Business

Conquering the foreign lands

Thursday, May 20th, 2021 00:00 | By
Bob relaxing at home in the US. Photo/PD/COURTESY

Bob Mwiti could be a native of Meru county, but this fact never hindered him from realising his dreams in the US. Besides running a tech consultancy firm, he helps Kenyan students secure learning opportunities abroad.

Allan Adalla @adalla_allan   

Education is key to success and many with aspirations wish to get educated to the highest possible level.

This was the dream of Bob Mwiti who now runs an Information Technology (IT) consultancy company in the US.

Bob is also the co-founder of the Kenya Airlift programme, which sponsors graduate students to pursue masters degree in the US.

Growing up in Imenti South, Meru county, under the care of his grandparents, Bob’s biggest dream was nothing more than to relocate to Nairobi.

“I was raised by my grandparents who were ordinary people. I was born when my parents were still in their teens, so they had to continue with their education.

So, my grandparents raised me like their biological child. Topping in my class in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education in 1997, I chose Nairobi School since I had a dream to come to Nairobi one day.

I got admission to join the school, but since my grandparents could not afford the fees, I had no option but to join a nearby school known as Nkubu High School from 1998 to 2001.

I attained a mean grade of B+ in my Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education,” he narrates.

Bob Mwiti displays the Global Impact Award he won this year. Photo/PD/COURTESY

For the second time, Bob found another opportunity to fulfill his dream of hitting the big city when he applied for a course at the University of Nairobi (UoN).

He joined UoN in 2003 to pursue a Bachelors of Commerce in Accounting and Finance, but due to the school’s notoriety in students’ strikes, he only stayed there for six months then later joined Strathmore University where he was able to complete the course.

“I could not hide my happiness after I achieved my dream of stepping to the capital of Nairobi through education.

I joined the UoN Chiromo campus then later on moved to Strathmore. Before coming to Nairobi, I had never thought of going somewhere beyond Nairobi.

But the more I stayed at Strathmore, my exposure continued to develop and I started thinking about going for higher education abroad.

My dad who was in the UK at the time, encouraged me to go for it by joining him,” he says.

The roadblocks

The father of two tried unsuccessfully to apply for the UK visa between 2003 and 2008. After completing his bachelor’s degree in 2009, he applied for the US visa and luckily it went through.

He joined the University of Indiana in Pennsylvania and pursued a Master Degree in Professional Accountancy. This is where he realised his passion for IT.

“IT was not my thing at first. I was in love with commerce, but after doing my Master of Business Administration (MBA), I was not able to get a job.

The chances of getting a job are very low in America if you are a foreigner specialised at a skill that is flooded by Americans— citizens are given first priority there.

So, finding an employer that was willing to sponsor me on long-term was a problem due to that reason.

“When you are sponsored on long-term, the chances of you getting contract extensions are high.

So, I realised that if I ventured into the IT industry, which is not flooded, I would get a log-term sponsor. I then got an opportunity to be trained as an Oracle system analyst.

I had never sat in an IT class before, but interestingly, I noticed that all the things I was being taught were related to what I had learned in commerce, so I grasped them easily,” he says.

With time, Bob realised that he could easily teach, and so he started by training people and later recommend them to recruiters he had networked with, and this is when the idea of having an IT consultancy firm was birthed.

“I was lucky to get a Green Card in 2016 that allowed one to set up a company in the US. I set up the company in 2017 and named it Appstec America.

The programme trains on robotic process automation, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning.

Our 82 alumni are now working as consultants for different IT companies,” he intimates.

Bob faced many challenges as a foreign student when he landed in the US. At first, he thought that he would be able to work and study at the same time, a move which he discourages all the students not to use.

The struggles, however, inspired him to come up with the Kenya Airlift programme in 2018. So, far it has benefited more than 200 students from Kenya.

“I realised that there are so many brilliant people in Kenya that want to come to America for further studies, but they have no correct means.

So, together with my friend Dennis DMK Kiogora, the Member of the County Assembly of Abogeta West in Imenti South, we came up with the Kenya Airlift Programme to solve the major problems including raising finances required since it requires millions of shillings to go for an MBA abroad.

We also ensured that every beneficiary of the programme gets the correct immigration documents, as almost 30 per cent of Kenyan immigrants in the US are there illegally,” he says.

Negotiating the course

The Kenya Airlift programme sponsors students in MBA that holds at least a second-class honours bachelors degree in any course, a B plain grade in KCSE and a B+ in Mathematics.

However, he encourages every student to do a masters degree in the field of IT since it has a high demand in America.

The programme is currently working with five universities in the USA. “We had to find ways to cater for the student’s tuition fees and the upkeep money.

There is a source known as Graduate Assistantship award where the school caters for your tuition fees as you work for them.

On upkeep, there is a source called Unsecured International loans that is offered to international students by the US government without any collateral.

Also we formed a Sacco to take care of the reallocation of students. The students usually pay Sh100,000 and get a loan of Sh300,000 to cater for their immigration,” he says.

Through the programme, Bob recently earned the 2021 Global Impact Award from the International Council of Educational Professionals.

His mission is to change how as Kenyans we are used to doing things and build a consulting firm of brilliant Kenyans in America. 

During his free time, he enjoys learning more on technology, especially on AI and machine learning. He is also a fan of football and Formula One racing.                    

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