Team BPN Nicaragua
A land of extreme contrasts: Contemporary factories are juxtaposed with the simplest of workshops; modern villas, tin huts with clay floors, the latest pickup models cross horse-drawn carts, and while some entrepreneurs optimize their operations with the help of the latest apps, others still work according to the concept of their grandfathers.
Nicaragua is also the country of countless entrepreneurs who have started their own business out of passion or often out of necessity.
BPN accompanies a selection of selected entrepreneurs who are ready to accept new ways of thinking, to question the usual and to change where necessary.
Adrian Borter
Country Director Nicaragua (since 2008)
The figures refer to BPN Nicaragua (since its foundation in 2006).
Team BPN Rwanda
Rwanda is a densely populated and small landlocked country in East Africa. Because of its hilly landscape, Rwanda is also called the "land of a thousand hills".
History has left its mark. In 1962, the former German/Belgian colony gained its independence, and in 1994, the simmering conflicts culminated in the genocide against the Tutsi, in which 1 million people lost their lives and the country plunged into poverty.
Since then, an economic reconstruction process has been successfully initiated. With the support of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Rwanda has implemented important economic and structural reforms, maintained its economic growth rates over the past decade and is considered Africa's rising star.
Rwanda's development goal of achieving middle-income country status by 2035 is being systematically advanced through a series of national transformation strategies. These include "promoting the emergence of competitive domestic enterprises." Entrepreneurship remains an important issue for the country. For BPN, this means optimal working conditions and ever-increasing relevance. "BPN is now the reference address in Rwanda for entrepreneurship promotion," said the Minister of Industry.
Businesses take on professional forms, achieve international presence, and almost always it is BPN entrepreneurs who act as flagship projects in the country.
Alice Nkulikiyinka
Country Director Rwanda (since 2011)
The figures refer to BPN Rwanda (since its establishment in 2011).
Team BPN Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan, also known as Switzerland on the Silk Road due to its landscape, is located in Central Asia. With an area of about 200,000 km², the country is about five times the size of Switzerland, but has only about 6.6 million inhabitants.
Kyrgyzstan borders Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the southeast.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kyrgyzstan became an independent state. Political instability and outdated economic structures limit the prospect of growth. To advance economic development, Kyrgyzstan is focusing on poverty reduction, economic stabilization and accelerating structural reforms. A tense security situation, characterized by regional, ethnic and economic tensions as well as generational conflicts, pose additional challenges for the young state.
Economically, certain improvements are slowly becoming apparent. Economic development is progressing - especially in agriculture, trade and services, and industry. The tourism sector also holds great potential.
Kyrgyzstan was the first BPN country and is thus the birthplace of the successful BPN model. BPN's goal in Kyrgyzstan is to support around 30 small and medium-sized enterprises each year, thereby preserving or creating 350 to 400 jobs.
Thomas Lauwiner
Country Director (since 2021)
Paul Urusov
Executive Expert (with BPN since 1999)
The figures refer to BPN Kyrgyzstan (since its establishment in 1999).
Baiansulu runs an art and music school in Kyrgyzstan. She has been on the road with BPN since 2018, attending coaching sessions and seminars. In the video, the entrepreneur tells you about the successful development of the art and music school.
Team BPN Mongolia
Lonely steppes, wildlife and hospitable nomads - welcome to Mongolia! The land of blue skies borders China and Russia and is known for its vast, rugged landscapes and nomadic culture.
Mongolia, home of Genghis Khan, is about 40 times the size of Switzerland with almost 1.6 million km², but has only about 3.3 million inhabitants. Almost half of them live in the capital Ulaanbataar. The average population density of 2.1 inhabitants per km² is one of the lowest in the world.
Our local employees are people with passion. You support the future of Mongolia by helping small businesses create new jobs. They support them with business training, coaching, financing and networking. The employees have a bachelor's degree and several years of professional experience.
As a forward-looking organization with a team-oriented corporate culture, our employees enjoy entrepreneurial perspectives and can actively develop BPN.
René Luchsinger
Country Director Mongolia (since 2023)
The figures refer to BPN Mongolia (since its establishment in 2012).
"I am preparing for the next generation. I want to continue to develop and grow my company in the future. That's why I encourage my daughter and send her to BPN seminars."
Team BPN Georgia
After breaking with the Soviet Union, Georgia chose a decidedly pro-Western and economically liberal course. This quickly gave the country at the crossroads of Eurasia a reputation as a top reformer and sought-after investment location.
The strengths of the Georgian economy lie in agriculture and tourism.
Georgia offers a variety of different landscapes and climatic zones in a very small area: From a subtropical climate on the Black Sea coast, to an alpine climate in the High Caucasus, to a distinctly continental climate with semi-desert in the east of the country.
Since 2016, BPN has had a country office in Tbilisi, Georgia's capital city of 1.2 million people. While in the early years primarily companies around the capital joined the BPN program, in recent years BPN has been able to successively expand its geographic presence throughout the country.
Daniel Matter
Country Director Georgia (since 2017)
The figures refer to BPN Georgia (since its establishment in 2016).
"We grabbed the opportunity to actively implement the acquired knowledge and experience for the benefit of our company's development." - this is how Tamriko reports on her everyday life as an entrepreneur in Georgia when looking back on the BPN seminars.
