Building the Business Relationship between Scotland and Malawi

Jeremy Roebuck

Scotland has a special link with Malawi, one of the world's poorest countries, dating back to the work of missionaries and Dr David Livingstone. For 150 years Scots have worked with the people of Malawi, helping them to develop their education and health systems. The Scottish Government heavily supports International Development within Malawi.

Humza Yousaf,

Due to this special connection between Scotland and Malawi; GROW has welcomed Jeremy Roebuck, a Lecturer at Napier University and committed volunteer consultant with GROW, to take on a new position as Scotland County  Manager. During 2015 Jeremy will expand the Scottish volunteer team from 5 to 50 to support the growing need for consultants to work virtually with Malawian businesses. 

Jeremy and GROW CEO Claire Jenkins visited Humza Yousaf, Scottish Government Minister for International Development and External Affairs to discuss the Scottish - Malawi relationship and the work that GROW Movement undertakes with Malawian businesses. 

If you are passionate about business, about Malawi and can commit to a 6 month volunteering programme please contact jeremy.roebuck@growmovement.org 

100 clients, a birthday party and meeting the Malawi High commissioner

The GROW London team were welcomed to Malawi House by His Excellency Bernard Sande, the Malawi High Commissioner to the UK to celebrate 2 years of work in Malawi.

GROW volunteers heard about the Malawian Government's 'Malawian Development Strategy' and their focus on  'Sustainable Economic Development'. GROW was honoured and recognised for its importance in helping to drive the performance of Malawian entrepreneurs.  His Excellency thanked all GROW volunteers and urged them to continue even through the challenges of communication and network problems.

The evening  represented a milestone achievement with the 100th client having completed the programme. Meli Glenn, an Education consultant who worked with our 100th client, Rose, a nursery school entrepreneur in Lilongwe  was presented with an award by His Excellency.

During 2015 GROW looks forwards to expanding its working with more entrpreneurs and growing the support from the Scottish volunteers.

New lap tops enable the gift of business learning in Ntcheu, Malawi

 A challenge faced by the Grow Movement Team in Malawi is ensuring access to the internet for our clients. In areas where we do not have Grow offices our entrepreneurs were struggling to complete their sessions effectively with their consultants. This was made worse by the closing of one of the two internet cafes in Ntcheu, Malawi. 

A group of clients approached our Malawi team during our last quarterly meeting in Lilongwe to explain the problem. They asked for a lap top which they would manage for Grow business owners in the area to enable them to complete their sessions with their consultant.  Through the very kind donation of two lap tops from Andrea Frino, a consultant from Cass Business School, UK we were able to supply a lap top and ensure our entrepreneurs success.

Both Willie Byson and Sophie Kumwanje spent last Friday afternoon with our client team in Ntcheu teaching Skype and email skills. Magic can happen when you combine the power of driven clients, a great Grow team and dedicated consultants.

The Richard Branson of the #Rwanda tourism industry #internationalyouthday #iyd2014

The United Nations’ (UN) International Youth Day is celebrated on August 12 each year to recognize efforts of the world’s youth in enhancing global society. Grow Movement would like to celebrate all of our young entrepreneurs and commend them for their drive and vision to set up their own companies. Along with our global team of consultants we are proud to support such young talent.

Meet Martial Batangana, aged 24 living in Kigali Rwanda.  Having set up his first company in 2012, developing a web and mobile application to connect farmers with local and international buyers, he now also runs a travel company, http://www.susatours.com/. Grow Movement worked with Martial to improve his negotiation skills and confidence in his own business skills. 

"...I like to follow people in leadership. When I read books it is about leadership in business and entrepreneurship. My long term vision is to become an investor. I don't care how I look like, or how much I have been rejected, I keep on pushing, I keep flowing, I know what I want, I know where I am going, I always find another way. I believe in Growing I couldn't be where I am today without a mentor. Grow Movement gave me a mindset to create other businesses. I have a strong reputation in my community for knowing how to do business. I know how to negotiate and I am good negotiator now I can tell you...'' 

Grow Movement works across Uganda, Rwanda and Malawi to develop the business skills talent of all entrepreneurs. If you would like to work with a talented young person just like Martial please get in touch. 

Results are out! Read about Grow Impact on Business Performance in East Africa

Grow Movement is  focused on costs and delivering impact. Each quarter Grow stops to review how much has been spent and what impact its has had on private sector development. At the end of Q1 2014 Grow had spent £146K on improving business performance in East Africa. £146K has enabled 297 clients to complete 12 sessions of business advice from a consultant by Skype, phone or email, with another 168 entrepreneurs in progress today. This has had a positive impact on over 27,000 employees and families of entrepreneurs.

With this time investment, 590 new full or part time jobs have been created. In this last quarter our clients have employed new cleaners, sales advisors, carpenters, tailors, guards, drivers and machine operators.

By connecting the skills of our business experts with our passionate and driven clients, Grow is able to improve their business performance, creating employment and increasing profitability. All it takes is the internet, a phone, commitment and open minds on both sides.

A big thank you to all of our consultants, clients and the Grow team based in country for investing their time and energy in the future of the private sector in Uganda, Rwanda and Malawi.

Team Uganda and Rwanda

Micro Finance client in Uganda

'Grow is like a map, it gives you direction'

Dinner with a group of Grow clients is always insightful and full of energy; dinner with our female clients and this is really where you learn! Eric, Violet and I hosted a dinner with our women entrepreneurs in Kigali last week. 

'Passion, conviction and ...Grow Movement' is what you need in Business to be successful was the summation of our debate on what it takes to be a great entrepreneur. You need passion to cope with the bad days, conviction to stay true to what you believe is right and a Grow consultant to ensure that you make money and stay in business! The point on passion was an interesting one. Was it passion for your product/ service or passion for your life which gives you the drive to do something or anything in business? 

I met Joceyne for the first time last week. She runs a clothes business with her husband designing for the young professionals and expats of Kigali. Joceyne is a force of nature, driven and smart with a huge passion for her business. When I asked her what Grow was like for her she said  'She Grow is like a map, it gives you direction. It stops you from going the wrong way. It tells you left or right and places to avoid.'

I loved this description. I often hear from our clients about doing their businesses but not knowing why they are doing things, or describing just being busy but not getting anywhere. Grow Movement gives the solution to this.

The Hero Fruit Queen of Rwanda

 Rwandan women are incredible ladies! I had the pleasure of meeting Chantal at our quarterly client meeting last Friday. What a dynamo! Listening to her speak about her determination to finish school against all of the odds, to her journey of getting married, to her passion for fruit.

She simply loves fruit and spent evenings googling 'delicious foods made from fruit'. She came across fruit juices but did not want to take on the local Rwandan juice company and then came across 'smoothies' needing to ask her husband what they were. Within months she had her first shop naming it after her son who is called 'Hero' and also her  approach to life in general.

Chantal came to Grow for assistance with her marketing, expansion and new product strategies. She was matched with Ludmilla, a Brazilian lady living in the USA. What struck me about Chantal was her immense drive and determination; now all clients have this but she has this in buckets. I am so proud to be supporting someone like her and cannot wait to see her company Grow.