Africa-Press – Rwanda. Ikirezi bookshop opened in Kigali city centre in 1998, when founder Michael Lijdsman saw there was a need for a place to find books to read.
As the city started gravitating towards another part of Kigali a few years ago — to Kimihurura, Kacyiru and Remera — the bookshop moved to its current location behind the Netherlands embassy in Kimihurura.
The bookshop, which has more than 6,000 books, has grown into its role of being the place to find books of all genres, in English, French and Kinyarwanda.
Mbabazi Felix, who manages Ikirezi, says for many years it was expatriates working in Kigali and tourists who made up to 70 percent of their customers. However, in the past few years the trend has been changing.
He says there is a generation of young Rwandans, especially those who studied or lived abroad, who have increasingly been buying books.
Ikirezi bookshop’s strength lies in its offering of an array of books to cater for everyone. Some Rwandan returnees buy books about the genocide and Rwandan history, as many seek to understand their country’s tragic and complex past.
