Andrew Conte in Sierra Leone
Andrew Conte in Sierra Leone
Case Study Questions: Andrew Conte in Sierra Leone & Ghana
Details below will be reviewed and where confidentiality is not an issue with business partner details may be posted on the MBAs Without Borders marketing material.
VF & Sierra Leone/Ghana Business
Please describe what VF in Sierra Leone & Ghana does and how it is set up?
VF is a manufacturer of textiles focused on disease control. In West Africa, the sales office based in Accra is responsible for winning new orders, managing client and regulatory activity, and coordinating the shipment of product from manufacturing facilities in India and Vietnam to the country of destination.
Operations in Sierra Leone are facilitated by this “supplier-agent” relationship. Based in Freetown, Universat Logistics Company (ULC) has been contracted to represent VFWA.
What are some aspects of the local business that should be understood when foreigners consider doing business in Sierra Leone and Ghana?
Sierra Leone is among the most expensive countries to do business in on the African continent. Part of this can be attributed to the barren state of infrastructure following the decade-long civil war. Access to electricity, roads, water, and petroleum are a daily challenge.
In contrast, Ghana is one of the most modern countries in West Africa. Accra is one of the hubs to the continent and the second largest port city next to Lagos. Any amenities that you would expect to find in any Western city can also be found in Accra.
From my experience, an important aspect of local business practice requires personal acknowledgement of the relevant government body and their Ministers that may have regulatory authority over your business area. Being personally engaged with governing officials, briefing them on your progress, and keeping informed is necessary to be on their “good side”, as public policy can have a more frequent and relevant impact in high growth economies.
Are there opportunities in this field (i.e. health) for local and international entrepreneur?
There are plenty of opportunities in combating the ravaging diseases of Africa. In the majority of cases, companies capitalize on providing health products and solutions that are advocated for by multilateral and global organizations, such as the World Bank, UN, WHO, etc. – since such organizations also provide the funding for the supply for such solutions.
However, more often than not, many of these product and solutions intended for Africa are based on Western theory and ideology, and when actually taken to scale in Africa, they fail. Why?
Primarily because the research required to gauge how these products will meet both cultural and environmental needs of the people they are intended to benefit is not performed, and therefore in the end, the product will not be used.
That is one of the main reasons why UN/WHO attempts to scale up bed net coverage from 2% to 60% by 2005 in Sub Saharan Africa failed. Current coverage in 2006 stands at 6%.
As an entrepreneur, this serves as an example – in order to have a greater impact on population health outcomes, it is more effective to develop methods to market and sell products directly to the beneficiaries that will use them, rather than ascribing to the culture of supplying door funded programs. Product development must ensure the need of beneficiaries are met, and not simply those of donors.
Originally, why did you want to participate in this program?
My interest with the MBAs Without Borders program stems from my career aspiration to become a development practitioner, and a genuine desire to empower people of low-income countries to
make progress in their continuous struggle of poverty. It was an opportunity to apply myself as a social entrepreneur, and to develop innovative solutions to improve population health outcomes and urgent social challenges.
Was the monthly stipend of $1,000US/month sufficient and how, if you, would change the way and what MBAs Without Borders financially covers?
* Yes, the stipend was sufficient.
* Any external finances that MWB had to cover were arranged.
What did you feel you were able to offer to VF in Sierra Leone & Ghana?
* Effective contract enforcement and market management
* A new model of recruiting agent representatives, distributing inventory, and performing transactions.
* Leveraged partnership with the Sierra Leone Red Cross to transfer evidence and knowledge to National Malaria Control Program of Ghana.
What advice would you like to offer future MBAs who work abroad for MBAs Without Borders?
* Be Patient
* Have no expectations
* Keep in close contact with MWB to report any prospective threats to health and safety – to ensure contingencies are accounted for should the need to act arise.
What were the direct and indirect results/deliverables as a result of your placement? Please be as specific as possible.
* Selected by Vestergaard Frandsen West Africa to manage and implement $1.4 million plan for social marketing and distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets; mediated public-private partnership between net manufacturer, distribution agent, retailers, and Ministry of Health under the World Bank’s Health Sector Reconstruction and Development Project.
* Structured communication and public health campaign for competing commercial and humanitarian sectors to scale up national bed net usage from 2% to a 60% target under the Roll Back Malaria Partnership.
* Leveraged partnership with the Sierra Leone Red Cross to transfer evidence and knowledge to National Malaria Control Program of Ghana for implementation of Measles and Malaria Campaign targeting distribution of approximately 2 million bed nets with combined vaccinations.
* Modeled a new operational plan for the social marketing project, including the succession planning process for agent representation.
* Investigated new opportunities in textile-treated technology, such as agri-fencing for the reducing the vector of trypanosomosis, and the commercialization process.