Meet Mr. John, as he is known among his colleagues, clients and business partners. JOHN LOMORO EDWARD KIRI hails from South Sudan and he came to Dubai around 2012 and established his businesses involving food stuff and automobile trading.
He graduated with a degree in Business Management in Kampala University and prior to that he held a diploma of the same course from Omdurman Islamic University in Juba, South Sudan.
In 1990, between studying in the university and raising a young family, he opened a small shop beside his house in Juba where he put up his first business selling foodstuff. He encountered difficulties like additional capital, low profit and no prior business experience. But he pursued amidst the struggles until he was able to establish contacts and negotiations with wholesale vendors which gave him the opportunity to sell his products at lower prices and learnt from them different business strategies, as well.
By 2000, he expanded his business by shifting to a new location in the main market of Juba Town and from there, his business went into greater heights. By 2007, he formed and registered his company, Buonkey General Trading and Investment which imports food stuff from Uganda to South Sudan. From his company, he was able to supply 3 main markets in South Sudan.
In 2010, he started to expand and opened another business company in Kampala, Uganda and also engaged into automobile trading in UAE by importing cars to South Sudan. At the same year, he also ventured into properties through Bonnke Construction and opened Rita Express, a forex bureau in South Sudan for local and foreign currency exchange.
Around 2012, he came in Dubai to oversee the expansion of his business through import and export of goods and services in different commercial, financial and industrial sectors like, but are not limited to automobiles, food stuff and other investments.
He also set up Rita Foundation for an orphanage in South Sudan as part of his philanthropic contribution in his country.
Among the current business expansion he made are the following:
- Taking a lease of a showroom located in Dubai Auto Zone, to direct all automobile transaction into one place (import and export) with a vision of becoming one of the leading automobile distributors, worldwide by 2021.
- And buying two (2) chartered planes for Bonnke Aviation Services in South Sudan.
His words of wisdom and advice to people who are starting a business are these: Tread on a different path. Business involves hard work, patience, perseverance, humility and building good relationships with customers. You have to be an entrepreneur by creating solutions and pushing for innovations. Be a risk-taker and learn how to spot good business opportunities. Treat your customers and other people well and in return, they will treat you well, too.
For a man who came a long way, Mr. John, always believed that money is not everything. He is a self-made man who strived hard to attain success through hard work and perseverance. Having come from a family of farming and other occupations, he chose a separate path to be someone different in order to make a difference for his family and to other people.