FOLLOW THE LEADER
Sunil Vaswani, Group Chairman, Stallion Group
Regional head honchos talk strategy, industry-specific tactics, and professional challenges
THE (MASSIVE) DIVERSIFIED PORTFOLIO
Sunil Vaswani Group Chairman Stallion Group
“When the world thought Africa was a risky place for business, I saw the opportunity, and backed my efforts with full commitment and perseverance.”
A
s the Group Chairman of the Dubaiheadquartered Stallion Group, Sunil Vaswani may be one of the most influential business leaders in the Middle East, Africa and Asia regions today, but more than 25 years ago, he was –like most of you entrepreneurs out there- just a man with a vision, wanting to make the most of an opportunity he had envisioned. At just 21 years of age, Vaswani believed that his father’s Nigeria-based trading business –a modest operation at the time- had the potential to be much bigger than what it was then, and time has certainly proved him right. “When we got going, we identified key products and services that impacted people’s daily lives, and developed a business model that delivered them to the mass population at high quality and fair pricing[these included] staple food, nutrition, transportation, fertilizers, FMCG products, banking, clothing and several others,” Vaswani explains. “The other strategy was to collaborate with world leading companies in delivering their expertise to the underdevel-
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oped African markets.” With those principles governing the company, the Stallion Group has today grown beyond its African borders into the Middle East and Asia (the Group currently has a presence in 18 countries), and is today a diversified business conglomerate with multiple business lines that include automobiles, commodities, food, agri-business, industries and services. “Currently, our top sectors are agri-commodities and agriculture, automobile assembly and distribution, food products and industries,” Vaswani reveals. “We are also developing substantial new revenue streams for the future in the areas of gas-based heavy industries, infrastructure, healthcare, education and others.”
“We typically associate with the best organizations in the world in the areas of production technologies, distribution of products and services. Today, Stallion is an example of how a business can succeed in Africa in a highly ethical and compliant manner.” As these things often seem when examining them in hindsight, Vaswani’s journey
with the Stallion Group may sound like a breeze right nowbut it was hardly, if ever, that. “This was more than 25 years back, when Africa was full of people looking to meet their everyday needs, while other parts of the world had moved rapidly in economic development,” Vaswani remembers. “I was determined to align myself with the socioeconomic needs of Africa, and create a bridge with other parts of the world for its growth and prosperity.” Again, Vaswani’s location is a key thing to remember when considering his business acumen at the time- Africa was not, as it is commonly referred to nowadays, the hot new market to be explored, and businesses were wary of setting up shop in the continent. But that was the gap that Vaswani took advantage of. “When the world thought Africa was a risky place for business, I saw the opportunity, and backed my efforts with full commitment and perseverance,” he explains. “I took over my father’s trading business with his kind blessings and a burning ambition to take make it big, [and] more importantly, to make a positive impact on people’s lives. Establishing businesses and running them in a sustained manner, in some of the world’s most complex markets, can be highly challenging. The ultimate success however has given us a healing touch, outweighing the difficulties faced in the process.” But that is not to say the 45-year-old, 10,000-employee-strong Stallion Group is content to sit on its laurels either- it aims to continue making big investments in Africa, while also growing its presence and reach in the Middle East and Asia. “Our focus now is to be at the forefront on Asia-Arab-African trade flows and investments; we are >>>