When Olivier visited the Unipods for the first time, it was during a session of the second Youth café, a storytelling event that brings together entrepreneurs from all walks of life to discuss the highs and lows of their entrepreneurship journeys. The theme was the “circular economy”.

He'd had imaginative ideas about recycling and environmental conservation but had no physical space or equipment to bring them to life. As the culture is, the youth café attendants are given a tour of the Unipod, a fully-fledged creative space established by the timbuktoo initiative.

The space is equipped with different creative studios to enhance the innovative minds of young innovators and give them the chance to bring their ideas to life. Today, 13 UniPods have been constructed across the continent, and 40 more are in the pipeline.

When the youth café participants were invited to use the creative space at the University of Rwanda, Olivier took it literally. A few days later, he quickly returned to the premises and expressed interest in using the Unipod space to enhance his dreams and bring them to life.

Today, Olivier is working on a project that turns biomass waste into affordable cooking fuel. He has designed affordable cooking pots and stoves for the biomass. Compared to the market prices, these stoves are relatively cheaper. But that is not all. 

In Rwanda, 40% of each post-harvest vegetable and fruit harvest is lost due to the lack of reliable ways of storing them, yet farmers claim that conventional refrigerators are expensive and require high running costs, such as electricity and maintenance. In addition, these refrigerators produce gases that increase the risks of global warming. To fix this challenge, Olivier designed a cooling system for large-scale farmers, mostly in rural areas, that lose their harvest due to a lack of appropriate, affordable conservation methods. 

Named the zero-energy cooling chamber, the system only uses water and charcoal or biochar. For the cooling system to operate efficiently, a pipe of water is channeled through charcoal, coming in contact with hot air from the outside. This, in turn, allows the water to evaporate and cool the vegetables and fruits.

"The zero-energy cooling chamber is affordable, eco-friendly, and easy for farmers to use." Olivier said.  

In addition to the two projects, Olivier is interning at UniPod. He assists with the machine that prints photos onto cardboard, a more appealing and longer-lasting solution. Olivier emphasizes that the Unipod has also helped him to have an address where he can comfortably showcase his work

The Youth Café has been instrumental in unveiling the UniPod to Rwanda's young innovators, offering a unique and inspiring introduction to a creative haven. Through this monthly gathering, young entrepreneurs share their journeys and see the tangible resources available to them - tools that can transform ideas into reality. For Olivier, the UniPod became a launchpad for his vision, and through empowering innovators, the space continues to be the foundation of Africa's sustainable future.