Hi, I’m Riccardo Melotto a Management student from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan and, from May to August 2019, I have spent three months in Kampala, Uganda, where I decided to carry on my curricular internship.
My internship focused on the topic “Entrepreneurship in Africa” and, at the Uganda Martyrs University, I had the chance to meet several local entrepreneurs, who were the students of the MBA program that either had already started or were going to start their own enterprises. There, I supported them in developing their business projects, by giving some insights and following some steps of their growth path.
During my internship, I was supported by the local tutor. My job was to analyze students’ projects with him and to give advice based on my managerial knowledge acquired at the university. The entrepreneurs’ business plans included the business strategy, the product description, the marketing plan section and so on; together with the local business coach I helped them to make improvements in all the areas. At the end of the review process, students were ready for the final boot camp!
While I was in Kampala, I also started to write my master’s degree thesis, collecting data from both the MBA students and other entrepreneurs whom I met there. I think it was useful – for my thesis work and even for the internship – to meet entrepreneurs personally, because I also had the possibility to visit their companies and farms and work on something concrete.
During those three months, I had the possibility to live something unique and I also had the chance to go on some trips and visit many Ugandan natural parks. In conclusion I can say that I found this thesis and internship experience in Africa very positive.
Riccardo Melotto