CASE STUDY
How the Mauritian CIEL Group is broadening its African horizon By Proparco’s Communication and Marketing Department
CIEL Group operates in a number of sectors, including financial services, health and textiles, and is one of the leading economic players in Mauritius. This performance is linked to its activities in a number of African countries where the family-controlled group is implementing a regional and sustainable development strategy, despite the impact of Covid-19. Here are a few explanations from Jean-Pierre Dalais, its Chief Executive Officer.
FOCUS CIEL GROUP CIEL is an investment group based in Mauritius with a history stretching back more than a century. With strong family values, it is continuing its development in Africa based on six strategic sectoral focuses: agriculture, textiles, financial services, the hotel industry, real estate and health services. Through its various subsidiaries and investments, CIEL has over 32,000 employees in Mauritius, Africa and Asia.
C
IEL Group is more at home than ever in Africa, with a firmly established foothold in Mauritius, its country of origin, and another in Madagascar, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria. This international conglomerate thereby “spans” Africa, where it generates 80% of its turn-
over, which stood at some EUR 500m in 2020. “We employ about 25,000 people there”,1 says Jean-Pierre Dalais, its Chief Executive Officer, at the group’s headquarters near Port-Louis. “Africa is one of our main markets. It’s also our future. It’s the part of the world that will experience the highest population growth between now and 2050.”
CIEL IS CONTINUING ITS OFFENSIVE IN ITS HISTORICAL MARKETS Young, resilient, innovative… The continent has many things to offer and an entrepreneurial ecosystem experiencing a boom. Africa is at the cutting edge in a number of technological and financial sectors, with new start-up incubators and accelerators emerging everywhere – see the interview of Bosun Tijani, co-founder of the Nigerian CcHub incubator, page XX. “This capacity for entrepreneurship will promote the emergence of innovative SMEs and start-ups which will create the Africa of tomorrow”, says Jean-Pierre Dalais. “It’s very stimulating. We’re Mauritian and therefore African. This dynamic is one of the main drivers of our development strategy.”
CIEL Group intends to support this momentum. To do so, it will continue its investments in its historical markets, especially in Madagascar, where it has been operating since 1989, and East Africa. Its new roadmap, which outlines the prospects for its activities in the coming years, also lays out plans to strengthen its local partnerships. For Jean-Pierre Dalais, this point is crucial. “Africa is multifaceted. Local specific conditions remain strong.” Management culture, political context, public governance… There are often contrasting realities in the field. This means that each country and region has its own business environment. “It is therefore essential to be able to rely on a network of experienced
1 For its activities related to textile manufacturing, CIEL Group operates in India and Bangladesh, where it employs 7,000 people.
32
