A trailblazer
In conversation with Nabgha Salem of Vectorys. The Franco-Tunisian logistician Vectorys goes places where it’s too complicated for other service providers to go. President and owner Nabgha Salem told Andreas Haug what drives him to become a regional global player.
Mr Salem, how did Vectorys and you manage to become the regional players you are today?
Vectorys arose from a company called Organisation Transports Internationaux (Oti), which specialised in transport services between France and North Africa. For 18 years I was Oti’s general director for Tunisia. When the new owners of Oti’s parent company, STE, lost interest in Oti Tunisie in 1996, I teamed up with the two existing co-owners (they then withdrew completely in 2015) and took the helm of the good ship Oti Tunisie. I may be a trained engineer, but at heart I’m an entrepreneur.
Is that fact reflected in the new corporate name?
2008 – considered the year of crises – saw a turning point. We too were forced to diversify our business, after the share the company’s automotive division generated fell from 95 to 40%. However, we saw this moment as an opportunity, created our own brand name and thus generated new momentum. The name Vectorys expresses this. We’re ‘your regional global player in the Mediterranean’!
When did things expand beyond France and North Africa?
In 2011, when we took over an SME in Italy with 25 employees and an annual turnover of EUR 3 million. Under group general manager Fabio Mandirola Vectorys Italia has become a company with an annual turnover of approximately EUR 45 million. Overall, Vectorys aims to exceed the EUR 100 million turnover mark in 2022.
What role does your home market play?
75% of our business is related to Tunisia. Our latest logistics project in the country is exemplary of our approach to the market. We’re in the process of consolidating the 30,000 m2 of warehousing space we currently have scattered across Tunisia into a single location. It is prepared for growth to 100,000 m2 of space, and has excellent transport connections. We see ourselves as ‘trailblazers’. We want to pave the way for international standard service quality in this country. In doing so, we always remain in close contact with our customers.
That sounds like an empty phrase...
...but isn’t for us! We offer services along the entire supply chain ourselves, from door to door – and do so with a staff that is loyal, with many people committed to the company for 15–20 years.
What is your team’s future focus?
E-commerce is opening up large fields of business for the future. But this is still new in North Africa, and so we’re building up the segment from the bottom up, under the leadership of my son Khalil. We’re preparing the field, which isn’t easy – but it never is when you blaze a trail!
Geographically, too, we frequently operate in places where standard processes don’t work, so we can complement the global players. In Morocco, where the logistics industry is more mature than in Tunisia, we’re present in Casablanca as well as in Tangier, and are now also starting to rent warehouse space there.
In Malta we see ourselves becoming the market leader for traffic to and from the rest of Europe. In Egypt we’re launching our services, and in Algeria and Libya we have partners for this. We’re also conducting trials to gain a foothold in francophone West Africa.