Case Study – Finding a COO for an Investment Company in Tanzania

An Investment Company which works in partnership between governments, private companies and development partners to provide tangible improvements to Africa’s investment climate, required an East African National with a unique combination of skills.

The Situation

Based in Tanzania, a need arose for a COO to be responsible for delivering the organisation’s annual plans and long term growth.  To deliver this required the ability to implement operational enhancements but also, due to the investment nature of every project, required high class financial skills.  Furthermore the successful individual needed to be CEO calibre for succession planning.

Our Goal

To identify candidates with both a Financial Director background combined with relevant sector Project Evaluation and Project Implementation skills.  Due to the nature of the external relationships involved in the role, there was a strong preference to identify a candidate of East African nationality.

Photo – (Muhammad Mahdi Karim)

Our Solution

Our Research Team targeted the international financial services markets, specifically seeking out Africans in Diaspora.  Our international networks, especially the PFA network in London was a critical element.

Results

93 potential candidates were identified.  19 were fully CV and Competency Based Interviewed.  5 candidates were Short Listed from the UK, USA, South Africa and Kenya.  The successful candidate was a dual Kenyan/US national who relocated with his family to Tanzania in 2011 to assume the role.

 KEY ELEMENTS OF THE PROCESS

• A global search for East African candidates in Diaspora which required an established international network.
• Expatriate candidates were considered only if they had specific relevant experience of both the sector and the East African region.
• The unique nature of the role required an extremely thorough understanding of the client requirements in order to assess the financial, project and leadership skills required.
• The successful candidate was a Kenyan who had been living and working in the USA for the last ten years.

More of our Case Studies are available on our Resources Page.  We would welcome the opportunity to discuss how we can identify critical business leaders to deliver the successful business growth within your organisation.  Please contact Sarah Fitzgerald, Managing Director, at sf@executivesinafrica.com or Richard Putley, Managing Director at rp@executivesinafrica.com

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