The Joy of Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

I have been a part of organizations that seemed perpetually “behind the times”. I have also worked at organizations that have been so ahead of their time they could not capture a viable market for their products and services. Together, these experiences have instilled in me a great appreciation for being in the right place at the right time.

Karisimbi Partners certainly seems to be ideally situated for the challenges and opportunities facing Rwanda today. Many of the most important validating factors were not visible until we visited and eventually became residents here. The following is a partial list of the indications suggesting we are ideally situated for the present conditions:

· Rwanda has garnered a great deal of international attention, goodwill and resources (partially as a result of the devastating atrocities of 15 years ago; partially due to the subsequent vision and pace of progress since)

· Rwanda is very much “open for business”, as indicated by the following:

o A recent World Bank/IFC report just named Rwanda the developing country that is reforming its business practices and regulations faster than any other in the world (link to report).

o Many consider Rwanda the least corrupt, safest business environment in Africa

o The Rwandan economy is established enough to boast over 70,000 micro-businesses and the services sectors to support them…. yet there are less than 50 ‘large’ companies in the country… offering tremendous untapped potential for small and medium-sized enterprises that hope to grow

· After many group training sessions and short-term management interventions, the Government’s Rwanda Development Board (RDB) has concluded what is needed now are “company-specific interventions” for translating abstract, generalized concepts in ways that offer practical impact for individual companies

· The vast majority of Western business influence in Rwanda has come in the form of investment capital and short-term management interventions… making Karisimbi Partners distinctive for partnering long-term and locally to build up the management capacity of promising Rwandan ventures

…and these are just a sample of the indicators that the timing is right for what we are doing. Other anecdotal signs: I arrived while the national “Code of Business Ethics” was being drafted and was able to co-author the document and receive an appointment to the new “Ethics Committee”at the Private Sector Federation (PSF) managing this initiative…. A new building has been built to support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises and the owners are now seeking professionals with top credentials to occupy the new offices…. We happened to find a super guard/gardener from a family that happened to be leaving Rwanda the same week the Urquharts arrived…

Indeed, we have daily confirmation we’re in the right place at the right time. Thankfully, a more pressing concern is this: how can I publish a blog regularly when the electricity (and thus internet access at my house) is anything but regular?

Onward & Upward,

-Carter