GROUP HISTORY Hitti Group of which NESSTRA is a subsidiary was established in 1969 by the late Robert Habib HITTI. Robert Habib HITTI , was an astute businessman and entrepreneur who used his valuable experience to start a small business in Ghana; It all started in Accra, on a little 2 acre piece of land in North Industrial Area where he established Duraplast, today a leading producer of HDPE and PVC pipes. Duraplast caters and supplies PVC and HDPE pipes for the construction, mining, borehole, gas industries as well as for the water distribution and telecom industries. Robert Hitti's resolve did not end there and four years later, in 1973, QUALIPLAST, a leading producer of plastics was created. QUALIPLAST is leader in the production of plastics for domestic usage such as buckets , bowls , pans , dustbins , tables and chairs and industrial applications such as plastic crates for the biggest breweries in West Africa and the fishing industry. Mr. Hitti's corporate expansion drive led to the
INTERVIEW
Best of Ghana
Today the HITTI Group counts amongst others: • Nesstra Services: a one-stop shop solution for all building and furnishing needs. • Duraplast: a British Standards (BS) and ISO 9001:2008 certified company. • Ashfoam: an ISO 9001:2008 certified company, the only one of its kind in the foam industry in Ghana and the CIMG Manufacturing Company of Ghana 2012. • Qualiplast: a member of the Ghana Club 100 and an ISO 9001:2008 certified company. The HITTI group has now become one of the biggest groups in Ghana and West Africa. In all the Hitti group has 7 factories in West Africa with presence in 27 African countries employing over 2000 people directly. In the following company profile we give you an insight into the latest subsidiary to the group, Nesstra, and its panoply of worldwide leading brands.
with Bob Hitti, Sales Director Nesstra Ghana
Mr Bob Hitti is the young and energetic Sales Director of Nesstra Ghana. He comes from 3 generations of Hitti businessmen and women. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Brunel University (University of London), as well as a Masters in International Business with specialization in Operations Management and information systems from the Grande Ecole IESEG in Lille, France (one of the top 5 French Business Schools). He has been with Nesstra Ghana since June 2012 and brings on board a refreshing disposition that sees things accomplished as a team. Interview: Mr. Bob Hitti (BH): You are welcome and thank you for the opportunity to Introduce Nesstra to your readers. BG: Can you tell us more about your activities at Nesstra Services, I'm so excited to learn that a Ghanaian Group has acquired a UK company? BH: Yes indeed, Nesstra is a new affiliate of the Hitti Group.In a bid to bring quality to our continental market and expand even further our brands name, the Hitti Group acquired in 2008 one of the leading and trusted suppliers of quality chemicals, materials and machinery to Africa, Nesstra Services. Nesstra Services UK's core business is the sales of raw material to the foam industry in Africa. The company operates in 27 African countries and is one of the largest suppliers of foam chemicals to Africa. Nesstra is also entering the supply of plastics raw material to
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creation of Ashanti Foam factory, popularly known as ASHFOAM in Kumasi in 1976. ASHFOAM derived from the name of the company is a leading Brand in the Ghanaian and the West African market as a producer of Quality foam products such as mattresses, foam sheets, pillows and linens for the domestic and hotel market. Robert's three children Alwan, Caroline and Mireille who are the second generation Hitti's, joined the family business after completing their education in the 1980's and 90's. Following the ill-fated demise of Mr Robert Hitti in 2001, the children took control of the direction of the group and have moved it to even greater heights in West Africa and the World. In 2012, Mr Bob Hitti, son of Alwan Hitti, joined the Hitti Group introducing the third generation of the Hitti family in the business. Bob is the first of six grandchildren of Robert and Theresa Hitti to join the family business. In 2008, Mr Alwan Hitti, Chairman of the Hitti Group, led the group on a vision hitherto unlikely in Ghana. In their resolve to be home of the World's leading brands, he led the group to acquire its foremost foreign supplier NESSTRA services UK.
the African continent and we expect to have a How does your strong brand presence similar success in the next few years. play on market competitiveness? BH: All our brands stand aside We are also active in the basic when it comes to quality. We only deal with chemical market range where we set up a the best brands and this policy is strictly new team for the past one year. We also respected. With this policy comes a clear have a strong technical department advantage to our customers as they have the responsible for providing large scale electrical assurance of the best quality and a projects and machinery for the food and juice customized service. Another competitive industry through our Alfa Laval brand. advantage we have is that we offer to our BG: You have so many customers, a one-stop solution centre for all international brands in your showroom their construction needs. The construction can you tell us about them? industry relies on a wide network of suppliers BH: At Nesstra, We operate a onefor various products; this can be a challenge stop shop concept in our showroom; offering as sourcing will require a lot of time and our customers a wide variety of products in knowhow. Nesstra solves this problem by one location. A customer who walks into our providing a wide variety of product in its showroom can purchase his electrical needs range where companies can source products from our ABB range, as well as all paint for their construction project with one supplier requirements from our Suvinil range. All who offers the best quality of products, installation works that require power tools are flexible payment terms and a reliable support also available with our HILTI products range. team. BG: What does Nesstra Power is also a necessity aspire to and what are your core nowadays and we offer values? Perkins Generators. “our success is Additionally, we just added BH: Nesstra aspires to be our people Sika Construction Chemicals a leading provider of services and and Evroprotection Safety product to the African market, and our knowhow, Products (PPE) adding value in the supply chain to our The showroom is also connected to customers and partners. We are ASHFOAM's showroom driven by allowing our customers to purchase their customer satisfaction, which is achieved by mattresses, bed sheets, bedspreads, pillows, creating value, always making a difference towels and furniture among other products in and continuously striving to exceed our the ASHFOAM Shop. Additionally, you can customer's needs and expectation. We stand find our McQuay air conditions as well as strong on the fact that all this is only Duraplast's PVC and HDPE pipes. What achievable through our young, dynamic and more can you ask for in shopping experience, motivated team in all the countries in which all your needs under one roof. we are present. BG: Your brands are all global leaders, how do you incorporate brands in BG: Mr Hitti, what will be your your product portfolio? final words to our readers? BH: It is important to mention that BH: I will encourage your readers to adding brands to our portfolio is not just to patronize all the products from the Hitti look good. Every brand added is carefully Group, we have in stock a wide range of studied; we have in place a strong team products for all their needs. If not for anything which operates independently and grows the at all, my advice for all household will be: expectation of all stakeholders. Every year Every home in Ghana should have a product we are approached by leading brands to from the HITTI GROUP range. Thank you! represent them in Ghana and Africa. BG: