As part of MERQ Consultancy’s continued commitment to institutional learning and knowledge exchange, MERQ Rwanda shared its experiences with its sister company, MERQ Ethiopia. The two teams also held strategic discussions, identifying opportunities and outlining ways forward for stronger collaboration and joint operations across East Africa and beyond.
The event was organized to serve as a learning forum for the sister companies, providing an opportunity to share experiences and explore practical approaches to identifying, pursuing, and securing consultancy opportunities through coordinated business development across national boundaries.
With this in mind, Mrs. Tsega Hagos, Managing Director of MERQ Rwanda presented an overview of MERQ Rwanda, including its institutional journey, key achievements, current portfolio, and capabilities. She highlighted the major projects undertaken by the MERQ Rwanda team, competing with national and international firms operating in Rwanda and beyond. Her presentation highlighted opportunities for stronger collaboration between the sister companies and a more strategic MERQ presence across the east African region and beyond.
Tsega Hagos, Managing Director of MERQ Consultancy Rwanda, presenting during the event
Following Tsega’s presentation, the participants of the event discussed in depth on ways of strengthening collaborations and embarking on possible joint initiatives. Accordingly, the team agreed on having a platform for regularly sharing updates on ongoing work, new opportunities, expertise, and other developments across the sister companies.
The team also underscored the importance of fostering expert exchange among the sister companies, particularly when responding to opportunities that require multidisciplinary expertise and international teams. Likewise, the participants emphasized the need to give due attention to professional training and capacity-building initiatives, taking into account Rwanda’s significant market potential in this regard.
Partial view of MERQ Rwanda Office, in Makuza Plaza, Kigali
They also suggested to build stronger connections with the growing Ethiopian professional community in Rwanda whose diverse skills and experience could create opportunities for expertise, partnerships, and business development.
Importantly, the participants agreed to explore selected opportunities across priority areas such as continuous professional development (CPD), reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH), primary healthcare (PHC) and community health workers (CHW), communication strategy, gender and disability inclusion, while drawing on the expertise relevant experts.
Providing strategic directions, Dr Alula M. Teklu, CEO of MERQ Consultancy PLC in Ethiopia and Director of MERQ Global Coordination Office, underlined the need to continue exploring practical ways to move beyond separate country-office operations toward stronger collaboration, joint proposal development, and business development across the MERQ network.
Dr. Alula also commended Tsega’s excellent leadership in positioning the MERQ Rwanda as a well-recognized consultancy firm among national and international organizations within a relatively short period. “I hope this will bring unique opportunities, given the fact that there are a number of international donors and philanthropic organizations investing in Rwanda,” he said.
Dr Alula M. Teklu, CEO of MERQ Consultancy PLC in Ethiopia and Director of MERQ Global Coordination Office
Dr. Alula said, “While maintaining the independence of each sister company, we can establish a common pool of resources that both the MERQ Rwanda and MERQ Ethiopia teams can draw on, enabling us to work as a single team and pursue joint initiatives.” To this end, he called on for a more synergized arrangement in which researchers from both country offices can freely discuss project ideas and develop proposals involving multidisciplinary teams. “Individual and small team level discussions should continue,” he added.
Over the five years since its establishment in 2021, MERQ Rwanda has signed a several memoranda of understanding (MoU) with various governmental organizations, professional associations; implemented large-scale projects and consistently demonstrated its capacity to deliver high-quality results. Serving as learning partner of the Kataza Program and conducting a tracer study for a USAID funded project are among MERQ Rwanda’s notable accomplishments.
Established in 2013 in Ethiopia, MERQ Consultancy PLC has successfully implemented more than 84 projects. Headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, MERQ has sister companies in Kigali (Rwanda), Malborne (Australia), and Baltimore (United States), all having the name MERQ Consultancy and with similar missions.
