Can you give us an historical outline of Shell in Côte d'Ivoire ? Why have you found it opportune or well-timed to establish Shell West and Central Africa's head office here in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire ?
Our presence in most Western and Central African Countries and especially in Côte d'Ivoire dates back to 1929. Côte d'Ivoire is one of the very first countries in the region which offered Shell real investment opportunities. At the beginning, in many West African countries such as Burkina Faso and Togo, Shell has been nationalised. But this policy has not worked well. By 1990 a deep change occurred in these countries and Shell underwent privitisation. At present Shell international does not hold 100 per cent of these companies' assets. Here in Côte d'Ivoire Shell holds only 64 per cent of the company. Some 14% of the remaining shares are listed on the regional stock exchange. In Côte d'Ivoire our activities included and still include fuel and gas distribution. The Minister of Mines and Energy, Lamine FADIKA recently inaugurated our freshly renovated facility, here in Abidjan. Shell West and Central Africa's head office
has been established here in Abidjan ( capital city of Côte d'Ivoire) because Côte d'Ivoire is one of the most properous and politically stable countries of the region. Nevertheless, we have officials in Accra-Ghana, Douala-Cameroon, Dakar and Tchad.
What is Shell's market share ?
We have about 19 or 20 per cent of the market and we are the brand leaders on all the markets.
What about the other emerging countries of your jurisdiction ?
We have about 29 or 30 per cent of the market share in Senegal, 26 or 27 per cent in Ghana and about 17 or 19 per cent in Cameroon which is the fourth biggest Shell facility.
What is Shell's turnover in Côte d'Ivoire ?
Our turnover is US $ 25 million.
Can you tell us what are the strategic guidelines of Shell West and Central Africa ? In which sector of activity is the future growth of Shell going to be achieved ?
The strategies being set up presently are not designed
for our West and Central African region only but
also for the North African region. Morocco, Egypt
and Tunisia are presently offering Shell real investment
opprtunities. Southern and Eastern African countries
are also offering Shell interesting investment opportunities
We really want to grasp all growth opportunities.
Because we had a dispersed management structure
in the past, we hadn't been able to implement an
efficient regional strategy. Today we have an efficient
strucutre in place to manage our business in West
and Central Africa where our interest is big . To
this end, we annually invest about US $ 50 million
in the region in refining, supply, distribution
and marketing. Whatever one may say, we remain the
leaders in the sub-region. The present strategy
is that of growth, and to this end we are in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC), ex- Zaïre,
carrying out negotiations with the local officials
in order to set up an efficient development policy
there. Presently our managers and gas station owners
are bein efficiently trained. I should mention that
managers and gas station owners are of a particular
importance for the company. They stand between our
clients and us. Not only are they are supposed to
know our clients needs but they are also above all
our subcontacting parties. Now we think we can go
ahead because we are efficiently using our human
resources. In total, one can rightly assert that
Shell remains effectively committed in this region. |
SIR is going to be privatised in less than a year. What exactly is Shell going to do ?
We are already a shareholder in SIR and we hold 10 .3 per cent of it. Crédit Agricole, responsible for SIR privatisation is in favour of increasing our share in this company. However there are still some uncertainties on the legal side which is to fix SIR's value. Because of this situation it is difficult to give SIR an economical value. But, despite our bad experiences with oil refinery institutions in the past, we are still interested in them. GESTOCI is also another investment opportunity. The company is also going to be privatised in less than a year. But unfortunately we've just been told that if we happen to be successful with SIR privatisation, we will not be given the opportunity to take part in the GESTOCI privatisation. So, what worries us most now is the lack of clarity in the privatisation process of these different companies.
What measures does Shell undertake in order to respect the environement ?
First of all there are ordinary rules that involve everybody. One must respect the country's norms. Shell's own norms must also be respect. However, we very often operate with the HSE norms which are widely regarded as the best ones. Even if we can boast ourselves of having ended the construction of our own quality stations, one must acknowledge that many problems still remain unsolved. There are a great deal of fatalities in these countries. Transportation is one of the continent's weakest points. Presently we have set up a strategy which consists in strengthening road safety. And we hope that other oil companies will follow our example.
In which sector would you be interested in attracting partners ?
We already work with partners on several aspects of our activities. For instance, with our close partners such as TEXACO, TOTAL, and MOBIL, we work in the distribution field. But here Shell does not take real advantage of the partnership. The lack of permanent contacts with our clients is the greatest problem. Because of this situation we have made up our mind not to work with partners anymore in all the coming operations where Shell will be involved. Nevertheless, with Houston's Ocean Energy-an American Company -we are making a drilling.
What is Shell's competitive advantage in the region ? What makes your company's sales force ?
I think it is the brand force. At present it is the most known brand in the region. But we are not presently taking all the advantages of this position on the market. May be someday this admired position on the market will be advantageous to our company. We have a team of professionals credited with solid experiences which makes Shell one of the most envied oil companies in the sub-region. We are the leaders on the regional market.
What is or has been your greatest achievement as Managing Director of Shell West and Central Africa ?
True collaboration. We have always have a team that wins. Our manager's professionalism has been improved.
What is the mesage you would like to address to our readers ?
Shell is a reliable, growing partner. We are interested in Côte d'Ivoire because its aspirations, especially in the oil sector and ours in the same field, are the |
