From washer to CEO : Emmanuel Rusatira makes Rwandan coffee dreams come true
ITC works to grow sustainable trade in the East Africa Community (EAC), both within the region and with the European Union.
We achieve that goal through the EU-EAC MARKUP II programme, which makes small businesses more competitive. That creates more and better jobs in the region.
Emmanuel Rusatira started the Baho Coffee Company 20 years ago in Rwanda. Since working with ITC, his business has reached new heights. We spoke with him in Geneva about how the programme put Baho on the path to success.
Q: In one minute, can you tell us about your company?
A: Baho Coffee is a locally owned company, operating in seven different coffee growing zones of Rwanda. We produce between 50 to 70 containers of green coffee. And we are working with more than 16,000 smallholder farmers and employing around 76 permanent staff. During the harvest, we use between 2,000 to 2,500 casual-basis day workers. And we sell coffee in USA, Europe, Asia, so in different destinations.
Q: As an entrepreneur, as a CEO, what are your needs?
A: Tough question. I want to grow to be a sustainable company. I don’t want it one year or two years. Even without Emmanuel, Baho should be there for generations to come.
Q: What are your needs to get there?
A: I need a lot, but I can say three main things: I need an assured source of coffee and a market for my coffee. Then I need skilled professional team that will help me to get there efficiently with success.
Q: What are your three main challenges to get to your needs?
Small companies like mine have a big challenge of access to the market, trust by buyers. It’s really the biggest challenge.
Number two, of course I need finance. Coffee is an expensive operation. We need finance, but with good terms. We need finance that allows us to compete.
We also need skilled people. We have a company, we have good ideas, have good objectives, but we do not have skilled people to help us implement, to help us to achieve our dreams. So, we also need a good team, good systems, that help us be professional and be able to achieve our goals in a competitive way.
Q: Can you please mention your biggest success?
A: If I’m telling you the truth, I’m like the image of change in coffee, of changes that may happen to many people. Many people consider me as their reference person. I started as a coffee washing station manager, earning not even $100 a month. I went from a washing station manager, to the CEO of a company. As we are talking, my company is number four, number five in terms of market share of Rwandan coffee
But not only that. I have tried with my company to influence the coffee sector in Rwanda. In quality, Baho Coffee is known as a speciality company in Rwanda. I have pushed the coffee quality in Rwanda to the next level, so that many now trust Rwandan coffee. Before it was difficult to convince people that Rwanda can produce such an amazing quality coffee.
Another achievement is for my family. In the beginning, my capacity was small financially. But with this growth I am able to provide for the needs of my company and also for my family.
And I am employing people, and giving away coffee seedlings. In the last three years, I distributed 15.6 million coffee seedlings that were given free to the farmers. If you try to calculate the impact, I mean is not a small thing to the farmers, to the country.
I am not yet to the level that I want, but I am also happy what we have achieved so far.
Q: What is your message to other Rwandans that would like to become entrepreneurs like you.
A: First of all, it’s very important to work hard. They should work hard, work smart, and be consistent. That is the only way you can achieve your dreams.
The rest is to follow their dreams, not do what others are telling you.
Q: You recently attended the World of Coffee, and I wonder what type of difference it has made for you and your company?
A: The World of Coffee is an opportunity for every coffee processor, especially coffee exporters. If you cannot sell your coffee, you are out of business. So, World of Coffee events are a good opportunity to meet with coffee buyers. It is a bridge that connects a seller and a buyer.
It’s a very important event that everyone would want to attend and be successful.
Q: Have you met new deals?
A: I made a lot, and that’s why to be honest, I am growing. When I started my company in 2017, I started with one washing station. By attending such a coffee event, I made a lot of connections. So that is how I can grow my exports, and go from one washing station to 18 washing stations. From one container to 50 containers. It tells you that we are, year after year, adding or creating demand for our coffee.
Q: How do you see the support you have received from the UN System?
It is like when you have a torch. If someone is in the dark, people can walk in the dark. But if you have someone who has a torch in the darkness, at least you work safely.
So it helped me a lot, if I am to make it short.
ITC and the MARKUP project are bringing us together, talking to us, creating this exposure to give us another sense of thinking. That is number one. So, you grow mature in your business.
But there are also other tangible activities. They give us the chance to attend events in Europe. When you say I’m attending with ITC, doors open immediately. But not only that. When you are there, you are not sitting. You are not taking photos. You are interacting with different professionals, different coffee people, different coffee processors, different coffee buyers. So like that, you extend your network.
Q: So it’s a door opener?
A: Yes, it opens doors, but there are still many doors to open. It’s not one door. You know there are a lot. To be honest, we like the initiative and support, but as we discussed with the ITC and MARKUP team, we want them to do more.
