Columbia College Today

Mike Hassan ’63 founded and runs Kenya Direct, an export business in Kenya for flowers and non-perishable handicrafts. He hopes to eventually sell the business to his Kenyan partners so they may work toward recovery from the country’s long-term economic downturn.

Since retiring in 2002, Mike Hassan ’63 has been traveling the world. Wanting to experience the local culture, he prefers to rent furnished apartments for a minimum of a month, but usually opts for much longer. He has spent time in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Spain, Morocco, Brazil, Lebanon and Russia. His 2003 trip to Kenya, however, proved to be more than a vacation.

While climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Hassan was awed by the spectacular beauty of the Kenyan landscape. Getting to know the Kenyan people was even more inspiring. Hassan was struck by the nascent optimism of the Kenyans; despite suffering from a 40 percent unemployment rate, they were eager to believe in their new president, Mwai Kibaki, who promised to wipe out the corruption that had bankrupted the nation. Hassan was impressed by their determination to overcome obstacles put in front of them by their government.

He wanted to “give Kenyans the type of economic opportunity that their government doesn’t give them enough of, and pass along some of my skills to people who need those skills to prosper,” he says. His idea was to start a company and train Kenyans to run it, eventually allowing them to buy out the company once it was successful. In 2004, he founded Kenya Direct (www.kenyadirectco.com), an import/export company exporting fresh cut flowers and non-perishable handicrafts. It also serves as a consulting firm for investors and other local businesses.

Starting a company in Kenya posed many challenges. Hassan had hoped that the new political environment would be more conducive for business. “The reality was quite different,” he says. “Nothing can be done without bribing, not even the simplest of administrative tasks, and everything takes quite a bit longer than it would in the States. Although there are numerous opportunities in Africa, there lacks an adequate business infrastructure.”

Beyond the bureaucratic obstacles, last November, Hassan was hijacked in Nairobi and held at gunpoint by four young men for about an hour. “It was quite an experience, [but] not one I wish to replicate,” he says. After this perilous incident, Hassan decided to delegate more of Kenya Direct’s business operations to his Kenyan partners, though he continues to manage the company, primarily from abroad. Hassan believes that Kenya’s potential hinges on a large-scale reduction of corruption, but he is optimistic that there has been a move toward transparency and hopes it will lead to further derailing of the corrupt systems in place.

Hassan’s love of adventure was a major factor in his decision to attend the College rather than Harvard or Penn. A Massachusetts native, he was seduced by the “big city lights” of New York. He came to Columbia on a football scholarship and was a member of the 1961 Ivy League championship football team. An English major, Hassan enjoyed studying Shakespeare and considers his experience at Columbia to have been “beyond wonderful … the best time of my life.”

Since graduation, Hassan has had an active business career in the United States. He was formerly the owner/president of a Chrysler franchise, senior v.p. of a national transportation company, v.p. for a Playboy Video Entertainment division, consultant for start-up cable and satellite programming companies and owner/president of a private cable company.

This year, his adventure continues with plans for a road trip through Central and South America with stops in Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela and possibly Colombia. He hopes to set up an apartment in whichever country grabs his attention, then enroll in a local university to perfect his Spanish and pursue a nutrition degree.

ALUMNI UPDATES

Mike Hassan ’63, Entrepreneur in Kenya