Interview with Mr. Alassane Diallo
Director-General of the Chemical Group ICS (Industries Chimiques du Sénégal)
SenGermany: Mr. Diallo, when were you appointed as Director-General of ICS?
Alassane Diallo : Since July 2006.
SenGermany: How was it possible for you to bring the ICS group, which had been declared insolvent in 2006, back into the profit zone?
Alassane Diallo:
The ICS reorganization primarily implied a cooperation, which would not have been possible without State support and the assistance given by other partners. We concentrated on the essential goals, such as the settlement of numerous disputes, the resumption of production, and of course the financial restructuring and approval of the succession agreement.
SenGermany: Can you present ICS with figures: concerning staff members, turnover and fields of activity?
Alassane Diallo:
The ICS group employs 1800 staff members, it manufactures phosphate, phosphoric acid and fertilizers. The turnover amounts to approx. 244 million Euro.
SenGermany: According to your own statistics the extraction of marketable phosphate decreased from 1800 to 553 kilotons in the years 1999 to 2008. How do you compensate for this production deficit, or do you dispose of other mining locations?
Alassane Diallo:
I must note that the approval of the succession agreement (redemption of debts by the Court) and the capital increase took place in the year 2008. These two important decisions gave rise to a stronger resumption of production, which has recorded a steady growth since 2009.
Currently we operate a single production location in Mboro city.
SenGermany: Who are your main competitors in Africa?
Alassane Diallo:
We all work in one industry, which is open enough and guarantees stable sales markets for all stakeholders.
SenGermany: When we visited ICS in November 1998, your group worked with 24 German suppliers of various machines, inter alia from ThyssenKrupp which is a global player for steel, machinery and plant engineering. Is this figure going up or down?
Alassane Diallo:
Since 1998 and as a result of reorganization measures taken in the European mechanical engineering sector, the conditions have of course been subject to change. But Europe remains our principal supplier for goods and services, and a German group like ThyssenKrupp remains a top partner for ICS. Other German enterprises likewise act as suppliers of tubes and sheets.
SenGermany: A look on your Website shows that the Management Board of your group is mainly occupied by Senegalese executives. On what level is the Indian investor acting?
Alassane Diallo:
Indian employees work in the sectors production, purchasing, maintenance and finances.
Thank you for your attention. We take this opportunity to inform you that SenGermany will organize a German-Senegalese Economic Summit in Düsseldorf on 8 November 2013, and we hope that you will form part of the Senegalese Delegation.
Ibrahim Guèye
