CEO of IBTC Film & Design

Jean

Greetings! My name is Jean, 

the CEO of IBTC Film & Design.

IBTC Film & Design has been teaching Rwandan 

youth filmmaking and editing since 2012. 

Let me take you through our journey!

Rwanda is located in the inland of eastern Africa. Rapid economic growth accompanied with many new technologies and companies moving in has made Rwanda the ‘Singapore of Africa’. Rwandan youth, much like in Korea, are trying their hardest to foster their capacity and skills. Many young people are capable of using workspace software like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. However, those who are literate in graphic design tools remain scarce in Rwanda.

During college, I was in charge of making promotional content for our school. While I was taking photos and videos to use in our promotions, they felt a bit lacking. Wanting to give these photos more life and detail, I tried using Photoshop for the first time in my life. Once I started to use Photoshop, I became more and more interested in graphic design and video editing, and soon realized how much value good visual materials have in the global society.

The unemployment rate for Rwandan youth is at 21%. Out of the employed, 60% are faced with low wages and poor working environments. I thought that knowledge and skills in graphic design was a key factor for African youths to seize better jobs. Believing that I could help them grow and change their lives, I started IBTC Film & Design-the first educational institute for graphic design in Rwanda.

Here at IBTC Film & Design, we offer courses for web design, graphic design, and filmmaking. Many other schools were set up after us, but what makes our courses unique is the fact that students can learn practical skills and professional levels of knowledge in a short amount of time.

Our students are taught skills that are readily available for use in companies and filming scenes. Many graduates found themselves with nice careers, and some even started their own startups. Quality education leads to quality employment, and eventually the ability to change lives. This is the value that IBTC Film & Design generates.

Thanks to our supportive students and partners, we were able to set up a new campus in DR Congo in just three years of operating. Now we are educating not only Rwandan youth, but also people from Zimbabwe, Uganda, Mozambique, and from all over Africa. It is truly inspiring for us to see African youth use our training to take themselves to the next level!

The problem that we are trying to solve at the moment is accessibility. The main campus of IBTC Film & Design is located in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. However, the youth in rural areas find education much harder to get compared to those in the cities. We would love to provide rural areas with our courses, but heavy equipment such as cameras and computers make it a difficult task. Furthermore, the expensive costs of purchasing and maintaining such professional filming equipment is making it hard to expand out.

But there is a solution. If we can’t get to the rural areas, and they cannot reach us, we can always meet online! Even in rural Rwanda, many people have smartphones. There also exist centers with internet connection that the Rwandan government made, making this approach the perfect choice.

With your impact donations, IBTC Film & Design is looking to create an online platform to offer online lecture courses. Due to online lectures requiring less equipment, we could also drop down the administration fees. This would all lead to our courses being more accessible to more youth!

IBTC Film & Design is making society get rid of poverty through learning and careers. Support us and Rwandan youth!