Sport en Commun

Project supported by INTWARI Sports Institute

The project is led by a group of private investors including Davis Ndayisenga, a young Rwandan entrepreneur active within the sport and development ecosystem for the past ten years. He is supported by Jimmy Adjovi-Boco, a former Beninese international football player, co-founder of the Diambars Sports Institute in Senegal.

INTWARI Sports Institute is a high quality academic and sporting complex with the objective to build sustainable economic, social and ecological solutions on the African continent. Located in Rwamagana City, the capital city of the Eastern Province, the Institute aims to train the future leaders for the development of the sport ecosystem.

Context

The complex is part of a sustainable development context and provides a response to shortcomings noted both in the infrastructures and education and vocational training for the poorer youngsters of the region (notably from Burundi, East of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda). The issues shall be focused on promoting such values as excellence, integrity, equity, and gender equality and accountability.

With a capacity to accommodate over 700 boarders and 5,000 students over time, the facility shall have 4 distinct poles of activity: the sports academy (football, basketball and cycling), the university of sporting professions, the innovative and ecological sporting, medical and educational facilities, and the pole devoted to sport tourism.

The complex’s basic infrastructures are being rolled out and the academic and sporting activities are scheduled to start in 2021.

Objectives

Facilitating access to education, improving the quality of the training and promoting youngsters’ employability through sport
Providing African youths with a quality education through practising their passion and finding sustainable and innovative solutions for the populations using sport and education
Assisting Africa’s talents of tomorrow in their sporting, academic and professional life paths
Helping in sport’s democratisation on the African continent
Using sport as a tool for economic, social and environmental development
Ensuring fair access to education in order to guarantee access to meaningful learning opportunities to the poorer people

Activities

Building and developing innovative educational, sporting, ecological and health infrastructures (notably with a multisport stadium sitting 15,000 people and a medical centre dedicated to sport)
Hiring skilled coaches and educators capable of giving adequate training to the young boarders and students
Developing innovative university curricula (B.A/B.Sc., Master’s degree) and tailored to demand in the market in relation to sport
Setting up a professional team playing in the local football and basketball leagues
Strategic partnerships with local public authorities (Ministry of Sport and Culture and Ministry of Education), sporting institutions (MoU with the national cycling federation) and international clubs
Rolling out sustainable development projects in the fields of organic farming and protection of the environment

Impacts

Production of sustainable ecological bricks for the construction of selected infrastructures
Integration of the use of renewable energies and the development of organic farming into the project
Over 700 young boarders hired and trained in football and basketball over time
60% of the young talents among the poorer people shall be granted scholarships for a course 100% free of charge
Over 5,000 young graduates trained each year in sporting professions over time

Funding

The global budget amounts to €27m ($30m) related to the construction of the facilities (3 phases over 5 years) and first operating costs. The proposed structuring is based on a 30% equity contribution from project managers and a fundraising combining both public subsidies and credit loans.