November 1 , 2004 Print this page

To the Folks Back Home, La Salle University Professor
Richard Mshomba Sheds Light on U.S. Election

Imagine Richard Mshomba’s surprise the day he received a phone call from Voice of America (VOA) at his La Salle University office. The U.S. Government-run international broadcasting service called to ask the economics professor if he would be a guest analyst on a radio show -- in the next five minutes!

“I was honored to have the opportunity to talk about issues of importance to me in my native language of Swahili,” said Mshomba. “To be able to analyze issues to my native citizens is a real treasure. I even e-mailed all my relatives who are still living in Tanzania to tell them to listen to me.”
Mshomba is a frequent guest analyst on various topics for VOA, most recently about the Presidential debates. He is scheduled to appear on the VOA network election night, discussing the outcome.
“I don’t tend to get nervous whenever I have to speak for the Voice of America because I’m usually very familiar with the topic,” he said. “As long as I have had time to prepare my notes and questions, I always get really excited, because this is something that I truly enjoy doing.”

Although Mshomba is not certain how VOA learned about him, he imagines that its Swahili division from Tanzania and Kenya must have heard about research in international economics and developmental economics, with a focus on Africa. Four years ago he published a well-regarded book, Africa in the Global Economy.

Mshomba said his career was made possible because of his Lasallian education. At the age of 27, through the aid of a missionary and a full scholarship from the University, he was able to attend La Salle, where he earned a degree in economics and philosophy in only three years. He was also named Outstanding Senior by the University’s Philosophy Department. (In his native country, only five percent of the population graduate from high school.)

With the help of his La Salle professors, who encouraged him to pursue his education, he received a full scholarship from the University of Delaware, and then earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois, where he worked as a teaching assistant. It was there that Mshomba met his future wife, Elaine, with whom he has three children.

The Mshombas visit their family in Tanzania as often as they can, and they participate actively in the life of their rural community, though mostly from a distance. They support small scale development and other community projects in the village where he was raised. They also have allowed missionaries and others over the years to make use of their home back in Tanzania.

“It has all come full circle. The Christian Brothers at La Salle made it possible for me to attend La Salle. Now, the Christian Brothers from Australia who opened a secondary school in my village, have been living in our house there for some years.”