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Q&A: Former GE High-Flyer Blazing A Trail For Africa’s Luxury Goods

Q&A: Former GE High-Flyer Blazing A Trail For Africa’s Luxury Goods

Ivorian entrepreneur Swaady Martin-Leke rose to become one of Africa’s most powerful businesswomen during an 11-year-career with General Electric (GE). She left all that and is now at the forefront of the development of the luxury goods industry in Africa as head of YSWARA, which produces gourmet teas and luxury lifestyle products.

The brand has a presence in South Africa, Nigeria, Mauritius, Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Norway, Mexico and France, with its online store also shipping worldwide. In 2013 it won the French National Marketing Association’s “Grand Prix de l’Excellence SMEs” and was nominated as Best New Luxury Talent by the French Institute of Luxury – a first for an African brand.

Swaady Martin-Leke spoke to AFKInsider about the challenges facing African start-ups, the importance of cultural identity in business, and her high profile as a role model for emerging business talent.

AFKInsider: Can you tell us about your transition from corporate high-flyer to start-up CEO?

Swaady Martin-Leke: I took 18 months to prepare myself to move from the corporate world to being an entrepreneur. During that time, I worked for a start-up in Nigeria and also completed an executive MBA, the TRIUM Global Executive MBA by HEC Paris business school. The programme had classes in five different countries, so with the global nature of my program, the networks I built and the hands-on experience I gained in Nigeria, I acquired some of the missing skills I needed to build a successful venture.I took the time to properly do my homework and build a strong business plan for YSWARA.

AFKInsider: How difficult was it risking your own investments and reputation? 

Swaady Martin-Leke: I spent 11 years with General Electric, during which time I was involved in many different divisions of the company across the world. Although I was surrounded by sceptics who thought I had gone crazy to leave a successful corporate career, it was a natural evolution of my career and personal aspirations.

After helping grow and run a bit of someone else’s company, you start to feel the urge to build your own and run it fully.

To be sure, it is a very difficult and often a lonely journey. It is a path of sacrifice, but there is no work experience I found more fulfilling than the one I am in. It is absolutely worth the risks.

If we want to create more jobs in an environment where unemployment is high, the youth needs work and prosperity for all is a mandate, entrepreneurship is not any more an option but a necessity. I want to be part of building the Africa I want to live in. In this context, it is extremely fulfilling to build your own company, create jobs, train people, support local suppliers and be an active actor of the economy.

AFKInsider: You set out to create YSWARA using 100% African resources – how achievable has this been?

Swaady Martin-Leke100% of products exported by YSWARA are created on the continent; 88% of our suppliers are spread across Africa. Key products are ‘Made in Africa’ and other products are manufactured where it is most cost-effective.

Building a ‘Made in Africa’ luxury brand is not for the faint-hearted. At the beginning of the chain, the main challenge is that our Africa industrial fabric is not made for high-quality goods produced at a competitive cost relative to China or India. We struggled to find suppliers who sourced and manufactured their products in Africa.

Then, when world-class quality is met, the consistency is not guaranteed – as a luxury brand, we cannot compromise on quality and consistency.

Once you have overcome all the challenges along the value chain and your product is ready for export, you find out that the shipping costs out of Africa can be up to 10 times more expensive than similar distances in other parts of the world. This makes the export of African-made products out of Africa not competitive and closes the doors for e-commerce.

This is a huge missing opportunity for African economies and entrepreneurs. We are basically sidelined from the growing global e-commerce opportunities because of the cost of exports. The same planes and the same boats are used to ship in Africa as in other parts of the world, so I really don’t understand why in-and-out of Africa’s shipping cost are inflated compared to other parts of the world.

AFKInsider: Was it ever an option to compromise and make products elsewhere?

Swaady Martin-Leke:We will never compromise on being a passionately African brand. It is not the easier route but we are committed to help create a luxury industry in Africa, create local jobs and support our local suppliers. It doesn’t mean that 100% of our products or packaging will be made in Africa, but it means that a majority of it will always be.