Strategic Advisors for Lasting Impact
Karisimbi Business Partners is a strategic advisory firm that takes a ‘hands-on’ approach to enterprise development in Rwanda and the East African region.
We translate strategy into concrete action, delivering practical recommendations that help businesses succeed. Karisimbi Partners works directly with business leaders to ensure strategy, management and resources are aligned for company growth and lasting impact.
Karisimbi Partners has worked with over 180 client engagements across virtually every industry segment, including Agro-processing, Financial Services, ICT, Export Products, Tourism, Media, Manufacturing, and Real Estate Development.
We work alongside the management teams of businesses with the potential to drive growth of key industries, expand employment, transfer knowledge and contribute to the economic development of the country and region.
Karisimbi Values
Owner’s Mindset
Unafraid to be Honest
Excellence
Family Culture
Impact-Focused
Leadership Team
Carter Crockett, Ph.D. | Co-Founder & Managing Director
George brings years of experience from a rich and varied background and a passion for innovation in emerging markets.
Before joining Karisimbi Business Partners, George directed capital projects at a mission hospital in rural Burundi where he also taught MBA and medical students and coached entrepreneurs. Before arriving in Africa, George lived and worked in France, Kazakhstan, and Canada working in marketing, and management roles. His experience spans independent consulting, IT start-ups, and a Fortune 50 technology firm.
Outside of his management experience, George has spent six years in academia, teaching and researching management and entrepreneurship. George has a rich theoretical background earned via a BA in History & Religious Studies, an MBA from University of Alberta in Canada, a Master of International Business from Grenoble Ecole de Commerce in France, and a PhD in Management & Innovation from Grenoble Graduate School of Business where he researched how resource-constrained coffee farmers gain access to specialty markets.
George Watts, Ph.D. | Director
Bosco’s professional background includes over 10 years’ experience working in different disciplines to include business development and marketing services for sectors such as tourism and education.
Prior to joining Karisimbi Business Partners, Bosco worked for the German Development Cooperation in Rwanda (GIZ) in their program for the promotion of economy and employment for seven years including four years as Senior Tourism Advisor and Head of the Regional Office (Western Province in Rwanda). In that position, he has supported tourism promotors in developing and implementing strategies for diversifying tourism products and promoting new tourism offers. In addition, Bosco has worked as a Business Development Services Expert for GIZ Rwanda. In this role, Bosco has developed and implemented entrepreneurship and business mentorship interventions to address issues affecting the growth of businesses that were supported by GIZ.
Apart from working in the development cooperation, he has worked as Tourism and Hospitality Tutorial in the University of Tourism, Technology and Business Studies in Rwanda.
Bosco earned a Bachelor of Travel and Tourism Management from the University of Tourism, Technology and Business Studies (UTB) and got a Diploma in Philosophy from Philosophat Isidore Bakanja in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He has attended different professional short-term trainings for career growth in tourism development, leadership, project management and economics. He speaks English, French and Kinyarwanda fluently. He is always eager to understand the needs of the market and negotiates processes to transform them into new opportunities.
Jean Bosco Kubwimana | Consultant
Emile is currently a Business Analyst at Karisimbi Business Partners with responsibility for client engagements spanning market, financial analysis, research, and strategic planning.
Prior to his role at Karisimbi Partners, he worked as an Assistant Project Manager at ESPartners Rwanda on the African Resilience Initiative for Entrepreneurs’ project, where he supported company and executive requests, communications, and additional resources as needed according to each stage of the project.
Emile recently graduated from the African Leadership University with a BA (Honors) in International Business and Trade. He also studied Finance at the Methodist University of Ivory Coast. He is passionate about problem-solving and helping others. He is also fluent in English and French.
Parabron Emile Banse | Senior Business Analyst
Belinda Ingabire serves as the Administrative Officer at Karisimbi Partners. Previously, Belinda has worked in various functional areas of business, including: human resources, customer service, marketing, event planning and accounting. Belinda has excelled as an Event Planner at Blend, in Sales at Gallery Carrefour, and worked for Mogas Rwanda for three years as the Human Resources Administrator. In all of her previous roles, she has developed skills in multitasking and coordinating many internal projects and she is proud to use these skills to support the team and work at Karisimbi Partners.
Belinda holds a Bachelor’s degree from University of Kigali in Business Management & Economics, where she majored in Accounting.
Belinda Ingabire | Administrative Officer
Co-Founders
Carter Crockett, Ph.D. | Co-Founder & Managing Director
With more than 22 years of experience, Dano has held responsibility for business development and finance for start-ups and established companies including AT&T Wireless before accepting the role of CEO for family-owned business Lifestyle Homes & Construction. In 2009, Dano co-founded Karisimbi Partners, and moved to Rwanda with his family until 2012. Today, he manages the operations of the business remotely and visits Rwanda regularly. Prior to Karisimbi Partners, Dano accrued experience in the following industries: military intelligence, residential homebuilding and financing, satellite communication, information technology, and wireless communication. His background includes five years of service as an Army Airborne Ranger and Senior Intelligence Officer for the United States Army prior to application of his leadership to a variety of companies. With his unique capacity for crafting strategy, marshaling finance and streamlining operations, Dano excels at ensuring organizational efficiency.
Dano received his B.S. degree in Economics from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1993. As part of his military service, Dano lived in Seoul, Korea and learned Mandarin Chinese while studying in Beijing, China. He also earned his MBA degree with a specialty in Finance at Wharton. That same year, Dano earned a Master of Arts in International Economics & Asian Studies at the Johns Hopkins Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.
Dano Jukanovich | Co-Founder
Greg contributes more than twenty years of sales, strategy and management experience, working in international settings and across a number of vertical markets, including six years working in East and Southern Africa. His experience ranges from startups, including Karisimbi Partners and its invested companies, to the Fortune 100, to his current role as VP of Partners & Strategic Alliances for Xamarin Inc., a global mobile application development platform company based in San Francisco. Greg has held a variety of senior roles for over 15 years with Microsoft, in the US and Europe, including Managing Director of Global System Integrators and ISV partners, and GM of the national partner organization, leading Microsoft’s sales, marketing and engagement efforts across the largest consulting and software development companies in the United States.
Over the course of his career he has worked with organizations in sectors including: government, manufacturing, professional services, health-care and financial services. Greg has led diverse multi-national teams responsible for business planning, marketing, and sales, and prides himself on delivering optimal value for customers and strong business results for partners. Based in Paris for three years as the Director for Mid-size Enterprises, he oversaw strategy, sales, and marketing for this USD $2.6 Billion customer segment spanning Europe, Middle East, and Africa, delivering a connected sales and marketing process tailored to each diverse region. Results-oriented by nature, Greg has a passion for management excellence and people development, believing sound business planning and operational excellence are the keys to success. Greg graduated with honors from Westmont College in 1993, receiving his B.A. in Psychology & Business Economics, and attended the International Business Institute in Europe.
Greg Urquhart | Co-Founder
Since 2009, we have managed over 180 client engagements, including work with 5 of the largest holding companies in Rwanda, and working across every industry sector
We have created award-winning strategies across every sector in the economy, including: Agri-processing, Manufacturing, Insurance, Information Technology, and more.
Our global team includes experienced advisors, entrepreneurs, investors and company managers with deep networks across Africa.
Community Benefit
Karisimbi Business Partners was the first social enterprise with Benefit Corporation status in Rwanda, as independently certified by B-Lab. Karisimbi Partners was also instrumental in helping to make Community Benefit Company (CBC) a legally recognized form of social enterprise in Rwanda (effective February, 2021) making Rwanda the first country in Africa and the 5th country globally to take this important step to designate and reward companies that explicitly seek to elevate their social and environmental impact. For more information on how you can join this movement, contact us.
Join Our Team
Karisimbi Partners applies our best for companies big and small in order to deliver strategic impact. Sometimes this includes investment. Our portfolio includes:
Theophile is a holder of a Bachelor’s degree in Management and an MBA augmented by substantial experience accumulated in consulting, managing and providing leadership to Small and Medium Enterprises in Rwanda. Theophile has been recruited on multiple occasions to turn around multiple businesses by providing strong management, financial and strategic support. Theophile is a visionary who finds special pleasure in nurturing start-ups into successful companies.
Theophile’s specialty is people-development. He has built supply chains from scratch among some of the poorest cassava and seed oil farmers in Rwanda. He has developed teams of professional staff and temporary laborers built around integrity and the intrinsic value of the individual. Theophile has most recently designed a structure whereby he employed hundreds of unskilled labourers that could not be otherwise employed to develop land and create economic opportunity in one of the poorest sectors in Rwanda.
To learn more, please visit: https://asilioils.com/
Theophile Hakizimana | MD of Asili
Previous Investments Include:
Our Awards
Business Vision Awards (2020): Best Business Advisory Service provider, East Africa