Francis Egbuson

I had the privilege of been a guest on the Watoto Church Power, Sex and Money program last week Friday on the topic of goal setting. Watoto Church is Pentecostal congregation established over thirty years ago by Pastor Gary Skinner and his wife Marilyn.  The interviewer Ronnie Habasa did an excellent job of facilitating the process to ensure that we focused on the topic in a conversational, light hearted and meaningful way.  Now, with most people’s experience with making New Year resolutions and not keeping them beyond February 14 th (Valentine’s Day) of the same year, and the feeling that people in the Church may think of goal setting as some corporate ritual, I was very impressed by the level of interest and enthusiasm from the audience. And it was the preparation for the session that also proved to be very rewarding. I listened to Pastor Rick Warren’s sermon on Transformed: How to Set Personal Goals By Faith and Change Your Life By Changing Your Mind. Two pivotal s...

It was a gathering of 122 business leaders from 30 countries in sub freezing temperatures in Boston on January 19-24 to learn about Disciplined Entrepreneurship (DE). A process and set of tools developed by MIT Professor of Practice and Chief Executive of the Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship, Bill Aulet. It was a gathering of intense energy and collaboration facilitated by a world class Faculty and the Boston Venture and Angel network. As someone who worked in a startup and went on to co-found our company, the time in Boston was reminder that what makes for a successful startup is the quality of the founding team. Contrary to my early beliefs that one needed a killer application to be successful. Its the team and the single most important condition for a successful business is a paying customer - a point Bill Aulet drummed the entire week. Below are some of my other take-away from my time at the Entrepreneurship Development Program (EDP); Entrepreneurship is a process ...

One of the participants in a focus group session we had recently with a Kampala based US owned Telecommunications Tower Company, said at the end of the session that ‘most of the answers came from us’, almost to his surprise. And another asked, ‘do you have anything to add or were we just spot on?’. As I reflected on the comment and the question, it reminded me of one of the mindsets of adult learning, that is adults are inherently resourceful with a wide reservoir of experiences which people bring to attend to any problem or opportunity at hand. And to quote Malcolm Shepherd Knowles, the American educator well known for the art and science of adult learning, because adults see themselves as independent and self-directing, there develops a ‘’deep psychological need to be perceived by others, and treated   by others as capable of taking responsibility for ourselves’’ and if ‘’others are imposing their wills on us without our participating in making decisions affecting us, we e...

I just returned from a walk outside the White House in Washington DC on a hot summer day in August. As I passed by the White House, I reflected on the current national discourse in the United States and elsewhere regarding the aftermath of the clash in Charlottesville, Virginia. For those just joining us from their mobile devices and Whatsapp groups, a few weeks ago, White supremacists and other neo-nazi groups marched in Charlottesville against plans by the city to bring down one of the statue of Robert E. Lee. Robert    E. Lee was a confederate Army General from America's south who fought for segregation and slavery.   During the march, a white supremacist drove his vehicle into the line of counter protesters resulting the death of one American woman. Three other Virginia police officers where killed in a related Helicopter crash.   My reflection took me back to my own personal experiences with race in America. Firstly, As a young officer candidate in the...

During a recent breakfast meeting with my friend, Abdulahi Ahmed, we spent talking about the taste of the Cappuccino, which this time was made with Cadamine. Abdulahi felt that taste of the Cappuccino was unusual, It tasted like the espresso to milk ratio was imbalanced, not to mention the delicate addition of Cadamine. Experts on this advise that It is essential that you establish how to make the perfect espresso before moving on to other drinks such as cappuccino, as this is the base of the whole drink. If your espresso is bad it doesn’t matter how well you froth or pour your milk, it will never make a good cappuccino. At about the same time the senior manager in charge came and quickly ordered another cup for our Abdulahi. And this time, the Barrister got the proportions right. Now, you may wonder why the fuss over a cup of Cappuccino, after all its just coffee and milk right?. Wrong. The quality of that Cappuccino could be the difference between a satisfied or dissatisf...

I am grateful to God  For the privilege to traverse The continent, from Kigali to Juba And Kampala to Harare. From the majestic views of the Kilimanjaro  To the rain soaked aroma of spices in Zanzibar. Our continent is truly beautiful, from the rainbows  Into  the crackling sound of the  of the Atlantic  In Dakar. And the beautiful skyline on  descent   Into Maputo. While the headlines talk of despots, hunger and crime, Africa still boasts creativity, youthful exuberance and a future.  While the sound of terror in Maiduguri reminds us of the perilous times, Energy of software developers in Nairobi and Lagos Tell us of the future yet achieved.  The Headlines can be discouraging but we know That the inside pages can be re-written The editorial maybe be dire, but the feature is our choice. The economic statistics are familiar but it is the Statistics of the heart that count. And we have plenty of ...

I thank God that I am alive to experience family with my best friend Ayele and our beautiful children, Joshua, Jonathan, David and bubbly Annabelle. From a rocky start in Syracuse New York to a lovely wedding 20 years ago in Silver Spring Maryland, we are experiencing God’s grace and mercy in sustaining us. What a gift life is and my life has been. You see in July-August of 1979, I felt intense abdominal pain, lost appetite and could barely walk or stand up straight. Late afternoon, a relative of ours, who was then a medical student at the University of Benin came to visit. Brother Ghandhi as we called him, inquired about me and he was led to the dimly lit room where I was lying in pain. Ghandhi did a preliminary diagnosis and ran upstairs to alert my father that I needed to see a Doctor that night.  So, my father drove us to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH). We went straight to the offices of a Doctor Densa who was an anesthesiologist .   Further...