“My personal mission is to inspire and empower African entrepreneurs to build an inclusive African dream that others can believe in; to bring about hope for African youth – so that they know if they work hard, they can achieve their goals.“ Diana Mulili ’18.
#MeetTheStudents is a series where we profile our students from all over Africa who are #DoingHardThings to drive the continent forward. This #MeetTheStudents interview features Diana Mulili ‘18 who shares highlights from her professional journey since beginning the ALUSB MBA, and the impact the programme has made to date.
Qn 1. Has the ALUSB MBA met your expectations so far on your student journey? If so, how?
The programme has more than met my expectations, for two main reasons:
- The applicability of the programme – I weave in content from the MBA to my day-to-day life.
- The ALUSB network is relevant to my environment and is a network that you can start using immediately. The network gives you direct access to what is happening around the continent. It’s a knowledge network that you can tap into to get more relevant data – and make better decisions because of it. For example in recent days, as political change has swept the continent, my classmates are on the ground relaying real time information and insights to their classmates. At at the time of this interview, I’m in Dubai to meet with someone from the African Leadership Network (part of the African Leadership Group); he might partner with my organization and me, to help us identify the next industry ripe for investment and transformation.
Qn2. What led you to the ALU School of Business?
My personal mission is to inspire and empower African entrepreneurs to build an inclusive African dream that others can believe in; to bring about hope for African youth – so that they know if they work hard, they can achieve their goals. A few years ago there was a misalignment between what I was doing in my career and my mission. That’s why I ended up at ALU. I wanted to be with people who shared the same desire to see positive change actually happening on the continent. Being in ALU has helped me bridge the gap between my mission and my career; I am now in a role aligned to my mission.
Qn 3. You’ve just made a move to your current organization. How has the ALUSB made an impact on your career to date?
ALUSB definitely helped me. Sometimes you don’t realize how the programme is equipping you and transforming you. Business strategy, problem-solving, PECAB (Political Economy in the Context of African Business) are useful and relevant courses. The Leadership Lab teaches you the importance of being attuned to the people around you, about having a high EQ. And (ALU Founder) Fred Swaniker’s fire to see change come about in Africa – his challenge to do hard things is always at the back of my mind.
All these elements help establish you as the best candidate for the right job. The V3 (leadership) model has guided me in setting myself as the leader I’m supposed to be, and this shows up in my professional profile, in interviews, etc. The V3 model is a guiding force to making the right decisions and knowing how to bounce back from those decisions.
Qn 4. What does the future of Africa look like through your eyes? What role will you play in it?
There is a lot of change happening, and great conversations are happening across the continent: we Africans want to do things differently, to demonstrate impact and value for all the action that is being taken…now the actual output is essential. Rapid execution is crucial now more than ever.
With the recent rise in Impact Investing in Africa we’re seeing more patient capital where we want to go through the growth curve and come out stronger. My role is and has always been in the execution – of a robust and executive strategy. At Msingi our vision is to create widespread, lasting prosperity in East Africa through building Industries of the Future. We seek to develop high volume jobs, growing per capita income and contribute to GDP growth in all the 4 countries we exist in (Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania & Kenya).
In the long term, I want to scale my role to a more continental-wide space.
