build sustainable communities by providing affordable housing to many more low and middle income families through ISSB Rwanda. What we are bringing to the table is:

Building quality — ISSB is 80% stronger than clay bricks.

Low cost — The total cost of building a structure with ISSB is 30%-50% less expensive than building with fired bricks.

Environmental benefits — ISSBs are cured in the sun, therefore the need for fuel wood is eliminated, helping curb deforestation rates and air pollution.

Appearance — The bricks have an appealing aesthetic with an elegant profile and a uniform size that doesn’t require plastering.

Job creation — We shall employ skilled and unskilled labor for this project, which will help them to solve the issue of other basic needs.

What motivated you to become involved with the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge (FGSIC)?

First of all we were motivated by our instructors at Davis College and their great partnership with not only the FGSIC program but also many other stakeholders. In addition to this, the ISSB Rwanda team members are all committed to giving back to the community by using our time, skills and other resources to build sustainable communities. The FGSIC created a platform 10 years ago where social innovators from different countries and universities are given a chance to present their best solutions to the social challenges, and we are excited now to be among those changemakers working toward a better future.

Why is it important for your generation to promote positive societal change?

It is very important for our generation to promote positive changes because this leads to the progress and development of society. There are some past societal challenges that influenced us negatively, but when youth took the lead and changed common mindsets, better approaches appeared. By facing challenges themselves, youth have helped to find the best solutions to those challenges. Today, youth are contributing to the nation’s development and it will continue to benefit from future generations.

What have been the highlights of your experience with the FGSIC?

The highlights of our experience with the FGSIC are many, but in particular the way the process has been seamless and we have felt supported every step of the way. The planning, mentorship, and round pitches that Davis College organized helped us to understand well the problem that we are solving, its causes, how it is affecting people, the gaps in existing solutions, and what the uniqueness of our venture is.

What lessons have you learned from being involved with the FGSIC that will help you in your future career?

By participating in the FGSIC we have learned, in a very practical way, how we can succeed as entrepreneurs, because we have gained the skills required at every step of developing a business venture — from ideation to prototyping to commercialization. We also learned a lot from other finalists who were participating and presenting their solutions. But ultimately, the best lesson we learned was how to embrace a growth mindset and never give up.

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