Jeune Street

Baha'i Centre, Kinshasa, DR Congo

After the GoCongo posting about a week ago, I received a request for more information about the project. I figured the best place to go was to the man with the vision: Dr. Kersten Pucks. In a Jeune Street exclusive, an interview with Kersten follows below. I’m considering making interviews a regular feature, so drop me a line if you have someone to suggest.

Could you describe what initially led you to develop a project in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo?

I was always attracted to Africa. I did part of my training as a doctor there and always wanted to come back one day. When I had the chance to be involved in a Baha’i education project in the Democratic Republic of Congo in late 2006, I saw the immense opportunity there and decided to get involved.

What is your vision of social and economic development?

It is constantly evolving. Spending my professional life in a very competitive business environment I come with strong convictions regarding successful business practice. When I read what the Office of Social and Economic Development (OSED) at the Baha’i World Centre said about development I initially felt it did not address my particular business background. My emphasis was on efficiency and ambitious targets and they seemed to have more modest expectations with respect to achieving results. Their focus is on the fact that development needs to result from “grassroots stirring” and will then, over time, gather momentum. We outsiders have no role in all of that other than helping them to interact with donors once they have reached a certain maturity themselves.

The more I get exposed to the realities on the ground in Africa, however, the more I appreciate the wisdom of what OSED says. I have understood that we outsiders should not get involved in that romantic way we dream about development where we go there and teach them or tell them what to do. Development really has to be based on a genuine local grass roots impulse; otherwise it will just not work or be sustainable. As a result I actually stay away from it and have decided to just start a business. This creates jobs so people earn money and then have the means to contribute to the development of their communities.

We are in the process of developing a farm in an area which is fertile, has good rains and where the enormous influx of population has led to a situation where almost all foods are imported. This is in our view of a business activity which fulfills local demand, develops local assets (fertile land), employs local people and could in theory actually be quite profitable.

In what ways has the Baha’i Faith influenced the GoCongo project?

The Baha’i Faith is the driving force behind the venture. The Baha’i writings give a few hints concerning the set up of companies that would operate in a Baha’i context. Mostly this concerns spiritual issues of the various stakeholders in business but there is a concrete provision that says that the company gives a certain share of the profits to its employees. As a result, in GoCongo, we plan to take 19% of the earnings of the company to the workers and/or dedicated to investments into the communities from where we source our staff.

How do you see the GoCongo project developing in the coming decade?

I am usually skeptical about long-term visions so early in the life of a venture, but in this case we have a clear vision: we want to grow as a company and create many jobs. So, in 10 years I foresee an operation with hopefully more than 10,000 hectares (38.6 square miles) of land under management with more than 1,000 employees. It will be profitable enough to invest sizeable amounts of money into its local communities.

Since the whole inspiration of the venture is drawn from the Baha’i Faith, we are welcoming young and enthusiastic professionals or students who would like to be part of it for some time. Projects may range from starting up our egg-venture or setting up the marketing for our fish production to planning a local school in the area of our farm (50km north of Lubumbashi). We believe that we can offer exciting projects and I believe that hands-on experience in complex environments like Katanga is a definite plus for whatever one wants to do later in life.

For more information, visit the GoCongo website.