THERE IS HIGH DEMAND FOR DREDGING IN NIGERIA.......Jean Maari

IHC's Area Manager (Africa), Mr. Jean Maari is a man of tremendous knowledge, especially the scientific hue. But then, his literary and artistic appreciation equally shines through. When I produced my first edition last year, which carried a comprehensive spotlight on his company's technical services, he took time to go through. He came over to my table the next day and said ''keep it up, this is a great work of art''. Since then, we have developed special rapport and he has encouraged me in practical terms more than any other foreigner.
In the course of one of his recent trips to Nigeria, I compelled him to grant a no-holds-barred interview on the dredging business in our country.

Excerpts:

Let our readers meet you?
My father was a mechanical engineer, who later became a naval architect, so I was raised with ships and engines. I still remember that at the age of four and five, I was visiting the ships with my father. So naturally, I went to university and studied mechanical engineering. I have a B.Sc and M.Sc.
My career started in Europe. I worked in various off-shore oil-related activities in the North Sea. I also worked in the UK, participating in the development of the North Sea fields in the 70s. Later I joined a company called SBM (SINGLE BUOY MOORINGS INC) where we operated in Singapore and the Middle East. In 1995, I joined IHC which was basically a sister company in the SBM Group.
My position currently in IHC is Africa Area Manager. I am responsible for the entire African Continent. Before now, I was in charge of the Middle East, North Africa and a little bit of West Africa, but now I have the whole of Africa.

What do your duties as area manager (Africa) entail?
In a nutshell it's all about business development. But in detail, it means I have to find new prospects and new customers, maintain relations with old ones, I have to recruit representatives and agents and follow them up, which is what I do here with Engr. Allen. I come around every two-three months to see what is going on. And we are in contact of course through the phone. I help to also organize seminars, technical events, to present the company and its new products to the customers.
I also organize project financing by contacting banks in Europe and Africa this means I have to discuss with the prospects; the details of their needs, technically, financially and commercially. To advise them on what is best suited for the jobs they want to do and for their pockets too. I must negotiate with the prospects and customers and prepare the proposals as well as sign contracts with them etc. That's my job.

How long have you been coming to Nigeria?
Since 1996, on average three to four times a year. And I spend about one week on average each time also. But when there are seminars, I usually spend two weeks, thereabout.

Give us your honest assessment of the dredging business climate in Nigeria?
There is high demand for dredging in Nigeria, especially in the delta regions. There is the government needs and oil companies' needs to do dredging for laying their oil and gas pipelines, to do channel crossing, to also do sweeping around the waters etc. There's equally high demand for land reclamation. This is how you got such places as Onne Port and others. There's also high demand for sandwinning for roads construction and other building purposes. This demand is increasing (sandwinning) especially in big cities like Lagos.
The major clients we have are located in the River Niger Delta obviously. But because of the present uncertainties and turmoil in the region, our activities have slowed down generally. Therefore, the demand for dredgers especially in the last two years has dropped considerably. Also the other factor is that the oil prices in the last year have dipped, and obviously that affects the sales and demand of dredgers, because the revenues of these companies determines their investments. Another factor is that the Naira is pegged to the Dollar, and the Dollar right now is going down, which means the Naira equally going down. It means that the cost of doing business is going higher. I must add also that not just the Dollar going down, the Naira is depreciating twice the rate of the Dollar in respect to the Euro. The bottom line is that equipment is a lot more expensive to purchase. These are all linked.

What other constraints do you face in your business operations in Nigeria?
Apart from the difficulties in sales as stated earlier, the troubles in the Niger Delta is a major factor. We cannot go there physically, cannot discuss with clients in a conducive atmosphere. We have to meet them in hotels in Lagos and it's not the best way. And because of the present situation, funds are scarce and clients don't have banks that can back them up in Nigeria. The banks here are notorious for charging very high interest rates and the situation has been made worse by the present crisis in the Niger Delta.
For these obvious reasons, there is also a lack of European bank coverage. Confirmation of letters of credit and guarantees are very difficult to obtain here. That is on the sales side. Now after sales, the clients find it difficult to find experienced personnel to maintain the dredgers, extremely high custom duties are charged for clearing dredgers at the ports, coupled with various red-tapes. Another dimension to the problems is that Nigerian customers only have short-term policies. They want to invest and get returns on their money as quickly as possible, without considering long-term plans. That's why they lack culture of maintenance. On our side in Europe, we have problems finding the right, experienced people willing to come to Africa on an expert basis for long-term assignments. This is due to the situation in the Delta and due also to very high cost of living in Nigeria. Things are damn too expensive here, from hotel charges, food and what have you. Then add the problems of finding quality schools and medicare, you will then appreciate why the right expatriates refuse to come.

So what other impressions do you have of Nigeria and its people?
Nigeria is a country with very high potential, it has the correct size, the right climate and you have a lot of natural resources apart from oil. On the positive side. I think Nigerians are extremely witty, extremely quick, extremely sharp, they have a lot drive, they are born entrepreneurs, always wanting to do things. They are extremely friendly people, very easy to get along with. And most Nigerians have a lot of initiative. On the negative side, I think they lack a bit of organization. And a large number of the business people here are too short-term oriented. They don't work on the medium or longer-term (invest now and get returns as fast as possible).
Then, I notice that people here are very selfish. That is, a culture of serve yourself first even if it would be at the expense of the common interest or of the community. The results of this are there for all to see in the terrible traffic jams etc.
Also your people are extremely emotional. This is an inherent characteristic that you can tame by teaching the kids from childhood the essence of working for the common good. But I must admit that it is very difficult to instill on a national scale. I notice this because I come from a background where the people are also emotional. It is difficult to control, because you can't teach people not to be over-reactive or sentimental. I don't have problem with this, to me, it's not a minus or plus. Just a fact of life.

What is your company IHC doing to empower Nigerians and inspire them to take up the huge opportunities in the dredging industry?
I want to take this from my own personal perspective. Every time I am talking to a client, I try to be as clear, as fair and explicit as I can to show him what he should do and shouldn't do, to his own interest and not just that of IHC. I can tell you that we have missed many sales opportunities because of this principle.
From IHC stand-point, we have organized dredging courses here in Nigeria and also in Holland. A lot of Nigerians attend. The seminars we have organized in Nigeria were very successful. We try as much as possible to impart our knowledge to the Nigerian dredging companies. And of course, once the situation in the Niger Delta stabilizes, we shall re-establish our Technical Service Centre in Port-Harcourt and not in Lagos as was unsuccessfully done before.

How do you relax after your hectic business schedules?
I travel a lot and I spend most of my days in planes and hotels. Infact, in all the hotels I stay in, I try after my working hours to spend at least one hour in the gym to work out and sweat. That keeps me in a relaxed mood. But when I am on longer holidays, I take my family out and visit places abroad. We enjoy very much for example winter skiing and winter holidays with the children.

Thank you

- By Dan Nzelogu

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