The BongoHive IGNITE Digital Economy Incubator and Accelerator Roadshow came to the Copperbelt in April 2026 as part of a national tour targeting digital-first founders. Funded by the European Union through the GreenTech4CE Project, the roadshow ran across two cities — Ndola on the 20th and 21st, and Kitwe on the 23rd and 24th. The goal was to prepare founders for a 12-month incubation programme with funding opportunities ranging from €2,500 to €25,000.

I attended the Kitwe leg as a founder of The Charming Programmer, with the tutoring platform as my prototype and early traction behind me. Over 40 founders showed up on Day 1. What happened over those two days was not what I expected.

It Wasn't a Workshop. It Was a Design Sprint.

I came in thinking this would be a series of presentations and panels — the kind of event where you sit, listen, take notes, and leave with a PDF. It was nothing like that.

BongoHive's facilitators ran a tight, structured Design Sprint — a methodology borrowed from the world of product design that forces you to pressure-test your assumptions in real time. The core questions were relentless:

  • Who exactly is your customer?
  • What problem are you actually solving — not what you think you're solving?
  • Why is your solution better than anything else currently available?
  • What does your business model look like under pressure?

"Over 40 founders turned up for Day 1 — and what struck us most wasn't the numbers. It was how quickly the room got real. Founders challenging their own assumptions, questioning what they thought they knew about their customers, and leaving with more questions than answers. That's exactly the point."

I Was Corrected More Than I Expected.

I presented multiple times across both days. Each time, the facilitators and fellow founders pushed back — hard. Not to be harsh, but because that's the process. Human-centred design demands that you start with the person you're building for, not the solution you're excited about.

The most important thing I learnt: I had been leading with my solution instead of the problem. The tutoring platform is a great build — but I had to be challenged to articulate, clearly and simply, what pain it removes from a real student's life before I could talk about how it removes it.

The pitching practice sessions were equally intense. Standing in front of a room and articulating your value proposition in under two minutes, clearly enough that someone who has never heard of you immediately understands and cares — that is a skill entirely separate from building the product.

What I Took Away

The biggest shift for me was understanding the difference between identifying a problem and assuming a problem. Before Kitwe, I was building features I thought students needed. The Design Sprint methodology forced me to validate — do they actually need this? Have I talked to enough of them? What does the data say?

It is a humbling process. And a necessary one.

If you are a digital-first founder on the Copperbelt and BongoHive IGNITE comes back around — register. Show up on both days. Bring your thickest skin and your most honest version of your business idea. The room will make it better.