Michael McGroarty

Name: Michael McGroarty
Company: WSP-FMC Nigeria Ltd.
Position: Managing Director/CEO

1) What is the strategy of WSP-FMC in Nigeria?

We want to be the market leader of the built environment in Nigeria. We currently have three divisions. One is the consulting engineering division where we have a team of electrical, mechanical, environmental, structural and civil engineers. Secondly our development division is involved in the actual project management side of a construction project, and then thirdly, for post construction, we have the facilities management side. A building is essentially an asset and the better condition your building is in, the higher amount of rent you can charge. People used to say that they are not interested in facilities management because they will take care of breakdowns if they happen. The problem is that a lack of maintenance actually speeds up the breakdown process.

2) What advantage does WSP-FMC have over its competitors in Nigeria?

It is our ability to provide a full service. A lot of facilities management companies only provide part services. Some will only do management and not get involved in the technical side. The problem with this model is that you have clerks running the company. All technical jobs are simply sub-contracted without anyone in place to check the quality of work. We have the technical people to supervise subcontractors and that gives us the edge.

3) How has business been going?

More and more companies are getting into the maintenance culture. Now it is basically difficult to keep up with enquiries. We've expanded rapidly and doubled our staff over the last year. We are also in the process of registering a number of new companies: WSP Developments, WSP Consulting Engineers Nigeria, WSP Energy Nigeria and WSP West Africa.

4) How would you describe the state of Nigeria's engineering and construction sector?

The sector as a whole is totally under resourced. Every major construction company here is operating at full capacity. When you approach most of them for construction jobs they say that they can’t touch it at the moment. And then you get to where you can't find construction companies to do a certain job. This is a major problem. It causes investors to say: "Well let's go somewhere else."

5) What is your message to investors looking to do business in Nigeria?

Before I came here there were all sorts of horror stories and misconceptions. When you first come in you tend to expect the worst but it is actually a fantastic relief to see that those stories are not true. The people are fantastic; friendly people with a very good work ethic. Investing in Nigeria would deliver pretty good returns for anybody in any sector. The biggest problem we have here is infrastructure - electricity, roads, drainage and hygiene. But yeah, there is fantastic potential here and that is why we are currently seeing so much development. Obviously there are problems in the Niger-Delta area but the rest of the country is fine.

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