Ntakamaze was born in North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a country which has lost over 6 million people in two decades of war. Along with thousands of other Congolese, he was forced to flee to Uganda, and lived as a refugee for over 20 years.

In 2005, Ntakamaze and his friends started to build foundations of what is today known as Coburwas International Youth Organization to Transform Africa (CIYOTA), a youth led initiative, formed to provide high quality and innovative education to empower conflict affected children with the necessary skills to address complex community challenges.

In 2013, he conducted research on the "Impact of Refugees Economic Activities in Relation to the Private Sector in the Host Countries" for the Humanitarian Innovation Project at the University of Oxford. In May 2017, he graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester in New York. Upon graduation, he worked at DENSO Manufacturing Tennessee for one year and currently serves as the Executive Director for CIYOTA.