"Africa has always had a negative image, but it is currently experiencing growth at a rate of 7 or 8%." Philippe de Moerloose
Interview : Luc Van Driessche
Philippe de Moerloose
has been active in Africa since 1991. Demimpex, the cooperative company
he founded that year has now grown into a vast holding encompassing a
range of subsidiaries employing a total of 3,000 people (including 100
in Belgium), and present in 25 African countries. He sees room for other
Belgian companies to get involved.
How did you to come to launch an economic activity in Africa?I
received my primary and secondary education in Lubumbashi. I then
returned to Belgium to study at l'Ichec. The ARC but from a very young
age, I always knew that whatever activity I would develop it would be
focus on Africa.
Why have you not expanded into other regions around the globe?Culturally
and emotionally, I'm very attached to Africa. Between the ages of 3 and
18, I lived in DRC, which allowed me to develop close ties with this
continent that is so magnificent and so fascinating, which offers such
great potential for development.
Yet Africa is perceived as a continent lagging behind in development.That's
true. Africa has always had this negative image, but it is currently
experiencing growth at a rate of 7 to 8%. When people talk about Africa,
it often is in reference to coups d'État or Civil Wars, yet there are
so many great things happening there. It's 22 years ago that we faced
the challenge of deploying our activities is on the African continent.
Today, we can only conclude that it was a good decision. The group has
seen excellent growth whilst Europe and the United States are in crisis.
Is the resurgence of activity attracting foreign investors?The
image of Africa has changed. That's because there is more increasingly
talk of the crisis on other continents than at the moment in Africa.
It's first time in history that multinationals are investing by the
billions. This was never the case in the past. During the previous
decade, everyone went to Africa for short-term operations. There were a
few international groups who, like us, chose to invest long-term on the
African continent. Today, more and more American, Australian and South
African international groups are investing in Africa, particularly in
the mining sector.
Your activities were originally focused within the DRC. What share of your income does this country currently represent?Less than 10% in distribution. At the moment we have a very good geographical diversification with the presence in 25 countries.
Do you plan on continuing with this diversification?Yes.
We would like to cover the entire continent. There are still many
countries to discover, particularly in English-speaking Africa,
especially in the east, staying within our main activity: distribution
of cars, machinery for construction and agriculture. Distribution
requires a lot of skill. The competition, especially from the Chinese,
forces us to be experts in our field of activity.
What are your strengths compared to your competitors?First
of all, the knowledge of the continent and its culture. We also have
highly effective logistics services and significant stocks in our three
major storage platforms (Antwerp, Dubai and Shenzhen), which allows us
to keep the delivery times to a minimum, which is very important. We
also have efficient after sales services.
You're also an automotive distributor. Is there are good market in Africa for new cars?Second-hand
cars mass is ancient history. Many countries now only permit the import
of maximum 3 years old vehicles. Africa is seeing the emergence of a
middle-class who is able to invest in buying small cars. The banking
world is also evolved. Up until about six or seven years ago, it was
inconceivable to get a car loan in Africa. Now, the major banks on the
continent all offer such credit, although the interest rate are
definitely higher than in Europe.
Three years ago, you mentioned that you were sorry to see Belgian entrepreneurs leaving the Congo. Has this trend continued?When
I was a student in Congo, there were lots of Belgian groups there,
whether it was in banking, industry, raw materials or construction. Now,
I have to conclude that the major groups have vanished. Others have
taken their place, particularly the Chinese, which have grown at a speed
scarcely imaginable.
Do you think they have staked their claim?It
will be very difficult to recover the ground. These big companies are
investing whilst Belgium is still organising exploration visits.
Currently, I do not believe that the economic world in sub-Saharan
Africa expects explorations. They are expecting direct action.
What niche activities could encourage Belgian companies to return to Africa?Everything
needs to be done on this continent: electricity, infrastructure,
agriculture, distribution and maritime activities. It's all about
believing in it. It's true that in Africa, these things are not easy to
manage, but Belgians are highly adaptable. Africa has its limitations
and its constraints, particularly the administrative red tape, but it
still offers potential for growth.
LUC VAN DRIESSCHE
ExpressActive in Africa since 1991, the Belgian entrepreneur
Philippe de Moerloose is calling for Belgian companies to
invest in a continent experiencing a growth rate of 7 to 8%.Having established a presence so far in 25 countries, his
holding SDA aims to expand into English-speaking countries in
East Africa.
Philippe de Moerloose has a target turnover of €1 billion in 2014. To achieve this, he is particularly counting on the
growth of his activities in an the
distribution of cars, construction machinery and spare parts.
L'Echo, 17/10/2013, page 19: Philippe the African,115th largest fortune in Belgium
Philippe the African, 115th largest fortune in BelgiumFor the general public,
Philippe de Moerloose
is virtually an unknown. In Africa, he is a household name. This
discreet entrepreneur has in fact, in the past 20 years, managed to
transform a small import-export company - Demimpex -into a vast
conglomerate, SDA, with a turnover of some 860 million euros. This ranks
Philippe de Moerloose in 115th place among the wealthiest Belgian, with a fortune of 94 million euros.
Having landed at the age of 3 in Lubumbashi (Katanga), where his father accepted a job as an accountant,
Philippe de Moerloose
would not return to Belgium for 18 more years when he came to pursue
his higher education at l'Ichec. He already knew then that his passion
for business would take shape in Africa.
Demimpex - "de Moerloose
Import-Export" - was born in 1991. Its activity: exporting spare parts
for cars to Zaire, Rwanda and Burundi. The company really took off four
years later, with the purchase of VRP (Vehicle Repair Parts), a company
specialised in the sale of major automobile brands and the on-site
delivery of vehicles and equipment for industry and mining.
Philippe de Moerloose
in this way was able to create, in one fell swoop, a fast network that
has allowed him to gradually expand in Western and Northern Africa.
Today, the company distributes cars- Nissan, Ford, VW, Mercedes,
Hyundai, Dacia -, heavy trucks - Volvo, Mercedes - and equipment for
construction (Hitachi, John Deere) and agriculture (John Deere). His
clientele is highly diverse: public works and civil engineering
companies, mining companies transporters, public authorities …
The portfolio of SDA grew particularly in the 2000s. Currently, the appetite of
Philippe de Moerloose
appears insatiable. He is moving into industrial activities - PVC
tubes, steel structures, tanks, mining sub-contracting… - and purchased
a security company that he restored to profitability before selling it
in 2006 to G4S, at a tidy profit. He has also acquired two hotels in
Congo, a country responsible for only 10% of his turnover at the moment
but which remains one of the nerve centres for the group. And an anchor
point for
Philippe de Moerloose, whose ties with president Joseph Kabila and his entourage are publicly known.
Airline company
Very
quickly, de Moerloose also realised that to reduce delivery times to
the maximum extent, air transport would be indispensable. He launched
his own company Demavia Airlines, which rents aeroplanes and flies cargo
twice a week between Brussels and Kinshasa. It serves the subsidiaries
of the group, but particularly the major names in air freight.
Philippe de Moerloose
does not like to talk much about the issue of Hewa Bora, the Congolese
company that was blacklisted in 2009, of which he was a shareholder-
never a majority shareholder, he hastens to add - and which he directed
in the 2000s. The joint-venture with Brussels Airlines planned in 2007
is long gone. For now, the airline division of SDA is limited to
Demavia.
The number-one growth centre for SDA remains the distribution of vehicles, machinery and spare parts.
Philippe de Moerloose
would like to see his group's turnover reach €1 billion starting from
2014. He is particularly setting his sights on East Africa and the
Maghreb.
At age 46, Philippe de Moerloose spends a lot of his
time on the African continent. But this doesn't stop the father of three
teens from closely following the youngsters at the school of the Tennis
Club in Bercuit, of which is the owner.
L.V.D.
LUC VAN DRIESSCHE
