Before co-founding enpact e.V., Matthias Treutwein was a project manager and consultant in international development cooperation and cultural management. His stations include Transparency International, The Owners Forum, InWent, the Goethe-Institute, and the Robert Bosch Foundation. At enpact, Matthias is responsible for monitoring & evaluation, capacity building, public relations, and sustainable organizational development. Promoting networks and horizontal & lifelong learning are further focus topics for which he is also engaged outside Enpact.
Matthias Treutwein on international development cooperation and cultural management
Enpact has supported thousands of entrepreneurs across emerging markets since its founding. Looking back over a decade, what do you see as enpact’s biggest contribution to shaping resilient entrepreneurial ecosystems?
Our most significant success is the introduction of equity-free founder scholarships on the political agenda in international development cooperation. In our early years, we started with the obvious: Under the slogan of „from entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs“, we designed and implemented mentoring programs that focused on eye-level exchange between founders, increasing their competencies, networks, and managerial capacities. Unfortunately, there was one crucial missing piece in the mosaic: Access to funding. Here, we do not mean VC money, but a small nominal salary that covers the founders‘ backs and allows them to focus 100% on developing their businesses. The impact of this simple tool has been impressive.
Given your experience, what role should Germany and Europe play in fostering entrepreneurship as part of their foreign policy and international cooperation strategies?
There is no better way to drive economic growth than through entrepreneurship. Due to a lack of access and sheer necessity, numerous innovative solutions are being developed all across Africa. Instead of patronizing them, we should provide them with upfront trust, access to our networks, and money in the form of scholarships. At the same time, Europe should reassess its entire relationship with the African continent. It’s the closest and best option for a win-win relationship that we have. With an obvious aggressor in the East, uncertainty in the West, and nothing to the north, it is actually the only viable option left. Sometime in the near future, we may need Africa more than vice versa. Therefore, the current discussion on migration and the need to bridge the skilled labor shortage in Europe is ridiculous. We Europeans are aging, while Africa is the continent of the young. Our existing pension models are unsustainable unless we chalso change our migration policies.
Having worked across regions like MENA, Africa, and Europe, what cross-cultural insights have most influenced how you approach entrepreneurship support and organizational growth?
This is a tricky one, impossible to answer in one paragraph. Let me try it like this: In addition to the characteristic cultural differences related to power distance, uncertainty avoidance, gender, individualism, and others, the best piece of advice regarding intercultural communication is this one: Become a better communicator. And by this, I do not mean your presentation, keynote speaking, or pitching skills. Instead, try becoming a better listener. Aim also to be the first to provide value to your counterpart, instead of thinking of sales and your own benefit. It will lead you much further in the long run.
