Funworld January 2009

A Knack for Business

How one woman built the only amusement park in Rwanda
by Paul Ntambara

SYLVIE MUKAMUSONI IS NO ORDINARY WOMAN. She is positivity personified; her outlook on life is one of a person who has made a decision not to be bogged down by setbacks and challenges in her pursuit of success.

The early 1990s in Rwanda were extremely turbulent, leaving nearly every person in the country at the time with a horror story to tell. Many of these stories are still looking for a good ending; however, Mukamusoni made sure her own tale was one of success and empowerment.

A former nurse, Mukamusoni is a symbol of Rwandan women’s emancipation. Despite her humble beginnings, Mukamusoni has managed to start up the only amusement park in the country—Bambino Super City in Kigali City.

Joining the Business World
Mukamusoni’s foray into the business world began with dealing in general merchandise, having opened a store that sold basic needs and staple foods.

“The period 1990-1994 was a challenging one in Rwanda. With the breakout of war most essential commodities were in scarcity,” she says. “It was around this time that I opened up a general merchandise store. I dealt in essential commodities like soap, sugar, and many other food items.”

In 1993, Mukamusoni felt the urge to return to the medical profession; she opened a drug store selling prescriptiononly medicines. As fate would have it, the civil war and subsequent Tutsi Genocide of 1994 brought life in the country to a standstill as marauders killed citizens by the thousands. She luckily survived by fleeing Kigali, the capital, but her drug store was not spared; it was looted and razed to the ground. But her determination prevailed. A year after the wars ended, Mukamusoni returned to Kigali in 1995 and embarked on restocking her drug store.

But then another blow: A new government policy, which decreed that only qualified pharmacists could run drug stores, made the qualified nurse close her business. She’d have to employ a pharmacy graduate and then move her business to the outskirts of the city, thus making her business unprofitable. “I dissolved the business and began hatching new plans,” says Mukamusoni with a sense of nostalgia.

Her next move, in 1998, was in children’s products: “I found the business interesting because I was doing what I loved. I dealt in children’s toys, clothes, baby cots, decorations, and gifts.” Mukamusoni looked beyond Rwanda, embarking on an ambitious plan of expanding her business. She was convinced by her market research that making children the focus of her operation was the way to go.

“I realized that in our society, it is the men who attend most recreation activities,” she says. “The women and children are left at home. Even when they were taken along, children were mere spectators; they were not provided for. This void had to be filled. I had an idea of a family outing in my mind as I embarked on expanding my business.”

Her trips took her to Dubai, where she interacted with many businesspeople and learned new ideas as her “eyes were opened to the abundant business opportunities that could be exploited.”

Birth of an Amusement Park

Already focused on starting up recreation facilities that provided for the young and old alike, setting up an amusement park came naturally.

“Together with a few colleagues, we started writing a business proposal for our business,” Mukamusoni says. “With the help of the government agency for Investment and Export, RIEPA, we were linked to a Chinese firm that was dealing in recreation activities. This was all made possible during an investors’ forum held in Kigali in 2004.”

Mukamusoni, along with fellow women entrepreneurs, began with sourcing for a bank loan, which was finally granted by the Bank of Kigali. Equipment was procured from China, and installation was done in 2005 by Chinese technicians.

Situated on a 49-acre plot of land and about 30 kilometers (about 19 miles) from the city center, Bambino Super City is located in prime real estate. Lushly vegetated, the amusement park is a place to escape the hustle and bustle of city life. The park is being developed in three phases. The first stage, already in place, includes children’s games, a restaurant, a conference hall that holds 1,000, an adult and children’s swimming pool, and scenic landscaping.

“We have opened up the park for children in the neighborhood who could not otherwise afford paying to access our games,” Mukamusoni says. “This is part of our social responsibility. Our dream is to see children— those from poor and rich families alike—happy.”

Challenges
It hasn’t been all easy going, though. According to Mukamusoni, some projects have been held back due to problems with Rwanda’s environment management authority. “We had constructed a traditional hut to showcase the Rwandan culture and an artificial lake, but all these projects were halted pending an environment impact assessment report,” she says. “The process has dragged on for so long and we are still waiting.”

The amusement park itself started operations in January 2008, three years after the installation work was completed. Mukamusoni blames the delay on approval procedures required by the government. She hastens to add, however, that overall the government has been cooperative. “The government hired a German expert to look at the safety standards at the park. He was satisfied with the standards. It was after this that we were allowed to operate,” she says.

According to Mukamusoni, the delay in sanctioning the operation of the park has meant accumulated interests on the loan acquired. “We are paying US$10,000 interest every month on top of other running costs of the park,” she says. “We have accumulated interest payments to a tune of Frw100 million (US$181 million). This has to be paid in nine years.”

Mukamusoni says starting up the second and third phases of the project will require more funding and lowinterest loans with a longer repayment period: “We are planning to construct more playgrounds for children and adults. We intend to construct a hotel to cater for the increasing needs of our customers. We also intend to construct botanical gardens and also operate a mobile amusement park. All this will be done in the second phase.” Mukamusoni adds that in the third phase she will consider construction of a zoo, an education center, and a breeding center for endangered tree species.

Despite the enormous challenges posed by the park project, Mukamusoni is upbeat about its prospects for success.

“We want to forge partnerships with people with similar projects so we can learn from their experiences. We need technical assistance in maintaining our equipment and, above all, sources of finance with low interest rates and long repayment periods. We need more technical assistance so as to make this business profitable in the long run.”

Paul Ntambara holds a bachelor’s degree in literature and English language. He is based in Rwanda where he works for the country’s only English daily—The New Times. He can be reached at burkepal@gmail.com.