Completed my first week here

So I survived International Pre-Enrollment. Although the immigration talk was a little overwhelming... Just think of this scenario:

You send you passport & I-20 to Pennsylvania to get your tax number (since you probably need to compute your taxes in April with the fellowship funds in your account). You then get stopped by the police and asked for your passport and I-94, since strictly speaking you are meant to carry these with you anywhere you go, especially if you head somewhere far from your local area, for instance San Diego. Since you do not have the documents you get apprehended as a possible illegal immigrant...

I know it's a highly unlikely scenario and maybe you should know better but to stay at school and do nothing while your passport is on the other side of America. But what happens if your passport is lost in the system? It’s also almost impossible for internationals to get a social security number, which although we will get one if we do an internship in little less than a years' time, it would be very handy to have it early on in order to get cell phones, credit card, driving licenses etc… The conclusion, being an international student means there are some unique barriers for accessing some useful services in the states, and one does need to be careful. The IPEP was very useful for new internationals as well as those from English speaking countries such as South Africa and UK, and it’s good to know that Stanford have someone who it is their full time job to advice on complex immigration status issues.

Exemption exams studying are the talk within Schwab at the moment and it has started to make me feel like I should have signed up to take some, despite the fact that I know reviewed this issue thoroughly in May and came to the conclusion that it is not worth taking any. But nevertherless, in a panic state I’ve just gone through the samne process again and come to the same conclusion! So no, although I know certain topics well, I don't know them well enough to pass the exemptions exams, or put in another way, I don't want to scrap through the exams and kid myself that I've mastered certain subjects. So Labor Day weekend will be spent lounging around and exploring, not studying… I'll heading back into San Francisco with some newly made friends this afternoon...

International Enrollment kicks off...

Today was the first GSB classroom experience- International Enrolment (IPEP). Quantative Enrolment (QPEP)started last week. It was great to meet about 50 or so of the international students at the GSB and another 50 or people who have been doing the Quantative stuff. It seems the IPEP seems a damn lot easier than the QPEP work- although I did not expect to be video taped during the presentation exercises today...

On other news, San Francisco was awesome on the weekend. My friend was the perfect tour guide. The fact that he is a DJ meant that I was able to see 9 clubs and various bars in 2 nights... He shall come in handy on those gettaway weekends to the city when I need to escape from the MBA madness.

I hit Walmart twice in the last 2 days and have finally almost got my room fully supplied...
There have been some moans about the lack of available late night eating areas on campus amongs other things (or how far everything is- which is reflective of the huge Stanford campus)... Having a car and/or a bike is almost a must... Let's see how long I can last. I'm just not falling for the huge rush of people grabbing deals left, right and centre without taking a step back and evaluating what options you have- I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm no rush, although I recognise the necessity of having a vehicle whilst out here.

I'm totally shattered, completely overwhelmed...

Now in the normal MBA playbook, you are meant to visit the MBA program of your dreams before you apply or take the acceptance after having at least taken a peak at the school you are going to spend over $100K and live for 2 years of your life. Well I did not, I applied and accepted the position at the GSB without ever setting foot within 2,000 miles of the campus, I relied totally on what I had read and personal experience. I had it in the back of my mind-"what if I hate the campus? Or Stanford does not live up to all the ratings & hype?". After all we all have our personal opinions which can sometimes widely differ from the norm. I was even about to set myself up for disappointment when I saw the grey weather in the morning- "I thought California was meant to be ALWAYS sunny? And on my 1st day it's cloudy!". First impressions are everything.
But today I finally made it onto the campus, and had all my expectations were met if not exceeded. The campus is just breathtakingly huge and beautiful. And yes, the true California sunshine returned at 10am and lasted the whole day- not a cloud in the sky.
Everyone I met was also very friendly, and this made things run pretty smoothly on my 5 hours on campus, taking it easy touring with my mum whilst doing my chores. I then attempted to do 2 hours of shopping (getting the essentials) before the jetlag kicked in as predicted...
Tomorrow, we head for San Francisco. I'm shattered.

The last few miles...

I'm in California!!!! Not quite at Stanford, but near enough- I'm at a hotel in Palo Alto that at a guess, is a couple of miles out.
Oh my God! First impressions is that it looks just like parts of Africa- only more developed (obviously). A developed Bongoland! I could get used to this.
Don't even know why I'm on the computer, 10 hour time difference from Tanzania- I best go to bed. Tomorrow I move in and do some touring with my mum, not to mention sort the basics (student ID, bank account etc...) Could be a long day- just hope I don't burn out by 2pm as jetlag kicks in...

5,000 miles or so to go... Goodbye Britain

After almost starving on the British Airways flight due to the strike being put on by the catering staff (Gate Gormet), I'm going to stock up on munchies for the Atlantic crossing tomorrow.
But being back in the UK has been pleasant. Now for the final plunge...

Last blog from Bongoland- 10,000 miles to go...

So this is my last blog from "bongoland", I can't believe 7 weeks has passed since I finished work in the UK and set out here. Although, the prime focus was to relax and sort getting my new passport and visa, my main concern was getting too bored. I have not let the sun, beach and sea get to me and restricted myself to 2 trips to Zanzibar. I have gained some valuable experience on my short 1 month internship on the Tanzanian capital markets which has kept me busy, and added a much needed extra dimension on my resume. I was able to keep up with the pre-pre term preparation mainly involving hundreds of dollars worth of credit card expenditure that I really could have saved up for other things. I finally did the excel skills assessor yesterday and I was surprised by the result; apparently I lack the basic skills in "printing" spreadsheets, I suppose it’s something that I never do that much of.
Some useful messages came through this week from Stanford on the first few days for international students such as setting up a bank account, getting a cell phone, purchasing a bike etc... And on the accommodation front, I have been notified of my suite and room mate as well. My mum was relieved that there is an organised trip to Walmart on the Sunday I actually move into Schwab from the weekend stay in San Francisco, leaving me to finish off any last minute shopping and importantly, leaving my mum with more time to rest (it’s 10 hours time difference between Tanzania and California) before flying on to her next stop in Philly to visit my sister on the Monday. I've also contacted an old friend of mine that I knew at the age of 11 years old when I was at boarding school in Kenya and who now lives in the bay area and has offered to give my mum and I an assisted tour of San Francisco that weekend, it will be weird to not have seen him for over 15 years! Furthermore, an American friend of mine that I knew from boarding school in England has just moved from NY to San Francisco just this Friday gone- so I'll be in good company in the region thanks to old faces, what a small world. But before all that, I'll be back in England briefly early next week to collect my stuff and any spare moments I'll be sure to be in a beer garden at a pub to enjoy my last few English pints and ales.
It still hasn’t properly sunk into me yet, 12 years ago my parents sent me to UK to study, now I’ve opted to pack up again and send myself to study, this time over 10,000 miles from home.

Not on the pre-pre term preparation checklist but...

...My father has kindly agreed to send me to have 2 hour golf lessons every morning from today until I leave in weeks time. I've had lessons and played golf before when I was younger, but they were pretty much forced onto me by my father who had just taken a shine to the game and wanted all the kids to get into it and accompany him- unfortunately at the time my sport of choice was tennis- so although I put the effort in, I would have rather be playing tennis where my heart was. Things have certainly changed, now I think I'm ready for this game of choice for business types.
So I had my first lesson today, and it was great, my priority is to work on my swing on the range rather than just leap onto the golf course- that's if you can call the Dar es Salaam course a golf course! The course is severly underfunded and really needs some corporate sponsorship to get anywhere near international standards. As my dad said- funding is the issue- a professional golf course requires an irrigation system equivalent to one required by a modern town of 15,000- now where is a developing country like Tanzania going to sort one, when the city water system itself needs work. As multinational companies flood into Tanzania, we hope they will put up the required funding- after all the executives would certainly want to play an occasional round now and then at a course that is right in the city centre! I'm definitely looking forward to trying out the world class Stanford course.

All clear for go

So I finally got my visa this morning following an early start at 7:30am. Despite spending about 3 hours at the embassy, I should praise the embassy on their efficiency yet maintaining thorough checking for a vast no. of people, my mum tells me that there have been quite a few criticisms in the papers about their “over-fussiness”. Understandably so given the current state of world affairs. Some of the locally recruited staff seemed to be confused about exactly what documents students visa applicants should bring with them. For instance, why were they asking me for my high school certificates when clearly my bachelor’s degree certificate is evidence enough that I’m qualified for an MBA? Actually if they were really pushing this case they should have asked for my GMAT and university transcripts and most importantly my Stanford Admission letter! Yet, the memos put out by the embassy & on their website state that they are not in the business of assessing whether one is qualified to attend a university course- that’s what the admission process is there for! I made a judgement to process my visa in my home country rather than doing it in London, I recommend this process for international students if this option is available in order to get the advantage of beating the queues and waits of 5 weeks for the interview itself in major international cities like London. On the other hand, having it done somewhere like London would have eliminated the anxiety students face in knowing that as long as you have all the documents stated and met all requirements you’re fine, rather than being hassled for unnecessary documents or unrelated requirements by less competent clerical staff in countries such as Tanzania.
Apart from that, the actual counsellor was really friendly and I got an ego boost as he congratulated me on my admission and shared anecdotal accounts of his friends' application attempts- yes, I'm so grateful for getting in to such a competitive school. Then the counsellor asked an unexpected question -"So what are you going to do after the MBA? Investment Banking'?". I was a bit thrown because although the first question is fair and I'm meant to resolutely respond that my primary concern is to return to Tanzania, I don’t think he is meant to encourage me to seek/take a US job in the point of view of the immigration policy for students!? Last time I checked there were zero investment banking opportunities in Tanzania. Of course I answered “Who knows, should the opportunity present itself maybe- but in the long term, international development." It was ironic that during the wait there were 3 recent issues of the “Money Magazine” in the waiting room, so I was able to read up enlightening articles about the US economy and future job prospects just prior to being called up for the interview.
So as they would probably say at NASA (congrats on the shuttle landing by the way- sorry, the aerospace enthusiast in me is thrilled)- “Mbwana, this is Houston, you’re good to go!”- Only minor checks are left, including checking that my health requirements are OK- in light of Britchick-mba's recent experience, I'm going to visit the doctor and make sure all my tropical immunisations are up to date and more importantly to verify which immunisations are necessary for the US. So in approaching the final week here in Tanzania, I’m looking forward to going out for my 24th b-day this weekend and I could be back in Zanzibar next Friday to enjoy one of the greatest asset of my country- the sheer beautiful and relaxed nature of our tourists sights- I won’t be back at the earliest, in a year, and there’s no place like home. So bring in more farewell parties! Then it’s Jet setting to the UK to collect my stuff and say goodbye to rainy England and hello sunny California.

Final red tape hurdle in sight...

I said I was cutting it close, but not to worry- The final bit of red tape to allow me to make the journey into the US is in sight. My new passport was returned within 1 week of sorting out all my finger & handprints. I've amassed all the 14 certificates/letters/statements/forms required to apply for F1 visa. My visa interview is set for next Thursday (11th) at 7:30am! After that I'll have 10 days left in Tanzania and I shall cease my short 1 month summer internship at the stock exchange for some quality relaxing, I won't mention the Z word- but yes, it could be a possibility if finances allow it.

I've managed to also solve my problem of transporting all my stuff to the US from the UK. Since my mother is coming with me, she'll travel light whilst I use up all her spare luggage capacity to load up all my stuff. It also makes sense to abandon stuff in the UK that I can easily re-buy here in Tanzania and in the US. Some things will just have to be left behind...

Totally unrelated but interesting is MTV's debut arrival tomorrow in Tanzania... My sister asked me whether we should attend this and I have to ask myself two questions:
- With my 24th b-day looming am I getting too old for this stuff? If I was a couple of years younger I would jumped at the chance of going...
- Tanzania is not normally associatd with such modern US exported culture, maybe I should spending my last days here in Tanzania finding more locally cultural nightlife or just plain relaxing. Then again, I'm beginning to like the recent African hip-hop music out there, and I'm scrambling about to load up my mp3 collection with the stuff.
Yes, these are attempts at excuses for not going... I'll probably get dragged along anyway. I'm not one to pass the opportunity for a party.

Career focus

With the excitement building as the big day approaches before setting off to business school (although worry is starting to creep over me with regard to progress on my passport renewal and how best to move my stuff in the UK by cargo to California), career options have come into focus once again.

Over the last 6 months or so, I've been considering and researching careers in international development, but it wasn't until I initially went through GSB's impressive career section on this area earlier this week that I really started to realise how many potential opportunities lie out there - evidence of dozens of students over the years successfully placed on internships and onto full time positions with the exact firms I'd expressed interest in. Consulting is still my main career desire directly after b-school, but international development has recently risen to consideration mainly because I can currently relate to it more since I've been here in Tanzania, where the big thing in the news is always "poverty reduction this..", " a new plan for economic development that..." not to mention the recent make poverty history campaign, which means that development agencies have come under a lot of focus and there should be load of work coming up with the increase aid pledges. When people ask me here so what are you going to do immediately after your MBA and I answer that I'd like to work for Bain or McKinsey, they look mystified. But when I tell them I may want to work for the United Nations Development Programme, or the World Bank, they can completely understand the logic in the choice and the impact I could make. My desire and what I wrote on my essays was that I would like go into consulting to get the widest business experience and then go into international development when I've professionally matured. However, I am now formulating a plan to test the water by combining my interest for pursuing the global management program (GMP) certificate, in which I can go on the Global Management Immersion Experience (GMIX) 4 week internship abroad next summer, by hopefully landing a stint at an NGO at some exotic country. It still leaves me time to intern fully at a consulting firm if all is successful on that front, and by this time next year I should have an idea as to whether international development is for me or not (at least get some experience and relevant contacts for the future) - at the moment it certainly feels that I should wait and build up further experience before trying to land a high impact international development job.

Then there is of course, the chance of starting my own business, a choice everyone can universally relate to here in Africa and in the west, but during my exposure to more than my fair share of young entrepreneurs here in Tanzania, I'm starting to realise that not many of my entrepreneur friends are living the lifestyle I want to live toward the end of my 20s. More importantly, the environment for a start-up here in Tanzania is just not conducive or ideal- bongo land inefficiency is such a pain, not to mention huge barriers of entry in everything apart from say advertising. I would certainly have little chance with a hi-tech venture, maybe if the opportunity arose in the bay area, but plans for a start-up in Tanzania are certainly in the long term, when hopefully efficiency and infrastructure would have improved or I become more patient with age!

What about investment banking? At the moment this is one of the areas that I've least researched but I have been having a growing desire to learn more about - the attraction being the short term financial gain at the expense of long hours before burning out- who knows, I shall certainly consider taking a summer internship in this area instead of consulting should my further research lead me down this avenue and the opportunity arise.

Did I mention private equity? This offers the best financial rewards (as I recently read in an economist article), yet I currently know very little about, and I hear is very competitive to get into especially without prior experience... This is where my current work experience at the stock exchange here in Tanzania may show employers that I’m interested, but maybe probably not enough for me to be competitive against other applicants for full time jobs without an internship.
Last, and I’m sure not least is the extremely valuable advice I got from the North America/Commercial Director at my last employer to go into Product Marketing- again I currently know very little about this, the advice given to me was that I should strongly consider this area if I still wanted to make use of my engineering and tech skills and get the most out of the general management education at Stanford, it was also that an area that is looking increasing promising and important in countries such as the UK (should I want to return there).

What's clear is that my career interests are still at the stage of expanding, and I'm sure they'll mushroom once I get to business school. I'll certainly need to join quite a few professionally related students clubs to feed my career interests (so far, I reckon consulting, investment, Finance equity/investment, Africa business, hi-tech just to name a few…). I still have yet to take the career leader online self assessment that the career management centre are recommending on doing. When I last took this type of test in high school I came out with something being 95% suited to Engineering, so I do value these sorts of tests.
To date, I'm satisfied with the career research I've done on management consulting (already bought a case study preparation book and a guide to the top firms), recently I've been having a look at MBA consulting track, it has some helpful advice about preparation whilst at business school.
My aim is to reach this level of research on the other career interests (International development, investment banking, Product Marketing and a little on private equity)- there’s clearly a lot to be done here and a methodical and organised approach to manage all these career interests is definitely needed.
All this presents me with another challenge- How do I structure my resume for the resume book due in the autumn quarter, and another action to start on prior to enrolment, when this book goes out to the full gamut of MBA recruiting firms across a variety of sectors? Conventional wisdom states you should structure ones resume focusing on the career area one is interested- but what if you have many and are not firmed up on them!!?- I will carefully need to think about my resume to focus on achievements and transferable skills that appeal to a broad recruiting audience- and then later tailor resumes for specific companies that I apply directly to. Oh lord…

Safer Airport Runways...

I've been checking out my previous employer's website pretty regulary, and I was pleased to see they announced a sale of key technological product, Tarsier, from leveraging its military expertise in radar technology to be able to track Foriegn Object Debris (FOD) on airport runways. FOD costs the global avaition industry some $4 billion a year and a piece of FOD was a cause of the fatal Concorde crash in Paris in 2000.

I worked briefly for the Tarsier product team in helping to developing the concept of operations, so I feel proud that I was part of its success, having finally made their first sale at Vancouver Airport. Hopefully busy airports such as Heathrow and JFK will follow suit. The radar can detect up to the size of a large nail or golf ball on a vast runway surface.

Digital Divide in Tanzania (or not)?

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been painfully trying to sign up our home to the sole broadband internet service provider in Tanzania (if you can call a standard rate of 64kbps and a top rate of 120kbps broadband!). The company is so inundated with new customers together with the fact it has a monopoly on the business that it can afford to maintain poor customer service for the mean time. Having been to their offices 3 times last week they seem to be very slowly coming around (well, even before installation, they will need do a site survey this week). I’m not too bothered, since being here I have gone online at my local internet café just down the road from home for about the equivalent of 50 cents (30 pence) an hour.
In light of my struggles to sign up to the internet, a few insights from a variety of sources on communications technology have caught my attention; Firstly, on BBC’s clickonline program, a feature was done on Tanzania where it outlined some astonishing facts; less than 1 in 10 Tanzanians have access to a fixed line and yet 97% have access to a mobile/cell phone! In fact there are 4 strong mobile phone operators in Tanzania with fierce competition leading to not only cheaper calls but excellent customer service- you won’t have trouble signing up to an operator in Tanzania, and for that matter you can make calls from the most remote areas of Tanzania- even on top Mt. Kilimanjaro at almost 20,000ft.
Secondly, my father has shared his experiences over the years of how he ditched the once state owned fixed line phone (now recently privatised) company due to poor service, lack of capital to upgrade old copper wire infrastructure to a more reliable “mobile fixed line” service. In other words, a cell phone service provider installed a fixed line which is really mobile phone receiver posing as a fixed line. Many have said that the apparent “digital divide” in Africa being perceived due to the difficulties in getting reliable high speed internet is not so important to the ordinary Tanzanian, as the mobile phone is winning over the PC. The trend is certainly clear, Tanzanians love and have adopted mobile phone technology, and it seen as a means of great economic development for the region. For instance fisherman can receive texts on the latest fish prices on different markets whilst still out on the Indian Ocean before deciding where to sell. And finally this morning, I was astonished read in the papers that an Israeli company is teaming up with a local Tanzanian company to trial and eventually deploy Wi-Max, which would enable mobile high speed internet across a wide area. I’m particularly astonished because, whilst in the west, the industries are grappling with the regulation of the new and potentially destructive technology- many companies view W-Max with disdain (not surprising given the amount they have invested in traditional fixed broadband communication technologies), it seems that here in Tanzania, we are about to leap-frog straight to the mobile high speed internet era- so much for fixed line broadband infrastructure for the future. Hooray for hi-tech in Tanzania… For more on Wi-Max connectivity potential in Africa- click here.

Postcard from Zanzibar- on the trail alone...

Zanzibar...


What do you do when your buddies abandon you on your travel plans? You go it alone. I went to Zanzibar (again!) for the long awaited full moon party weekend by myself for the first time, and it was surprisingly good. My friends gave me the classic excuse- “too much work to do…”. However, with no travel companions, it was not only great to go on my own schedule, but the best bit was the fact that I was forced to talk to people I’d never really talk to otherwise, I met so many different solo travellers; from a Japanese student to a Canadian accountant. I also had great time at the party chatting to a random bunch of people round a beach fire that I did not know and I ended up meeting one girl who lives 15 minutes away from Stanford in Palo Alto!
I used to think travelling by myself would be odd, but I’m now converted- something about the freedom to explore at your own will and not stressing about having to coordinate politely with others’ activities. Shout out to all the solo travellers out there!

Having said that, I still find people who go to the movies/cinema on their own pretty strange- but I suppose you can’t know until you’ve tried it.

Time to get a move on…

In the backdrop of my last obsessive post on Zanzibar, I best bring things back in focus on making my preparations for Stanford.
I have one more month left until I make the final journey to California via the UK, and today signalled the day I should really shift up a gear in my preparations. Firstly, my whole family is having passports renewed, followed by the US visa process for mum and I. One snag is that virtually all Tanzanians are rushing do get their passport renewed before a government imposed deadline at the end of October (something about machine readable passports needed by then). As you can imagine, the immigration service is overwhelmed with applications and we have to pull a few strings to speed up the process. The US visa will only take one day, but my main concern is the potential delay the passport renewal process may create. 4 weeks to do it all? Fingers crossed- we are talking “bongo land” government efficiency here. On other things, I still have to finalise moving my stuff from the UK to the US and start creating a shopping list of things I need to purchase whilst I’m here in Africa and when I arrive in the US. I would like to minimise my shopping once I leave, and so envisage making a trip to IKEA and to the computer store to purchase a laptop and organiser (PDA) when I get to Palo Alto- it turns out my mum also needs one, so it’s convenient for her to get a good spec whilst out in the US.
I’m also finding myself being supplied with a steady stream of actions from Stanford to get on top of. The MBA Excel skills assessor, signing up for pre-term activities, reading up on accounting and economics fundamentals etc… I have had to set up Outlook on the home computer to track everything- and I thought I’d get a break from using office software whilst on holiday!
Pre-term is interesting, I am both shocked and impressed by the number of activities they have laid on- lots and lots of social activities which have to be pre-paid and booked. Having gone through them, I reckon I’ll be spending some around $400 ($600 if you include the International Pre-Enrolment Programme), which includes the $200 Outdoor Activity weekend right at the end. Well, I think I better sign up on e-bay and start saving some cash on books otherwise my summer spending will mushroom. I’m certainly not cutting back on the pre-term social activities, when else would one get the chance to have such a good time early on? It will be exciting and unforgettable, it kind of reminds me of “Freshers’ week” at British universities- I certainly didn’t skimp then, and I made a load of friends. For the outdoor activity weekend, I’m completely torn between the boat cruising trip on Lake Shasta and the White Water Rafting in the Gold Country- both appeal to me hugely; I would pay to do both if I had the choice! But hey, I bet these sort of difficult choices will come as standard whilst I begin the MBA- “you can do everything- just not all at the same time…”

Is it time to invest in Paradise?

Two nights in Zanzibar and I am not only refreshed, but buzzing with excitement for what plans I have in store for the future of me and this island.
First I will let you into what I call paradise (if you get bored skip the italics);

You wake up in basic yet luxurious bungalow overlooking the beach and beyond it an intense contrast of ocean colour from emerald and to dark blue. The beach is pristine with a few and local fishermen and dhow boat builders minding their own simple lives. After an inclusive breakfast at the restaurant/bar on the beach (room rates were $40 a night for Tanzanian resident), you catch the small engine boat which ferries tourists to Nungwi, the village about 2 miles down the beach, half hour boat ride further beyond, one heads to the famous Mnemba Atoll, which has the best diving/snorkelling in all of Zanzibar and the island’s only super luxurious resort which has graced the likes of Tom Cruise, Bill Gates and Angelina Jolie. However, today is not a day for snorkelling or star spotting. At Nungwi, we get off and meet some locals that I’ve known since I first discovered the northern tip of Zanzibar some 2 years ago, I ask the same questions; “How’s life in paradise? Are the tourist numbers up and how is business?”, the answer is always the same, “Everything is Fresh!” in literal translation to Swahili.
You walk past the many souvenir shops and Internet cafés (which I resisted!) and venture 2 minutes walk inland into Nungwi village, where things take a totally different tone and the contrast is immense. From a tourist paradise, you are plunged into the real Africa, a very basic village with rundown looking mud houses and shops selling only the most basic of products. We ventured into the village for two reasons, my friend was after more locals in order to scout out for plots of land that may be going cheap. And secondly, I am after insect repellent (on mum’s advice). Malaria is still a big killer in Africa, especially Tanzania, where people still struggle to afford the most basic protection against mosquito bites such as nets and insecticide, I’m after a bit of a luxury item, “spray on” repellent. Eventually, I find one for $7.
Meanwhile my friend is smiling with the news that there is huge potential for buying plots of lands for the office of his advertising business and then sets about shooting video footage without upsetting the locals. We soon return onto the tourist trail and head for the beach restaurants for a bite before heading to Chole bar, a bar designed to look like a dhow boat that has run aground on the beach, it just looks like something out of Robinson Crusoe. The bar has an “upstairs” where a group can chill, which resembles the mast and rigging area of the boat directly above the bar area. I talk one of the locals working there into plugging in my mp3 player into the music system then started to play my pre-made 3 hour “Chill out Mix” as we watched boats sail by, beautiful people sunbathing with a steady order of cocktails delivered. For lunch we order the catch of fish- Red Snapper and Kingfish in a light coconut sauce and continued to chill. The perfect way to spend the rest of the afternoon…

I’m so in love with the Nungwi & Kendwa area of Zanzibar, this is the 6th time I’ve revisited this area since I first arrived in 2003. Before then I had ignored the place as being too far off the beaten tourist trail to be worth looking at, most ordinary and unadventurous tourists would totally miss it, but some things are just worth any extra travel or hassle to get to.
After the rest of my trip, which can only be described as the most “chilled” ever, I can only reaffirm my intentions to make this a part of my life in the long term. Yes, I intend on buying a slice of paradise! Property is dirt-cheap for Tanzanians (expensive for foreigners, unless you can invest $200K in a business!), and small plots are supposedly abundant, so financially it should be a certainty, although of course I’ll need to do my due diligence first. My intentions go much further than just building a holiday home though, the plan is to develop a unique bed and breakfast that offers a more unique experience than anything else currently offered and to re-invest any profits into developing the local region. I would be buying a sustainable lifestyle paradise in a not for profit venture. I’m confident this will work for a variety of reasons:
• Tourism industry is booming and set to continue (numbers, doubling by 2010) whilst the perception of Africa in general as being a dangerous for tourist is vanishing. Hence, there is a projected long term source of tourist revenue and an opportunity to tap into source to sustain the venture.
• Young Zanzibarians seem to be the most friendly, trustworthy people I’ve ever met in Tanzania, which is very important so as I can employ them to manage the venture whilst I am away from Africa. I was amazed when I saw evidence of this when I was talking to a local shop keeper who explained to me how he was running deals with about 15 tourists from the west (mainly UK, US, Italy & Germany)- every so often, they would send him money (convenient as he is the only bank account holder in the area), and he would buy rice, beans, the all important mosquito protection for the people who need it (what an excellent way to donate to Africa- directly to region you are interested in). In return, the shopkeeper would arrange for the tourists to spend a few months teaching at the local schools, accommodation and other such favours, which brings me on to my next point…
• There is a huge trend in tourists in the west taking time off of their hectic and relatively less meaningful lives, by going to teach (or assist) abroad in community projects where they can make an impact, and I need not explain the evidence for this trend, for there are some of my friends who could be reading this that fit into that category and I know of plenty of others who would do the same thing. Not to mention the no. of requests I get from people at work in the UK and some friends in US to arrange some sort of “teaching or working holiday”. I myself, would love to do it!

So in the same manner, that some people are providing a visit under the knife (surgery or other operations) combined with a holiday, so that one returns back with a new face, kidney or tummy tuck, this venture would provide people the opportunity to visit paradise yet returning home having taught children or helped to build a school and hence, made a difference. All tourist revenue goes toward sustaining the local region.
What’s in it for me? Apart from the fulfilment of making a difference and investing my money in Africa early, my service would be to set up the venture (I’d then get a trusty local someone to manage the place), and of course I would request a room or two be kept free for me to return with friends for a two week break during my busy 9-5 western job (it would save me hotel money!), and eventually on a more permanent basis when I reach or near retirement. It’s lifestyle investment which would hopefully generate some high impact charity work that use the tourists themselves- The idea itself is not new and I know an American couple, for instance, who have set up orphanage using the same model, what keeps them going, is their love of children. My love of the area and the fact that I’ve returned here 6 times (7 next Friday for the full moon party), is enough to keep me motivated for life. So next weekend, I’m going to be asking the serious questions to assess the feasibility of this idea.

I'm off to Paradise...

I am off to Zanzibar (a.k.a Spice Island) for 2 nights to relax after an eventful morning at the stock exchange. The island has an exotic history not to mention just being a dreamy paradise.
Little did I know, Laura bush- US first lady, will be in Tanzania from this afternoon as part of her Africa tour to highlight the role of women and fighting Aids. She is apparently going to be visiting Zanzibar tomorrow as well.

I'll be staying at the northern tip of Zanzibar, Nungwi- Kendwa area- the beaches are out of this world and the atmosphere so laid back, it's horizontal! No matter what anyone says- I deserve this and I consider this my treat for getting into Stanford (and for lots of work to come!). I've been so looking forward to returning to my favourite spot to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the modern world.
Some photos can be seen on my links section (or just click here) from last years' charity expedition- then, it was a treat for a successful climb up Kilimanjaro.
My friend will also be shooting some video footage for a commercial his advertising business is producing for the local TV station which should provide some amusement. But I intend on just chilling, reading and having a few cocktails in the sunset. This is certaintly not my only trip, I expect to return atleast once more for the full moon party at the end of the month.

How cute...

Had my first morning at the stockbrokers today. My first impressions- what a quiet and cute little place. I had perceived lots of action, people buying and selling inflamed with the usual enthusiasm of Tanzanian salesmen; instead, it was actually the exchanges' day off. Trading days are Tuesday to Thursdays- I have to remind myself that this is a stock exchange of a poor developing country, not or anywhere near the NYSE or FTSE! The brokers are in the same building as the exchange so it’s just one flight of stairs up and you are there. The brokers were actually fairly busy with the unit trust sale, however, I was able to spend time just touring the place and talking to the managing director of the brokerage firm. There was certainly plenty of reading material to go through and discuss with the brokers. I’m now starting to get familiar with the history of the capital markets, the various structural reforms of the financial markets going etc... and the particular challenges that lie ahead. Rather than divulge what I’ve learnt today, I’ll wait a few weeks so I can summarise in more depth. Importantly, I’m confident that my experience will provide me with, at least, the financial accounting and economics preparation that the Stanford MBA require- I should get to beef up my excel skills too, although I do need to take that “MBA excel skills assessor” pretty soon.
I’m returning on Wednesday for a new bond issue and listing on the market, which should be livelier than things were today.

Leadership Development Platform- I want to develop and learn to use EQ…

I signed up to the leadership development platform, which is meant to kick off quite towards the end of first quarter. I never heard of this program whilst doing my research for the Stanford MBA, so I was a bit mystified of what exactly it entails. Since those wanting to sign up for the limited space on the program have to submit a qualifying statement addressing some leadership questions, I thought I best get moving (for once) given how much time I have off.
From a lot of the press out there regarding what can and can’t be taught in business schools, leadership is one of those things that certainly comes up time and time again- “MBA’s can’t be taught leadership skills that take experience to build up during a lifetime.” The program stresses experiential learning through bridge teams, labs with further support from faculty and coaches (coaches are 2nd year MBA students).
In preparing to write my qualification statement, I remembered my father’s stash of Harvard Business Review journals which I had browsed through in the past, one special issue on leadership in particularly that caught my attention, was an article on the concept of emotional intelligence (EQ)- the soft stuff of leadership which include self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, social skill qualities that set apart the best leaders. Lots has been studied and written about EQ, and I’m somewhat fascinated yet sceptical of the concept, normally the best managers I have come across are, not surprisingly, ones who are just plainly, the nicest. But how far can you take EQ? Especially when there are tough decisions to be made? I made this one of the thrusts of my qualification statement. Anyway, with only 72 people able to make it on to the program that counts towards an organisational dynamics segment of the first year, I really hope I get on it as it sounds like a great opportunity to “experience” something that was not traditionally on a normal MBA program- I wonder what other business schools out there are doing something similar so early on the curriculum and can any other MBA bloggers out there comment?

No place is immune... Pray for London

I am distressed by the events that took place in London yesterday. I cast myself back to 1998, I heard and felt an explosion from the very spot I wrote this blog post from. I suspected it was gas pipe explosion or something, little did I know that it was the US embassies (only a few miles away from me) under attack here in Tanzania & Kenya and what was the beginning of the war on terror. 7 years later it still goes on, the events remind us that no country is immune from terror attacks. My condolences go out to all those affected.

Some work experience organised- Capital Markets in Africa here I come…

Before I left England, I talked about getting some work experience during my break here in Tanzania, especially to fill the in the times when I get bored in all the beach and sun. Well, I’ve finally managed to secure some form of work in the capital markets sector. I arranged this by targeting the leading law firm in Tanzania, where my sister works. After a discussion with one of the lawyers, it was suggested I pursue my needs with the largest brokerage firm in Tanzania. Basically, I would be given the opportunity to “work shadow” and assist some of the brokers in their dealings at the Dar Es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE). I just have to show up on Monday to meet the managing director of the firm and away I go. I’m hoping to negotiate 2-3 days a week of unpaid work if possible for the next month. So I’m pretty excited not only because of the relevance the experience would bring in preparation for business school, showing my motivation and interest for financial sector internships and jobs, but also of the novelty of capital markets in Tanzania.
The Capital Markets and Securities Act was only passed within the last decade, and the DSE was only set up in 1998. To date no more that 10 companies are listed on the exchange- nothing compared to the western markets of course- but we have to start somewhere and a start has been made nevertheless. Most of the major companies listed are ones that have been recently privatised and in order to facilitate and increase wider share ownership among the Tanzanian community whilst developing a savings culture, a unit trust (or fund)- called the Umoja trust, has been just been set up by the government exclusively for Tanzanian citizens offering a 30% discount during a sale period between May until the end of July this year- each unit costs equivalent of $0.10, which a minimum investment of about $3 required on current exchange rates. So most of the citizens can afford to invest although I doubt the really low earners, those who earn less than a dollar a day, will invest due to their lack of education and hence ability to understand what the trust really means. Now if only I could put some of that locked up UK pension I accumulated over the last 2 years into the scheme- in any case, I hope this will prompt other comparatively wealthy earning Tanzanians abroad to put some of their savings back into the country. The scheme certainly has the potential curb capital flight problems by providing an easy way to invest back into the country.
So far, I’m impressed by the transparency of the scheme considering how mindful of corruption one needs to be in sub-Saharan countries, and indeed most people are scared that their money will disappear down the drain. I was also afraid that the fund managers would be taking excessively large fees, but it is not so, one of the main benefits of the trust is the advantage gained through risk aggregation/pooling to reduce what would be high transaction costs for ordinary Tanzanians. It remains to be seen how competent the fund managers are, on paper they seem okay, although how wrong can you go in choosing a diversified portfolio from 10 listed companies (a majority are solid privatised companies such as tobacco and breweries)? Apparently interest in the trust seems pretty large following a wide marketing campaign across the country and I have to laud the governments’ efforts on pragmatically introducing capitalism to benefit all Tanzanians, not just to the wealthy and foreigners. I just hope the companies will perform well- another signal that Tanzania is on the path to positive development and a reinforcement of my goal to certainly consider returning here and putting my MBA skills to use. Let’s just pray for a good result at the G8 meetings this week in debt cancellation and the flow of more aid to Africa, which would greatly benefit Tanzania and put us firmly on the road to development and economic prosperity.

International Pre-Enrollment Program (IPEP)

I haven't even had a chance to relax for a weekend before I have to start organising my next move to California.
First off, my mum will be accompanying me and we are planning to spend 2 nights in San Francisco so that mum can chill, do some shopping and take in the sights (remember it's a long way for mum to come just to turn round after a couple of days). We will then head to Menlo Park, a few miles from Stanford, for another 2 nights, from there we will try and tour the university, do any final shopping before I move into Schwab Residential Centre on Sunday 28th August (if possible) before starting on the International pre-enrollment program (IPEP) the next day. Mum will then fly to philly to visit my sister before flying home afterwards.

I'm home and it's beautiful...

Home sweet home Tanzania! After what was a mammoth journey in the end, I left on Tuesday afternoon and got in on Friday morning. That is certainly the last time I attempt to go standby during the middle of the summer- but hey, I did get to see some family friends and parts of Zurich.
Weather is good, it's winter here so it about 70-80 F or 25-28 C.
Now I'm exciting about heading to Zanzibar for this festival this weekend- if I can. I'm afraid all the local hotels in stone town may be booked up. The flight over was absolutely full of tourists, and I'm sure a good portion of them will be heading to Zanzibar this weekend. The festival lasts a whole week so I can head for the climax next weekend if need be. Otherwise, I think it's time to just relax and soak in the chilled atmosphere as life here is going at a snails pace. This should be the last time I get such a long time off- and a appreciate proper summer holiday. Post MBA I will working myself to death. I'm a little cranky with my parents. Specifically, how little faith they have in the job market post MBA- they have already been pestering me whether I left QinetiQ, my previous employer, on good terms. However many times I try and explain to them that going back to QinetiQ would be a step backwards immediately post MBA they insist on "job security this...job security that". I'm like, "for god sakes please! This is not the same world you lived in when you had one job for life!", "Yes, I recognise there could be a recession. No I have not burnt my bridges with QinetiQ, and they would have me back!".
Anyway, I'm sure they mean it all in good faith. But some optimism on their part would be really appreciated.

It happened...

NOTE TO SELF: Do not talk about the possible negative consequences of going on a standby flight on your blog, cause it may just happen...

Connecting flight to Tanzania was full- over booked by 21 paying passengers and 10 standby passengers (really bad odds!). Luckily some family friends are able to look after me here in Zurich until tomorrow when I wil fly back to London and connect to Tanzania with good old British Airways (full fare on business class- ouch!). So tired after spending hours in the airport, but relieved to be able to explore parts of the city of Zurich this afternoon. I did pick up some swiss cheese and chocolate. Arrival in Tanzania for Friday morning- long week, but I am in no rush... The prospect of 6-7 weeks in Tanzania is keeping me happy. Oh, the Zanzibar festival of the Dhow Countries is also on this weekend, if I can find the energy, I will head straight out to the island.

One thing that occured to me today whilst chatting to our swiss family friends is that I have not seen any of my relatives/immediate family since my acceptance to Stanford! It will be so nice to get home and get a good official family congrats in person...

Standby for a risk!

After some packing and sorting out loose ends, I’m ready for the next phase of my journey- flying back home to Tanzania. Flying with a difference, I’m going on Standby! In simple terms, flying on a standby ticket means turning up at the airport and praying that there’s a spare seat due to no shows and hopping on board if there happens to be one. This privilege is a result of my mum’s 25 years service with an airline, and I’m taking this opportunity to minimise moving costs- bearing in mind that I’ve got a return journey via the UK then on to California on normal full fare. Flying standby is fine off season, as there are always some empty seats. But approaching the middle of summer things can get hairy and I rely on my mother’s good judgement and sheer luck in taking this risk. Many times have I watched the long queue of passengers boarding, wondering how full the plane is getting, and it always looks like there’s never any room from the gate entrance. So what are the consequences? Well, I’d get stranded on Zurich airport for 2 days before the next connecting flight (a dull place with tempting expensive designer labels and Swiss chocolates for company). Then if I survive the wait and have not rescued myself by paying a full fare on another flight, there's the prospect of trying the weekend standby flight on Friday, a situation potentially worse, missing that one means a thrilling weekend wait till Monday. The stats are on my side- In my days flying standby over the last 11 years, I’ve only ever been bumped off at Zurich once when I was about 14 travelling back with my two elder sisters (it’s harder to get three spare seats then just the one as a lone traveller), and twice from the Tanzania end.
I rang the airline this morning and they said that there might be a chance of being bumped off in Nairobi (a stopover near Tanzania)-which is quite odd. Doesn’t matter if I do, since a night in Nairobi would actually be alright, I can take a day bus to Dar es Salaam and get views of my favourite geographical feature- the rift valley and of course, mighty Kilimanjaro. Haven’t been out in Kenya for over 10 years since the days I went to Primary/elementary School there, so it would be interesting to see how the country has developed- not saying I'd prefer being bumped off at Nairobi, it would just make an interesting journey.
This is also my last standby ticket under current arrangements- in August, I turn 24 and cease to be “son of employee/staff” and loose the standby privilege. But it has been good and I greatly appreciate the privilege, although it carries risks, the benefits in cost savings justify them- as a bonus those many nervous moments has made me pretty calm at airports these days. Thanks mum! Africa, I’m coming home…

Something for those entering the MBA application process..

There is loads of advice out there about how to select your MBA program and get into b-scool. Without repeating anything and assuming applicants want a practical view on the process, I’m deliberately going to focus on how I ended up at my 1st choice school. I’m hoping that people reading this will be able to relate to my circumstances and find this useful in their experience through the MBA application process.

Need

This may sound like an obvious step for anyone who has already made this choice, I’m not insulting prospective applicants intelligence here, but it is really important to articulate why an MBA is necessary. People attend MBA programs for a variety of reasons along the lines of career advancement and making a difference in the world. What's your specific story?

My Circumstance:
At this point I was 21 years old, been in the aerospace industry barely a year and I came realise I did not want to be a straight engineer all my life.
I wanted to travel the world, develop wider skills, do more with my life and earn enough cash to fulfil my goals.
Particularly, I realised I wanted to return to my home country of Tanzania in the long-term by my 30th b-day and start a business. In between earning my graduate degree and returning to Tanzania, I wanted gain more work experience in the western world- say in strategy consulting with a tech focus.
I began exploring multi-disciplinary programs with engineering/ tech stance and came to a conclusion that an MBA with a tech focus and strong on general management/entrepreneurship would fit my needs, but made the decision to give myself a year to create a shortlist of top schools to apply to and to make myself a competitive applicant.
The MBA application requires long term planning (a year)- I knew that applying to the top schools would be tough and I needed to make myself stand out from other applicants by doing something amazing yet unique. I realised I lacked real leadership experience, I ruled out any experiences from university since most applicants would have an edge on me (to be honest, I concentrated on partying and academics during undergrad). So I decided to pursue an activity (or project) to last me a year,- I settled on my passion for climbing Kilimanjaro, this time on a larger scale and for a worthwhile cause. So I joined a charity that meant a lot to me (The Britain Tanzania society is a charity that I stand for and greatly believe in their work) and decided set about organising a large fundraising expedition for the following summer. It would be risky, but succeed or fail, I would have some concrete and recent leadership experience and most of all- I would have fun and make a difference in the process!

School Search

Begin the school search early and spend considerable time on research. Focus on identifying the schools that fit your needs. If brand and ranking matter to you, then they matter- no point getting beat up over it on business week b-school posts with other people. Rankings based on different criteria (focus, salary, faculty etc..) help you make a decision, use them for this purpose only. Don't forget to factor in things like quality of life costs and location near to target industry after graduation.

My Circumstance:
After about 2 months I settled on 3 top schools- Stanford, Harvard and Wharton. ALL satisfied my needs in some way (some more than others). In order at the time:
Stanford- has strong tech courses, a great engineering school that works closely with the business school and the location is hard to beat.
Wharton- Opportunity to do a dual degree with masters in engineering. Additionally, I’d be close to sister who lives not far from Philly.
Harvard- Big brand name, strong on general management with some opportunity in the second year to cross register at MIT for some tech courses.

I’d ruled out UK MBA programs based on 2 key reasons:
i) I’d been in the UK for 10 years, and was itching to study somewhere else, I was also single which made the decision to travel afar much easier.
ii) There are only 2 schools in the top 10 outside the US, one was in the UK (already ruled out UK) and the other, INSEAD, did not interest me in the slightest.

Concentrate your resources where it matters!

Apparently you need great GMAT scores, great leadership potential and outstanding grades to apply to b-school? Only true to some extent- Focus on what really matters and where you can stand out from the crowd. Essays are key- Spend more on this than anything else.

My Circumstance:
With the time available and my history, there was no way I going to be the model applicant that is portrayed out there in the books & press. For me, my undergrad grades were average from a top UK engineering school. I decided to focus on my leadership experience over slaving away on the GMAT. I took a major risk here, but I had an inkling that the top schools I selected would value leadership over solid GMAT scores. Additionally, the expedition took up about 10-15 hours a week for 8 months, a lot of weekend time training, and a solid 2 weeks out in Africa in the summer before applying. There are only so many hours in the day, GMAT would have to lose out (this ignorance/oversight would later cost me...)

Application strategy- FOCUS!!!

Use what you’ve got and throw it at the right schools. Don’t apply to schools that you are not a good fit and have any doubt about (GMAT scores, grades, experience, recommendation etc…). Validate your assumptions or hunches by further research and attending info sessions.

My Circumstance
GMAT: I took the GMAT and scored poorly the first time round, I mean very poorly! I would be insulting the top schools if I applied. I could not ignore the importance of the GMAT. I decided to retake and apply in round two. This was painful since I had a ton of work at the time and it would mean sacrificing my x-mas time off to work on applications. My second GMAT score was average, not outstanding.

ESSAY: Luckily for me, the expedition turned out to be a great success. That gamble had paid off, I found writing my essays easier due to sheer enjoyment of documenting this leadership experience- I still took a lot of time to capture what leadership lessons I had learnt and further refined my essays over a period of about 2 months.

Recommendations: I made sure my recommenders would provide a balanced view of my personality whilst meeting the requirements for the school. One would provide a good perspective on my analytical skills as an engineer, the other two on my leadership and other attributes (one recommender had been with me on the expedition).

Info sessions: At this point I decided to rule out Wharton- I never made it to their info session and I was having doubts about how the program would fulfil my tech needs. Additionally, at this point I had fallen for Stanford’s program after thorough research lasting a year and when I finally attended their information session in London- everything I wanted from the MBA course was validated and with the sort of information that you could not get from books- FIT. What does fit mean? Well, I knew Stanford was for me and that Stanford would value me.
From then on I wanted to get into Stanford even if it meant a rejection and applying the following year. I was not going to waste what little money I had on schools that I did not have such a passion for. I did not even know why I even applied to Harvard- I guess the lure of the brand name was hard to beat. I did not enjoy their information session as much as Stanford’s- I found Harvard’s alumni arrogant and too hard working. I only got 1-2 mins chat with Brit Dewey, the admission director, compared with 30 mins with a Stanford alumni. In a word, my tangible one to one experience with Stanford & Harvard was what tipped the balance- I spent loads of time and effort on my Stanford application, less on my Harvard one, Wharton was out of the window.

Interview:

Be yourself, relax and reflect on why you applied to the school.

My Circumstance:
Only had the one interview with Stanford. Since I had focused so much on the one school, I knew a lot about the program. Also, at this point, I had just started reading MBA blogs and got some good advice from BritChickMBA on her Stanford interview experience. I also used a handy website with a database of frequently asked interview questions for Stanford and indeed other schools.

The rest is history (oh and stay calm if you can without visiting businessweek posts too often, it makes the wait unbearable!)… I hope this helps any prospective applicants. I believe the key factors are:

· UNIQUENESS- Make sure you stand out from the crowd by having unique experiences. It may be an extremely high GMAT score, in most cases it's leadership experiences and being able to convey them in the form of compelling essays that really counts.
· RESEARCH- Initially use the literature out there (I used Businessweek week for a comprehensive view on top 30 programs and later MBA Admission edge) to focus on top 10). Additionally, visit the websites to study the courses, faculty and research centres and follow applicant & student blogs. Basically, research the the ins and outs of each school and validate through info sessions or school visits- eliminate those that don’t make the cut.
· FOCUS, ADAPT & BELIEVE, - You have limited time, energy and for some, money- focus on what counts for the school you’re applying and be prepared for setbacks- GMAT etc... Most important, you must believe. The journey is long, but you must believe you can do it, read lots of blogs for encouragement and to examine the realities of the process and don't get disheartened by some of those negative business week posts, especially the ones that focus exclusively on the score, yes GMAT score- it's only one aspect of the application, it's the whole package that counts.

Good luck!!!

The end of another phase…

So I had my last day today at QinetiQ, the employer of my first full time job. From businessweek posts, I’m surprised at how many people seem to be so anxiously, yet understandably, wanting to leave work. On the other hand, I’ve had such a great 2 and half years at the organisation that I felt strangely sad when I got into work today- started to realise how nice the people at work are and how much I’m going to miss them. Walking through those big gates for the last time as the weather was turning thundery- it felt a bit of subdued at first as I went about my checklist throughout the morning. Sent out my final e-mail with my contact details to all the UK lot. Turned up at the pub for farewell lunch to see some key colleagues, by this point the weather had cleared a bit and was still pretty hot and muggy- we headed to the beer garden of course.
Then the leaving ceremony, one of the senior managers gave a impromptu speech that made me laugh, it just so happened that he was my first landlord when I arrived in the area for the job, so I could relate to his anecdotes of my beginnings- all innocent just out of uni. Then my short and sharp speech- I explained how much fun I had had and made the key point of how I was going to miss the laid back culture and extremely nice people within the organisation- and of course, had to mention my clear motivation for the MBA. Then came the fun part, the presents:
· I got some Amazon certificates to set me on some more books- Although I’m now debating whether I should really buy some novel to read on the beach in Tanzania over the summer rather than another management book, after all I’ll have two years to be read up on that stuff.
· An inflatable globe (was asked not to try and stick pins in it…)
· Then I got something really usefull- American English/ English American glossary. Yes, to ease the culture change in subtle differences in language, this book is a definite must. Is mince meat really known as "hamburger meat" in the US!!? You make hamburgers from mince meat, but I find it hard to believe that Americans refer to mince universally as "hamburger meat"! Someone correct me here please... Catapult- Slingshot is another one- to me these are two different things, Bart Simpson uses a catapult, David slays Goliath with a slingshot- barely interchangeable. Sorry I digress...

So after the presents and a few more pints I was set. Handed in my IBM ThinkPad laptop (I have to say at this point, having been through Dell and IBM laptops, I will certainly be sticking to IBM, they are just so much more robust). After clearing my desk, that was that- the end of another phase in my life, now student days are back! But first, packing this weekend, the occasional pint, then 7 weeks home sweet home in Tanzania, the second part of my complex move to California. Flying out on Wednesday. It’s all happening so quickly. EXCITING TIMES TO COME!!

Happy summer solstice

Had my exit interview today with my employer... In 3 days time I will be unemployed- how scary...! More interesting, I was up at 3am this morning for the summer solstice celebration at Stonehenge- a beautiful sunrise and worth getting up early for to see some celebrating pagans, druids, hippies etc… I really do need to focus on packing my stuff now and stop partying, but I hope you’d agree, this was a unique event- I got to touch the ancient stones!


Summer Solstice Sunrise at Stonehenge, England. 

Presentation and a half...

My long awaited presentation on Friday to my charity went off well. The presentation was all about last years' Kilimanjaro Expedition, which raised funds to construct science laboratories for a community school in rural Tanzania. After preparing a mammoth 60 slides PowerPoint slide presentation over the last week, I felt ever more confident and relaxed, two years ago I would have melted at the thought of giving any sort of presentation. I fine tuned the slides on my way into London on the train, and arrived at the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS) campus 5 minutes before start. The audience was as expected, a mixture of students mainly dominated by ex-colonial Britain Tanzania Society members- however I did not expect a journalist with a TV camera from a random channel, BENTelevistion, to show up- Apparently it broadcasts to 70 million Africans across the globe!!! I quickly became nervous, but then calmed down. I ran through the presentation without a hitch in 40 minutes and was relieved that my presentation skills were still on form- In fact it was certainly my best presentation yet, you can only improve when making presentations I find. Mostly the audience were impressed that I did not concentrate too much on the intricacies of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro by giving them a dad by day account of climb, rather, I focused on the leadership and social entrepreneurship aspects of the whole project from start to finish over the 1-2 years and the difficulties of managing the expectations, culture shock and safety of 24 people on a mountain. I ended with brief interview with the TV journalist, in which I opted to do in the language of Swahili and had some quick discussions with some of the other charity members, before finally having a chance to say hi and bye to some of my friends who kindly attended. Afterwards, we headed for a goodbye meal at a cosy Italian restaurant with the other charity members and their extended families, which was nice. Over the dinner, I was embarrassed at how little Swahili I actually knew, this girl proceeded to tell me about the Swahili translations of new words such as "internet" and "website", apparently the language is quickly catching up and replacing the English words used for these modern concepts. A lot still to learn, despite my frequent trips home. So I said bye to the charity members and promised to return post MBA to further contribute my skills to the already excellent work the charity does helping to relieve poverty in Tanzania.
Of course, no London night is complete without joining my school and university friends at some bar on the King's road in Chelsea. Saturday morning, despite the scorching hot weather, I gave my time to help Alex on his Jazz agency website- specifically teaching him to maintain it by himself- although I’ll still deal with complex stuff (that I’m still learning!). I returned back to the English countryside by 6pm to enjoy a cool British summer evening. Good weather further forecasted in my last week in the UK. Looking forward to Summer Solstice celebration at Stonehenge on Monday/Tuesday, longest day of the year - a 20-30 minutes walk from work just after the sunrise. Should be yet another opportunity for a perfect party before departing good old England and back into Africa.

Could this be my last business trip in the aerospace/aviation industry?

Today was my last client site visit as part of my current job. It is really winding down now. Next week I have 2 major project close/review meetings and I will have transferred all responsibility on my projects. I'm now reflecting on 2 and a half years of this interesting industry. Although there's a lot I dislike about it, the amount of politics, the huge product life-cycle spans (a typical commercial aircraft may take between 4-8 years to develop at a cost several billion dollars- even longer and more costly for military aircraft!), there's still some glamour, after all this is an outstanding example of european engineering and innovation... So I took a long hard look last at the concorde parked at the Airbus, Filton site.

But here's a better shot, the last flight- flying over Bristol and clifton suspension bridge- my undergrad university town.


Concorde over Bristol 

I plan not to do more than just lounge around in the sun when I return to Tanzania...

With less than 2 weeks to go until I leave my current employer, work has been decreasing and I've been making preparations to return to my home country. To many, being in Tanzania by the coast, only a stones throw away from the paradisal island of Zanzibar for 7 weeks before starting b-school would be an almost ideal retreat. But there's only so much rest one can have before boredom kicks in. The passport renewal and visa process should keep me busy to begin with but after that things could get dull. So I've decided to pursue some part-time jobs or work shadowing in the time I'm there. 3 top candidates include:

1. Umojaa Fund (Unit Trust of Tanzania) & Capital Markets:: Tanzania used be a deeply socialist country and in the late 1980s we became a democracy, the process of privatisation of many industries began in the 1990s and has been recently accelerating. Industries as diverse as telecomms, tabacco, power utilities and distilleries have been privatised with a lot more to come. It would be a valuable experience in learning about the capital investment market in Tanzania even for only a few weeks. The fund will enable ordinary poor to middle class citizens for the first time to be able to own shares in the country's key industries. Each unit will go for an initial cost of 100 shillings, that equates to 10 cents US! Sale ends on 29th July- before you take out your wallet- I should let you know it's only open to Tanzanian nationals.

2. Vodacom:: A giant mobile/cellular network that operates across Africa. My engineering degree was focused on communications technologies, particularly cellular, so I've always had an interest in this area. In addition, I'm keen to find out how this giant makes a profit in a poor developing world country, yet provides such affordable deals for a market where the average GDP per head is $300.

3. TANconsult: Family engineering consulting business. It won't be too exciting, but I might as well lend my ideas and manpower and start showing my worth with respect to the contribution my father is making to my MBA education. And who knows, one day it could be me making some of the company decisions.

Oh, and I almost forgot, although not strictly related, I've been enhancing my web skills by helping my friend's recently launched music agency site, TheLiveLink. The world of jazz, watch out!

MBA funding for 1st year sorted- African style...

I recieved my financial award letter last week and was pleasantly suprised at how high it was. It was almost $23k! At first I thought it must have been a mistake since Stanford state that typically, financial aid is between 15-25%, mine was more like 33%. After some discussion with family, it was decided that I accept a slightly lower loan than proposed by the financial aid office, with parents offsetting this with a larger contribution. In this process I felt there was too much discussion with family- yes, I know, MBA financing is a serious matter and I should be lucky that my parents have and are still willing to contribute to my education, but I felt so out of control- after all, it's my MBA, I got in and not them, so I should have more say into this matter. The big issue that I still find hard to deal with is African cultural values of family participating in ALL decisions vs the western, independent & responsible minded values I have grown up with. When these clash, I get very frustrated- I'm only free enough to make my own decisions and life plans up to a certain extent before family step in. I suppose I should be grateful such a supportive and caring family, which I am, but I'm just wondering when I'll be fully independent and responsible to carry out actions for my life without family interference.
So the $67k budget will be funded roughly evenly across the three sources- fellowship, loan and gift from parents. Next is visa stuff, just to instruct that the I-20 forms be sent to Tanzania to await my arrival in 2 weeks time. Did I mention that I have to renew my passport before starting on the visa process as well? I have 7 weeks from then...

The four phase moving plan to Stanford has begun...

I'm exhausted after the first of four phases of my moving plan which spans 3 continents- life's tough for international students.

1. Move from rented flat to my friend's house temporarily for 2 weeks until last day of work and departure. Will split possesions, amassed over 11 years in the UK into two halves.

2. Depart for Tanzania with one half of my stuff that I don't need for b-school. Leave the other half (b-school stuff )in storage at my friends in UK for recollection in mid August.

3. Following 8 weeks in Tanzania, in which I'll be renewing my passport and sorting US student visa (easier to sort in home country) plus having a break, saying farewell to family and friends, I'll then depart for California, flying via UK.

4. Spend 2 days in UK collecting stored b-school belongings from friend's place and sending them on to California using an excess baggage moving service, they deliver door to door for small charge, so straight onto Schwab. Say final goodbye's to UK friends and make the final connection to California to arrive in late August...

Fire at my school makes the news...

This morning I woke up to the news on TV that there had been a fire at my old school, Marlborough. After an initial panic speculating about how serious the fire could be, I was relieved to hear it was not as I'd feared- the fire occured at the boarding house well away from the main buildings and there were no serious injuries or casualties.

BBC news article had to mention the fact that a member of the royal family currently there was well.

Can't believe I only left that school 6 years ago. Need to find time to visit before I leave England, the experience there over 5 years is a big part of me and it forged my life here in the UK.

Sony’s my winner- I’ve rejected the i-POD as my personal music companion

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been making a very important decision- what MP3 player to buy to accompany me on my travels and eventually through b-school. I reckon these devices have become like mobile phones, a fashion item- further complicating consumer choice these days.
I used to be a huge fan of minidiscs with their fancy ATRAC audio compression technology, having stuck with them for almost 10 years as my portable music format of choice. I resisted the temptation through the early phase of switching to MP3 players simply due to the fact that the cost for a unit music space was still far lower on minidiscs than for MP3 players (use of memory cards etc…). Then hard disk MP3 players arrived, and it all changed, with the now ubiquitous i-POD as the must have “cool” gadget. I was very tempted and I almost made the switch. When now forced to make the choice with prices of all players similar, I decided to do more research to get a balanced view, I first checked out i-river and other manufacturers of 20GB MP3 players, they differentiated themselves with a host of features including easy drag and drop features- but to be honest most of them still look ugly & clumsy- not cool enough for b-school. Just when I thought I had abandoned Sony’s offerings, they started releasing their “network walkman” (NW) series, and despite their un-original name and given the fact that they only played Sony’s proprietary ATRAC3 format it was not really an i-POD challenger. But the over the last year, the MP3 player war has been intensifying, and now Sony have released the NW-HD5, their latest instalment which plays MP3s, WMAs, WAVs and ATRAC. It is THE i-POD killer- yes, it looks good, very small, offers clever g-shock protection and to top it off, it is capable of 40 hours battery life! I was almost sold.
There was one thing I was not happy about. Why have Sony insisted so much on pushing their ATRAC3 audio compression technology from minidisc onto hard-disk players? I knew ATRAC compression was better than WMA & MP3, but who cares? Most digital music is in MP3 and they occupy roughly the same space… I was wrong about the last part. As a closet audiophile, I decided to investigate and compare- To my horror, tests claim that ATRAC3plus (now used in the NW-HD5) is significantly better than MP3, especially at the standard 128kps quality; independent tests have measured ATRAC3plus fidelity at 64kbps and found its audio quality equivalent to 128kbps MP3! What does that mean? It does not take a genius to work out that you can fit twice the music for the equivalent quality on the Sony NW-players that the iPOD. My mind is made up- And which colour? A Stanford red of course!

My top 10 reading list for MBAs & business

Recently, there has been a huge trend in blogs doing book reviews. I’ve not been officially “tagged” and will not go into my most recent read books; you’ll only get a long list of Africa related literature. Instead I offer my list in line with the theme of this blog- My journey through the MBA and business. Hence, this should not only be of interest to those entering or preparing for MBAs, but those interested in general business knowledge and personal growth. I am also in the middle of packing all my stuff this week and I stumbled across my bookshelf last night and thought “I can’t take all these with me to b-school!”. I read these books over the period of about 2 years, some more than once, others for the occasional reference.

The Number- How America’s balance sheet lies rocked the World’s financial markets:
I’m reading this book a second time and I shall certainly read it a third during the b-school to further enhance my understanding. It provides a good overall historical account of accounting and finance to the recent scandals of late.

Dot.con- The real story of why the internet bubble burst: As a technologist I picked this up and wondered how far we’ve come in the last 10 years. Boom to bust, winners and losers. I’m sure they’ll be plenty more to learn in Silicon Valley.

The end of poverty- How we can make it happen in our lifetime: As an African I read this book and was impressed at the practical yet simple approach presented to ending world poverty. Written by a major economist who has helped some of the poorest countries.

Stephen Covey’s- 7 habits of highly effective people: Highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to change their life. It’s certainly a classic.

The 48 laws of Power: Seriously, this book is a must for anyone wanting to attain, wield or defend from power moves. Each law is related to a range of perspectives from leaders throughout history. Think of yourself as a courtier in a grand French court competing with others. Beware, this is a “love it hate it” book.

Tipping Point- How the little things make a big difference: A suggestion from current Stanford MBA students, explains how ideas, trends or social behaviours cross a threshold and suddenly spread like an epidemic. I’m partway through at the moment- another must.

Anyone can do it: My favourite entrepreneurial journey about two siblings, an MBA graduate and qualified lawyer, who quit their boardroom jobs to start American style coffee bars in the UK, namely Coffee Republic, only to return full circle back to the boardroom within a few years. Reads in a set 57 laws in entrepreneurship .

World on fire: A must for anyone interested in the subject of the exportation of democracy to developing nations. It presents very clear arguments of the tensions, ethnic hatred and global instability that can arise when countries are forced to become democratic. The author still manages to come out as NOT an anti-globalist.

Funky business & Karaoke Capitalism: I lent Funky business to one of my accountant friends and I still haven’t got it back yet, so when the follow up came out I did not hesitate to buy it. Both books are witty yet convincing ways to re-imagine the capitalist world we live in- it strongly advocates individualism, talent and weirdness for one to succeed.

Thinking Strategically: I think this is recommended reading at most b-schools. It’s a fairly straight forward book with examples from sport, business and politics. It introduces concepts such as game theory, incentives etc…

Prestige of an MBA vs law degree (JD)

I caught the tail end of quite an aggressive discussion on the businessweek forums yesterday- Law (JDs) vs MBAs. This caught my attention since I had just spent the weekend with an undergrad friend of mine in Bristol who is a trainee lawyer and we often discussed our work, in addition, I seem to hang around and have many friends in the legal profession, I even have and a sister who works in law.

Prestige factor, I tend to respect lawyers a lot more from the perspective of work they do, they seem to put in a huge amount of hours and have even heard of some big city firms even having beds for some of those staying late night and continuing to work early the next morning! I respect anyone who can cope in such an environment regardless of pay. As for the degree itself, there seems to be vastly more courses available in the law degree, particularly the US, and hence the 3 year long course. It certainly fairs better than the MBA in terms of intellectual stimulation.
However, I tend to find law very dull as far as job satisfaction and variety is concerned- the friends I have here in the UK seem to spend most of their time drafting documents, writing letters rather than getting in on the action of the courtroom. I know in the states, lawyers will prepare cases and go to court, whilst in the UK the two functions are separated into solicitor (who litigates) and lawyer (drafts cases). I find the US model much more exciting.
In comparison with the MBA, there is one striking difference between the two degrees; the sheer amount of job variety the MBA offers. No one would argue against the fact that it opens more doors to more careers across more borders than anything else. However, lawyers with great leadership skills can enter politics and make a great impact and be well on the road to becoming the next president or prime minister rather than MBAs. The JD/MBAs would be a powerful combination, but far too much work for the likes of me. In my current plans, I’ll probably take a few courses at the Stanford Law School related to intellectual property (IP), since in my current high-tech job we always seem to be having issues related to IP on a regular basis.

I do need to say something about my core discipline. Engineering s*cks as far as prestige goes these days, especially in the UK. As a natural engineer, I wish I was born in the 1800s during the industrial revolution, in the days of Isambard Kingdom Brunel- the pioneer of mass public transport, in particular the railroad/railways. Those were the days, engineers where highly respected. In my weekend in Bristol, I still couldn’t stop but marvel at Brunel’s classic- The Clifton Suspension Bridge. Somehow the British don’t seem to appreciate technological advance as much as they used to- maybe it’s due to decline of manufacturing in this country. At least in the US, a background in engineering still holds some prestige factor.

The social network sacrifice...

This week, following my work leaving party, I’ve felt things are starting to hit home to that fact that I’m not only leaving a great work social group, but a network of friends and contacts in the UK built up over 11 years since arriving in the UK at the age of 12. Over those years I became strongly dependent on this network and made huge efforts to grow and maintain it since home was 8000 miles away and I needed the support where my parents or siblings could not provide through my teens. Pursuing an MBA in California means sacrificing this network. In the end it’s not that bad a sacrifice- in actual fact, the “network” I have has actually evolved and become very fragmented, not only geographically with some of my friends leaving the UK to head to far flung places such as Japan, France and Australia, but also in types of social groups. In London for instance, although my school friends are largely in a cohesive group in the centre of London, my uni friends are much more widespread and largely hang around their work related groups. This has given me a headache as far as visiting people as I have to dedicate days or sometimes whole weekends to properly keep in touch with a wide number of people- I’m not the sort of person who is satisfied with a quick 1 hour drink in the bar to catch up 2 years of non-contact nor a huge party where you will probably get to talk to people for no longer than 5-10 minutes in total. Of course huge parties are always required! I just tend to really value spending a huge amount of time with my friends building up relationships on a one to one or in groups of 3 or 4 to know everything in detail and if possible go out for a meal or night out- i.e. proper socialising, not a quick hello, goodbye scenario. I do this to such an extent that normally people turn to me on for a “full update” on a particular friend that others have not really bothered catching up with sufficiently. Take my work leaving party this last week, there was such a wide range of people there who were constantly asking each other “so how do you know Mbwana?”, rather than “Oh, everyone in here is part of the same office/football/salsa club”. Yes, I have to accept the fact that people are now on their own path of life and we can never all be one happy family forever such as at school or university days- people do develop more and more unique identities and eventually narrow down their social interactions.
At Stanford I know I’ll make some amazing friends and build up a great network but in time too, this will start to become fragmented- some people will stay in the bay area, others back to their home countries etc… However, I think the strength of alumni services will make it increasingly easier to stay in touch, and I don’t have to play the role of Mr. give us a “full update” on so and so.
This weekend I’m visiting my undergrad uni town, the amazing Bristol, where the centre of my life evolved 3-4 years ago and where I could never imagine leaving such an ideal place- school & uni friends, excellent nightlife and so on. Now everyone’s gone including those who got jobs there following graduation, in fact I can now only count 3 solid contacts there… I suppose the network sacrifice I’m making seems manageable because I’m single, 23 and accustomed to travelling all the time- I’m sure in 5-10 years time I’ll think differently through lifestyle changes and I won’t be willing to give up a social network that easily… Anyhow, there’s always a chance you’ll be in for some surprises- who would have guessed that an old friend of mine from primary/elementary school days in Kenya, now lives in San Francisco and is an aspiring DJ.
In some ways, timing to pursue an MBA for me now could not have been more perfect. My mobile phone bill should also decrease considerably now! Or will it not?

Africa Issue- Development & Aid

The other day, Bob Geldoff announced the series of concerts, Live 8, to held to coincide with the G8 meeting in July. It is intended as a political statement to the governments of the most developed nations to take Africa’s poverty issues more seriously. I’ve been following these developments as I’m African and I intend to return there in the long-term and hopefully be a part of a turn around in Africa’s development. I’m generally impressed with Britain & especially other European countries that this issue is finally being taken seriously, but I think there are three strands to the argument as to how to resolve Africa’s dilemma from the point of view aid. One strand is the level of aid that developed countries should be contributing to the whole Africa problem, the second is how do countries qualify for aid, and finally how the aid should be spent.

Show me the money!
This argument is about full debt cancellation of the most seriously underdeveloped countries and an increase of contributions by the developed countries to the Millennium goal target of 0.7% of GDP (calculated to meet developing world’s needs to eliminate extreme poverty). I fully agree with debt cancellation in certain countries where previous official aid assistance has been misspent on projects with no impact real impact on the poverty issue. Some Scandinavian countries have largely met the 0.7% GDP target and I can see Britain and other European countries catching up by 2015. It’s amazing that developing countries are now wealthy enough that only a measly 0.7% of GDP is required, this was much higher 20 years ago. But the huge criticism from this side of the argument is the low amount of aid in terms of GDP that America, the biggest potential absolute donor, is contributing.

Criteria for aid
The conditions for which aid is given is how America sees its role in the aid business, and hence, their reservations for meeting the 0.7% GDP target so hastily. Their approach is to identify which countries have reformed themselves enough and demonstrated positive steps towards the reducing corruption at the governmental level, increased transparency and of course the extent to which a country has adopted democracy. In other words, governance is a key criteria for the US to even consider a country for aid. Once a country has proven they can govern themselves adequately so that aid is not wasted. I’m beginning to doubt the commitment of America to providing aid, although I agree somewhat with their view for strict governance criteria for distributing aid- so far it seems only Madagascar has qualified, despite many countries having made real progress in governance. Governments of developing countries in Africa won’t become super star transparent and democratic over night, rather it will take time- possibly too much time. I wonder whether the US are being too strict here and are on the path to letting the world community down as a key player in meeting the challenging poverty reduction targets by 2025.

Where do you spend it?
Top of the list would be infrastructure (roads, ICT etc..), health & education. These are the key development issues that act as a barrier for underdeveloped countries since their governments cannot raise enough money through taxation to meet basic levels. And aid is required to address this shortfall.

It’s not just about aid! Fairness, opportunity & self reliance:
But really it’s not just about aid- another view that shouldn’t go unmentioned here is how western world is sometimes reluctant to open up key markets to fair trade to the extent so that undeveloped countries can work their way out of poverty and eventually become self reliant. There is no point in making a country reliant on aid forever- aid needs to be given with the assumption that these countries will be able to work their way out of poverty and become economically sustainable in the long-term and become part of the integrated global economy. Some challenges to this include understanding the impacts of globalisation on developed economies which include working out a practical means to end subsidies in developed countries that impede trade growth opportunities for developing ones. There are some who have been complaining about how Africa is being portrayed as a helpless continent in the media in the west and masking some of the progress made, although I agree somewhat with this, I feel it's probably the only way to tap into the minds of the west to address a really important issue for now. In time, those images of starvation on TV will hopefully decrease and replaced with images of positive development.

I’m interested to hear more about how aid to Africa is perceived in the US when I’m over there for the next 2 years. It certainly seems to be getting a lot of coverage on this side of the Atlantic- an MBA classroom maybe the closest I’ll get to hearing some good arguments and views- specifically on the trade and corporate social responsibility side of things.