RAY WILLBERN
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Ray Willbern is the Founder and Managing Director of East African Solutions and the creator of the East African Solutions Framework—a proprietary methodology developed through more than two decades of studying how organisations create enduring enterprise value.
His career has combined organisational development, commercial leadership, corporate finance, investment readiness and strategic advisory across Sub-Saharan Africa. Since first working in the region in 2010, he has advised founders, investors, management teams, project sponsors and public sector organisations on opportunities spanning food and agriculture, natural resources, manufacturing, tourism, infrastructure and energy. His broader professional experience has been associated with commercial, investment and development opportunities exceeding US$1 billion.
Rather than specialising in a single discipline, Ray's work has consistently crossed organisational, commercial and institutional boundaries. Early experience in organisational development explored how leadership, capability and culture influence performance. Nearly a decade leading Zambia's principal business and economic information platform provided a unique vantage point from which to observe how businesses, investors, governments and markets interact across an economy. More recently, his advisory work has centred on helping organisations evaluate opportunities, prepare for investment and strengthen long-term commercial performance.
These experiences led to a simple observation: organisations rarely succeed or fail because of a single factor. Enterprise value emerges from the interaction of commercial strategy, organisational capability, stakeholder relationships, financial performance and the wider operating environment. This insight became the foundation of the East African Solutions Framework, bringing together Investment Staples, Influence Mapping, and Enterprise Value Creation as complementary ways of understanding complex strategic challenges.
Ray's thinking has been shaped by both practice and continued professional development, including Management Studies at the University of Nottingham, Corporate Finance at IESE Business School, The Economic Challenges of Global Poverty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Unlocking Investment in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies through the World Bank, and Zero to Dangerous (Mastering the Science of Flow) with the Flow Research Collective. Each has contributed a different perspective on organisations, investment, decision-making and long-term value creation.
Having lived and worked extensively across Sub-Saharan Africa, Ray also speaks English, German, Spanish, French, Swahili and Nyanja. This multilingual background reflects a long-standing commitment to understanding the cultural, commercial and institutional contexts in which organisations operate—an important influence on the systems-based thinking that underpins the East African Solutions Framework.
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KENYA COUNTRY DIRECTOR
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MALAWI COUNTRY DIRECTOR
IVAN OCHIENG
RWANDA COUNTRY DIRECTOR
Ivan Ochieng serves as Rwanda Country Director for East African Solutions and has been based in Rwanda since 2019. He leads the firm's local representation in Rwanda, supporting business development, client relationships and country-level engagement while helping ensure that projects are delivered with a strong understanding of the local commercial and regulatory environment.
Alongside his role at East African Solutions, Ivan is Group CEO of Limitless Africa Investment, where he has led businesses and commercial ventures across multiple sectors. His entrepreneurial experience is complemented by a background in accounting, tax and audit advisory, providing a strong understanding of financial governance, regulatory compliance and business operations.
Ivan also co-founded Green Pencils, an environmentally focused Kenyan manufacturer producing stationery from recycled materials, reflecting his long-standing interest in sustainable enterprise development.
His wider leadership experience includes serving as Chairman of the SME Caucus of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers and as a Board Member of the Kenya Chapter of the United Nations Global Compact, where he contributed to discussions on responsible business practices, sustainability and private sector development.
At East African Solutions, Ivan combines practical business leadership with deep regional knowledge to support the application of the firm's strategic advisory approach within Rwanda, helping clients navigate the country's evolving commercial landscape and build productive local relationships.
Ivan holds a degree in Accounting and Auditing together with a Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainability and Responsible Leadership.
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TANZANIA COUNTRY DIRECTOR
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UGANDA COUNTRY DIRECTOR
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ZAMBIA COUNTRY DIRECTOR