Profile of an Alumni in Kenya

I am pleased to introduce to you one of our alumni whom I met on the occasion of my last business trip to Kenya. Jacob MUNDIA KARANJA – HEC graduate 2016 – Master of Sciences in Actuarial Sciences lives in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya on the Eastern coast of Africa.

As I was planning for my trip I browsed on the networking section of our  website to search for alumni located in Kenya. This is how I discovered Jacob whom I contacted right away in order to set-up a moment for a drink on the occasion of my coming visit to Nairobi.

I met Jacob at the Sankara Nairobi Hotel for a casual discussion and learnt more about his experience at HEC Lausanne (UNIL). Born in Nairobi, Jacob was the first in a family of eight children to get a university degree. He studied actuarial sciences at the renowned Jomo Kenyatta University where he graduated from in 2009, with a Bachelor degree. He then joined the services of the Kenya Revenue Authority where he was active as a Tax Auditor until he set off for Switzerland, after his application to enter the Master program in Actuarial Sciences at HEC Lausanne was accepted for the September 2013 intake.

When Jacob decided to further his education with a Master program in Actuarial Sciences, he started searching for different institutions in Europe, Canada and in the US. HEC Lausanne (UNIL) came out as a very good solution based on the reputation, quality and cost dimension. Of course, the challenge of moving into an environment with a foreign language, French, was a bit steep but the Master courses being available in English, Jacob decided to take it up.

Upon arriving in Switzerland, landing at Geneva airport, Jacob was extremely lucky to connect by chance with a Kenyan lady who was on the same flight as him and who had recognized one traditional Kenyan bracelet which he was wearing on his wrist. This was the trigger to start the conversation which proved to be very useful as this lady knew very well the place where Jacob had to go to enter his new accommodation: the student accommodation of FMEL (Fondation Maisons pour Etudiants Lausanne), at la Bourdonnette, within walking distance to the HEC campus! That was a huge piece of luck as she helped him through with getting the right ticket to Lausanne, boarding the right train and guiding him through the TL (Lausanne public transport network). He really had an easy landing thanks to her.

Jacob took this as a good omen and started the HEC program full of energy. He really appreciated the quality of the courses and he took with him the importance of strict work ethics and integrity.  He was impressed that during the whole course of his studies at HEC Lausanne he never saw one instance of wrong-doing by students, such as cheating in exams for instance. Within less than two weeks from starting he realized that the sitting spaces in the library were going to be a challenge, even on week-ends! And he was impressed by the assiduity of the students. Jacob told me that he really appreciated studying in this environment and that he took strong values back with him when he returned to Kenya.

Outside of the academic program Jacob managed to take the French classes provided by UNIL in order to be able to make his way into the outer-academic world; buying from the supermarket, using the public transport, networking with other students, traveling the country (well at least for the French-speaking, part because the new language was little use once passing over the Rösti-dig…)

After submitting his thesis early 2016, Jacob took on a teaching opportunity on a freelance basis in the Basel area which occupied him until late 2017 when he returned to Kenya to work in his family business in real estate. Capitalizing on his interest in financial risk management, he completed further education and is now a Certified Financial Risk Manager (2022) which he reckons was achieved also largely thanks to the solid academics he covered in Lausanne. He currently explores opportunities to move to a position where he would reconnect with his field of study: actuarial sciences.

On a more social note Jacob discovered a very cosmopolitan atmosphere, meeting other students from all parts of the world (from Latin America, to Asia, including Africa and students from all over Europe). He could not miss taking the ski and cheese fondue experience, which he really appreciated, although pretty different than what he had been used to previously.

It was nice getting to know Jacob and since then we have been in touch via social media.

Like me do not hesitate to make use of our directory facility on the website to explore the vast network of HEC Alumni around the World!