Allen Simms, a former professional athlete and national champion in track and field has launched a sports apparel business, Impano Sports in Kigali, Rwanda.
Impano Sports is a new player in the active lifestyle apparel industry in Africa. The company is founded by professional athletes that have come together to form a quality brand that represents independence and accomplishment among the sports community in Africa and abroad.
Impano Sports provides African inspired quality sports apparel designed specifically for athletes, runners and the active lifestyle community.
Meet the co-founder, Allen Simms
Allen Simms was a standout professional athlete and national champion in track and field. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in multimedia technology and earned a Master of Art in Liberal Studies and a graduate certificate in Global Studies from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro in 2014.
He holds IAAF and USATF coaching certificates in athletics specializing in jumping events and currently coaches at young elite athletes in Rwanda under his sports organization Impano Academy Rwanda. He has a unique passion and love for Africa and serving the sports community.
The Impano Sports Story
The Founders travelled to Rwanda to identify and coach young talented athletes to the elite level, realizing these athletes had limited access to quality sportswear they decided to work with local Rwandans to create their own sportswear for and Impano Sports Ltd. was founded.
Impano employees are only local Rwandans, providing training and resources to develop quality activewear and sportswear apparel to the local and global community.
Co-founder Allen Simms (far-right) in a pose with some workers of the Impano Sports in Kigali, Rwanda.
According to the founders, “our goal is to empower Africans by encouraging creativity, innovation and independence by combating second-hand ideology and the notion that Africans are underdeveloped and unable to produce such apparel without the help of larger outside countries. We pride ourselves on superior customer service and maintaining the high standards our customers deserve.”
On social impact, they are interested in investing in local communities through strategic partnerships with schools and grassroots non-profit organizations. They also seek to empower local tailors with the skills and training needed to unleash their unlimited creative capacity.
Check out the Impano Sports online store and support African entrepreneurs in creating opportunities for women and young people.