About
Who we are
Ibitabo means "books" in Kirundi. Our monogram is an open book coming to life, each unfolding page a path that knowledge can open.
We are a group of professionals with international careers who put their skills and networks to work for an underserved community. We came together around a simple observation: in Burundi, one of the poorest countries in the world, talented students finish their degrees and find no way to use them. Jobs are scarce, and many end up in work far below their qualifications, or in no work at all.
We are based in Europe and registered in the Netherlands, but the work happens in Burundi. On the ground we operate through our partner, Université des Grands Lacs in Bujumbura, and we travel there regularly to run our projects alongside the students and staff who make them work. We fund the equipment a project needs, and we bring the professional experience, international contacts, and time to get it running.
Our approach
Our Mission
Our mission is to help students in Burundi turn their education into opportunity, for themselves, and for the economy around them.
We focus on entrepreneurship, because a graduate who can create a job does more for Burundi than a graduate who finds one. That means practical experience during their studies, not only after: running a real business, solving a real problem, working with real partners.
Our Vision
We want to help build an education system in Burundi where studying leads somewhere and where students create new jobs and fuel the country's growth.
Over the next ten years we hope to work alongside major international organizations: the UN, governments, the EU, the East African Community, to make that system a reality. It’s an ambitious aim for a young foundation, and we’re clear-eyed about the distance between here and there. We get there one project at a time, each one designed to keep running after we step back, because a thriving community is an independent one.