Managing Director (G. Shankerdas & Sons (S.L) LTD)

Sierra Leone has a wonderful heritage and history of many firsts in Africa. The country has experienced outstanding growth over the past decade making it one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. In your own words, what are the main competitive advantages of the country?

There are many competitive advantages in Sierra Leone. Firstly, the location of the country; being near the sea we have beautiful beaches and are blessed with a variety of rich ecosystems. The abundance of fish, lobsters, and crabs have strengthened our fishing industry. Sierra Leone’s breath-taking sceneries and rich culture attracts tourists from around the globe. Our unique environment is home to some of the most valuable minerals and natural resources: iron ore, gold, diamonds, rutile and bauxite to name a few. Like most tropical countries we have two seasons every year (rainy and dry seasons), which means our vegetation has thrived. Sierra Leone is truly blessed with its abundance of natural resources.

Since independence one of the governments’ primary objectives has been to improve the country’s educational facilities. This has resulted in record number of Sierra Leoneans gaining a university education, thereby catalysing a national “Brain Gain”. Our young, friendly, enthusiastic, and well-educated workforce brings hope to the country’s economic and social development.


2014 has been a really tragic year for the country because of Ebola - When do you think the economy will fully recover from that tragedy?

We had twin disasters, one was the Ebola Epidemic and the other was the fall in price of iron ore, which is integral to our exports. Unfortunately, the Ebola Epidemic killed just over 11,000 people- 4,000 of which were Sierra Leoneans. After the epidemic the country was slowly rebuilding itself, but the unforeseen drop in iron ore prices resulted in a decrease in the value of the Leone, and an increase in the value of the US Dollar: from Le 5,200 to Le7,500. This caused an increase in the prices of commodities, and basic utilities like electricity and water. Most recently the price of the US Dollar has stabilised, and the price of iron ore is on an upward trend; the combination of these factors are indicators that the economy is slowly recovering.


The President outlined a strategy focused on key sectors of the economy Agenda for Prosperity focuses energy, agriculture and fisheries, natural resources (mining, petroleum) and infrastructure - these are suppose to pave the way for future international investors to come within the country. What else should be done to make Sierra Leone a better investment destination – What do you think should be improved?

I believe that the President has outlined a brilliant strategy for attracting more international investors in the future. One of his key points, which I greatly support, is his idea that we need Attitudinal Change.

Currently most of our primary sector products are being exported to other countries to be processed. A way of improving our investment potential is by adding value to these products: this can be achieved by implementing the proper infrastructure so that we can process these raw products locally, and thereby increasing our investment potential and the value of our exports. For example, our locally produced coffee can be processed into Salone Coffee, which can then be exported to other countries as a finished product.

Rice is one of the staple foods of a Sierra Leonean’s diet. During the 1930-40s, the country’s rice exports were phenomenal; however, the discovery of diamond mines resulted in the negligence of our agricultural industry. Currently, we import our rice meaning that our rice importation bill is unnecessarily high. As a country we have the land, labour and technology to harvest rice at least three times a year, which means that there is no reason why we can’t be self sufficient. In the future, the excess rice can then be exported and better our foreign exchange earnings- helping our economic growth. I believe that an emphasise on our agricultural sector will improve Sierra Leone’s overall investment potential.


The industry and trade sector are still very much in the pioneering level because you do not have many manufacturing companies in this country and the problem seems to be the power generation and also the consumer market that is lacking in this country – what are the main challenges and opportunities in your sector?

I agree that electricity is one of the biggest challenges we have in this country. The cost of producing commodities can be reduced if we had a continuous supply of electricity rather than relying on our generators. These are significantly more expensive to run compared to the national grid.


Shankerdas & Sons (S.L.) Ltd is one of the oldest companies in Sierra Leone; could you give us some history/background of the company?

My grandfather came to Sierra Leone in the early part of the last century, I believe sometime in the 1920s. He established the present company in 1939, and my father joined the company towards the end of the World War 2. My father is now 91 years old, and is still pro-active in G.S.S Sierra Leone. I am the third generation, and joined the family business in 1976 soon after I completed my degree at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. One of my sons (4th Generation), Ram Shankerdas, has also recently joined the company having worked in the UK for some time after he graduated from the London School of Economics.


What are your current operations and what are your plans of expansion?

Our current operations in plastic manufacturing produces a variety of items: one department specialises in household items like buckets and basins.  We also manufacture: bottles, containers-like jerry cans, pipes, conduit, plumping pipes, water tanks, polythene bags and so on.

Our alcohol division comprises of a distillery and a bottling plant, where we blend and package our own alcoholic beverages. We initially only manufactured alcoholic beverages, however over time we have diversified our beverages division. Currently we also blend and package soft drinks, and drinking waters. We also have a candle and foam division. Our commercial division comprises of several shops in Freetown and the provinces.  Finally we have a small scale agricultural project on the outskirts of Freetown. Regarding future expansions, not only do we hope to enhance our current operations but we want to enter the tourism trade and promote Sierra Leone across the globe. We have also begun exporting some of our flagship products into the neighbouring counties and intend to continue expanding in this way.


How do you contribute to the community (cooperate social responsibility projects)?

Helping our communities is a vital part of G.S.S Sierra Leone. A few of our recent corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects:
•    We have built three bridges in the outskirts of Freetown, thereby helping the local communities.
•    We have assisted schools and provided scholarships for students across all stages of their education
•    We have given and installed water tanks to communities that have suffered from water shortages.
•    We have assisted with the electrification of certain streets.
•    We also donate to charitable causes regularly, and did so especially during the Ebola crisis.
These are just a few of our CSR projects that we have been involved in.


Milla Group seems to be positioning itself on the same category of products - what is the difference between you and them?

Yes, they are positioning themselves in some similar products-categories as us, particularly in the plastics category. The main difference is that our focus is on beverages (water, soft-drinks and alcoholic beverages under different brands), whereas theirs is in edible oils. Our manufacturing portfolio also includes other items such as mattresses and pillows, candles, cosmetics among other items. We are also increasingly venturing into the agricultural sector as this is vital for the development of the country.


In the long run what is the ambition of Shankerdas and Sons – what is your vision the next 10 to 20 years?

As already mentioned we hope to enhance our current operations but we want to enter the tourism trade and promote Sierra Leone across the globe. Exporting from Sierra Leone is another key future goal which we have already begun within the region and are expecting to grow further in the coming years.


What are you most proud of since you started running this operations?

I am most proud of the jobs we have created for the thousands of Sierra Leoneans we employ; there are Sierra Leoneans in every division of our company and they are an integral part of our success.


What will you tell the investment community in order to get them to invest in your country?

I would like to tell the investment community that Sierra Leone is still a virgin land with a plethora of opportunities in various sectors, for example: agriculture, mining, tourism, manufacturing, housing to name a few. As mentioned earlier, the people are hard working, friendly and willing to learn any trade; their attitude to bettering their skills is truly inspiring.