Learn and adapt to the ever-changing work environment

Multi-faceted: He is a professional with a number of multi-discipline skills; a doctor of Economics as well as Management with more than 20 years of accumulated experience. Wambaka Kosea is also the head of party and programmes at Strategic Group of Companies incorporated in Uganda, Washington DC and Hong Kong.

What is your skill set?

I am an Economist with a Master’s in Economic Policy and planning and a PhD in Economics. I am a teacher and my first degree is Arts in Education. I am a manager with a Master’s in Business Administration and a PhD in Management. I do legal issues because I have a Masters in International Commerce. I organise events because I have a Master’s in International Events Management, so I have a number of disciplines that describe me.

What does your career journey look like?

I taught for two years after which I joined Uganda Wildlife Education Centre as a grants programme officer from 2006 to 2008. I then went private and opened a firm called Strategic Friends International Consultants, and I have brought on board other sister companies.

What values have your academic accomplishments helped you in your career journey?

The kind of work I do requires some specific skills and they have enabled me execute my professional career. I have been in a position to manage different staff. That is why the firm has grown. I need many human and business skills to do business.

Current economic events affect business. If I did not know what is happening economically, then I would not be able to thrive in the business because what somebody is doing in the UK will affect what you are doing here in Uganda. The skills have enabled me understand the business environment and execute our consultant services diligently from a technically informed point of view.

How has your research benefited those around you or Uganda?

I did research on the role of aid - multilateral and bilateral - on growth and the savings of sub-Saharan African countries. Based on the results, you find that multilateral aid works better for sub-Saharan African countries.

I brought in the elemental institutions that as much as you are giving aid to sub-Saharan African countries, it is managed by people before it reaches the beneficiaries. So if the people are corrupt, you will not have good results.

Actually the results indicated that aid works better when the institutions are good. For the second Ph.D. I did about product differentiation and perceived performance of commercial banks in Uganda. Do they benefit when they differentiate their products? They can pick a leaf and see how they can use those results to grow or to survive in the competitive banking market.

Have you mentored those you work with?

The kind of environment we live and operate in changes almost daily. I should be in a position to learn very fast. There is a need for a lot of patience when you are doing business or consultancy.

I must be in a position to understand the different categories of people because there are key players in what we do and their levels of understanding are not the same.

People look at things differently. You must be in position to accommodate them, study them, and execute your assignments in conformity with their way of living, situations and cultures.

That is how to succeed. You have to prioritise resource utilisation. I have learnt from economics and that is why I have invested in education instead of investing in apartments. The goal was not to earn in the short run. So that is what I can pass on as a mentor.

What career ethics do you uphold?

I adhere to timelines. If the assignment is two months, let it be two months. You must be an honest person. Integrity is important in the kind of work we do. That is why it is very important that before you even appear in public, you must have cleaned your dirt so that when you are talking on the TV, somebody is not complaining about you in his house: being honest, focused and prioritising.

What has been your biggest failure in life?

I have not failed.

What has been your biggest setback?

We do not operate in isolation but with so many people. So I may want to move very fast, but the institution I am operating in could be slow and take decisions so it becomes the setback. I may have a strategic direction but be affected by the operations of other people or other institutions.

Who has been your career icon and why?

I do not have a role model. With the current trends, you cannot have a role model because things keep changing. I mix different role models. The achievements of different people have best practices to emulate.

When you are not consulting and working, how do you spend your other time?

I am with my family most of the time or reading a novel. Maybe on the weekends I can go out with my family, but I am generally a family man if I am not working.

Education

•  I studied at Buyobo Primary School in Sironko then Masaba Senior Secondary School. I joined Makerere University for a Bachelor’s degree of Arts in Education.

• I taught for two years at St. Lawrence Citizens’ College before enrolling for a Master’s in Economic Policy And Planning and then a doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in Management from University of Central Nicaragua.

• I did a Masters in Economic Policy and Planning from College of Business and Management Science: Makerere University, a Masters in International Commercial Law from University of Salford; Manchester, UK, Masters in Business Administration from East and Southern Management Institute: Arusha, Tanzania, Masters in International Events Management at the University of Salford, Manchester, UK.