H. E. Tawah Che Crecy, CEO AURORA Building Material Company, Bamenda
H. E. Tawah Che Crecy retired from Cameroon’s
Diplomatic service as Minister Plenipotentiary after over 30 years of serving the
country in its bilateral embassies in the Federal Republic of Germany, United
Kingdom and United States of America. Multilaterally he represented the country
in various organs notably UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation),
IMO (International Maritime Organisation), AU (African Union), UNO (United
Nations Organization), Commonwealth of Nations, etc. Internally he served the
country in various capacities notably piloting its successful admission into
the Commonwealth of Nations, presiding over the Ad Hoc Committee on the Socio-Economic
Revitalisation of the Northwest Region, etc.
Aurora Building
Materials (ABM) was jumpstarted as a local building materials company and now
is consolidating its end drive by putting in the Cameroon real estate market
place high end low cost houses that would remain valid as Cameroon rushes into
emerging nation by 2035. Under his leadership the ABM created a number of local
building materials that are Patent Right Protected at the level of the UN
African Intellectual Property Protection Organization. No wonder ABM has won a
number of awards, including the highly converted President of the Republic’s 1st
Prize on Enterprise Innovation (JERSI 2011) and the Commonwealth 1st
Price on Enterprise Promotion (2013).
Though in 2013 he unsuccessfully
ran for Parliament in the Bamenda/Bali Constituency under the CPDM ticket, he
nevertheless obtained over 26,000 votes in this over 91,000 registered voters
constituency. This is by far more than any candidate of that ruling party has
obtained in there since multiparty politics was re-introduced in Cameroon. Overall
he is socio-politically very active, is a Christian of Amazing PCC Azire and a
proud son of Atuakom Mankon Bamenda.
Tawah Che Crecy has
been profiled in a number of news organs, notably CRTV (Cameroon Radio and
Television), BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-18111002,)
Doing business in Cameroon, http://www.businessincameroon.com/pdf/BC04.pdf
etc. and of course a number of National Newspapers and on a number of Radio programmes.
The Initiative
AURORA
Building Material Company Limited
The
Uniqueness of AURORA Building Material Company in Bamenda is its being almost
the only initiative in Cameroon that relies completely on local materials to
produce exceptionally top quality building materials that can stand their
grounds and compete fairly with products on the Cameroonian and why not the
African Market. Its Uniqueness is also seen in its ability to change the
traditional market behavior of buyers of building materials and to equally educate
them on the advantages of using Fire Clay products and other local material
based products in their building projects. Bellow are excerpts of an interview
with Crecy Tawah, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. He
starts by explaining the way the initiative came into existence.
“This Company was
conceived in 2009 and the name was given by my eldest daughter named after my
late mother. The concept she and her brothers agreed upon was “the new dawn;”
that very early morning ray of the sun that you will find at the North or the
South Pole at three or four a.m. We worked on this concept by always trying to
introduce something new and of high quality. We work using local raw materials
and transforming them into high quality products. We are always trying to make
people see that local materials do not mean sub standard. We have the standard
products that you will find in any Fire Clay Producing Company that finds
itself in the domain of building materials like Burn Bricks and Clay Tiles. We
went beyond that by coming out with artistic and cultural products which have
been protected at the level of African International Property Organisation.
What
pushed you into creating an initiative in this domain?
First we have a large
estate property of about 22 hectares of land. We approached MIPROMALO the
National outfit that concerns itself with the promotion of the use of local
materials and knowing that we will be building lots of houses; the question was
how to have access to building materials. The question here was how to lower
the cost of building materials. We contacted the Director of MIPROMALO
Professor Uphie Melo now Chancellor of the University of Ngoundere and she
insisted that we go into the production of Fire Clay Products. While I was
travelling abroad at the government’s request visiting a couple of countries to
tender invitations to them the professor visited here with some people and they
carried out the first building research and that’s how we continued to create
this company which does Fire Clay Products and Cement Products like Yard
Pavements, Cement Blocks and a series of other things. We also have Compressed
Earth Block Products; the interlocking ones using the South African concept;
the Hydroform Concept. We also have the Mortar Concept in which we use a
machine imported from India. We eventually got into the Quarry World because at
the time there was no quarry in the North West Region of Cameroon. You can’t do
large scale projects without quarry products. That’s how the concept came about
and we are happy that it’s catching up.
If
I come to you as a builder, what exactly am I going to get from you?
When you come to
AURORA and if you buy into the Real Estate Package that we are providing then
you will select a piece of land in the gated community. Our property is partly
gated. The Modest Income Section is open and the High Income Section is gated
and it is the kind of house you select that will permit us to know the category
in which you fall. When you select your dream house, we then custom design it
for you. We have architects with whom we collaborate and all you need to do is
specify the number of rooms and parlours that you will need and the architect
does the rest. However you can always modify the house with the architect. By
the time the house is done, it can no longer be the design that we came out
with. The exterior will be maintained but the interior would have been altered
to meet up with the specific needs of the person concerned. What we do is that
we give you options and you build the kind of house that your pocket can permit
you build. The property is called Ntahtawah City located at Atuakom in Mankon
Bamenda. When you look at it from Up Station it provides a great view and you
will see that it’s a great piece of land. Immediately your piece of land is
selected, our building arm takes control. We work with Engineers, Surveyors,
Architects all professionals.
What
exactly can those who need building materials get from you?
We are a Certified
Local Building Material Center and the local building materials are of top
quality. When you go to the Metropolitan Cathedral here in Bamenda and take a
look at the Catechist’s house which is a three level building then you will see
an example of what we do. It’s a three level building. It is a building done
with our products and is one of the best buildings in the Cathedral Complex.
Other projects we have realised include the building if the Ministry of Tourism
directly opposite the Court of Appeal at Up Station in Bamenda, and the
Catholic Women Association National Head Office is also built using our
materials. There are a series of buildings in Bamenda, Yaounde and Douala that
are built using our materials. When we sell or use our products we make sure
they are of great quality. We did bring in Professor Wim Paastor from the
Netherlands, an expert in the field who was in charge of Netherlands norms and
he passed some time with us here. He certified our products and had a lot of
praises for what we were doing.
At the same time, MIPROMALO brought in a
gentleman who manages a Clay Fire Industry in India. We look for knowledge and
when ever any problem is noted with our products, we look at it and rectify it.
We make sure that we continuously carry out research with an aim of improving
the quality level of our products.
Can
you shed light on the rock based products that your company produces?
We have a quarry and
the rock that we use is one of the hardest in the North West Region of
Cameroon. We received assurance in writing that the machines we got from China
will give us products that meet up with standards in the United States of
America. When you go into the Cement product area you will see that we
introduced Yard Pavements and we had to bring people from Yaounde who were
experienced in the field to spend some time with us. Where we do not know, we
learn. I attended some of the classes in Fire Clay with MIPROMALO and I
remember at times I was the oldest student in class. We are inviting our
compatriots to believe in their own local skills. Because of high prices
importers sometimes go for low quality low materials from other countries. They
are happy but after a short while they run into problems. Sometimes you notice
that you may buy tiles that look white and after a short while you may not
recognise them anymore as white tiles. There is a difference between Ceramic
Tiles that are meant for the interior and those meant for the exterior of the
house. Those meant for the exterior have anti-solar rays embedded in them. Look
at the structures that the Germans built. Some 150 years afterwards, they still
look strong and solid but when you look at the cement buildings that we
construct these days they depreciate after a short while. It doesn’t make sense
when you spend more money and you don’t get the desired quality.
How
do people get access to your products?
We have a web site
for AURORA Building Material Company and you can visit the site and place a
command for your products. That’s how we have been able to ship products to
Fumban, Douala, Yaounde and other towns on the National territory. In other
cases when it comes to Stabilised and Compressed Earth Blocks we take our
machines to our clients and produce them on the spot as we did in Buea, in
Mamfe and in other places. So depending on the distance, we move the material
to you or get our machines to you and produce your material on the spot.
With
your development oriented background you certainly do not plan to stop here.
Ntahtawah City is an
all inclusive package. It includes a Residential Quarter, a Business District
Center, a Health Section with a Pharmacy, a Specialised Clinic, a Sports
Center, a three to four star hotel, an International Conference Center and a
Shopping Mall. When all of this is done, Bamenda will certainly be a wonderful
place to live in. Everything has been lined up for construction to begin very
soon. Once this takes off, we have an even bigger project lined up for Yaounde.
The Yaounde project is about four times the project in Bamenda. Each layout
will have its House Owners Association with things done in such a way as to
maintain standards.
Do
you have any particular message that you will want to put across?
Irrespective of where
you are whether retired or still active, love your country and come back home
lets help develop this country. I was in the UK, in Germany and in the United
States. I must have visited at least 50 countries but home is home so come
let’s develop it. Do not admire other people’s homes and remain there. Bring
the ideas you have picked from there and implant them back home. We should work
hard and develop this country and leave something behind for our children when
we move on. We should leave our inerasable imprint on the sands of time. Look
at the Henry Fords, the Rockefellers, the Hondas and many more.
Any
activity is directly linked to the socio-political atmosphere in a country.
What is your take on the crises situation in Cameroon?
It is simple. When
there is a problem, it must be attended to. The Anglophone problem in Cameroon
is a reality. The earlier it is attended to, the better for the peace and
stability of Cameroon. If we truly love this country then the problem should be
solved from its roots and in a holistic manner. The parties involved in the
crises are beginning to use hate language and this has a tendency of taking
minds away from the real problem and putting the much cherished peace that we
have at risk. The radicalism that we see comes out of frustration and if this
is to be checked before it gets too far, then people in decision making
positions should assume their responsibilities by doing what is supposed to be
done.
See more online at
and at www.auroracoltd.com
EDEV Web News/ Email francoeko@gmail.com/ edevnewspaper@gmail.com/ Tel: +237678401408/ +237696906001
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