Our story began in Kinshasa, a city of paradox and the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a vast country rich in natural resources but not prosperous. The story of Amisi & Company is deeply rooted in our founder’s insatiable appetite for curiosity, the lessons he learned in his early teenage years while managing his first micro business in an informal economy, and his childhood experience of growing up in extreme poverty in Congo.
Our founder, Amisi Gbialema, is also known to those close to him as AG, which stands for “Amazing Grace.” He lived his entire childhood and part of his adulthood in a state of total destitution, facing an unimaginable confluence of challenges. Surviving without the basic necessities forged him and made him more inquisitive about the indescribable hardships and socio-economic challenges faced by his neighborhood, community and country. He grew up questioning everything.
Why are things the way they are? Is this reversible or fatalistic? Is this the law of physics or a human-made error? What really happened and why? Is wealth created? What causes prosperity and why? Why are there no real jobs in my community? Who is in charge of creating jobs? Why doesn’t the poor lady selling bread on a table on a street corner have access to capital to fund and grow her business, or maybe transform it into a formal bakery so she can better provide for her family? Why is the town where my mom grew up still very poor more than half a century later? Seriously, what is really happening? What does it take to solve the thorniest challenges in my town? How can I be a part of the solution? What types of resources, tools and knowledge do I need to be able to participate in solving some of the most pressing problems affecting my community? What if the solution lies in rejecting the old ways of doing things and experimenting with unconventional models? What could go right if we followed the untried path? Why? Why? Why? And again why this and why that?
These are just some of the essential questions that AG asked himself as a child growing up in a very poor, under-invested and under-served region. Moving fast-forward, these questions eventually led to the development of Amisi & Company in 2023, a unique, impact-driven venture builder that is intentionally structured and thoughtfully led to generate far-reaching positive impact and ultimately fuel local economic development.
Pictured on the left of the photo is our founder Amisi Gbialema in one of the poorest towns in Congo
Are you curious to learn more about the story behind this old photo?
The road to Amisi & Company has been an incredible, thrilling, eye-opening and mind-broadening entrepreneurial adventure filled with so many twists and turns. Stay grounded with us! Our story continues…
“Through the infusion of new, old is reinvigorated, and through the inclusion of the old, the new is given broader character. History becomes an enhancer.” — Wilson Martin
© 2024 Amisi & Company, All Rights Reserved.