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 Strategy
INTERVIEW WITH
M. HASSAN SWAN
GENERAL DIRECTOR
Q: How do you see the present situation of the company and what are your immediate plans?
A: We have done quite a lot in the past years since we are here, but there is a long way to go to reach the world standard. That is our aim for the future. The potential for growth is there. We are introducing a lot of services and we are upgrading and modernizing all the telecommunication equipment in Guinea. We want to become a much bigger company. Every year we are going to increase our capacity and upgrade all the links to digital.
Q: You are in a Malaysian company. Why did you decide to land in Guinea?
A: we recognized that the potential was there and Telekom Malaysia disembarked into this country in the way of a joint venture with the Guinean government to form the company SOTELGUI.
Telecommunications is important for any country to grow, and I think the potential is there. Business is there, in that field. It is a business venture but we have to make a profit. The trend is good and with the passage of time it will be much better.
Q: You say you have done a lot these past years but there are still a lot of things to do. For that a big injection of investments is needed, what are the figures that you are planing to invest, what did you already invest? How much are you going to invest before SOTELGUI is really able to compete with international players?
A: We are injecting as required. For instance, we are doubling the capacity from last year to this year. Capital will come from banks. In the process the capital required will be as required from the expansion plan of this country.
Q: You mean the institutional banks are all interested in your project?
A: yes, we are a growing company, we are in a discussion stage, some of the banks have shown interest, we just need to discuss the ways of payment, but we don’t have any problems in that sense.
Q: You are on one of the most profitable markets so far, with cellular phones you have a few competitors, and some of them complain that your prices are to low…What can you say about that?
A: Well, this is a very competitive market, that is the purpose of having competitors. We have done quite well in this cellular market, our competitors don’t tell us how many customers they have, but we know we are the first company in this market.
Q: How many customers do you have for the regular and cellular phones?
A: We have two systems , we have about 9.000 cellular phones , and we plan to double this amount this year
Q: For the fixed telephones do you have any figures?
A: For the moment we have 32.000 customers, but we have plans to expand to 54.000 by the end of the year. If we can we will do even more. |
Q: There have been some bad payments in the past, what are you planing to do to convince the population that the service rendered has to be paid?
A: Recently we have taken some strong measures. We have to tell our customers to pay on time, this will improve the future expansion of this company. We have been applying some new procedures this last month, so I think that from now on it will be much better and customers will pay on time. From now on we will not be so severe because we want to be a friendly company.
Q: What is your starting capital, turn over, number of employees, etc?
A: I can give you the starting capital on SOTELGUI, which is about US$ 75 million, however we have an injection of funding every year. We have 850 employees, and we are not planing to increase the personnel now. Since we want it to become a very profitable company, we are taking regularly in fresh graduates who are trained to use the latest technologies.
Q: what are the company’s percentage of shares?
A: 60 % owned by Malaysian Telecom and 40 % by the Guinean government. We do not foresee in the short term any changes in the capital shares.
Q: Will you be able to buy some shares of the package later on in the future?
A: We agreed on a license for 10 years, it is up to the Guinean government to decide on our future. Of course then we will go public.
Q: are you open to all kinds of financing, funding, international partners?
A: we are now in discussions with several Banks. Of course we are always open to capital investments. If other American banks are interested, they are most welcome…
Q: Is your technology mainly coming from Malaysia? And, are you open for new product investments?
A: Our technology comes from all over the world. We have a joint venture with Malaysia, but we also work with Alcatel, we have bought some of equipment also from Canada, Paris, etc. All possibilities for investment are open. We have no limits for international cooperation…
Q: You have not been long here but what do you think are the main drawbacks and the positive aspects of doing in Guinea?
A: I don’t see the drawbacks, I only see the positive aspects. We are using a new management style. We are slowly introducing what is a regular practice in the rest of the world. For instance, we are implementing some of the American quality system. There has been a positive response to the new technology. Of course they have to get used to the new mechanisms, but Guinea is learning very fast.
Q: As the new director of SOTELGUI, what are your main priorities?
A: My main priority is to raise profitability. Our dream is to make SOELGUI a model to be followed in Western Africa. We want to become a quality conscious company, and of course we want to give all the latest services customers need. We want to become a customer friendly company. I want to make it a bigger company with up to date technology. And of course we want to raise technical skills an training methods for our employees. We would like to become a catalyst for the development of Guinea. We want to develop as fast as possible make the company grow, improve our marketing…and reach everybody in Guinea.
Q: What would be your last message for our American readers?
A: things are picking up in this country, it is a good place for future business and hopefully American businessmen will come to invest in Guinea . |
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GUINEA
