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The
spacious and beautiful office of Raman Dhawan,
the quiet and unassuming MD of Tata Africa Holdings,
has a lot of greenery with a mini-golf course on the
terrace; quaintly characteristic of the continent his
company operates in. Starting with Zambia in 1977, Dhawan
has carefully nurtured the Tata endeavour in Africa.
His
well thought-out strategy of crafting partnerships with
Tata Group companies has created a footprint for the
Group over several business verticals in nine African
countries. He has also strictly followed the Tata Code
of Conduct while doing business in a faraway land; so
much so that it has become a Tata imprint in the continent.
Dhawan
has contributed greatly to changing African perceptions
about the ‘Made in India’ tag. He spoke to
Christabelle Noronha about his vision for the
Tata Group in Africa and particularly for South Africa,
which has been his home for more than 20 years. Excerpts
from the interview:
What
has been the broad strategy for doing business in Africa?
In the past few years we have evolved a three-phased
approach. The first phase was settling down in South
Africa, examining the challenges, evaluating the businesses
we could get into and evolving the business model.
In
the second phase we began operations, starting with
the motors business — first commercial vehicles,
then passenger vehicles, and finally bus body building.
Now we are looking at an assembly line. The cost of
power in South Africa is very low and, therefore, Tata
Steel got interested in ferrochrome smelting, which
uses a huge amount of power. Here, the challenge was
to get environmental clearances, because it’s a
shore-based plant.
Tata
Africa presented the Neotel opportunity to the Group.
VSNL
showed an interest, and it fitted like a glove, as VSNL
had the international network in place. It took us three
years, but now Neotel is an operational project. The
third phase will start now, when we get into new projects
and expand existing ones. We are looking at hotels,
we have done some ground work for TCE Consulting Engineers
and we are talking to Tata Chemicals
for opportunities in South Africa and other countries.
Are there any new areas of
business that Tata Africa is exploring?
Yes, there is energy and mining, hydel and thermal power
generation. We are looking for acquisitions, but that
is probably a few years away. In the meanwhile, we are
doing a lot of research in mining with Tata Steel.
In every field, we bring in Group
companies. We have received tremendous help from two
key people: Group Chairman Ratan Tata and Tata International
Chairman Syamal Gupta. You can be strong here only if
you have strong people guiding you.
By year-end, Tata Africa will
have a firm footprint in 11 countries. Not even South
African companies will have such a diverse business
profile.
Last year, Tata Africa
gave scholarships to 10 postgraduate students. Are there
any other CSR initiatives being taken up?
We will provide scholarships to students from several
universities and groom entrepreneurs; by imparting the
requisite managerial and other skills to equip a person
to own and manage his or her own small business. We want
to formalise this training with the Tata Institute of
Social Sciences (TISS). We also send trainees from here
to various Group companies in India.
What is your vision for the
Tatas in Africa?
I think that Tata Africa should become as strong as
the Group is in India, and stand out as a company that
is widely respected. In the next 10 years, Tata Africa
and the Group companies will establish and expand the
Tatas
on the map of Africa. The South African government has
already realised that the Tatas are very different from
other companies. Tata brand building is now the most
important task. We must ensure that whatever we do stands
the test of time.
Uploaded
on June 25, 2007
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