With 40 years' experience in food production and distribution, Webcor Group offers affordable, high-quality, locally produced products that enhance food security and support sustainable growth in sub-Saharan Africa. CEO Wissam Nesr expands on the pan-African future of this family-owned company.

Diverse Challenges

Our markets present many challenges but also opportunities. In the supply chain, it's the lack of solid data and statistics, where most consumer goods and grocery retail is done outside the modern trade. Our markets are in constant evolution. Policy changes and natural causes like currency devaluation or scarcity of hard currency bring a huge change component to our businesses. We constantly have to review our operating models, internal policies, and business plans. It is a business environment that requires an agile and flexible strategic plan that is very adaptable.

Pan-African Expansion Strategy

We currently operate in both Lusophone countries, Angola and Mozambique, which each have major ports that supply the whole region and land-locked countries. Recently developed infrastructures like the Angolan Lobito railway and the Mozambican Beira Corridor will provide leeway for our strategy to grow our footprint efficiently across the sub-Saharan region. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the recent AfCTFA agreement promote tools that are also undergoing promising evolution. We dream of markets with no borders to have access to more African consumers. We are very confident of our invested efficiencies and how well we can serve the neighboring countries through accessible prices and outstanding African-produced products.

Successfully Managing a Multinational Supply Chain

Demand forecast planning for our markets is a science that was developed by our supply chain management team. Our competitive advantage relies heavily on the synergies generated by our operating model: driving innovation and cost reduction throughout the supply chain, reducing time to market, and the agility to respond to sudden changes. We have established a deep understanding of our business's challenges and complexities, a strength we rely on to this very day.

Human Resources, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Sustainable Development Goals

We know that the most important ingredient in our success formula is our people's loyalty and perseverance, and we safeguard a family culture that permeates our organization. I was fortunate to work together, largely with the same people, for the past 20 years. We learned and grew together.

 In our social responsibility, we believe we can only "grow together." While we grow our business, we must actively seek to grow and develop our people and communities. We became a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact in 2016. We are invested in fulfilling key principles related to human rights, the environment, and anti-corruption. We are also very passionate and committed to achieving the sustainable goals of fighting hunger and providing quality education, as we believe they can be great catalysts for sustainable development.