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-Leke: 100% 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.

AFKInsider: The message that this sends to the world is important from a marketing perspective, but it also builds confidence in African business.  

Swaady Martin-Leke:In creating YSWARA, the first concern was not about the marketing of Africa but – more importantly – how we preserve, promote and drive innovation into our African culture. YSWARA is a cultural business. The luxury industry is in essence a vital and key actor of the cultural industry.

Culture and history provide for the future and are powerful accelerators for urban, economic and social development. With the recent traumatic history of Africa, the deficiencies of the educational system and the rapid economic growth, culture and the knowledge of history have been left out. The wealth of the African culture, its centuries of craftsmanship and the knowledge of the continent’s history are endangered.

By creating beautiful contemporary objects made by African artisans telling African history, we are an active actor of preservation of African craftsmanship, cultural revival and promotion. Lastly, if globalisation represents a diversity of cultures, individuals without culture are not playing an active role in the contemporary era. And as Africans, we want to play an active role in defining the world in which we are all living.

AFKInsider: How important was it for you to be able to include the talents of African women?

Swaady Martin-Leke:I have been continuously inspired by my mother and other great women. In return, in everything I do, I wish to empower Africans and especially women so they can believe in themselves and know that there is no limit to what you can be and achieve in life if you purposefully apply your mind to it, and work hard in a smart way.

At YSWARA, we have a preferential hiring and procurement policy towards women. Over one-third of our suppliers are women-owned companies and about 50% of all our suppliers are SMEs (small and medium-sized businesses).

AFKInsider: How important is it to inspire new generations of entrepreneurs?

Swaady Martin-Leke:Our youth need to be inspired by contemporary leadership icons, celebrating our modern day heroes. Who are the innovators, the great political leaders, the trailblazing businessmen and women we admire and are proud of? Who is our young African generation admiring?

There is a vacuum in the media when it comes to Africa. We need to share more African stories and create more iconic leaders. It is not about the money they made or only the end result but their process, the journey they took, the challenges they overcame, the failures they learned from and the disruptive approaches they dared to have.

AFKInsider: How much pressure do you feel as a role model in terms of the need to succeed?

Swaady Martin-Leke:I am always very honest about my journey, the successes and the failures and, as such, I don’t feel any pressure to succeed as long as I continue to be honest along this journey. I always give the best of myself, operate with unyielding integrity and try to balance priorities at all times. There are great days and there are bad days. At the end, what matters most is to build something that is bigger than myself, my team and which will have a positive impact to my continent.