Business Executives

"The rule says a 'minimum of one woman' director but I think the ideal number will be two. This will help women have a stronger voice on the board"

"It's taken for granted that the son will inherit the business but now the daughter in the family will also get a chance to prove her mettle. And this may have a positive impact on succession planning in the future"

"Women feel more guilt as compared to men while taking that decision. At the core of it all is guilt. Women need more support systems"

"I don’t think that has gone away completely because we still represent other women, not just ourselves as individuals in our careers as we go. So, that pressure is something one just gets used to living with. And that scrutiny never ends, so when you fall, you are noticed much more than when you succeed. Though fortunately, that too gets noticed"

"I have had as many good male bosses as bad ones, and it will always be the case that there will be individuals who in their own right are fabulous human beings and great leaders; and individuals who may be smart but are not such good leaders, whether men or women. And I think we have to just take the good and the bad as it goes. You cannot typecast men and women leaders once you’re at that level"

"Having good advisors and mentors to turn to, who are senior and more experienced helped at the beginning. And then I learnt that I don’t have to have all the answers. I made it a point to assemble the best teams, to seek out information, build networks, and look outside. That curiosity and willingness to learn were crucial – it brought people in versus keeping them out. And then things built from there. and standing in for me as we both navigated our careers. My bond with my sister, our kids – these are the most precious gifts"

"What helped was a strong sense of ownership and intuition. I had read somewhere that intuition is just hundreds of experiences blended; and that gave me confidence to trust my gut. I had been in tough situations before, and I leaned on that experience"

"What also helped was the trusted network of resources – the experts and advisors – I could access, who guided and helped me navigate the situation. They took my calls and they stepped in when we needed them"

"We need to be passionate and driven to achieve any goal we choose"

"We need to push the limits of achievement and better our performance all the time. I think we should be ‘engaged’ in the profession of our choice rather than just ‘work hard’ in our chosen work area. We need to literally set ourselves on fire with our objectives"

"diversity in leadership results in inclusive decision-making, which directly correlates to better organizational performance"

"Through 1,841 three nursery entrepreneurs, we distributed 20 million agroforestry trees to more than 766,000 farmers to continue addressing climate change-related challenges."

"Remembering is honoring their lives and their dreams of a sustainable future and a peaceful nation. Remembering is the legacy we leave to our youth, educating them on the true history so that Genocide will never happen again. Unity is the foundation of a new Rwanda, which enables us to rise up and work together to build the Nation."

"they are also working with the Government of Rwanda, the private sector, and other stakeholders to prepare 2025 Agriculture Season A and B."

"there is still a need for more investment in handling post-harvest losses since farmers harvested when there were heavy rains."

"Farmers need maize drying, storage, and milling infrastructure which we are helping them to get in collaboration with partners as part of value addition to the produce. We have a programme called ‘Tubura Harvest’ where we collect farmers’ harvests and link farmers to markets. We help farmers to also measure the moisture of maize to avoid Aflatoxin and increase their quality."

"We managed to supply agro-inputs-seeds and fertilisers to about 850,000 farmers and also trained them on good agricultural practices during the two seasons. Maize production has drastically increased. We also measured the impact on farmers under our programme. We realised that the farmers generated Rwf138 billion in profits."

"By investing in robust seed systems and providing access to quality seedlings, we are empowering them to restore degraded land, enhance biodiversity, and improve their livelihoods."

"We know that trees help generate rainfall, but we want farmers to see various benefits from them, including providing poles for planting beans, fertilizing the soil, and more."

"Under our farmer-facing program, we supplied agricultural input to more than 850, 000 farmers and trained them on good agricultural practices, which significantly increased the farmers’ harvest."

"We are not choosing any particular child to benefit from our food distribution scheme. We are going to feed every child who needs food as long as they are between the ages five and 18 years old"

"Ever since I became a mother, children have become so dear to me. My heart breaks at the thought of how many children go to bed on empty stomachs. So, since every child is my baby too, that is why I have pursued this idea"

"My husband is Nxumalo and his clan names are Mkhatshwa, Zwide and Ndwandwe, I’m a Khumalo and one of the clan names is Mangethe. Our clan names inspired the scents and their identity."

"I have this passion of following my joy and it is my absolute joy to make people look beautiful, and that has also contributed to my inspiration in starting this journey"

"I wanted to start off with makeup, but it was going to be a long process to get the stuff ready on time hence why I opted for fragrances. In the long run, we want to build an empire with my husband and family so this is one of the ways in which we’re doing so."

"You will get produce and not sell it and it goes bad pretty fast. That was my problem in the beginning. You need to have a strong presence online. Most of our sales come from the online store. You need to slay your brand. You need to breath, sleep and eat your brand. You need to know what to do when things go to the left…this industry needs 100 percent from the owner. You need to be the one leading from the front. A lot of work goes into the business. It is draining and that is something that I won’t lie about"

"My advice to people to come into the same line of business as myself is that there is no off day. Vegetables and fruits are perishables and you need to have a plan on how to push your sales. If you don’t, you will end up running a loss"

"I’m not going to lie and say Covid-19 has had a bad impact on the business. We have been the busiest during the lockdown. I think it is what has made me open a physical shop. The orders were now overwhelming and I needed a place where I could store the vegetables, a place where people can come and order without doing so online. At some point our site crushed. God would have to punish me if I said that Covid-19 affected me badly because it is what led to the opening of the physical shop"

"Fast forward to two weeks later and her husband came to deliver vegetables to me and I asked him where she was and he just started crying. He told me that she had passed away and that is when I decided that let me get into this business, if not for myself but for her because she believed in her business so much. It’s sad that I can’t share what’s happened since then with her but that’s how Zwide Veggies was born"

"In 2016 I had applied to every company that you can think of and I did not get any job. So, that is when I decided that let me be my own boss and do the employing. Everyone was expecting to go into the beauty industry but I met this lady who used to deliver vegetables to my house and so I asked her how she did it. She told me that the first thing that I needed to separate me from the rest of the field was to get a car so I could do deliveries"

"The Covid-19 pandemic has made the lives of the less privileged children hard because most of them are supported by their grannies who used to sell tomatoes in the streets and now, they are locked down and have lost their source of income"

"I was heart-broken when one of the grannies cried saying some of the food items (that were donated) were now like luxury. We as a community should try as much as we can to help our fellow brothers and sisters"

"Charity begins at home. That is the reason why I chose to start with Pumula East before going to other townships. I want to give back to my home first before I expand to other suburbs"

"You spend an awful lot of money, and then you're at the mercy of the critics. But you think about today; you don't think too much about tomorrow. I'll tell you what it is: on the inside you're calm, and on the outside, you're buzzing. So it belies what you feel inside. If anything does get too much, too outrageous, I let myself go calm inside, even though on the outside I might be this buzzy woman. It's an art; you learn it."

"When I left two hours later, my overwhelming feeling was one of shame that this monstrous act should have happened in proud, beloved Texas. And for all the stricken Dallas citizens, who had tried so hard, a sense of pity came even before the feeling of grief for the country’s loss. It was evident on many faces that the keen edge of shame cut deep"

"For years ahead, anyone you ask will be able to tell you where he was and what he was doing when he first learned of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination"

"Some shows make money and some don't, and it 'sort of evens out in the end."

"I knew I wasn't very good. I'm interested in being the proactive person. I don't want to walk into a room and just be judged on what I look like"

"I was the worst actress in the world - ever"

"You do need an element of madness."

"I'm a risk-taker, there's no doubt about it."

"“We cannot leave this problem to the Government and schools. We need to work together to help young people – and to develop the next generation of skilled employees for the future.”"

"“Industry must step up and help young people bridge the gap between education and employment,”"

"“I have had an amazing career over the past 40 years and worked with extraordinary people who share my passion for the food and drink industry,”"

""Now it is time for me to do something else while maintaining my interest in skills and young people. For me, the future is about continuing to be involved in the things I love while finding more time to enjoy my wonderful family and, in particular, my beautiful grandsons.”"

"For us, finding a solution is very, very important,"

"What is very important for us is regulatory standards. Absolutely key is that we have a convergence of that, that we avoid red tape,"

"“It was hugely tough but we decided that my career would take the lead, so we put his business on ice and we went,” she says. “I have a great husband, that’s one of the magic ingredients.”"

"“Even out of the recession, we don’t believe that is going to come down massively,”"

"“We have to bring young people in and really equip them, and move them through really fast. But we also have to up-skill – they are going to be the engineers for tomorrow.”"