41–50 of 81 posts
This is awesome! Grew up abroad and this seems like a great opportunity. Was it easy to get a work permit / visa for Rwanda?
Could you be a bit more specific when you say Kigali is "safe"? Is it safe for me to move to as a woman? Is it safe for me to bring my wife and kids? These things are often relative.
My business partner, Eric, moved his family here, two young kids and his wife. Moving at night, even as a woman is very safe and commonplace in most parts of Kigali. It really is ridiculously safe here by any standard.
As an example, I am much less concerned about female friends of mine walking around alone at night in Kigali than I am my neighborhood back home in Seattle. (granted I lived in the CD which is higher crime, but still)
This is awesome! Grew up abroad and this seems like a great opportunity. Was it easy to get a work permit / visa for Rwanda?
https://www.migration.gov.rw/services/permits/temporary-perm...
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No, no, that is the wrong takeaway! It is not a brave thing at all, that is the point I'm trying to get across. The end result may seem big, but it was from many small steps, no bigger than you are capable of. My advice, just take that first step, get involved in software taking place in the developing world, see what you can do to help. It's just a matter of small steps from there.
Right. But from where I'm sitting I see the end result of all your little steps and that end result blows me away. I know that you can do stuff like this (Emigrated to Canada, not exactly the developing world but you'd be surprised at the poverty there in some places, worked and lived there for 5 years to mixed effect). The brave bit to me is to leave your comfort zone in such a decisive way. Feel free to disagree, I…
This is awesome! Grew up abroad and this seems like a great opportunity. Was it easy to get a work permit / visa for Rwanda?
Rwanda has a classification specifically for technology entrepreneurs. It's a 3-year visa and if you are a qualified software practitioner, I don't foresee you having difficulty getting a permit to start a software company here. They also pride themselves on same-day business registration. https://www.migration.gov.rw/services/permits/temporary-perm...
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I can't say that we evaluated every country before choosing Rwanda, to be perfectly honest we didn't look at that many, we just decided that Rwanda was 'good enough' and would probably work so we went for it. The three countries you list are very very different from Rwanda and from each other, so it is hard to comment on that. In many ways South Africa has more in common with California than it does with Rwanda.
I'd be curious to hear more about this decision. I note that it lies somewhere approximately in between the extremes of Kenya/Nigeria/SA on one end and Central African Republic on the other.
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Rwanda has a classification specifically for technology entrepreneurs. It's a 3-year visa and if you are a qualified software practitioner, I don't foresee you having difficulty getting a permit to start a software company here. They also pride themselves on same-day business registration. https://www.migration.gov.rw/services/permits/temporary-perm...
A smart move. How common are those sort of visas in developing countries?
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Rwanda has a classification specifically for technology entrepreneurs. It's a 3-year visa and if you are a qualified software practitioner, I don't foresee you having difficulty getting a permit to start a software company here. They also pride themselves on same-day business registration. https://www.migration.gov.rw/services/permits/temporary-perm...
A smart move. How common are those sort of visas in developing countries?
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A smart move. How common are those sort of visas in developing countries?
My main concern in this question is that I've heard of a growing concern in East Africa that foreigners are taking jobs/money out of the country instead of investing. From what I've heard, Rwanda sounds perfect, though Kenya has pretty amazing infrastructure too. Kenya is however a lot more dangerous than Rwanda sounds.
At this point, Nairobi has more going on in it's tech scene and certainly a more mature market to sell into, but you are right, it's definitely not as safe and transparent as Kigali.
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No, not at all. Rwanda is probably safer than any place in the states.. you can walk around anywhere in the city in the middle of the night (and I do) and there are no concerns. There is still unrest in DRC but that is very much localized.
I'm very surprised to hear you say that. My experience of Rwanda is that the issue is always just below the surface. I spent three months there 3 years ago working as a Physics teacher. The election was on when I was there and it was rather surreal, the radio was constantly going on about genocide and there was a lot of tension in the air.