1st part of the interview with Dr. Reinhold Festge
On 17 March 2015, the "Africa meets Business" Day in Berlin, we talked to Dr. Reinhold Festge, the personally liable shareholder of Haver & Boecker and President of the German Engineering Association VDMA.
We became interested in your company Haver & Boecker, after we had seen the video film about the 125th Anniversary. A woman said in the film that you produce wires which are thinner than a hair.
Dr. Festge: That is not entirely correct. We indeed process wires which are thinner than a hair. They are half as thin as a hair, which is the thinnest wire producible in the world. It is important that emphasis is placed on wire weaving, as only wires are interwoven by us. We are famous and well known for being able to process very fine wires, and also for producing very fine fabrics.
I also saw in the film that microphones have become more stable, since you work together with Sennheiser. The trigger for this was Mick Jagger?
Dr. Festge: Yes, this is a really old story with Sennheiser and has to do with Mick Jagger from the Rolling Stones. When he gave concerts in his heydays, Mick Jagger smashed several Sennheiser microphones to pieces during the concerts by banging them on the floor. Then, one day, Sennheiser came to Haver & Boecker and told us: "The whole thing with so many damaged microphones is getting too expensive; please produce a microphone cap, so that the microphone can be beaten on the ground and thereafter jump backwards in the artist's hand. And, the microphone must still function correctly, it may not get broken and may not have bumps." This is what we have done. It is part of our know-how.
When was that?
Dr. Festge: In the 1970s/1980s. Back then, this story was interesting for us too, and it again clearly shows that the German medium-sized businesses have their particular strengths in niche markets. It shows how the medium-sized businesses can quickly respond to special requests.
Speaking of medium-sized businesses, how many employees are currently working for your company?
Dr. Festge: We currently employ a total number of 2.900 staff members worldwide, only half of whom are working at our headquarters in Oelde, while the other half is distributed over several subsidiaries around the world.
Which generation is directing the company now?
Dr. Festge: My successors, thus my sons, are the 5th generation. I was the 4th generation.
And now from Oelde to Africa. You have worked together with the Dangote group in Africa for 15 years now. What kind of machines do you deliver?
Dr. Festge: We have a lot of customers in numerous African countries. But at the moment the Dangote group is the biggest customer in Africa and worldwide. From the beginning we have supplied packing machines for the cement industry. That is our strength. We weigh the cement and fill it into cement bags. In Africa, the sales chain is considerably longer than in Germany, where products are directly carried from the cement plant to the construction site. In Africa they are carried from the cement plant to the wholesale trader and further to different intermediaries. We do everything what happens in the cement plant after the mill. From then on, Haver & Boecker can perform delivery. We deliver for cement plants of Dangote in Nigeria, and likewise do the packing and loading for his new plant in Senegal. Generally we also deliver plenty of terminals for exports.
Did you export machines located in Senegal to that place directly, or through Dangote in Nigeria?
Dr. Festge: The customer is Dangote. He orders the cement plants from the Chinese, and we enter into contracts with the Chinese, who deliver the cement plant. We then install it on site.
How can it be that the German plant manufacturers have ceased to deliver cement works to the developing countries?
Dr. Festge: The explanation is quite simple. Sinoma is a Chinese state-owned group of companies, which is opening up new markets through favorable financing conditions. The Chinese offer very attractive product prices and, compared to us, unbeatable financing options. In Germany, the VDMA made great efforts to improve the Hermes guarantees. We are organized like a medium-sized enterprise. We are ill-prepared to deliver to Africa at our own risk. There are language problems, cultural barriers, etc.
This also holds good for the Chinese …
Dr. Festge: This is the reason why we need supportive measures, so as to safeguard the exports. It is understandable that German politicians find it difficult to implement such measures, particularly if you know that a lot of African countries have massive debt and underwent debt restructuring projects. German politicians have therefore become hesitant. This is not the case in China. Acting for a German medium-sized business, I am of course annoyed about the situation. This is also the reason why we intend to start several VDMA initiatives, since we hold the view that we must be increasingly present in Africa. In the end we have good friends and good customers in Africa, and we offer an excellent technology to people in Africa.
This Interview was held by Ibrahim Guèye
The second part will be published on 4 may 2015