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Latest from the factory

Milestones, visits and stories from the DIKAM floor. Follow the day-to-day on Instagram.

Dozens of DIKAM Training Center graduates in caps and gowns holding certificates in front of the factory
Impact20 Jul 2026

Caps in the air: a new cohort graduates from the DIKAM Training Center

Gowns, caps and certificates in front of the factory: the latest cohort of the DIKAM Training Center graduated — trained on the same machines, in the same building, where many of them will now work.

Guests and DIKAM leadership in front of the DIKAM monogram during the ministerial visit to the showroom
Visit15 Jun 2026

The Minister of Trade and Industry visits DIKAM

DIKAM welcomed Rwanda's Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon. Prudence Sebahizi, to the showroom — a chance to show what Made in Rwanda garment production looks like up close.

High-school students in white shirts and ties pose with a DIKAM host outside the factory offices
Impact30 May 2026

School study tours: showing students where garments come from

DIKAM regularly opens its doors to visiting school groups — a walk through the floor, the machines and the people, so students can see garment manufacturing as a real career.

Diane Mukasahaha speaking on a business conference panel
Industry15 May 2026

DIKAM joins the Africa CEO Forum 2026 in Kigali

The continent's largest gathering of business leaders came to Kigali on 14–15 May, bringing together more than 2,800 participants under the theme “The Scale Imperative”. For DIKAM it is where supply partnerships get made — our founder has used previous editions to meet textile counterparts in Benin and Côte d'Ivoire.

Diane Mukasahaha presents the DIKAM showroom, where a vintage pedal sewing machine is kept on display
Our story10 Feb 2026

From one pedal sewing machine to a national supplier

DIKAM started in 2018 as a home workshop with a single pedal-operated sewing machine, and two employees our founder trained herself. Today the floor runs between 4,000 and 18,000 pieces a day, and roughly six in ten are uniforms for hospitals, hospitality and security companies.

DIKAM staff in their best dress celebrating under a tent in the factory yard
Team20 Dec 2025

Closing the year together

After a year that put DIKAM on the Africa’s Business Heroes stage, the team closed 2025 the right way — music, food and dancing in the factory yard.

The Africa's Business Heroes delegation and the DIKAM team at the factory site above Kigali
Recognition13 Dec 2025

Diane Mukasahaha named a top-10 finalist in Africa's Business Heroes 2025

DIKAM founder and CEO Diane Mukasahaha was selected as one of ten finalists in the 2025 Africa's Business Heroes prize — chosen from more than 32,000 applicants across the continent — and took the stage at the Grand Finale in Kigali in December.

Sun Lijun of Alibaba tours the DIKAM production floor, where machinists in blue uniforms finish drawstring bags
Visit12 Dec 2025

Alibaba's Sun Lijun visits the DIKAM factory

In December 2025, Sun Lijun — Alibaba Group Vice-President and President of Alibaba Philanthropy — visited DIKAM while in Kigali for the Africa’s Business Heroes Summit, touring the production floor, the embroidery section and the showroom.

The visiting delegation and DIKAM team together at the factory site, with Kigali's hills behind
Visit11 Dec 2025

The Africa's Business Heroes community tours DIKAM

During the week of the ABH Grand Finale in Kigali, entrepreneurs, partners and organisers from across the continent — and beyond — came to see DIKAM's floor for themselves.

Diane Mukasahaha receives a bouquet from DIKAM staff during the night-time celebration, with Kigali's lights behind
Recognition15 Sept 2025

The night the whole factory celebrated

When word reached Kigali in September 2025 that DIKAM had been selected for the Africa's Business Heroes Top 10, the celebration wasn't a boardroom affair — the whole factory turned out, in company red, with confetti over the front yard.

H.E. Mr. François Kanimba and guests with the DIKAM team during his visit to the factory
Visit05 Jan 2025

H.E. Mr. François Kanimba visits DIKAM Fashion Ltd

Mr. Kanimba — Commissioner of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and formerly Rwanda's Minister of Trade and Industry — toured our Kigali production floor.

Trainees at work on sewing machines at the DIKAM Training Center
Impact01 Jun 2024

Empowering women through the DIKAM Training Center

Around 600 people have come through DIKAM training programmes, with roughly 400 going on to work at DIKAM or other factories. Courses run three to six months, led by trainers from Bangladesh, Cambodia and China. One pilot trained eighteen teenage mothers — around seven in ten went into employment afterwards.

Diane Mukasahaha welcoming visitors into the DIKAM showroom
Our story01 Jun 2024

Diane Mukasahaha: from palliative care to the production floor

Before founding DIKAM, Diane Mukasahaha spent sixteen years in public health — trained in nursing and palliative care, and serving as Rwanda's National Coordinator of Palliative Care with the Ministry of Health and USAID. She moved into textiles for a simple reason: to create the jobs that let women afford health insurance in the first place.

The DIKAM garment factory in the Rwanda Special Economic Zone
Milestone01 Jun 2024

A new garment factory in Rwanda's Special Economic Zone

In 2024, DIKAM completed its purpose-built garment factory in the Rwanda Special Economic Zone — an investment of over $1.6 million, and the foundation for everything the company has built since.