ICPS:So far we have not seen any TV radio or newspaper ads is that your usual manner of communicating? Or do you prefer a more direct approach?

Yes, we do. Africa is a growing market for Regus and we strongly believe that it is crucial to explain further in details through this kind of interviews who Regus is, what our business is about and how we can support local and international businesses to grow and rapidly seize growth opportunities in the region and the 91 countries of our network.

With the developed economies of Western Europe and the US producing negative or minimal growth in recent years, businesses need to find growth from new sources – Africa (like in Asia or other regions).

As companies look at these new markets, we’re seeing accelerating demand for our flexible workspaces in Africa, where we’ve doubled our numbers of enquiries in a year.

In response to this, we’ve expanded our network rapidly in recent months – not just into Ivory Coast but also in Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana and very soon in Madagascar and Zambia, just to name a few.

As the world of work becomes ever more integrated and mobile, and companies more agile, we expect demand for our services in Africa to continue to grow in 2011 and beyond, and we will expand our network accordingly

There’s a quiet mobile revolution already taking place among the elite in Africa and we need to clarify the benefits of more flexible working practices and agility at work to all.

ICPS:Do you expect any competition?

We may have small local competitors, probably more over the coming months and years but none with our global outreach and standards. By far and away our biggest competitor is the traditional way of work and long-lease office space.

We should even reinforce our leadership as we are entering a new stage of our commercially aggressive growth strategy.

As previously commented, Regus is set to make major investments to capitalise on the accelerating global trend toward flexible working. Research data from the last 18 months has shown remarkable strengthening in flexible work policies, not just in mature markets, but also in emerging economies[i].

Over the next three years Regus will invest to increase its global network by at least 75%, equating to over 800 additional business centres. The majority of growth will take place across the USA and emerging markets such as Brazil, China and India.  This move will also take the company into an additional 30 new countries – those in the pipeline include Slovenia, Uruguay, Nepal and as previously stated, Madagascar. Even in the current market, Regus is experiencing record levels of enquiries and in its last set of financial reports documented an all-time occupancy high of 86.7%.

Related articles

• |Interview|Olivier de Lavette of Regus Cote d’Ivoire-Part One (ivorycoastprivatesector.com)
• Regus returns to profit in first half (telegraph.co.uk)

ICPS :What were your criteria for entering the Ivorian market?

We had been planning to open a centre in Ivory Coast for a while but the difficult political context in the last year had forced us to delay the actual opening. We believe now is a good time in helping local and international companies seize business opportunities in Abidjan as the country’s economy comeback begins.

A gradual recovery is expected in 2012 (+5.9%) based on the hypothesis of the security situation returning to normal in the second half of 2011, the sanctions being lifted and international co-operation being resumed.

Regus’s own research in West Africa backs this bullish forecast. The Regus Business Confidence Index released earlier this month sees more West African businesses also report increasing revenue (65%) and healthy profit (53%) growth. 59% of West African businesses believe that recovery is advancing strongly in their country with confidence levels were twenty-six points above the global average.

Also, the commitment of development partners to support the Ivorian authorities in their efforts for reconciliation and reconstruction will enable trust to be restored, thus fostering private-sector development.

ICPS: What is your view on the local office space supplying market?

OL:As the utilization of an office today is typically only 45 percent, empty desks no longer make sense in a world where mobility and agility will become accepted by people as the most effective and sustainable way of working.

The IDC predicts that Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMA), will see its mobile worker population grow to 153.2 million by 2013 (International Data Corporation). The low penetration of mobile workers in the region (13.5%) signals significant growth potential in this market.

There is already a flexible revolution happening amongst the innovative classes in Sub Saharan Africa, the increasing demand we’ve got for our flexible working solutions is a patent illustration of this. We have opened our first centre in Abidjan, as a response to this considerable demand in the city and will expand accordingly.

ICPS:What are the solutions you offer to this particular market? What are the specific needs you identified?

OL:As a flexible work platform, in Ivory Coast like everywhere else, we provide our clients a new way of working, highly efficient and cost-effective.

In Ivory Coast as more generally in Africa, the biggest challenge for SMEs is to become medium sized and large enterprises, thereby addressing the issue of “the missing middle”. Indeed, a distinction has to be drawn between business owners whose sole objective is to secure subsistence income from their activities (mostly micro/very small enterprises) and entrepreneurs who wish to grow their businesses and extend their financial base (mostly SMEs). Still fewer in number, the latter are playing a key role in any sustainable development strategy.

The “missing middle” is one of the greatest constraints to private sector development in Africa. Addressing their needs to do business more effectively by allowing them to find flexible workspace and, therefore, reduce the costs, is where Regus can best help SMEs to grow in Africa.

PART TWO NEXT WEEK ..

Nouvel Hair from AfricaincorpMN on Vimeo.

In this video the owner of Nouvel Hair gives us a brief description of his business, the services offered and why you should go there when and if you are in Abidjan.

Nouvel Hair is a boutique Hair Salon located on Rue de Jardin in 2 Plateaux,Cocody,Abidjan,Cote d’Ivoire,West Coast of United States of Africa

Drocolor CEO Interview from AfricaincorpMN on Vimeo.

General manager: André Ebakpole

# of employees: 13

# of stores: 2 [ Cocody Deux Plateaux,Free Shop store @ Airport Felix Houephouet Boigny] upcoming store in Marcory Zone 3

Contact: Deux Plateaux

Tel: 225-22-41-03-60

Airport Free Shop

Tel:225-22-58-63-90

Cell:225-08-64-72-00

E-mail:Abidjan@typhus.eu

1]Typhus Ivory Coast is attached to Typhus Inc which is a wallony based corporation.What was the driven factors that guide your investment in this particular market ?Do  you really feel that the Ivorian market was ready for this kind of product ?

I would like to say ,first and foremost that, by its very nature the Ivorian market was suitable to our kind of service and products. There was an obvious need [to us] that was not being met by any other local or international company in this market.To have the ability to personalize an already personal item ,that in so many ways say who we are to others around us, is something that is very valuable to our customers.

2]  Do you feel that more and more people are willing to partake in the creation process of what they wear and are no longer willing to be dictated a particular style by fashion designers ?

That is not the full situation, it is only a part of it. We can however affirm that customers express of lot of surprise and joy to have this responsibility bestow on them.The full picture will show that while some are very enthusiastic and good at creating their own personal master piece ,another group of customers would rather receive the help and counsel from our staff.

3]How does Typhus Cote d’Ivoire communicate and engage the general public and customers about their products and services ? Do you opt fully for a more traditional approach relying mostly on TV,Radio and Newspaper commercials ? or do you include the use of the new social media tools such as social networks[Hi 5 and Facebook are big in Cote d'Ivoire] Video sharing site [so are Youtube and Dailymotion] Mobile marketing ?

When it comes to our communication style and agenda, we have been relying mostly on word of mouth until now. We are however ,at this very moment, creating a mass communication campaign that will use the traditional mediums-TV,Radio-Newspaper and magazine-

4]What are you long term goals ? Is expanding in the whole of the Scows market part of you long term vision ?

Of course ,as an any ambitious company, we would like to widen as much as we can our network of stores in the District of Abidjan during  a first phase, then to the key Ivory Coast urban centres[Bouake,Man, Yamoussokro,San Pedro,Abengourou]. A second phase would see our expansion in the neighbouring countries [ Ghana,Burkina,Benin,Senegal,Nigeria,]

5]What were your main worries and apprehensions when entering this market ?

We must admit a little scepticism was inhabiting us.Would the products and services be embraced as much as we thought that they were needed ? I think the quality of the shirts and t-shirts,polos and other material ,the right pricing and the involvement aspect in the creation of the products are all factors that greatly helped.

6] The average citizen of Abidjan carries themselves in a very fashionable and cool manner.How do you position your product “par rapport aux” European urban brands which are highly sought after by the consumers and the knockoffs or low priced imports[ from Dubai and China] ?

I think we fit right in the middle,we offer a quality product in a price bracket that makes it accessible to almost everybody.

7]How do you keep your design fresh and trendy ?Where do you get your inspiration ?

We keep an eye on the local and international current affairs as well as any underground or emerging cultural trend. We then pick and choose and see how we can manifest what we saw and how we understood it onto the T-shirt.

8] Would you like to be approached by plausible financial partners,investors,suppliers ?

Yes ! it is very important to us to find people that would help us take our company to the next level,whether they are suppliers,investors,workers and commercial partners.

Thank you

Thank you

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