CORPORATE REPORT
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CORPORATE REPORT |
Q&A
Unilever goes all out in Tanzania
Unilever Tanzania Ltd. recently stepped up its activities in the country, launching Key laundry soap and Kimbo white cooking fat, manufactured indigenously. The company already has leading brands such as Omo, Blue Band, Close-up, Geisha, Lux, Vim and others, in its strong portfolio.
In an interview with The Express, Managing Director of Unilever Tanzania Ltd Rajendra Aneja, elaborates on the activities of his company.
Can you briefly tell us about Unilever and the products you sell?
Unilever operates in 150 countries and has a turnover of over US$50 billion. It has a company in Dar es Salaam, named Unilever Tanzania Limited, engaged in providing products of everyday use like soaps, detergents and cooking fats.
The company is engaged in the manufacture and distribution of well-known essential, everyday products like detergents (Omo), margarine (Blue Band), cooking fats (Kimbo), toilet soaps (Lux, Rexona, Lifebuoy), laundry soap (Key) household cleaners (Vim), dental products (Close-up).
Unilever's operations cover the continent of Africa south of the Sahara Desert: from Senegal in the west to Madagascar in the east and from Niger in the north to the Cape of Good Hope in the south, covering a population of over 150 million people. Unilever has a strong presence in Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, with leading market shares in many product categories.
Operating companies in these countries export to many neighboring areas including Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Mozambique.
How did Unilever begin in Africa?
Unilever forged its links with Africa more than a hundred years ago when Lever Brothers first began to export Sunlight soap to South Africa. Sold through local agents, it was the first wrapped, branded soap in the region. In 1911, Lever Brothers built a soap-making plant at Congella, near Durban, the first of many manufacturing ventures in Africa. Then in 1920 Lord Leverhulme bought the Niger Company, the largest trading business in the West Africa region, a move which gave Unilever an early and sound understanding of the mind of African consumer. By the end of the 1960s, Unilever had made investments in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
Are you manufacturers, wholesalers or retailers?
Unilever Tanzania Limited is engaged in manufacturing (Key soap and Kimbo cooking fat) and marketing of other Unilever products. The products are distributed through a large countrywide net work of distributors, wholesalers and retailers.
Is it a public company elsewhere?
Unilever Tanzania Limited is a public limited company. Unilever companies worldwide are mostly public limited companies, with shareholding by Unilever, financial institutions and the general public. In some countries, Unilever has also entered into strategic alliances with other reputed groups.
What is the shareholding in Tanzania?
All the shares in Unilever Tanzania Limited are held by Unilever plc.
How many people do you employ at the present?
At present, Unilever Tanzania employs 30 people directly. In addition, it also gives indirect employment to over 200 people.
How long have you been in the market?
Unilever Tanzania has been operating in the market since 1998 as East Africa Industries (Tanzania) Limited. In October 1999, the name was changed to Unilever Tanzania Limited, in order to reflect the identity of the Tanzanian company with its global parent in consonance with the expansion plans for the company in this country.
You have recently entered the market? How do you find it so far?
Unilever Tanzania Limited has been in the Tanzanian market for the last two years now. The market in this country, especially the rural market, offers tremendous potential for quality products, if the same is offered to the consumer at an affordable price. We have found the Tanzanian market quite exciting and challenging.
Being so new, how do you intend to penetrate into the market? Will you be having regional offices?
Unilever is fast making inroads into Tanzania. This is being achieved by a series of measures including setting up of a vast distributor network, which aims to reach the consumers in all parts of the country with the Unilever stamp of regular and prompt service.
The economy is in a recessionary phase, how do you view the future of the economy?
The Tanzanian economy has been growing at around 4-5% p.a. Tanzania is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, albeit from a low base. We are optimistic of the economy, given the fact that the fundamentals are strong.
How does your company see the industrial future of Africa?
Unilever is one of the biggest investors in Africa. It is widely respected. Even during the most difficult times the company maintained a commitment to the region and aimed to run a successful business. The company is very optimistic that today's movement towards greater political stability will create the conditions in which business can flourish.
Unilever continues to strengthen its links with Africa, and the businesses in Africa represent excellent examples of how Unilever operates - a truly multi-local multinational. They are in tune with the specific needs of local people, at the same time leveraging our scale and scope as one of the world's leading consumer goods companies. Current company strategy is to focus on core businesses and ensure all African consumers have access to Unilever products.
We recently heard Unilever international axing jobs. How does this affect you?
Unilever has recently announced a reduction of its workforce in North America and Europe. It has no effect on Africa or rest of the world. It is Unilever's strategy to continuously strive to perform better and in this process, it is inevitable that business units, which do not perform well, are disposed of.
E-commerce seems to be leading the way. We have amazon.com and the rest. How have you integrated into the "E" economy?
Worldwide, Unilever has embarked on a mission to reach more and more consumers through e-commerce. Several companies in the group have made excellent progress in this regard. Unilever Tanzania has ambitious plans to enter into e-commerce in the near future.