An East African odyssey – how Camusat plays to the strengths of four very different markets

With vast differences politically, culturally and technologically, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi require a number of different services from fibre roll-out to tower construction. From humble beginnings, Camusat has focussed on organic growth in the region, building up to a significant base with over 450 staff working on sizeable projects. Emmanuel Fresco, Managing Director of Camusat’s East Africa business, talks us through these four distinct markets and assesses the opportunities and roadblocks which can be encountered working in each.

TowerXchange: Tell us about Camusat’s history and growth in East Africa (Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Malawi)? 

I joined Camusat in 2008 to start our serious operations in Kenya. Originally our remit was to provide support to our main customer, a fixed line and mobile telecom operator, and to support an equipment vendor in a big rollout they were doing for our customer. We gradually grew in the market and in 2009 started doing work directly for the telecom operator in the form of small projects. 18 months later we opened operations in Uganda as we had a good relationship with a tower company at that time and with a Ugandan telecom operator, so it seemed a natural progression for us to work with our partners in the country. Another 18 months later we began operations in Tanzania in order to win business from a major tower company based there. Then in the middle of 2014 we also opened an office in Malawi.

Thanks to Camusat’s experience in all stages of network development, I’d say we focussed on steady growth in East Africa, opening in new markets roughly every 18 months for the last seven years. Our team has proved very adaptable and capable of making Camusat a key player within the East African region – today we have 450 people working here.

Despite the fact that Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi make up our ‘East Africa’ region, we have been developing totally different lines of business in each market. Although in Kenya we began doing a lot of tower builds and engineering, we now focus on a full turnkey service for cable operators and do a lot of fibre business.

In Uganda our focus is currently mainly on managed services for towercos; we capture all of the passive infrastructure including security and fuel et cetera.

Our Tanzanian offering is different again, with a mix of fibre solutions and towerco managed services projects – our clients there benefit from the experience we’ve had in Kenya and Uganda over the last few years. We are also trying to develop the business around fibre and data by focussing on the datacentre business in the region, which we see as a big potential market.

TowerXchange: These are four markets with a very different towerco landscape - can you talk us through how these markets have evolved and what has contributed to that? 

These four markets all have big differences in their towerco landscapes and the way they operate and the way MNOs develop their business.

For Eaton Towers in Kenya for example, the Econet deal collapsed then an Orange deal was mooted; MNO consolidation has muddied the landscape. Eaton has been established here for almost three years; soon they shall integrate Airtel’s Kenyan towers. In terms of MNOs, Safaricom, who have the most sites, clearly lead the market. One of the challenges Eaton or any other towerco would face in Kenya is that Safaricom has been prepared to share their huge tower network on relatively attractive terms.

Uganda has a similar number of operators to Kenya but they do support two towercos, ATC and Eaton. With four or five operators there is much more competition. It’s going to be hard to reach good tenancy ratios but the model has been effective in this country for quite some years.

Tanzania is another interesting market as we have one towerco which was about to own all the towers. If we compare Uganda to Tanzania, the main difference is the regulator, which has a different policy in terms of licenses meaning Helios Towers Tanzania has been permitted to build a very strong position in the market.

In Malawi the market is in its early stages, it is a small and less advanced country. There are only two operators: the legacy operator and Airtel. Eaton, although they have not started the handover of Airtel towers yet, will be the only towerco in this market and we do not see room for a second towerco.

TowerXchange: How do the needs and demands of your clients change in markets like Uganda with a strong towerco presence compared to markets like Kenya? 

As an operations and maintenance subcontractor to towercos in Uganda we must be flexible and focus our attention on achieving the SLAs. We must locate our team at the nearest point to the sites in order to achieve targets. The towercos are really more focussed with us on the KPIs and the mean time to response (MTTR) is very important. In Uganda we have five regional offices in the country in order to cover the region and to be efficient.

TowerXchange: Can you give us an overview of the logistical and operational challenges you face in these markets and how you overcome them? 

The main issue we are facing are the general climate of insecurity as well as the time we require to train our technicians. Our professions require a high level of technical skill. Training a skilled labour force takes time and meanwhile, activity is still developing so it is not easy task. Moreover, we have to adapt our staff to business peaks. We can only overcome these challenges by being continuously inventive in our control methods and by finding the critical balancing point between overstaffing and being stretched too thin – the right resourcing level to make us flexible and responsive to our customers’ demands.

I would say there is uniformity across the region in terms of the problems themselves but different levels of severity in each of the markets. The challenges are always the same; combating theft and the drive to achieve consistent high standards.

The theft of fuel, batteries and solar panels is the main issue, particularly in Uganda. We have to constantly challenge ourselves and display inventiveness to fight this scourge. In Uganda we come across more organised crime with a lot of means behind it.

Theft of fuel is also a problem in Kenya but at a lower degree. In Tanzania we’ve got quite a lot of theft but as you go further south it is quieter. Malawi seems quite peaceful in our experience so far.

Another major logistical issue is access problems. Most towercos won’t invest in refurbishing the access roads which we need to get our vehicles to critical sites. As time goes on, of course, the problem gets worse. We need adapted vehicles, such as heavy duty 4x4s or quads and to be creative in the way we ensure the security of our personnel and the goods or fuel they’re carrying. Access to sites varies also from country to country and tends to be more of an issue in Uganda and Tanzania.

TowerXchange: As regulators force MNOs into rural areas and urban infill becomes a necessity to meet data demands, where do you see the most growth at the moment? 

Data demands specifically in Kenya and Tanzania are growing rapidly. Everyone is working on it, trying to get cheaper smartphones. Nairobi was actually classified as one of the most developed ‘smart cities’ in the world recently! Safaricom have a huge footprint even in rural areas and have a big legacy as they have been here for over ten years.

They need data connectivity in rural areas as this is probably where they make most money through their Mpesa network. We’ve been involved in a number of projects to bring some rural sites online in revenue-sharing deals with some operators but a big reason for this data penetration is also that Kenya has a relatively good power grid. The Kenyan government is deploying a lot of investment to bring power to everyone. It’s really an asset in terms of introducing data in rural areas. Camusat also offers specific technical solutions for rural areas. It is a way for us to help our clients to meet this challenge.

In Uganda, there is still some major work to be carried out in terms of road infrastructure and power. Operators still have many areas to cover. Kenya is far ahead of the other countries as even the most disadvantaged households have smartphones. Taxes are only submitted online, and administrations are pushing the population to move to these new technologies.

Tanzania is also quite far ahead with the government stimulating investment into ISPs. However in Malawi, means are clearly different, the delay in deployment is noticeable. 3G is barely deployed and the broadband speed and footprint are very narrow.

TowerXchange: What can you tell us about the skills of the workforce in these countries? How closely do education and training levels meet the needs of the tower owners and where do the gaps lie?  

Some of these countries have at least 10-12 years of (mobile) telecom experience and our relationships with contractors have been built up around our experience in the field. Our clients are demanding and we totally adhere to the high standards they ask for but since they don’t all come from the region, they do not have necessarily the vision we have of the labour market.

Training leading to qualification in these countries do not allow us to fully meet the high standards required by our activities. Moreover, we operate in a fast-changing environment so we have to constantly upgrade to meet standards.

That is the reason why at Camusat we put great value on sharing know-how through in-house training. We believe in people, we care about our people and invest in them.  We have a high level of requirement in terms of safety and health and we ensure continuous improvement in processes. Indeed, it should not be forgotten that some of our activities are done at great height and are consequently dangerous. We provide training sessions as well as “Passport to Safety” to this category of staff so that they are aware of the importance of respecting safety rules. It is not always a reflex in this region.

You do have some rare pearls however. In Kenya we have an institution called ‘National Youth Services’ which helps kids from a poor background to be trained in vocational jobs like electricity or civil work, its’s paramilitary in style and they come out very disciplined. The team I’ve had from them are excellent and the level of churn is very low.

I think that to meet this challenge, the right balance must be found between our customers’ requirements and local cultures. It is important to respect and adapt to local cultures otherwise you can’t succeed.