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Trying to find the trees for the forest

Fourteen years ago, genocide wiped out 800,000 Rwandans in a matter of months. The emotional scars are still very tender, and so are the economic ones. The architects of the genocide targeted educated Rwandans, essentially wiping out most of the professional class. One of the reasons the country continues to struggle financially despite its many opportunities is the sheer lack of experienced entrepreneurs, professionals, and managers to build and run the economy.

And yet the country is not discouraged. Today I had coffee with Sandrali S., an architect and owner of an architectural design and engineering company. His work in and around Kigali is impressive. And yet he is quick to acknowledge that with only a handful of architects in the country, there are no models for business growth. What Sandrali wants is a mentor. Someone who can help him develop a strategic plan for growth (should he expand into residential construction, real estate development, or materials supply?), a financial plan for funding development (joint-ventures? limited partnerships to attract capital?), and an operational model for nurturing and retaining talent (as soon as he has trained a young engineer, one of the international NGOs swoops in and hires him away at a salary that Sandrali can’t meet).

And then there’s Arthur K., a young Rwandan trained in business in California and now back in his country helping to develop Rwanda’s specialty coffee market. One of the many innovative ideas he is developing is coffee appellations based on regions and maybe even specific coffee cooperatives, similar to the French model of wine appellations, to build the brand equity of the Rwandan coffee industry.

And a few minutes ago I met Joy, a young lawyer who returned to Rwanda to set up a small corporate and family law office. There are no large, established law firms in Kigali at which someone like Joy can apprentice. But what if she had a mentor who could guide her through the early years of setting up shop, developing a partnership model, and managing staff?

On my first night in Rwanda, a senior consultant from a well-known think tank scoffed that there are no entrepreneurs in the country. Kenya yes, Rwanda no. And yet that hasn’t been my experience. Within a matter of days, I’ve met numerous owners of going concerns, all of them ambitious and optimistic, and yet recognizing that there are limits in a market that lacks business mentors.

I think I’ve found the trees.