Rovuma Segurança: A Mozambican Company Specialized in Security Services

Interview with Pedro Macaringue, Executive Director of Rovuma Segurança

Could you give us your assessment of the security sector in Mozambique?

The security sector is one of the most promising in Mozambique. When you think of investing in a country, you first check the potential of the country, the stability of the institution and, of course, the security. Rovuma Segurança has been in operation for 2 years, but on the last 9 months, we saw a high growth, as currently, many people are investing in Mozambique. People need to know their facilities are secured, and with us they are.

When talking about security, there are a lot of issues to be discussed. One of them is how you provide your service. What makes us different from other security companies, is that our men are the key point of our operation and we invest in the training of our team.

What security services are you offering?

We used to focus on static vigilance, meaning a guard protecting a facility. Nowadays, due to the development of this field, we are reaching a different level with electronic vigilance. Our partners in Angola and South Africa possess CCTV access for surveillance, they also do monitoring (of funds in transit for example), guarantying a double offer: guards and electronics.

Why should a company hire you for a security service?

There are many companies in Mozambique that hire civilians to protect their facilities, but this is illegal and dangerous. Only security companies have trained and qualified teams for that type of work, relying on the support of a team, in case of need. Moreover, Rovuma Segurança has an insurance coverage, so if there is a robbery and it is proved that it happened due to negligence from our company, the insurance company can settle the issue.

The security sector is one of the most promising in Mozambique. When you think of investing in a country, you first check the potential of the country, the stability of the institution and, of course, the security.

Can it be, that those who hire civilians, are unaware it is illegal?

Many lodging facilities hire civilians as guards in order to reduce the costs of hiring a security company. The fees of a security company are higher than those of hiring a civilian. Sometimes, also to reduce costs they hire guards trained by security companies, thinking these people have the knowledge to get the work done, but if there is no security company checking the parameters of the safeguarding, this can be disastrous.

What are the requirements to manage a security company?

Mainly, we need investments. This sector is massive and the operation costs are high. Moreover, smaller companies face competition from bigger companies, because they can offer lower prices in order to get a client, while smaller companies can’t afford to do so. Smaller companies, also tend to hire guards with a low-level of education, which can cost them the company reputation.

Are you looking to create partnerships with international companies?

If we want to offer our services to big companies like Anadarko or Sasol for example, we need to comply with a certain level of quality, and many small companies cannot do so. Rovuma Segurança works with bigger companies that already provide such standards of quality. This is the case with our partners in Italy and Nigeria. The difficulty is to define the terms of the partnership, as most of the time they bring their expertise and think that the local companies can’t compete with them. But we have to maintain a strong position, we can’t just let others do for us what we have to do. We have to learn from them and get experience, but at the same time, we must lead the process.

Where do you see Rovuma Segurança in 2 or 3 years’ time?

I want to keep investing in the company, preferably without the need for any banking financing. That said, I hope that in 5 years Rovuma becomes one of the top 10 security companies in Mozambique, with the best teams and security equipments. Rovuma is working on HR, trying to mold the guards to the rules and brand of the company. My goal is not necessarily to be the most profitable company, but I definitly want to be among the best in terms of quality of service.