Muraho!
Most everyone that's visiting this blog has some idea of why I'm in Rwanda, but I thought that I'd quickly explain my what my work will be.
Most everyone that's visiting this blog has some idea of why I'm in Rwanda, but I thought that I'd quickly explain my what my work will be.
The Babson-Rwanda Entrepreneurship Center is a newly formed partnership between Babson College (#1 college in the world for entrepreneurship) and Rwanda's Private Sector Federation (PSF). The goal of the center is to work with PSF to increase the capacity and productivity of the private sector. Positive developments in these fields are essential to Rwanda's goal of becoming a middle-income country. On a micro-level, success can improve the living standards for the Rwandan people, many of whom currently live below the poverty line of $1.25 (USD) a day. As one of the founding Project Directors, I will live in Kigali and work alongside the PSF to meet those goals. Our work will be varied, but all of it will be related towards fostering entrepreneurship within Rwanda.
To start out we're going to be working with 12 Provincial Investment Corporations (PICs). The PICs are essentially investment groups supported by wealthy Rwandan individuals and municipalities that are meant to make equity investments in SMEs in a number of target industries/sectors. Although, the PICs were established a couple of years ago, they have been paralyzed by a number of issues and thus have failed to make any investments. Enter the BREC. Our first assignment will be to work with our PSF counterparts to identify the reasons for the stall and provide solutions that will get the PICs to operate. This project is really exciting for me because I love problem-solving in a business context and the success of this project could have an enormous impact on Rwanda's nascent financial sector. We're still working on the details of the scope of this project, but I'll be sure to update as much as possible.
Below, I've embedded a youtube video of the signing ceremony between Babson and the PSF that took place on September 27th at Babson's Campus. Enjoy!
Turongera,
Chris
Chris
Congratulations Chris! I'm really excited to hear more about your adventure. Did you read the book "Strength in What Remains" (Babson's ugrad summer reading book this year)? It's about Burundi and Rwanda. Rwanda is a country I didn't know much about until reading this book. I'd recommend it.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck,
Brian
Chris, I can't believe the amazing things you're going to be doing in Rwanda! I know you're still ramping up, but I look forward to hearing some of the initiatives that the PICs end up investing in. I'm so happy we can follow the developments here!
ReplyDeleteLove you,
Amanda
I am really amazed an impressed by this new adventure of yours! You are doing really awesome work out there, I am glad you've decided to use your powers for good! best of luck and Ill be following along
ReplyDeleteColin