Kivu Choice

About Kivu Choice

Kivu Choice is a vertically integrated aquaculture company founded in late 2021 by Kamran Ahmad. After visiting Rwanda in 2019 and working at Victory Farms in Kenya, Ahmad was inspired to address the need for affordable and sustainable protein in the region by launching a counterpart in Rwanda. The company is a sister company to Victory Farms, the largest aquaculture platform in East Africa.

The business model encompasses the entire value chain, including a feed mill, a state-of-the-art hatchery for tilapia fingerlings, cage-based fish farming on Lake Kivu, and a distribution network with its own sales outlets. The company's primary product is fresh tilapia, which it harvests daily to ensure quality. By managing its own distribution, Kivu Choice aims to provide the lowest possible price and greatest accessibility to customers across Rwanda, selling fish through its branded outlets in major markets. The business generates revenue through the sale of its fish to consumers and by supplying fingerlings to smallholder farmers.

Significant milestones for the company include launching its first branch in November 2022, raising $35 million in a Series B funding round in April 2023—the largest in the African aquaculture industry—and reaching an annualized production of 3,000 metric tons by May 2024. The company operates under a 30-year lease agreement with the Government of Rwanda for the Kigembe Fish Farm, which it has scaled into the largest fingerling producer in the country. In May 2025, the company launched 30-meter diameter cages, the largest in Africa, to significantly increase its production capacity. Kivu Choice's mission is to democratize access to animal protein by increasing affordability and supply, with a long-term goal of producing over 50 million fish meals per year for Rwanda, the DRC, and Burundi.