From African Studies to global medical trade
27-year old Rutger Kremers puts his skills gained as an African Studies graduate to good use when he trades healthcare equipment and pharmaceuticals as a Procurement Officer in a Copenhagen-based trading company. It’s a challenging job that requires cultural sensitivity, good communication skills and regional knowledge
Rutger Kremers finds time to talk about his work life experiences as a graduate from the Centre of African Studies at University of Copenhagen even though he is preparing for a business trip to Dubai a few hours later. His is aA story about transforming the academic endeavors of university studies into a busy career in a private trading company with a global reach. 27-year-old Rutger is originally from The Netherland but is lives in Copenhagen where he works for Missionpharma A/S as a Procurement Officer.
As one of only a few employees in the succesful company with a background in African Studies, Rutger differs from the majority of his colleagues who typically hold degrees in business studies focusing primarily on trade. But Rutger finds that his alternative background is mostly an advantage.
- I’m pretty sure I was interesting for the company in the first place because my educational background with specialization in Sub-Sarahan Africa set me apart from the other candidates. It's interesting for them when somebody different comes up. I also had sales experience from a sales job as a student, and I think it was the mix that made me stand out and made them invite me for a job interview.
Avoiding the pitfalls of culture gaps
Rutger has worked for the company for one and a half years now and is involved in several aspects of the wholesale trading house. He purchases health care products mainly in Asia and sells these to African buyers. Currently he is responsible for sales in Lesotho and he finds that his background in African Studies has given him a cultural sensitivity and regional knowledge that eases the communication with the customers.
- I think I avoid many of the typical pitfalls that many of the colleagues run into during their first year. They often express frustration when the customers from African countries behave very differently from the Danish customers they are used to. Often their thoughts then run along the lines of: 'They should just do things the Danish way which is more efficient and logical'. With my degree in African Studies I am perhaps better able to understand the cultural and contextual reasons behind these differences, and not get frustrated with our clients, he says.
But it isn't only the area-related knowledge Rutger finds useful. The MA in African Studies involves general methodological and communicative skills that he uses in many aspects of his job.
- We sell most of our pharmaceuticals to the public sector in African countries, which is a quite complex process starting with a call for tenders from the authorities. This means that e.g. the Ethiopian Ministry of Health issues a big list of their demands with specifications and price limits and then the different sellers compete for the bid. I'm dealing with a lot of business letters and legal documents and the training in written communication that you get from the MA is useful here as well as the general ability to analyse complex stuff, he says.
From Netherlands to Copenhagen and Africa by chance
It wasn't Rutger’s plan from the beginning to move to Copenhagen and study African Studies. Originally from the Netherlands, he had a BA and an almost-completed MA in economic history from the University of Utrecht before his attention was drawn to the attraction and possibilities of a specialisation in the vast continent. This arose when he had his final internship in The Netherlands' Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Sub Saharan Africa Department.
- Before I had not taken that much interest in subjects related to Africa. But I got more interested because I saw that we are challenged by a lot of stereotypes in business, development aid and basically all dealings with Africa. So I decided to write my master's thesis on South African history and afterwards I sought to specialise further. I also wanted to study abroad and luckily I was admitted to African Studies in Copenhagen.
Today he is glad that he made the choice to specialise in Africa at the University of Copenhagen.
- It has lead me to an interesting and most importantly challenging and meaningful job today.