During a recent visit to Rwanda, we visited some of our growth programmes for an extensive interview with their founders about the company, their lives and entrepreneurship in their country.

As the first Rwandan producer of boxed and canned banana wine, Ihuriro Drink has their eyes set on European export. Marie Aime Umuhire has taken her mother's traditional production model and scaled it up, with a modern factory room containing the right fermentation tools and machinery designed by her husband. With 15 permanent employees working on the banana plantation, where Marie Aime also grows yams, sweet potatoes and macadamia, Ihuriro Drink is sure to reach new heights and establish itself as the main provider of luxury banana wine in Rwanda and across its borders.   

Part 1: the work

Can you tell me a bit more about your company?

Marie Aime Umuhire: We promote and preserve our indigenous products, using our banana plantation and adding sorghum in order to make banana wine. We started this company in 2018, but the production of banana wine started already in 1985. It started with my mom; her name in Kinyarwanda is Yuliyana, which has become the name of our brand and product. What we brought in as Ihuriro is the innovation in packaging, using cans. My mom used the traditional Rwandan method and produces the banana wine all by hand.

Why did you choose to continue your mom’s work and scale it up?

Marie Aime: I chose to continue the work because my mom managed to provide for her family and their education through this business, even when using traditional methods. I realised that if she could sustain the whole family this way, I could take it further and continue the business in a way that the whole offspring could benefit from the business. Other family members are doing their own things and building their own businesses, but I decided to take over the banana wine production and scale it up.

What are you most proud of?

Marie Aime: I’m most proud of the customer satisfaction; when I took over, I realised that my mom had a lot of returning customers. If I managed to retain these customers, I could also get other customers. Once I knew that, I knew how to go forward. The taste of the wine has been the same since 1985 and our customers have remained happy - this I'm proud of.

What are your ambitions and long term goals for the company?

Marie Aime: My long term objective is to have any woman who has a banana plantation to live by those products. I can help these women and their families to make a decent income from it. I also want to install juice processing machines at several existing plantations, so we can collect this juice and use it for our banana wine.

Part 2: life

Can you tell me a bit more about yourself?

Marie Aime: I’m a woman with two kids and a husband. I didn’t really continue my education. I’m not very talkative, but one thing that everything knows is that I work hard. And while I don't speak a lot, I do smile a lot.

What inspires you in life?

Marie Aime: Seeing the people around me grow as people, but also in their work with us, inspires me and brings me joy. Seeing them having stable lives, especially in terms of being self-sustainable, building houses, ... their development inspires me.

What do you like to do in your free time?

Marie Aime: I'm a family person, so what I like to do most is spending time with my family, especially with my kids. This is how I use my free time.

Part 3: entrepreneurship and Rwanda

What do you like most about your country?

Marie Aime: What I like most is the seriousness. There are systems in place that help everyone be transparent and accountable. There is no corruption, which I really appreciate.

What improvements do you look forward to?

Marie Aime: I wish that this country will be like a Western country, like the United States for example, where no one would want to leave. Concerning the business, I would love to have our wine be a trademark everywhere, to have it be known as a Rwandan wine throughout the world. We're working hard on the right improvements to our business so we can achieve this.

How do you look at entrepreneurship in your country? 

Marie Aime: Rwanda encourages people to do business and gives them a platform to express themselves through entrepreneurship. Rwandan government considers what entrepreneurs say and this environment makes me feel capable of working towards my dreams.

How do you see this situation evolving throughout the next years?

Marie Aime: It will continue to grow, because the more they give us such platforms, the more people will invest in entrepreneurship. A virtuous cycle.