MEET THE TEAM
East African Solutions combines strategic leadership, regional experience and engagement-specific specialist capabilities.
Each engagement is structured around the question being examined, with relevant country knowledge, sector expertise and specialist support brought together where required.
The company was founded and is led by Ray Willbern, whose work has contributed to creating, strengthening and protecting enterprise value across East African markets since 2010. He brings more than 15 years of regional experience to the firm’s strategic advisory and implementation work.
RAY WILLBERN
FOUNDER & MANAGING DIRECTOR
Ray Willbern is the Founder and Managing Director of East African Solutions and the creator of the East African Solutions Framework. Since 2010, he has worked with businesses, investors, project sponsors and public-sector organisations across Sub-Saharan Africa on strategic, commercial, organisational and investment-related questions.
His work examines businesses, assets and opportunities within the wider systems that shape their performance. He works alongside owners, investors and management teams to determine what can create or constrain value, what deserves priority and the most practical route forward.
How the Framework Was Developed
The East African Solutions Framework emerged from experience across disciplines that are often considered separately.
Ray’s early work in organisational development examined how leadership, capability, culture and institutional conditions influence performance. He subsequently spent nearly a decade developing and leading a Zambian business and investment information platform, building a broad understanding of how businesses, investors, governments, markets and commercial relationships interact.
His later advisory work brought these organisational, commercial, financial and institutional perspectives together. Working across different industries, countries and stages of enterprise development demonstrated that strategic outcomes are rarely determined by one factor in isolation. They depend upon interconnected systems, relationships, capabilities, constraints and decisions.
This experience informed the three connected components of the East African Solutions Framework: Investment Staples, Influence Mapping and Creating Enduring Enterprise Value. Together, they provide a structured way of examining the wider conditions shaping an outcome, directing finite resources towards the highest-value priorities and determining the practical sequence of action.
Experience and Perspective
Ray’s experience spans organisational development, commercial strategy, corporate finance, investment readiness, market entry and implementation support.
He holds a degree in Management Studies from the University of Nottingham. His continuing professional development includes Corporate Finance at IESE Business School, The Economic Challenges of Global Poverty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Unlocking Investment in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies through the World Bank.
Having lived and worked extensively across Sub-Saharan Africa, Ray combines international experience with a detailed understanding of the region’s commercial, cultural and institutional environments. He communicates in English, German, Spanish, French, Swahili and Nyanja.
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 represents the firm locally, supporting business development, client relationships and country-level engagement. Where appropriate, he also contributes his understanding of Rwanda’s commercial, financial and institutional environment to relevant assignments.
Alongside his role at East African Solutions, Ivan is Group CEO of Limitless Africa Investments, a Kigali-based group involved in developing businesses, facilitating investment and supporting commercial ventures. His leadership across different business activities provides him with a practical understanding of how value is created, constrained and strengthened across a portfolio of enterprises.
Ivan’s entrepreneurial experience includes co-founding Green Pencils, a Kenyan manufacturer that produces environmentally responsible stationery from recycled materials. His previous leadership positions have also included Chairman of the SME Caucus of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers and Board Member of the Kenya Chapter of the United Nations Global Compact, contributing to private-sector discussions concerning enterprise development, sustainability and responsible business practices.
His commercial experience is supported by a background in accounting, tax and audit advisory, giving him a strong grounding in financial governance, regulatory compliance and business operations. Ivan holds a degree in Accounting and Auditing together with a Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainability and Responsible Leadership.
Where a business, asset, opportunity or strategic decision would benefit from closer examination, an initial conversation can establish whether our experience and approach are suited to the situation.