BY REID DOBELL
Reid Dobell is a second-year IDEV student interested in small organizations active in development finance with expertise, imagination, and an understanding of local context.
Perspectives: Where did you intern this summer?
RD: I interned at LixCap, a company that invests in the agricultural supply chain of developing economies and provides advisory services for governments, DFIs, and private sector clients looking to develop infrastructure in emerging markets across several sectors. LixCap was founded by two American expats (one of which graduated from SAIS in 2002) working in North Africa and about 80% of its staff hails from Morocco. Although the firm’s focus is on North and West African economies, they have completed projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and the United States.
Perspectives: How did you find this internship, and what was the hiring process?
RD: I used PeopleGrove, a new alumni networking tool available to all Johns Hopkins students to connect with LixCap’s Director of Business Development (SAIS ’15) for an informational interview. I was not looking for an internship at the time, but my work experience and belief in the potential of investing in sustainable enterprises as a path towards economic development meshed well enough with the company’s vision that he offered me a chance to intern. Though I was originally supposed to work at their office, located in Casablanca, I still had a great time interning remotely from the shores of Georgian Bay, Canada.
Perspectives: What were your primary responsibilities? Please describe the projects you worked on.
RD: I was staffed on three different projects. Two involved investment advisory, in which our firm had been contracted by a government-funded entity to development the business case for an infrastructure investment and then pitch it to potential funding entities. For these projects, I created investment documents that blended the financial case for investment with the enormous development impact that each project could have. One project involved improving energy sustainability in Morocco while the other focused on reducing waste in the agricultural supply chain in Cambodia. The third was a research project in which I had to determine efficient ways to invest in projects in North and West Africa, given local tax and investment incentives.
Perspectives: Was there previous coursework or work experience that you found especially useful during the internship or the application process?
RD: The partner who managed my research project was in Professor Bodnar’s first Corporate Finance class almost 2 decades ago. Having taken that class myself meant that he had a great understanding of my skill set and interests. My Statistics, International Trade, and Microeconomics classes laid the groundwork for understanding the business opportunity on which the firm was capitalizing. Improving Public Service Delivery (Professor Nagpal) and the IDEV Proseminar allowed me to bring a development lens to work which was often viewed as purely financial by my colleagues.
Perspectives: What were some of your key takeaways from this internship for your academic and professional interests?
RD: My main takeaway was that the work of development finance extends far beyond what is done in DFIs or government. It is small organizations with expertise, imagination, and an understanding of local context that can deliver projects that achieve a developmental impact. This is the space in which I want to work. The experience will inform my course selection and how I critically assess the distribution of funds to developing economies.
Perspectives: What should future SAIS students interested in this internship know?
RD: I landed this internship because I had worked in a developing country, seen the infrastructure gap, and had enough experience with traditional development contractors to be skeptical of their ability to fill said gap. I had experienced the fundamental problem that led to LixCap’s founding and this landed me the job. I would encourage other students to seek out companies solving problems that they themselves have experienced firsthand.
Reid working remotely from Georgian Bay, Canada, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo Credit: Reid Dobell
HEADER PHOTO CREDIT: “Emerging Markets” by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images