Last week, I shared a progress update on INZU YANJE my house rental platform. I talked about the features, the late nights, and the struggle of getting access to local payment APIs.
Someone asked me a question that stuck with me:
"Why are you building this for Burundi? Why not build something for a bigger market Europe, America, anywhere with more users and more money?"
It's a fair question. So today, I want to answer it honestly.
The World Builds for Everyone Except Us
Look at the most popular apps and platforms in the world. They're designed for:
- People with stable internet connections
- People with international credit cards
- People who speak English, French, or Chinese as their first language
- People who live in cities with reliable infrastructure
- People whose daily problems are things like "which restaurant should I try tonight?"
Now look at Burundi.
Most people access the internet through a phone that cost less than $100. Mobile money is more common than bank accounts. Internet connections can be slow and expensive. And the problems people face every day are things like:
- "How do I find a house to rent without paying a middleman three months' rent?"
- "How do I send money to my family without traveling for hours?"
- "How do I find a job when listings are scattered across WhatsApp groups?"
The global tech industry isn't building for us. So we have to build for ourselves.
I Build for the People I Know
When I'm at Siyoni Market selling kitchenware, I talk to people every day. I hear their frustrations. I understand their needs because they're my needs too.
The woman looking for a house to rent before the school term starts. The landlord who can't find reliable tenants. The student who needs affordable housing near the university. The small business owner who wants to accept mobile payments but doesn't know where to start.
These aren't hypothetical users. They're real people I see every week.
If I build something that helps them even a little that matters more to me than millions of downloads from people I'll never meet.
Local Problems Require Local Solutions
Here's what I've learned: you can't solve a problem you don't understand.
A developer in San Francisco can't build a house rental platform for Burundi. Why? Because they don't know:
- That most rentals happen through word of mouth, not online listings
- That mobile money is the preferred way to pay, not credit cards
- That house photos need to load on 3G connections, not fiber optic
- That the platform needs to work in Kirundi and Swahili, not just English and French
- That trust is built through personal connections, not star ratings
I know these things because I live here. I experience them every day. And that knowledge is worth more than any amount of venture capital.
The Harder Path Is Often the Right One
Yes, building for Burundi is harder.
The payment APIs aren't publicly available. The internet infrastructure isn't perfect. The market is smaller. The path isn't as clear as building another app for the American or European market.
But here's what I believe:
The people who build for the overlooked markets are the ones who create real change.
Someone had to build the first mobile money system in Kenya. Someone had to build the first ride-hailing app in Nigeria. Someone had to build the first e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia.
Why can't someone from Burundi build the first real estate platform for our market?
Why can't that someone be me?
This Is Personal
I didn't study computer science in China to escape Burundi. I studied to come back and build something meaningful here.
Every line of code I write for INZU YANJE is a line of code written for my community. Every feature I design is designed with my neighbors in mind. Every late night is fueled by the belief that technology can make life better for the people I see every day at the market.
I'm not building the next Silicon Valley unicorn. I'm building something simpler but, in my opinion, more important:
A platform that actually helps people in my country solve a real problem.
A Message to Other African Developers
If you're reading this and you're also building something for your local community keep going.
The world needs more people who build for their own communities. Who understand local problems. Who create solutions that work in local contexts.
Don't let anyone tell you that your market is "too small" or that you should "think bigger." Building for your own people isn't thinking small. It's thinking specific. And specificity is where real impact happens.
What's Next
INZU YANJE isn't finished. The payment integration is still challenging. There's still work to do. But I'm not stopping.
I'm building for Burundi first. Not because it's easy but because it matters.
And if this platform helps even one family find a home, one landlord find a tenant, or one student find housing near their university...then every late night was worth it.
— Dona
Building for my community. One line of code at a time.
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