Doreen Yomoah · @dyomoah ·
The 6 Most Inspiring Companies to Work For in East Africa
Do you live to work or work to live? We spend most of our waking hours on the clock. So landing a job that makes you jump out of bed (rather than burying your head under your pillow) can make a huge difference in your life.
The trick is to find a role that inspires you — not a soul-crushing job that grinds you down. If you’re counting the minutes to 5 p.m. each day, it’s high time to reassess and rediscover your motivation.
Here are six East African companies to get you started. These workplaces provide an exciting mission, enthusiastic coworkers, and a positive environment. They prove that it is possible after all to truly love what you do.
1. Ubongo (Tanzania)
Ever heard of edutainment? Neither had we …. until we came across Ubongo. This company combines education and entertainment to help kids learn in fun ways.
Their flagship program, Ubongo Kids, is an interactive cartoon that teaches children math through animation and songs. It’s popular across East Africa and draws nearly 1 million weekly viewers in Tanzania alone. Children in rural areas who watch the show have significantly higher math scores than those who watch regular cartoons.
Cofounder Nisha Ligon told Akilah Net that Ubongo has “a fun learning culture, with a passion for social change and a sense of shared ownership and responsibility. We’re a very transparent company, and we encourage every ‘Ubongoer’ to speak out. What I love most about Ubongo is the way that everyone on the team, from our lead animator to our office assistant, feels a deep ownership of our products and pride in their work.”
The work environment is “a really bright open, informal space” where Ubongoers can lounge on beanbags while coming up with new stories, brainstorm ideas on dry-erase walls, and work out on an elliptical while reviewing their animations. There is even a play space for kids who lend their voices to the show and test the product.
Muhammad Juma, an animator at Ubongo, adds that the company is inclusive and provides flexible working hours, so he can avoid good old African traffic!
Not sold yet? Juma adds that even a long day “doesn’t feel like working late” because “I can keep the music on and dance to it, which is my favorite thing”. Plus, the office chef can whip just up about anything, including tom yam (a sour soup) and wali kuku (rice and chicken).
Indego Africa’s Leadership Academy. Photo courtesy of Indego Africa.
2. Indego Africa (Rwanda)
Indego Africa is committed to breaking inter-generational cycles of poverty in Rwanda by teaching women entrepreneurial skills. How’s that for a lofty mission statement?
Currently, the nonprofit employs 600 female artisans, who partner with independent designers to craft gorgeous clothes, jewelry, accessories, and housewares. The goods are sold in an online boutique.
Heloise Mudenge, Indego’s finance and communications associate, told Akilah Net, that working at Indego is empowering: “We have a great sense of teamwork. Everyone here is very dedicated and committed to our goal … and we work well together to achieve tangible, impactful results, like launching a Leadership Academy in October 2014.”
Empowering women is a key part of job satisfaction here. “The ability to see the progress the women have made over the years is very fulfilling. It is also very encouraging to see the desire they have to grow and be better, whether it is through their artistry or education,” she says.
Need more proof? For concrete figures on Indego’s impact, visit their annual reports here.
3. FHI 360 (International)
There’s nothing quite as inspiring as finding yourself surrounded by the best and brightest minds from a variety of backgrounds and countries. FHI 360 brings together experts in fields ranging from health and education to the environment and technology. The professionals work together to tackle development challenges.
With over 4,000 employees worldwide, FHI360 has offices across East Africa. You’re nearly guaranteed to find work that motivates you: There’s a design lab for creative types, data analysis projects for finance gurus, and research opportunities for the science-minded.
For Dorothy Muroki, chief of party for the Cross-Border Health Integrated Partnership Project in Kenya, the opportunity to work with other experts on a single mission is particularly rewarding. “The region is facing an array of challenges, including economic and health disparities, economic development, gender equality, and a large population of vulnerable youth. It is gratifying to work at FHI 360, which addresses these challenges not in isolation, but in an integrated manner, recognizing that they all are related,” she says.
4. Nuru International (Kenya and Ethiopia)
This poverty-fighting organization with offices in Ethiopia and Kenya aims to “create a world where every person has the ability to make meaningful choices to improve his or her life in a lasting way.” Sounds pretty great, huh? It gets better — Nuru wants to end extreme poverty in remote areas. Now there’s a good reason to roll out of bed every morning!
While lots of organizations claim similar goals, Nuru stands out by taking the whole grassroots, scalable-solution thing very seriously. They promote self-reliance and work with leaders in rural areas to give them tools and knowledge to tackle hunger, preventable disease, education gaps, and financial instability.
In Kuria, Kenya — where there were staggering levels of poverty — Nuru provided seed and fertilizer loans to farmers, taught locals money-management skills, provided healthcare education and services, and ran literacy lessons for elementary school students.
So what’s it like to work there? Pretty rewarding, according to Bennadette Mugita, a program manager in Kenya. Nuru “has a clear road map for training their employees to sustain and enhance the productivity of the organization as a whole”, she says. Additionally, the organization maintains “a positive working environment where there is open and transparent communication”, so employees feel like their contributions are valued.
5. Off.Grid:Electric (Tanzania)
This Arusha-based solar energy company is making the world a brighter place — quite literally. Their mission is to make “modern light and electrical services affordable to everyone”.
The company replaces dangerous kerosene lamps with pay-as-go solar energy. Their solar solution is cheaper and more convenient (you can top up with your phone!) than traditional power supplies. They also provide high-tech lithium batteries, so their clients get the most power for their shillings.
What’s more, they create thousands of jobs and support tens of thousands of small businesses and local entrepreneurs by helping communities go solar.
CEO Xavier Helgesen told Akilah Net that “the opportunity to dramatically improve the lives of over 1.5 billion people who live without affordable, safe, and clean forms of energy” makes Off-Grid’s work fulfilling. His favorite part about the company’s culture? Everyone prides themselves on excellence, he says. “At Off-Grid, we believe in delivering more in everything we do. We hold ourselves to a very high standard,” he explains.
6. One Acre Fund (Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania)
Andrew Youn, a Yale graduate-turned-agricultural entrepreneur started One Acre Fund in 2006. The company supports small-scale farmers in hard-to-reach places with training, materials (such as seeds), market access, and financing. One Acre Fund helps farmers pull themselves out of poverty and become their own bosses. Join them, and that becomes part of your job description!
Wangari Mungai, an operations associate in Kenya, says, “It’s a very exciting time to be involved in social entrepreneurship around the world. There are many great ideas that are changing how the world tackles poverty, and it’s truly inspiring to see how One Acre Fund is doing this with smallholder families.”
Charles Ashimwe, a program associate in Rwanda, says working at One Acre Fund gives you the opportunity to really make an impact: “You get to see what you do. You are given a chance to own your work and be accountable for it,” he says. “There is onsite help if you need it … You feel a family around you, and social times are always amazing — you can easily make best friends at One Acre Fund.”
A solid mission? Project ownership? Supportive coworkers? Sign us up!
