Akonkwa Mubagwa 

University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business

“Naïve optimist, ordinary man, trying to do extraordinary things because I believe together, we can.”

Hometown: Landen, Flanders, Belgium

Fun Fact About Yourself:  I have never been bitten by a bee or wasp in my life.

Undergraduate School and Major: BS Computer Engineering, Université catholique de Louvain, MSc Management at HEC Paris

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Owner/founder of Akotech, a consulting firm in forensics technology. Before that, I spent five years at PwC in Zurich, Switzerland, and Brussels, Belgium.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: After years in forensics technology consulting, I launched a consulting firm in 2017. We have grown to a total of four consultants and have successfully delivered assignments for the Belgian government and the country’s largest insurance firm, so I have now established a track record of success. By operating my own firm, I now have more control over the technologies we use that drive the quality of the results we deliver.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Brilliant and humble. They are brilliant because I have met people who excel in their respective fields, be it the military, the non-profit world, education, consulting and investment banking, or by helping underrepresented minorities to achieve their goals in life. They all excel in so many different ways, either through their determination or their creativity, but always by the tangible results or unique experiences they have to share. While I am always amazed by their accomplishments, they never make me feel insecure about my own. They’re rather eager to hear about me and are quick to highlight how my story resonates with them.

Berkeley Haas is founded on four Defining Leadership Principles: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. Which pillar resonates most with you and why? Student always. In every field I am passionate about, be it technology or music, the possibilities are infinite. The more I master my craft in these fields, the more I realize how little I know and how much there is yet to explore and understand. I fell in love with solar energy in 2012 and became obsessed with how it can change the lives of millions of Africans. However, there was so little that I knew about it, so I started reading and teaching myself the technology. The more I learned, the more I got excited by the possibilities unraveling right before me. And that is what drives me every day: the fact that there is still so much left to harness to enhance our lives and that of future generations.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? I wanted to do an MBA in a school with a very strong undergraduate program because I believe an undergraduate program contributes to the rich culture of the campus. My startup is at the intersection of engineering and business, so the ability to work with world-class engineering students was a deciding factor. I was also looking to be in Silicon Valley, the cradle of entrepreneurship and tech.

Berkeley Haas is part of the larger UC Berkeley ecosystem, offering a larger network of alumni who contribute to the community and embody their alma mater’s culture and tradition. As I walked through campus during my application process, I could see the “150 years of light” banners, reflecting on the history of the institution and its impact in the world throughout the years. I was humbled by this and felt inspired to want to add to that tradition and be part of it. To me that sense of purpose was a huge factor in wanting to study at Berkeley Haas.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I am looking forward to contributing to three associations:

• The MBA Association, because it is at the center of helping us shape our MBA experience.
• The Berkeley Entrepreneurs Association.

• The Haas Africa Business Club because of its connections to Africa. Through this organization, I would like to create a bridge between Haas and the Catholic University of Bukavu, one of Congo’s leading and rising institutions.

There are also various accelerator programs such as the Skydeck, Insite Fellows, Launch, and Berkeley Haas Venture Fellows to which I will apply in order to benefit from their unique ecosystem of VCs, mentors, and experienced entrepreneurs.

Finally, at Haas we have a first-year MBA and a second-year MBA band that occasionally plays live shows in bars in downtown Berkeley. Since music is a passion of mine, I will audition for the band!

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? What will you do if you fail to launch your company? Of course, I have a plan B for how to make a living if I fail to successfully launch my startup, but the reality is that success for me is tied to an ideological goal: pushing forward the African narrative. Honestly, I do not believe I will ever stop trying. Failing is fine, but I do not believe in giving up. I will always seek another path, another way to achieve the objective even if it’s most likely going to take longer and be harder.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career?  After years in forensics technology consulting I now want to pivot into solar energy in Africa.

During my MBA at Haas, I am launching Winko Solar (with my co-founder Wing Tse, who is an MBA student at CEIBs) a company that assembles off-grid solar devices in West and Central Africa. The electronic components are exported from China, but the assembly line, packaging, distribution, and maintenance will stay in Africa, driving local employment while reducing costs.

To support the project, I’ll need to develop managerial skills, as well as learn how to present my project to investors as I’ll be seeking funding by the end of the program.

I believe an MBA will broaden my network through the relationships I’ll build with peers, mentors, teachers and professionals, while providing the highest quality of education taught by leaders in their respective fields.

What other MBA programs did you apply to?  MIT.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? Culture is hard to describe with words because it has to be experienced. I traveled from Belgium to California during my application process, with the sole purpose of meeting Berkeley students to find out if the school’s four Defining Leadership Principles are about more than just branding. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much the students I met embodied those values through the way they carried themselves, how they answered my questions, and the way they helped me with the application process and made me feel part of the community. During admit weekend, students were broken into groups to have dinner in current MBA students’ homes. This really created a more intimate setting where we could feel the culture and the community from the inside and have meaningful conversations about the experience at Berkeley Haas.

In terms of reputation, I was looking for a top 10 program. A top program like Berkeley Haas’ not only attracts the best students and professors, but the school’s brand also provides the legitimacy and credibility to approach key industry, institutional, or political decision-makers.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? My defining moment occurred in March 2014. Two years into my consulting career, I took a three-month career break to deliver a programming seminary to university students in Bukavu, Congo, through my FAST Africa foundation. The objective was to help the students gain perspective on how they could close the gap with the rest of the world by leveraging information technology.

While I was planning the event, I learned that all 20 of the computers we were going to use had been stolen. To make things worse, the trainer I had selected to teach the programming course canceled over concerns about traveling to Congo after rebel forces threatened to attack Bukavu.

We had already invested the donor’s money for logistics, selected participating students, and had promised results in the next three months. Where was I going to find 20 computers to send to Congo and an experienced programming trainer? How was I going to keep my promise to donors and the students counting on me? I felt stuck.

Then I remembered the promise I made to myself five years ago: Never to be stuck, always move forward. I quickly reached out to a former pharmaceutical executive and found 14 retired laptops.

Then I rolled up my sleeves and taught it myself. With two suitcases filled with laptops, I flew to Bukavu and successfully delivered the seminary. To this day I am in contact with the students who attended and one of the top students actually delivered the seminary himself the following year. Our donators were impressed by my resolve, as well as the results, and have kept donating to the foundation to this day.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? My co-founder and I will have succeeded in scaling a pan-African solar company, with enough success that the narrative around manufacturing in Africa will have shifted and the continent will attract more entrepreneurs and investors seeking to develop business and drive the economy. I will be able to use my credibility to influence decision-makers to shape policies that encourage sustainable development in the region. I hope to be a lecturer at Berkeley Haas for topics regarding business development and entrepreneurship in Africa. I want to launch an investment fund that serves as a bridge between Silicon Valley and young African entrepreneurs. Finally, I will have recorded a music album with a selection of the songs that I’ve written throughout the years.