Fireside at FemSTEM Africa: Blandine Umuziranenge

Join Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) & H2i on April 6th for a Fireside at FemSTEM Africa with Blandine Umuziranenge!

What is Fireside at FemSTEM Africa?

Fireside at FemSTEM is an interactive conversation series held as part of the broader FemSTEM Africa event program.

Each session features a conversation with a distinguished woman working in the health entrepreneurship space. Speakers share reflections from their careers, lessons learned, and advice for founders building health ventures.

Audience members are encouraged to participate by submitting questions during the session!

FemSTEM Africa 2026 is co-designed and implemented by Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and Health Innovation Hub (H2i) under the Africa Health Collaborative, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, and with legal partnership support from Sustineri Attorneys.

Meet the Speaker

Blandine Umuziranenge is a Rwandan social entrepreneur, innovator, and Founder & CEO of Kosmotive, a pioneering women’s health enterprise transforming menstrual, maternal, and reproductive care across Africa. Her path, shaped by early hardship and an unyielding pursuit of education, spans IT, Filmmaking, Social Innovation Management, Leadership, and more than 70 global fellowships, including the Miller Center for Global Impact Accelerator, the Obama Leaders Program, the Mandela Washington Fellowship, and the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI).

Practical, hands-on, and empathetic, Blandine learned to move between strategy and detail: pitching ideas one day, fixing systems the next, and always listening to the people she served. Kosmotive began as a small effort to meet clear needs in her community and grew into a platform that blends purpose with real-world solutions. Under her guidance, the venture focused on dignity, inclusion, and creating jobs and skills where there were few.

In 2025, Blandine’s work gained global visibility: she became a Top 20 Africa’s Business Heroes finalist, won the FemSTEM Africa Award, was featured on the Nasdaq billboard in Times Square, recognized among ABCD Media’s 100 Most Impactful Voices, and selected for develoPP Ventures Cohort 8. She also represented Rwanda and Africa at global stages, including Goalkeepers in Abu Dhabi and Commitment to Action at the CGI Annual Meetings in New York, where she advocated for menstrual justice and women’s health equity.

Through Kosmotive, Blandine has expanded her impact across multiple African countries, merging sustainable product innovation with digital health solutions, flexible payment systems for menstrual equity, and job creation for women. Her leadership is rooted in empathy, resilience, and the belief that communities can rebuild with dignity when given the tools and opportunity.

Blandine’s ambition is to build Kosmotive not just as a company, but as a movement for health equity. Through her work, she continues to champion girls’ and women’s rights, inspire emerging leaders, and reimagine what African-driven innovation can achieve.

Meet the Moderator

Fraidianie Sévigné is a seasoned pharmaceutical industry executive with more than 20 years of leadership experience across Operations, Quality, Compliance, and Regulatory Strategy. She has a distinguished record of guiding products from early clinical development through manufacturing scale‑up, validation, and commercial launch, supporting sustained market success in Canada, the U.S., and internationally.  Throughout her career, Fraidianie has led complex cross‑functional organizations, strengthened operational excellence, and advanced regulatory and quality frameworks that enable innovation, scalability, and global compliance. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from École Polytechnique de Montréal and currently serves as Vice President, Operations at Ripple Therapeutics, where she drives operational excellence to achieve organizational goals.