Impact Stories & Blogs

I came to the YALI Regional Leadership Center’s Cohort 2 on a mission to find my leadership niche.  Already interested in information and communication technology, I desired to utilize my skills in both IT and finance to benefit youth and low income people in my country, but the concept for how to do so had escaped me. From the outset, I realized the Center’s learning environment was different from anything I had ever experienced.  I learned that communication, problem solving, and innovation were the pathways to where I wanted to go, but it was not until the Design Thinking course that the concept which had alluded me finally came into focus.

Once back in the Democratic Republic of Congo, I formed a social enterprise called Creditech that specializes in providing low cost and affordable information technology devices and solutions to youth, educators and to any Congolese citizen that cannot afford them. I believe that access to information and communications technology (ICT) is a basic right that should be available to all regardless of geographical location, social status or financial situation. I also believe that information technology is essential to development and that connectivity brings people together to share ideas and promote innovation. 

Whether for laptops or smart phones, or other technology Creditech provides a pathway both Congolese youth to procure these products, but also gain access to the training to use them effectively. 

Under my initiative called “Connect the Teacher and the Student,” I hope to provide ICT solutions for the professional development of teachers as well as their students in order to promote digital literacy in all areas of society.

Creditech now has five employees and has provided more than 1,000 Congolese youth and other target customers with a low cost way to utilize technology to enrich their lives, enhance their livelihoods and increase their productivity.  For years, I had searched for that one big idea and the ability to make it happen.  I found both at the Center and it has allowed me to enrich the lives of my fellow citizens by promoting affordable connectivity, free flow of information, and increased exposure to innovative approaches.