Since 1950, what have been the main steps in the evolution of the company?
My father Elias Haddad came to Liberia in the fifties, and started the Bridgeway Stores. The first store was on United Nations Drive near BTC, and the second by the bridge near Vai Town; both stores being close to bridges, thus the name Bridgeway emerged. Through hard work, consistently and dedication coupled with my father's aim to keep the family in one city, we have managed to build one of the most reputable and successful business group in the city of Monrovia.
You have about five companies, is that correct?
Yes, Bridgeway Corporation, Alliance Motor Corporation, Liberia Group of Industries, Prestige Motor Corporation, and Worldwide Impex.
What is the capital structure of the company?
100% Haddad.
You are perceived as a true "partner in progress". What would you say has been the contribution of the Haddad family to Liberia's reconstruction process?
The Lebanese community is one of the communities established in this country as far back as the 1880s. Lebanese and Liberians have actually established a relation deeper and even beyond economic relation. The Haddad's being one of the prominent families, they played and are still playing a major role in Liberia's reconstruction process in the area of employment, education, investing in manpower development, health care, providing credit facilities to small Liberian businesses and so on. Of course, they were moments when things went "crazy" like during the nearly seven years civil conflict, where I had to leave Liberia for two years. We had a situation where for eight to nine months, there was nothing we could do anyway. But as soon as there was a relative normalcy in Monrovia, I made it my business to come back, even though the situation was still uncertain.
When was this?
It was at the end of October 1991; even though it was a little bit too early, I managed to come back to find if anything was left or see how to start our insurance claim; upon my arrival in Monrovia, the humanitarian situation was so terrible; the suffering, hunger and sickness were beyond human imagination. This situation motivated us to restart our operation in Liberia a little bit earlier.
As President of the Lebanese community and as a successful entrepreneur, how significantly would you say the country has evolved since 1997?
I believe the international community has not treated this country fairly. You see, we all know and declared that Liberia had free and fair elections in July 1997. I haven't seen anybody to dispute this fact. But I feel that if this country had been given the support it deserves, conditions would have been far better. Right now, we enjoy good security, I have not heard anybody from the Lebanese community or other foreign nationals complaining about insecurity. You can see and feel it for yourself. Businesses are open and freely operating. I believe this country has really kept the freedom to do business, and maintained the policy of open market. So frankly, we cannot understand why the international community continues to hold back support to the reconstruction process?
There's no country in the world that after a devastated civil war, was left along the way Liberia has been left alone to carry on reconstruction. I mean how can this country restore essential services as water and electricity, and at the same time rebuild its roads, seaports and airports without international support? Liberia's reconstruction is taking too long because it has been left alone. If you were in Monrovia 1993/1994, all the paved roads out of Monrovia including the Robertsfield were covered with trees and bushes. You know the level of destruction in this country after seven years of civil war. When I came here in 1991, there was nothing you could see except bushes. In two years, trees and bush had covered the cement. There is a tremendous job to be done in this country. It would require international support to speed up the process.
Do you expect the international community to change its stand?
I am confused. I don't know what standard they use to do, what they are really supposed to be doing? But I believe, as I said, that the people of this country deserve better treatment. The "wait and see" attitude adopted by the international community is causing more suffering among the masses, especially the children, women and elderly. The provision of safe drinking water and electricity should be considered a right for this country and not a privilege to be denied due to lack of international support. To repair the water treatment plant and the Hydro Mount Coffee Plant are priorities.
As far as the Haddad Group of companies is concerned, how successful will you say you have been this year and what are your financial expectations for the coming year?
Our success comes from our survival. Really our survival is our biggest success. At a certain time I thought it was a big error to come a bit early, but today I believe it was a wise decision. We have been able to confirm our status as good business partners in this country… Frankly we are not loosing much. We have managed to break even and regain our position in the local and international markets. We are optimistic that more investors will come in and the international donors will further support this country.
| What is the contribution of your different companies to your total turnover?
Bridgeway represents about 70% of our turnover; it imports the essential commodities that are in demand in this country such as rice, sugar, flour and oil.
The importation of rice is important in this country, why not to favor agro industry?
Actually, since last year, we have conducted series of soil tests to grow rice in Liberia. We have sent out sample soil, gotten back the result, and we have sent one of our colleagues to Philippines. He came back two months ago. We are seeing some difficulties in acquiring the land. Agriculture is a major long-term investment that needs financial back up from specialized international financial institutions. This project requires 7-10 million U.S. Dollars.
Are you in contact with foreign financial institutions?
We have a few agencies, which are interested. The African Development Bank (ADB) in Abidjan, the European Investment Bank among others.
What is the volume of rice that you import and where are your suppliers located?
We import about 60,000 tons annually. Our supplier is in Geneva. We are dealing with one supplier, Louis Dreyfus
In your activities, is it an advantage to have a monopolistic position on the market?
No, we never had a rice monopoly in this country. The issue of monopoly was raised by the IMF. I held talks with the IMF officials and challenged them to prove that there is a monopoly. If you say there is monopoly, it means only one company is importing rice to sell. And I haven't seeing anybody who is interested to bring in rice to sell and was denied. There was a situation in 1998 when the price of rice went up on the international market. Due to the price structure in this country, I incurred losses when others did not want to and so many rice importers backed off; they were looking for excuses. I felt it was hasty on the part of the IMF and the World Bank to conclude without investigating the allegations of monopoly. The fact is that Bridgeway Corporation is the only company that has maintained a constant rice business in this country. We have about 70% of the country sales just because we have customers and we cater to them.
You are said to be branching off in farming and manufacturing. What are your development plans?
In manufacturing, we have revitalized the Liberia Group of Industries, established since 1986. It produces juice (Disco Drink). We have made more investment in Liberia since the end of the civil conflict. Disco Drink is back on the market. Hopefully we will resume exporting to neighboring countries. We are targeting the markets in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Mali. Right now, the juice factory is producing below capacity. In the area of farming, we are looking at our rice project as our future project.
What is your policy as far as expanding at a regional level, in the Mano River Union (MRU) states for instance?
At this stage, we have no intention to expand to other countries. We have just had our first son of the third generation to join us here.
We haven't talked much about cocoa and coffee?
From records this country is expected to export about 3,000 tons of cocoa and 5,000 tons of coffee. However, the export has so far been a disaster. As for cocoa, we are exporting about 1,000 tons and about 400 tons of coffee. So that's not even 8% of what it should be. Basically that is because of inaccessible roads, that is causing farmers to walk for days with their products on their heads, to reach the market to sell their goods. Another important factor is the international price for cocoa and coffee, which is extremely low and discouraging. That makes the commodity unattractive.
What message would you address to the half million readers of Far Eastern Economic Review?
Come to Liberia and try to do some studies for yourself. Most of the information abroad doesn't represent the facts on the ground. It's very easy and simple to do business in this country. I know Liberia has the natural resources, and it is worth a look. |
THE HADDAD GROUP OF COMPANIES