The Enterprising Women of the Year Awards program is considered the most prestigious global recognition program for outstanding women entrepreneurs.

Now in its 18th year, this program recognizes women business owners from the United States and around the world who have financially strong, growing businesses—women who are leaders in their communities, and who give back to mentor and support other women and girls.

This month we continue our tradition of honoring two very special members of the PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS(r) Class of 2020.

One of the winners is from Rwanda. Nadege Benimana is the owner of Nadol House and Interior Design and she lives in the Eastern Province in Bugesera District. Let me tell you a little bit about Nadege so you can get to know her better.

Nadege was born in Burundi and moved with her family to Rwanda in 1994. The fifth child among six, Nadege completed a Bachelor’s degree in Community Health Development in University of Rwanda in College Of Medecine And Health Sciences, (CMHS Former KHI).

She is married to Pastor Olivier Ndizeye, the Senior Pastor at Zion Temple Ntarama Parish, and she is the mother of two young sons, ages 8 and 5.

Nadege decided not to pursue a career in community health development because she had a passion for design and wanted to become an entrepreneur. In 2001 she met a young woman named Keza who would become the inspiration for her life’s work.

Keza married at a very young age because of an unwanted pregnancy and had her goals dashed because of these circumstances. Unable to support herself and seeing her dreams for her future die, Keza made a strong impression on Nadege.

Nadege wondered if she could find a way to help young women like Keza and combine that passion with her love of design and her desire to make the homes of her friends and neighbors more beautiful. She met that challenge by creating a program that invests in single mothers to transform their lives through apprenticeship and social entrepreneurship.

Nadege selects 10 single mothers along with a local leader and each young woman receives training on producing different handicrafts—rugs, lampshades and other decorative items.

After completing three months of training the top five students are employed by her company and earn a percentage of the price of each product they produce. The remaining five students are encouraged to join other cooperatives so that they can continue improving their skills and earn a living.

More recently, she has opened up the program to a larger number of women and she has a goal of empowering 500 single mothers by 2025.

While her target market has been homes, small offices and coffee shops, she is planning to expand into decorative products for hotels, resorts and larger businesses. She also plans to partner with craft cooperatives to help them increase their production and sales.

Nadege says the skills she has gained through the PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS(r) Program are already being shared with her young apprentices and they are gaining the skill set and the self-confidence to be self-employed.

Nadege shares that PTB has helped her craft a solid business plan, taught her to be a better entrepreneur, and given her a stronger voice to be able to speak about her business in ways that can really make a difference.

Beyond helping a large number of women, in the next five years Nadege has a goal of owning her own shop – she now shares space with another project – and she wants to be able to invest in the machinery she needs to be able to automate some of the work her team does.

Access to capital and access to raw materials are challenges she is working to overcome.

Nadege exemplifies the attributes of the women who receive the Enterprising Women of the Year Award. She is building a strong company and giving back to her community in significant ways.

For these reasons, The Enterprising Women of the Year Awards Program was honored to present the 2020 Enterprising Women of the Year Award for Rwanda to Nadege Benimana. Congratulations Nadege!

According to AOG [Acts of Gratitudes] Highlights 2016-2019, Nadege Benimana is the Founder and Managing Director of Nadol House and Interior Design Ltd. She is a graduate of Ingenzi Social Enterprise Program second cohort.

To start the interior design social enterprise, the inspiration came after realising that it was hard to find the job of her dreams at the completion of her university studies.

She was interested in designing since she was in the secondary school. In the meantime, she was fully dependent on her husband as most of the mothers are in their families.

Also, she had a friend who got pregnant at her young age, and the life was not easy for her as a single mother.

She added that "Starting from there, I thought of something that will help me to be financially stable, but also help those single mothers who actually do not have any one caring for them".

Nadege Benimana, the owner of Nadol House and Interior Design
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