Reminisces part I : A short take on my career with BAI [By Dawood Rawat]

I joined on the 19th January of 1970 the branch of an international insurance company then present in almost 40 countries. I did not apply for a job, but the expatriate manager meeting me only a month after they had opened, offered me a job as his assistant since he had failed to get a work permit for another foreigner. However, he insisted that I should agree to be trained as an agent and work as such for a few weeks. His point was that to understand the job, it was essential that I practiced first to enable me to learn about that position to become proficient to supervise later agents doing the job. I agreed and was confirmed, as promised, as his assistant. Unfortunately, for his family, he died in a car accident by the end of November of that year.

"The Mauritius operation, under my leadership, quickly turned its fortunes around to become one of the fastest growing operations in Africa."

Two days later, the vice president in charge of Africa, John Phillips, landed at Plaisance. I was there to welcome him. Unfortunately, after being hit by the manager’s untimely death, he added further stress on me when he stated as we were getting into my car, that he had another piece of bad news to convey. He informed me that his instructions were to close down the branch as it had been unprofitable since inception. At my shocked facial reaction, he explained that the head office had realized that Mauritius was too a tiny and poor country without much hope for the future, a tiny Madagascar in effect. Still under the shock of this double whammy, I responded that the decision was indeed a bad one, as I said it in my own words, « it is a pity ». Thus, began an interesting conversation about my thoughts on the future of Mauritius. We traded views as he questioned my confidence in the future when the financial situation of the newly independent country was close to being considered a basket case. As I drove through the old Plaine Magnien, I elaborated on my views and hopes for both the branch and country. What happened next changed my whole life and also that of the worldwide BAI group. My destiny was decided in a few sentences. We continued to exchange ideas and throughout our conversation between the airport and Curepipe, he challenged my strategies. As we crossed the tea estates of Nouvelle France, in his Cambridge accent, he told me that, after listening to my proposals, he had decided to change the decision to shut down the branch. He clearly had the authority from the head-office to decide on the future of the branch. He explained that he believed that I had the potential to deliver better results and consequently offered me the manager’s job right there. I accepted and as they say, the rest is history, and even if I dare say it myself, what a story. In those days, the tiny Mauritius branch reported to the Nairobi office. Imagine therefore how the events of the next twenty years unfolded for me as I embarked on a thrilling career around the world but primarily in America.

"We were the first foreign entreprise to promote young Africans to the most senior jobs."

Long story short and facts about what really happened, the Mauritius operation, under my leadership, so quickly turned its fortunes around to become one of the fastest growing operations in Africa that I became over a few years the star at all annual conferences of the group in the USA. The head office started following my ideas and progress, offering me tremendous training options in the USA, which allowed me eventually, to move to the USA as a professional immigrant based on my academic and professional qualifications. The news of our success reached the holding company chairman who, with his American and English directors, decided to visit Mauritius to evaluate first-hand the performance of the branch. The chairman of the holding board was also the member of the McMillen family, the majority shareholder. He paid two visits to Mauritius, the first in 1977 and followed in 1978 inviting the whole holding board to have their meeting in Port-Louis. At the end of their visit, the full board decided to invite me to join the parent company senior management in Raleigh, North Carolina, where the highest authority of the group, the family chairman, had the corporate offices of the three separate insurance groups they owned in the US. On the last day of his visit, he invited me to sit with him on the beach at Trou aux Biches to express his positive experience of the branch whilst watching the sunset. He used the opportunity to tell me then that he had decided, along with the board, to invite me to move to the US as he strongly felt my place was with him in his office in Raleigh. He explained that he did not think Mauritius was big enough for me as he thought I had all the capacities needed to succeed in a bigger market, the world. I asked for time to think about it. In the meantime, they decided to promote me as the regional officer in charge of Africa. I, in fact, took over from the English vice president John Phillips who had given me the manager’s job years ago.

One of my first African challenges was the Kenyan operation which suffered from the Kenyan political and economic woes and, by, then failing as a country during the years of the Moi Presidency. From 1979, as vice president for Africa, I helped turn the company around. I consequently spent a lot of my working years in the eighties guiding the Kenyan operation. I promoted one of the first African professionals to the highest position of a multinational, a young accountant, as CEO. Well, the same Benson Wairegi who is still in the job today. I also brought on board the first African directors, one being none other than Peter Munga. We were the very first foreign enterprise to promote young Africans to the most senior jobs and African directors selling minority interests to locals. We did it not just in Kenya but also in other African countries such as Nigeria and Uganda. Both Wairegi and Munga often expressed their gratitude to me, always treating me with a lot of respect, even after the Mauritius government decided to nationalise my group. And I am being polite using the term nationalisation. However, Peter Munga and Benson Wairegi jumped on the opportunity to acquire our shares at discounted prices. This phase is for another interview or will represent a number of chapters in my book which is an ongoing process as the arbitration case is still undecided. The outcome of which will determine when and how my story will end. The performance of the group in Kenya played a big part in the decision of the corporate office in Raleigh to force the issue of my eventual move to Raleigh.

Dawood Rawat