work in many of the African regions.”She adds: “A perfect example is companies that mandate that all payments happen on cards: in Nigeria for instance, they will find this very hard, if not impossible, to make happen.” Swart has been working with Chris
Pouney, founder of Severnside Consult- ing, on his African research paper, Project Neema, which will be launched at ABTA’s inaugural business travel conference in Pretoria, South Africa, this November. Pouney also cites the challenges around payments. “One of the areas highlighted in the study is that fraud, or fear of fraud drives many organisations when consider- ing payment processes. Many companies issue cash to travellers, or rely on supplier invoicing – there are some markets where issuing credit cards is virtually impossible.” Wings’ East agrees payments are a key
issue. “Credit policies are problematic and, to ensure you remain cash flush, it’s often better not to grant credit. Lack of lodged cards make this very difficult to adminis- ter. Lack of technology makes it hard for local travel agents to compete with larger TMCs – hence franchises don't report on clients’ performance. This lack of report- ing means corporates do not have line of sight on their travel spend. Lack of BSP [Billingand Settlement Plan] in all markets is also a challenge.”
DUTY-OF-CARE ISSUES ATPI’s Rieder says another key factor for travel buyers and their TMCs is health and safety. He says preparation is key, not only to ensure flights, but for medical require- ments, such as inoculations and malaria tablets, and duty-of-care arrangements. “The energy companies are very good on the support side, because they typically work with companies like International SOS, and they have their own medical facilities on the ground.” He says the challenge is with smaller companies that are new to Africa, who may be doing contract work for the big energy firms. “The thing is to get people briefed and prepared,” he says. “We say if you’re going to work for one of those energy companies, make absolutely sure you’re plugging into their resources – for example, their meeting facilities at the airport, so you’re not relying on local transportation.” ABTA’s Swart says balance is needed on duty-of-care. “We see a lot of companies that are either a bit ostrich-like, and don’t give safety and health risks much thought; or you have those that send eight men armed with AK47s to collect their traveller from the
airport.These are extremes – the happy medium is somewhere in between. Obviously for very high-profile travel- lers, ensuring armed escorts in high-risk regions like Nigeria is important, but for
ETHIOPIA RISING
THE AFRICA HOTEL INVESTMENT FORUM recently announced it was moving its 2014 event to Addis Ababa. The organisation said the move was prompted by a “surge in interest from sponsors” leading to a need for a bigger space. It will now be held at the Sheraton in September. This reflects growth in the country’s nascent meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) activities. The African Union Commission is also based in Addis, in the striking, 100m-tall AU Conference Centre complex, built and funded by the Chinese. The United Nations Conference Centre has a wide choice of events spaces; and international hotels with MICE facilities include Sheraton, Radisson
Blu, Hilton and Intercontinental. A growth in summits and conferences taking place in Ethiopia has prompted Ethiopian Airlines’ in-house tour operator, Ethiopian Holidays, to develop MICE services alongside its leisure products. The operator can capitalise on its leisure portfolio for MICE venues – such as the handsomely-appointed Haile Resort overlooking Lake Hawassa, owned by Olympic gold medallist runner Haile Gebrselassie. Other venues include the Kuriftu group’s Diplomat restaurant in Addis; its luxury lakeside spa resort in Debre-Zeit; and in Ziway, its excellent Wine House and Restaurant – in partnership with the nearby wine estate run by leading French vintner Castel.
an average business traveller, having this level of security is overkill and ends up just drawing unnecessary attention to yourself. The biggest threat to any traveller in Africa is catching a stomach bug.” Paul East at Wings advises: “Insist on a
reputable TMC with true local presence – if it’s a franchisee, look thoroughly into the capabilities of that partner. Equally important is to listen to your in-country managers. Not only are they key stakehold- ers but they’re your local subject-matter
experts.They will know when it’s beneficial to use someone that operates locally versus trying to overlay a programme created for other regions, such as the US or UK.”And nothing beats personal experience: “One of the best things a travel manager can do is travel to Africa, to better understand the complexities and challenges their own travellers face, and see how a local solution provider can often provide more efficiency in their programme.” So, a large and complex range of chal- lenges for those responsible for managing travel in a large and complex continent. But avoiding these challenges is not an option. The last word goes to Severnside’s Pouney, who sums up the situation by quoting another expert in the field, Dianna Games, an author and commentator on African economic issues:“‘The risk for many companies now is not being in Africa’”.
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