GARDAWORLD AFRICA: Resilience in the Face of Complexity | GardaWorld in Africa
INDUSTRY FOCUS: SECURITY
As opportunities for business success in Africa boom, threats are never far behind. GardaWorld is a leading provider of security and risk solutions, growing aggressively on the continent, and President and Chief Operating Officer, GardaWorld Security-International, Oliver Westmacott, is excited about leading the way with quality and integrity at the front of mind. He talks to Enterprise Africa about how and where the company will grow in challenging market conditions.
The private security industry in Africa is booming alongside swelling international investment in what is often seen as one of the last true major growth geographies. Corporates, governments, and NGOs are flocking to the continent to join with its growing economic prosperity, embracing a young and available workforce, and seeking out opportunities to bring tried and tested business ideas to new markets.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), FDI reached a record $83 billion in 2021. But the continent still represents a small percentage of total FDI with Europe and Asia as the main sources. As this money progresses prospects, international operations seek quality international support. Establishing operations in Africa is not easy. Security and risk protection is often, rightly, top of the strategic agenda.
South Africa is home to one of the largest private security industries in the world. It’s hard to grow a security company of scale here, but other big sub-Saharan markets remain attractive and competitive. For international players looking to support big-name clients and projects, there are chances for prosperity – if the fundamentals are in place.
In 2000, a collection of extractive companies created the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights to assist companies in development of a clear and structure framework around ethical best practice. Since then, the KPI-based system has been reviewed, upgraded, updated, and refined and has become a global quality standard, with the encouragement of governments around the world. Now recognised as the ISO 18788 certification, this framework can assist global security companies when growing business in new markets.
“It mandates a very high level of compliancy and provision of audited best practice standards,” says Oliver Westmacott, President and Chief Operating Officer, GardaWorld Security-International. “That is what we have been at the forefront of and, across all of our business, we certify to these standards. For me, bringing this necessary function to scale, at a global level – particularly in emerging markets – is essential.”
He tells Enterprise Africa that transparency, accountability, and ethics are crucial in the security industry, and GardaWorld Africa is built on these principles. This has allowed the company to pick up major clients and establish an industry-leading position across a number of markets.
“Until we entered the African market, there was only one meaningful international player in security services provision. We made a strategic play to enter sub-Saharan Africa by acquiring KK Security in 2016. It was headquartered out of Nairobi and was operating in a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. With that, we took on around 40,000 people as the number one or two player in each of those markets, and that is what we have been building on,” he says.
“The big picture is about differentiating ourselves from the competition – we need to play to our strengths. Quality of service is definitely a part of that. Calibre of management, quality systems, accountability, culture in terms of operating a business to international standards is something very few businesses demonstrate in the African market. Being able to do that on an integrated, multi-geographic scale – while bringing ISO and wider best practice certification – requires a significant amount of commitment and work.”
Globally, GardaWorld is headquartered from Montreal, and provides integrated security offerings to organisations all over the world, recognised for its delivery superiority.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
On the ground, GardaWorld Africa has a formidable presence. A large manned guarding operation is complemented by K9 units, journey management, facilities management, command centres with dedicated response teams, and a comprehensive technology portfolio provide real risk mitigation.
Recently, GardaWorld staff in the diplomatic quarter of Dar es Salaam identified and neutralised a threat from a rogue gunman without major incident. Working alongside local police, the team apprehended the individual before damage was done. The area was nervous following a fatal shooting in 2021.
“There are many examples of our team diffusing high-pressure situations and deescalating tense environments where there has been a real likelihood of people attacking key infrastructure or putting clients at risk. We are also regularly intercepting robberies,” says Westmacott.
Clients include UN Agencies, more than 120 international embassies across Africa, substantial agriculture players, oil and gas and energy giants as well as their value chain partners, mining organisations, governments, and more.
East Africa is where GardaWorld has grown from. Whilst Kenya and Tanzania are exciting markets, Nigeria, Mozambique, and the DRC are all seeing significant growth, along with several other geographies where the company commands a strong position. For Westmacott – an industry veteran with more than two decades in security across a multitude of developing markets – the way the business can make a difference and realise its true potential is through genuine and authentic value-adding activity.
“It’s about refining our offering,” he says. “We don’t want to have an ego around how many people we have – we shouldn’t care. We should be talking about our convictions and the quality of service we deliver, and the profitability of the business. Ultimately, we can be a better business by broadening our service provision and focusing on a more holistic risk management approach to clients. The race to the bottom, competing only on price, is a very dangerous way to build a business – you’re not creating long term value for either clients or shareholders by doing that.”
An industry trend when hunting for efficiency and profitability is increasing technology rollout and focusing on the labour component providing better operational value to clients.
“Technology is essential, but not so much just cameras on your gates – which is increasingly commoditised. We need to be driving integration of technology in a sophisticated way and the crux of that is to have a deep engagement with clients to understand what their broader risk requirements are,” he explains. “Whether you are producing tea or pulling cobalt out of the ground, those operations have risks. Some of it is protection of a gate or warehouse, but it is also monitoring manpower, ghost workers, payroll, theft from production lines, systems being manipulated – that is internal organisation risk that, typically, operators have not put into the remit of a traditional guarding company. It is often put into an internal security or risk department and that is a big opportunity for us. We are acutely conscious of bringing technology when it adds value to people’s lives rather than using technology for technology’s sake.”
This is where rivals and local players fall short. A portfolio that is simply geared for physical guarding or reselling of imported electronics is a hardware or personnel partner and not an entrenched extension of client business. GardaWorld seeks to participate in the daily operations of clients, providing solutions that ultimately improve profitability and offset cost. To gain deep and true understanding, the company invests in talent and innovative process engineering while joining everything together with a culture of quality. With operations across 45 countries around the world nurturing and maintaining a common business culture is key to delivering universal quality standards.
“We come in with a very operational mindset and utilise senior leaders in the business who have worked client-side and understand mines and manufacturing, and understand the risks and how that erodes profitability,” details Westmacott.
“We see ourselves as offering something quite different to the rest of the market. We certainly see our culture as a differentiator. Others often operate similarly to a franchise– very localised and decentralised. We are much more cohesive and structurally we have a tight leadership team that has direct oversight of all of the operations in Africa.”
MARKET DYNAMICS
Growth is on the agenda for GardaWorld Africa. But protecting profitability and creating a solutions-based business will not be overlooked as the company ventures into new geographies fraught with risk. With a number of growth strategies on the table, the company can expand in different ways but strong relationships and scale-potential are common fundamentals.
“We are very committed to Africa and anyone who goes into Africa and believes that there won’t be a steep and extended learning curve is naïve,” states Westmacott, adding that confidence in the service provision, belief in its adherence to international quality standards, and robust financial returns are vital.
“There is a lot of business in Africa that is not as profitable as it should be, it is management-intensive – with 10,000 people in Kenya, ensuring they are equipped properly and engaging correctly with clients is a massive task. You need scale but it is also about supervision ratios and processes. That is why we believe consolidating and delivering for a smaller base of strategic clients that we can bring more services to in a creative way is sensible. Working with a quality provider like GardaWorld comes with a price. Price erosion is a huge challenge in Africa and you have to have the conviction in your offering to say ‘this may cost a little more and here’s why…’.”
As the security lead for a major pipeline construction project on the continent to export oil overseas, GardaWorld was engaged by an international energy business who required a suite of services, all of which could be delivered locally while meeting global benchmarks.
“Clients speaking to us at the strategic level get access straight into Malawi, Kenya, Nigeria, and all of our other markets. From a multinational standpoint, a lot of clients want a single point of contact, with one team – a responsive organisation – that can help them to standardise delivery, best practice, and systems across different countries. That is where we see ourselves providing in a very deliberate way.
“At the same time, there are different market forces to contend with. There can be incredibly hostile dynamics in play across these different markets in terms of minimum wage increases on an almost annual basis, very high inflation and margin erosion, and much more. Keeping up with that and continuing to be profitable, while growing, is a constant effort and we are aligned with the rest of the industry,” Westmacott admits.
Longer-term, the goal for GardaWorld Africa in terms of group contribution is for multi-million-dollar annual statements. M&A activity is slow, laborious, and challenging; organic growth takes years, and so the team must remain patient. Optimism comes from the predicted lengthy economic growth in the region, which the World Bank expects to grow from 3.1% in 2023 to above 4% in 2024 with continued increase through the rest of the decade.
APPEALING AFRICA
Current global economic conditions have naturally slowed growth in some sub-Saharan markets as investors wait for clarity on inflation and solutions around the conflict in Ukraine. But previous and expected performance in these inherently growing markets remains attractive. Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, and the DRC grew at 5.2%, 6.7%, and 8.6% in 2022. The IMF has also agreed funding arrangements for 21 SSA countries, with further requests being considered.
“Africa appeals to us as it has a number of fundamentally attractive characteristics. There is underlying economic growth, a huge workforce, ever-increasing levels of education, a number of developing economies – all of that lends itself to expanding market opportunity,” highlights Westmacott. “We are a very aggressive business that wants to grow around the world, but previously Africa was a blank spot, so it made sense for us to commit to building a sizeable business here.”
The immediate challenge being addressed across all markets where GardaWorld is active (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, the DRC, Nigeria, and consultancy operations in other African countries) is bringing together a solutions mindset, reducing risk, and demonstrating a direct economic benefit by improving productivity and profitability. This requires innovation and brand enhancement.
“Across most of Africa, quality of life continues to improve in terms of electrification, running water, telecoms, and more. Nairobi is one of the most developed places in Africa and the challenge as a private sector employer is that there is a sense around multinationals having infinitely deep pockets and it is incredibly difficult to dispel that and try to change the culture to get people to feel a sense of ownership, correlating health of the business and their own long-term success,” says Westmacott.
Various CSR campaigns and a number of community-based educational initiatives have helped build brand-Garda. Often in partnership with clients, these initiatives are not only a clear demonstration of the company’s commitment to the areas in which it operates, but also an example of deliberate action around upskilling and opportunity creation.
“We do a lot of stakeholder engagement and CSR. We are actively involved with our clients in Malawi, putting in boreholes and creating infrastructure. We want to make people feel that there is a lot of investment that goes both ways and ensure they know there is long-term commitment. In Uganda, we are busy putting a scholarship programme in secondary schools, trying to invest into communities and convey that long-term sense of commitment,” confirms Westmacott, adding that the company’s work is often a welcome source of employment in rural areas, developing basic skills and giving people the experience of work in an international company. “We want to be a partner and I am committed to reputational development.”
As the company expands, this brand management will be key – clients must invest in trust, and that comes from expectations built by an impressive brand.
“I am very clear – our growth stems from building on our reputation,” Westmacott reiterates. “One of the biggest challenges in Africa is preserving the quality of service. You have hugely dispersed project delivery and big problems to solve.”
A MATTER OF TIME
A number of expansion strategies are being explored right now. GardaWorld is adamant it must build its presence in West Africa. Second, with major interest in the continent’s mining industry as the world shifts to battery technology and storage concepts, new and existing mines will require risk support, and GardaWorld is very active in this space. And actionable information is key – understanding operating environments pre-emptively, to be able to react in good time.
“West Africa is where we are conspicuously absent and we should be more present in the main markets there,” admits Westmacott. “The challenge is that the individual markets are much smaller from a security standpoint. Côte d’Ivoire is probably the most attractive but it is still quite a small market and it is tough to build material scale. There is also the challenge of language and culture, which is significant when getting people to work together.”
Nurturing the team culture – across 40,000 people in Africa and 132,000 people around the world – is an immensely challenging task, and growing organically in the area will take significant time. Westmacott is busy creating partnerships and foundations from which to grow.
“It is a matter of time,” he states. “You either go in and open an office, put a competent team in place, and wait until you have something that is worth talking about. Or, you can buy a company and take on the challenge of reformatting it. Or, you can go into certain projects with a consultancy capability and partner with a local company which makes you less about providing guards on a gate and more about value added service provision. We are doing quite a lot of that in West Africa, on mines and critical infrastructure.”
According to Fitch subsidiary BMI, West Africa is set to become a mining powerhouse, with vast untapped mineral resources and a robust project pipeline. GardaWorld is proven in this space, deploying a multitude of solutions across various operations in SSA. “I’m a big believer in the mining sector and I think there is a big opportunity there. Critical infrastructure solutions – ports, pipelines, telecoms, data centres – there is significant opportunity for us in that area.”
In the medium-term future, digital surveillance will become the gold standard for security firms genuine about industry leadership. SOCMINT can have a material impact on a company’s ability to deliver meaningful value, and this is where Westmacott sees big growth in a region characterised by fast technology adoption.
He says SOCMINT, especially when combined with growing AI capability, can provide real answers to questions from clients around ‘what are you going to do about it’.
“Increasingly, a lot of this is open-source. Seeing what people are chatting about on social media platforms is so useful, it’s just a case of being able to find the relevant data, distil it, and make it useful. Marrying that with a response on the ground can make for a hugely impactful process.”
With these growth opportunities comes more progress and more success for GardaWorld, its people, its stakeholders, and the communities it calls home. For Westmacott, taking advantage of changing markets boils down to successfully building relationships – something he has been doing successfully for two decades.
“I am very optimistic. It is not easy – there are constant challenges. Fundamentally, I believe that there is a major outsourced opportunity in the markets we serve, and we have the conviction that quality will prevail. Long-term, we are confident you must have a great team that can build relationships – security is about trust, and if you can do what you say then you are 90% there.”
Africa’s population will double by 2050. SSA population is growing by 2.7% annually, faster than south Asia and Latin America. Infrastructure, corporate expansion, global connectivity, business operations, and investment and funding will follow this growth, and that will result in a need for risk mitigation, protection, and advanced security services. Here, GardaWorld is leading thanks to comprehensive adoption of shared values – integrity, trust, vigilance, respect.