Inspired vision, life-changing mission

With just one mosquito bite and an invading parasite as small as one-millionth of a meter, malaria floods the blood with ease.

One day without treatment and chills, fever and body aches can transition to seizures, jaundice, brain swelling, kidney failure or a ruptured spleen.

More than 600,000 people around the world died from malaria in 2022. An estimated 95% of those deaths occurred in Africa, where the World Health Organization estimates that one child dies every minute from malaria.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) all of the 100 million residents are considered vulnerable to the disease, and children under 5 are disproportionately affected.

Seraphin Kibonge (MBA ’24) could have been one of those children.

He was not quite 2 years old when his family moved from the DRC to Raleigh, North Carolina, triggered by the ongoing threat of civil war and erosion of civil liberties. His parents worked hard, earned additional college degrees to add to those they received in the DRC, and stressed the importance of higher education for their children.

Kibonge listened. He ran track and field at Millbrook High School in Raleigh and at Coker University in Hartsville, South Carolina, where he competed in the 400 meter hurdles. He served as student body president and spoke at his commencement.

“I want to make a real impact on the global healthcare system and on the people in that system,” says Kibonge. 

After he taught himself basic financial literacy, he then launched Reach Skyward, offering one-on-one guidance and workshops on everything from networking to personal finance to help students reach “their fullest potential.”

He is, above all, a problem solver. His undergraduate degree in biology with a molecular concentration reflected a lofty goal of finding an effective and affordable vaccine for malaria, if not a cure. Now, after graduating from the Full-Time MBA Program at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, he has an even loftier goal.

“I want to make a real impact on the global healthcare system and on the people in that system, especially those who I could have been had I remained in my home country,” he says. “Looking beyond one molecule or one specific disease, I want to look at how we can impact the whole system of healthcare and empower individuals to get the help they need and deserve.

“And that’s why I went to UNC Kenan-Flagler.”

“I came to the right place.”

A few weeks before his graduation in May 2024, Kibonge posted two photos of himself side-by-side on LinkedIn.

They were taken two years apart in the lobby of the McColl Building: one on his first day of classes and one on the last day. His pose is the same in both photos, with a tucked-in polo shirt, arms outstretched and a smile.

When Kibonge looks at the photos he sees something different.

“In the first photo, I see a bright-eyed, very excited individual, but also someone who didn’t quite know what they were getting into,” he says. “In the second photo, I see someone who is thrilled to have accomplished what he has. I see someone who has grown and matured over the last two years in ways that the person in that first photo wouldn’t have expected or understood. I see someone who can tell himself, ‘I came to the right place.’”

Just a few years earlier, business was nowhere near Kibonge’s mind. His biology degree is typically a direct pass to a medical research laboratory. But in his final years as an undergraduate, Kibonge had two pivotal fellowships — one in hospital strategy, the other in venture capital — that significantly shifted his focus.

“It became clear to me that if I really want to make an impact in this world the way I want to, understanding business and being where the decisions are made is how I would approach it — from the top down,” he says.

In his two years at UNC Kenan-Flagler, Kibonge dove into the business of healthcare and everything that goes with it. A Vetter Dean’s Fellow, Kibonge joined the MBA Healthcare Club, and the Black Business Student Association and explored consulting through the STAR (Student Teams Achieving Results) program.

He found two more internships that expanded on his earlier experiences. The summer after his first year, Kibonge landed an internship with global biopharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb, joining a worldwide team working on an inflammatory bowel disease medication. After his second year he was a venture capital intern at Excelerate Health Ventures in Durham, North Carolina.

Merging biology and business, Kibonge is now on the career path that doubles as a mission he can’t ignore. He joined Bristol Myers Squibb in New Jersey as an associate in its commercial leadership development program.

It’s just the beginning.

“I know that being in the healthcare system is where I should be if I want to try to make a scalable change in people’s lives,” he says. “That’s why the Business School was so important to me. It was tying in business with biology, understanding private capital and public markets. Then it’s seeing how we can combine those forces to improve the healthcare system throughout Africa and beyond. None of this can happen without people willing to find a solution.”

Kibonge has ideas. New infrastructure is key, as is private capital and foreign investment. While there has been greater investment overall in healthcare in the DRC during the past decade, an estimated 70% of Congolese either have limited access to healthcare or none at all. Kibonge also stresses the need for private-public healthcare partnerships and interest from entrepreneurs.

“It became clear to me that if I really want to make an impact in this world the way I want to, understanding business and being where the decisions are made is how I would approach it — from the top down,” says Kibonge.

Better health education is also vital, both for clinicians and patients, about the symptoms, risk factors and treatment options for malaria and other diseases. Even when there is access to a pharmacy, the cost of care is typically too high for those living in the DRC, where the average annual income is $450.

“It’s a tough, tough road to go down,” says Kibonge. “But it’s one I’m ready for.”