AMEX International

International Career Employment Weekly
AMEX INTERNATIONAL PROVIDES EXPERT CONSULTATION WORLDWIDE
By Sarah Hancock
Associate Editor
The Dianes - Brothers and Partners
The Diane brothers, Mamadi and Mori, are natives of Guinea who came 
to the US as college students. Now American citizens, the Dianes have 
exemplified the entrepreneurial spirit by establishing a number of 
international procurement and commodities companies. Among the 
successful businesses the brothers have established is AMEX 
International, Inc., a consulting service used by governments and private 
corporations worldwide.

Over the past 16 years, AMEX International has developed multiple 
areas of expertise, including small business development, economic 
policy analysis, trade and investment promotion, institutional capacity 
building, democracy and governance, training, information technology 
and commodity procurement and shipping.

The Washington, DC based firm employs more than 40 highly skilled 
consultants and maintains branch offices in Armenia, Ghana, Guinea, and 
the Republic of Georgia. Through the consulting services offered at 
AMEX International, the Diane brothers have been able to share their 
success in free enterprise with people in emerging markets worldwide.

The Dianes were naturally drawn to work that would connect them to 
their native land; and accordingly, their firm provides a wide variety of 
consultative services to African governments, corporations and 
individuals. AMEX has helped establish and expand small and medium 
sized businesses, delivered food aid to drought-stricken areas, and 
supported democratization of governments in transition in more than 30 
African nations.

The brothers have a very personal sense of the positive changes their 
company can effect, in view of their family history and experience in 
Guinea. "One good reason [why AMEX was started] was that when we 
finished our studies, we couldn't go home," explained Mori. 

Mori attended Howard University on a soccer scholarship and paid the 
rest of his college fees by working as a night security guard. He later 
received a Master's in Business Administration from the University of 
Chicago. Mamadi attended Husson College in Maine for his 
undergraduate work and went on to get an MBA from George 
Washington University. "There was a dictatorial communist regime in 
control then, and we could not go home. At that time, our father was a 
prominent politician and he was jailed," said Mori. "Also, we wanted to 
work in a setting that would deal with Africa. My brother began working 
in the area of training and procurement, and I joined him two years 
later."

Since then, AMEX has conducted nearly 50 projects not only in Africa, 
but also in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, 
the Caribbean and Latin America. 
Private Business Development

AMEX is committed to helping small and medium sized businesses in 
developing countries thrive in the international marketplace. The 
company has helped entrepreneurs at all stages of business development, 
such as negotiating for permits and licenses, arranging financing for 
investment and operating capital from both local and foreign sources, 
securing foreign partners and technological skills, and marketing their 
products to wholesalers and retailers. AMEX has also implemented 
several countrywide strategies for private-sector development and trade 
expansion.

For the past seven years, AMEX has helped Ghanaian businesses 
improve their management, develop their infrastructure and increase their 
exports by focusing on their potential advantages in the international 
market. Through a special USAID project managed by AMEX, Ghana 
has experienced dramatic growth in the sale and export of locally 
produced goods. 

"We teach entrepreneurs that to be successful in overseas markets 
requires diligence. When we are looking for entrepreneurs to sell goods 
overseas, we get a commitment from them that they will refine their 
management systems and learn good accounting systems," explained 
Mori. "They not only gain educationally, but they also gain an end 
financial reward that is phenomenal. 

"Where before they were selling a few dozen items every week, they 
suddenly receive thousands of orders. They are, in turn, able to make 
more money, and it has a phenomenal effect on their enterprise and the 
economy," he said.

The Ghana trade program produced a tangible gain for its people and 
economy: Over a five year period, businesses assisted by AMEX 
increased Ghana's exports by approximately $32 million. "That is an 
enormous amount for that country," said Mori. "People had never seen 
that type of volume in their life before."

AMEX has also helped to develop small business initiatives in many 
other countries worldwide.

Democracy and Governance

An important aspect of economic expansion in developing countries is 
the support and promotion of democratic governance, and AMEX has 
played a significant role in furthering democratization of emerging 
countries, both in Africa, Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent 
States. 

AMEX's expertise in democracy and governance processes include the 
following areas: 

 -Assisting in organizing multiparty elections as a starting point for 
participation, transparency and fair play.

 -Strengthening the judicial system, which is the ultimate guarantor of a 
functioning democracy and private sector.

-Empowering legislatures, through training and access to comparative 
legal texts and equipment.

-Providing for conflict mediation and training citizens in arbitration 
techniques that reinforce traditional modes of peaceful conflict resolution 
at all levels. 

"These are countries that had been operating under a communist system, 
and we are helping these countries re-write some of their legislation to 
make them more in line with what a democratic government is," said 
Mori. "We are contributing to a major reshuffling of the social order, and 
that is apparently bearing some remarkable fruit."

Some examples of AMEX's involvement in implementing democracy and 
governance reforms include the following:

- In Armenia and Georgia, AMEX is helping to reform the basic 
structures of the legal system. 

- In Cameroon and Chad, AMEX trained nongovernmental organizations 
in adult training, organizational management, proposal writing, budget 
administration, human rights investigation and reporting, and civic 
education. 

- In Burundi, AMEX consultants assisted in fundamental policy and legal 
reforms in both the economic and political spheres, focusing on conflict 
resolution as well as parliamentary operations.

A Diverse and Altruistic Staff

AMEX's culturally diverse staff represents five continents. The senior 
staff enjoys collective fluency in English, French, Portuguese, Russian 
and Spanish. Staff members' backgrounds include information 
technology, applied economics, finance, education, marketing, 
commodities trading, shipping, retail services, academic research and 
international relations. "We have people here who are from the 
Philippines, Senegal, the Congo, Ghana, and many of us are Americans. 
The diversity of the staff makes it quite an exciting place to work," said 
AMEX Vice President David Esch.

People who work for AMEX are committed to improving the lives of 
others, said Mori. "A lot of people attracted to this industry are people 
who genuinely have their hearts in the development process," he said. 
"They try to make a difference in the lives of people in downtrodden 
countries."

AMEX projects are challenging, but also rewarding, said Mori, because 
consultants can see how their work brings about real changes. "We've 
done close to 50 projects, some large and some small, and every single 
one has resulted in real change being brought to the people who need it 
most - changes that would not have occurred without these efforts."

Mori said that he and Mamadi's commitment to the company partially 
stems from their heritage. "Always our commitment to these types of 
projects has to do with why we came here to America with the hope of 
learning enough to try to give back to and help the people of our 
country," he said. "That objective has never been far from us. 

"There is a connection between the hand and the heart, and our 
employees find an environment that would appeal to their sense of 
altruism.To go back and see the people you have worked with, to see 
that they now have resources to purchase fundamental amenities in life, 
such as an education for their children, better medical care or a nicer 
abode than they used to have - that is the kind of satisfaction our 
employees gain."
Return To Profiles