Meet Michigan State’s MBA Class of 2018

(Nicolas) Nsabimana Umuhizi

Michigan State University, Eli Broad College of Business

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: I am a team player and hard-working person who is constantly growing himself and who takes time to continue learning even when not required.

Hometown: Kigali, Rwanda

Fun Fact About Yourself: I love to try new things and that is how I happened to co-found Rwanda Underwater Hockey Club

Undergraduate School and Major: National University of Rwanda, Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:

• Rumbuka Seeds Ltd (a start-up I founded in Rwanda and which sells corn hybrid seed and fertilizers), Managing Director (January 2016-July 2016)
• H2O Venture Partners, Business Development Manager (November 2014-December 2015)
• EKN-Nutrition Project, Project Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator (April 2014-October 2014)
• Rwanda Agriculture Board, Seed Business Development Advisor (April 2012-April 2014)

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest accomplishment in my career so far was the creation of Rumbuka Seeds Ltd. This is a small social enterprise that I founded in 2016 and sells corn hybrid seed and mineral fertilizer on credit to smallholder farmers in Rwanda. Rumbuka’s credit model is helping farmers to access high-yielding agricultural inputs and increase their yields.

Looking back on your experience, what advice would you give to future business school applicants? My advice to future business school applicants is just to understand why they need to pursue an MBA. Understanding why I needed to do my MBA is all that helped me to get admitted at the Eli School of Business at Michigan State University.

Doing an MBA meant a lot to me and gave me the courage I needed to go through the whole process despite a busy schedule I had at work. I had to take the GRE two times until I got a good score that I could use for my application. In a nutshell, it is not an easy process but hard-work and passion would get you in.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? Michigan State University has been involved in many development projects in Rwanda, so I was familiar with the school and I had reached a juncture in my career where I needed to improve my skills in operations and finance. My familiarity with Michigan State University and the reputation for the business program in operations and supply chain management  put the program on the top of my list of schools I considered applying to.

Tell us about your dream job or dream employer at this point in your life? I aspire to contribute to the transformation that is taking place on the African continent. My dream job is to run a big social enterprise in Rwanda and Africa someday. I have realized the impact that a small business can have on people’s lives and I would love to apply the same concept at a bigger scale.

What would you like your business school peers to say about you after you graduate from this program? After graduating from this program, I would like to hear my business school peers to say they learned something from me.