Communication Technology and Electric Engineering in Côte d’Ivoire

Interview with Thierry Court, Director of Afric Power, CEO of Tieri and French Trade Advisor in Côte d’Ivoire (CCEF)

Let’s first start by talking about the Free Zone. Why have you decided to settle here? What is the aim of the Free Zone in Côte d’Ivoire?

The Free Zone was set up, following a law that was passed in 2004, to create a favorable environment for investors to work in the fields of biotechnology and communication technology.

We created Afric Power in 2008 but economic activities began in 2010. The post-election crisis slowed down our development at the beginning but we maintained a stable growth since 2012. We export in Côte d’Ivoire and also in the sub region – namely Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo, Benin and as far as Cameroon.

Do you mean that the advantage of the Free Zone is the ability to operate without customs duties?

Indeed. We import all our raw materials duty-free; and then we assemble our products for export.

What about your particular field of activity?

Our sector is communication technology and electric engineering. In other words, we assemble equipments, linked to these activities – everything which is related to automation, casting, monitoring, control and communication. We are also involved in vocational training in automation and supervision.

How would you describe this field of activity in Côte d’Ivoire and in the region? This is undoubtedly a highly competitive sector which is undergoing development, isn’t it?

Our capacity to be supplied with operational equipment for export makes us extremely competitive compared to European and French companies which are used to exporting finished products that often have to be modified or adapted here. Furthermore, re-exporting to the sub region is a critical factor so as to further the expansion and the management of the local manufacturing processes.

Are there other assembling facilities or companies with the same strategy as yours in other Free Zones in the region?

To my knowledge, there is a Free Zone in Togo, which is very dynamic. The Free Zone here in Côte d’Ivoire is relatively recent and has not reached its complete development yet. At the moment, we do have some issues with the administration regarding the customs and taxes: there is a problem between the execution of the Act which was passed in 2004 and the regulation on the Free Zone. Once these present issues are sorted out, we should be able to take full advantage of the Free Zone and develop our business further.

You mentioned the Togo Free Zone which means that, in your business sector, there’s hardly any competition in fact?

There are of course some European and local competitors but the competition is rather insignificant because after all, we have developed abilities which are quite unique to us in the production of these equipments.

So, with the economic growth in West Africa, this sector is very promising, right?

Absolutely. It is an expanding and promising sector. There has been double-digit growth over the last two years. Last year, we approached 15% of growth and this year we shall exceed 20%. We have been slowed down by the post electoral crisis; but now the economy is picking up again. Côte d’Ivoire is a key component of West Africa – above all, an economic hub which shines over the entire sub-region, and this is very interesting for us.

Now let’s focus on the company. Could you give us an overview of your activities?

There are several activities in our business: engineering, electrical engineering and automation; there is also the assembling and mounting of equipment that allow the creation and implementation of production units in different type of industries. For example, we’ve recently modernized a rubber production plant named SAPH in San Pedro, by supplying cabinets for electro-technics to allow the automation; supervision and communication between the machines.

What about the customers who deal with you? Can they be dealing with other suppliers as well?

Of course, there are several companies in Côte d’Ivoire offering these services. I believe that we have something unique, which is the ability to develop automated systems and program locally. For us, it is still an extremely promising and rewarding sector.

What are your priorities at the moment?

Our main priority is to carry on our development, sustain growth, and manage to go much further in export – we want to reach Central Africa and extend our activities to other countries, other than those in which we are operating at the moment.

How do you perceive future developments?

Actually, I am responsible for 3 companies namely: Tieri Côte d’Ivoire, which deals with industrial electricity, automation and power management for inverters. We have the same structure in Burkina Faso, called Tieri Burkina. And I have this business entity called Afric Power, which makes and exports cabinets for electro-technics for diverse customers. Afric Power is the production unit for its sister-entities which settle and program equipments and put them into service at the end customer. Still, Afric Power also developed its own customers.

We have the project of developping in other countries including Central Africa, Togo, Benin, and afterwards in Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo.

Will you be seeking partnerships or will you set up businesses in other countries on your own?

I think that it is essential to look for financing to insure what we have planned for the next five years; we have to find ways to develop with partners. In some countries, there are some projects which are already in progress.

What kind of partners interest you?

I see more of a financial partnership rather than a technical partnership, in order to carry on our development. Presently, we are working with suppliers who are known to have good products. For us, what matters is to ensure financial development so as to support our expansion.

Do you need technical know-how?

A technical input can also be complementary to the investment so as to be able to work on a development with strong growth capacity. I think we need technical and financial contributions. When we settle down in a country, we create a commercial liaison office dependent of Tieri Burkina Faso, as we did in Mali recently. We settle down in a country with a complete training of the parent company. It begins with a commercial liaison office, which becomes a branch and finishes as an entity. In fact, this model is our development project.

What about the training?

On one hand we have training for the clients, on projects that are conducted at their end, to insure the proper functioning of the production units which are settled and their maintenance (training with regards to the operation of the units which we install at our clients). On the other, there is the in-house training part; the idea is to be able to insure continuous development and meet our needs as regards the technical staff that is essential to our growth. 

How many people work in the company?

We have 18 employees at the moment here in the Free Zone, 60 in Tieri Côte d’Ivoire, 25 in Tieri Burkina Faso. With Tieri Mali, we should count approximately 5 to 6 employees to begin with and soon, this company will create other jobs. 

Among your main customers, can you quote some names and some projects?

We did automation cupboards for SCB Lafarge in Benin; electro mechanic cupboards, automation and supervision for the SAPH Groups of SIFCA; supervision cupboards and management of the fire networks for the Total warehouse in Cameroon and we did works for Solibra in Côte d’Ivoire, Brakina in Burkina Faso, Bramali in Mali. We also have other customers in Côte d’Ivoire, in many important fields, such as Orange for which we insure the maintenance of their inverters, or the CIE-SODECI groups, for example. 

Another important achievement is the automation of the great mills of Abidjan. We are continuously improving the production of these two mills of 630 tonnes each. So, this means big production capacity. We have automated these mills, supported the development of production; and now, we settled a production data management software package that we developed ourselves in Abidjan which is called “Gestech”. Indeed, this is, for us, considerable added-value to our expertise, as we can now develop professional software packages.

Could you tell us about your role as French Trade Advisor in Côte d’Ivoire (Conseiller du Commerce Extérieur – CCEF)?

As Trade Advisor for France in Côte d’Ivoire, I accompany and advise French entrepreneurs from the SME segment who intend to settle down in Côte d’Ivoire. 

We create an extremely important partnership between French companies coming from France which have subsidiaries here in Côte d’Ivoire and West Africa, and companies that are based in Côte d’Ivoire, like mine or other businesses which started here in the country. We can thus advise and help them to create a company under the Ivorian law.

There are opportunities in the Free Zone and we can help companies to settle down there. I think that export is an extremely important tool for development.

Right now, with regards to a very real situation, in France, in Europe, and worldwide, people are really afraid of Ebola and Islamism and they are a bit confused about the region. Côte d’Ivoire is part of it as it is next to the 3 countries that are affected by Ebola. There is a negative feeling. What do you have to say to foreign entrepreneurs?

We have gone through many challenges here in Côte d’Ivoire. We had very important socio-political issues for a decade. And now, we are on a path of reconciliation and redevelopment in the country. It is a very good thing. In the life of every country, there are happy and unhappy events. Still, I think that we should not make Ebola the reason for a systematic rejection to economic growth. I believe that this would be misjudging the capabilities of this country to fight against it and move towards progress so that all these diseases disappear and so that there is a better future for everyone. I think that the growth potential here is very important and that the African continent will be the continent of the future. 

 

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