Raymond Musiima is a full-time graduate student pursuing an MBA in finance from the Broad College of Business. Musiima is an international student from Uganda who first came to Michigan State as a fellow through the Alliance for African Partnership’s Professional Fellows Program. He earned his undergraduate degree in mass communication from St. Lawrence University and a master’s degree in marketing from Ndejje University in Uganda. 

I had the unique opportunity to come to the U.S. first in 2019 through the MSU Alliance for African Partnership’s (AAP) Professional Fellows Program (PFP) for Advancing Young Women Agribusiness, Entrepreneurs, and Innovators, a program for young women, with consideration for young men that support women's initiatives in Africa.

I traveled to the United States for the first time as the only man selected in my cohort. Until that time, my views of America were through the mighty Hollywood lens. It was during this short time that I experienced an introduction to everyday American cultural norms like making sense of the traffic light countdown and holding the door for someone behind me!

The significance of my story really began when I returned home following the fellowship program with all this knowledge, study materials, contacts and experiences. I joined efforts with my peers who were alumni of the same program to start Michigan Fellows Agribusiness, now turned Michigan Fellows Africa Initiatives (MFAI).

I started by using a small alumni exchange grant of $10,000 from the U.S. Department of State to train 30 fresh graduates in agribusiness. Then, I got two additional grants from the U.S. Embassy Kampala and another from the AAP and, collectively, we’ve trained close to 1500 young people in Africa in fields such as entrepreneurship, diversity and inclusion, civic engagement, and women’s empowerment.

Recently, we started a saving and credit union intended to make funds available and accessible to Africa’s young agribusiness entrepreneurs and innovators. What started as a small initiative in Uganda is currently operating in a total of four African countries (Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania). We are looking forward to starting chapters in South Africa and Rwanda under the auspices of AAP professional program alumni.

The work I do is more than the numbers we train in our projects; it is the lives I have mentored and seen transformed. Like Hillary Nahurira, who came through our Agribusiness Apprenticeship Program (AgAP) and is now the founder of Active Living Unlimited, a startup company producing lemon-based aftershave.

Other examples of people doing great work as a result of the trainings I’ve helped provide include Dorcus Asiimwe who is currently doing a gender study graduate program in Iceland and recently met with the President of Iceland.

And Alex Ogwal who lives with a hearing impairment disability and has applied lessons from our Ecourse4 project to start the first sign language academy in Uganda. Desire Kasozi recently completed high school. She produces and distributes reusable sanitary pads to adolescents and teenagers in Kampala’s suburbs.

The AAP program has transformed my life by changing the trajectory of my career. Since the program, I won the 2023 Alumni Booster Award when the United States was celebrating more than 60 years of partnership with Uganda. I was appointed a Council Member of the U.S. Exchange alumni council at the U.S. Embassy in Uganda. I am also the East and Central Africa Coordinator of the MSU African Alumni and Friends Network (AAFN). And, of course, I returned to MSU to pursue my MBA studies.

My journey, intertwined with those I have touched, underscores the power of partnerships we create, nurture and sustain. I’ve built enduring personal, professional and lifelong relationships with my peers in Africa, at the AAP and beyond. It is these relationships that have inspired even more collaborations with embassies, universities, nonprofits, and private sector enterprises, which become the bedrock of our initiatives, sustaining our shared vision.

As I reflect on this part of my journey, I am grateful that I was part of something so transformative.