Last month marked the final chapter of the Knowledge to Knowledge (K2K) DRC programme, which aimed to establish a national university entrepreneurship programme in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Orange Corners has supported this initiative sinc 2020, starting with a pilot that brought together 7 higher education institutes in Kinshasa to co-create an entrepreneurship course tailored to local realities and student needs. This soon spread across the country, with universities in every province invited to join in and shape their own versions of the programme.
To mark the last week, our partners University of Kinshasa (UNIKIN) and Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship (ECE) organised a workshop week at the Orange Corners DRC hub. Representatives from various universities attended, becoming the new “ambassadors” for entrepreneurship education. The project was festively concluded with an event at the residence of the Ambassador of the Netherlands in the DRC.
In her speech, NL Ambassador to DRC H.E. Angèle Samura stated: “Through this initiative, the Netherlands seeks to expand opportunities and employment prospects for young people and women by increasing the number of businesses created by youth, while supporting the private sector and academic institutions. The goal is to involve young entrepreneurs in finding solutions to societal challenges.”
DRC Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation (ESURSI), H.E. Marie-Thérèse Sombo also participated. She expressed her intention to formally accredit the national entrepreneurship programme in the near future. To achieve the objectives of the initiative, close collaboration was established with the ESURSI Ministry and the Permanent Study Committee (CPE), the governmental body responsible for validating accreditation requests for university programmes in the DRC.
This project demonstrates that combining local ownership, international expertise and government commitment can lead to impactful results. Yet the journey is not over: everyone involved will need to stay engaged to keep nurturing entrepreneurship education across the country and help the next generation of Congolese businesses grow and thrive.
