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David Semple grabs the map on his desk to explain his newly expanded remit. Formerly the general manager for the Middle East only, Semple, is now the region’s VP of sales Middle East and Africa, a role that takes on a new continent, 75 countries, and across all the brands of Manitowoc.
It’s a tough remit and one of the most complex undertakings someone in his position can agree to.
To the east of his geographical responsiblity there’s the Middle East, a region that has enjoyed an economically fractious couple of years with Dubai faltering and Saudi surging, and now Qatar looming over the horizon and social unrest everywhere.
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But then that’s relatively calm compared to North Africa which is tearing itself apart and putting itself back together from one hour to the next.
To the west there’s the logistical, political, and sometimes dangerous sub-Saharan Africa. Further south there’s the perpetually churning states of southern Africa and the economic enigma wrapped in a mystery of South Africa.
David Semple could’ve been forgiven for regarding his domain as a poisoned chalice rather than a golden goose. But his career to date has been built on taking on the challenge of such tricky markets.
“I have a real passion for this region,” he affirms. “Yes, it is a large area in terms of geography. But yes it can be difficult to get around.”
“In fact, I think transportation is one of the big challenges in Africa.
“For example, some time ago we decided to open a small office of engineers and sales people in Ghana which could support Nigeria (an unsafe and difficult place to convince people to stay).
“From an image stand point it is fantastic – we are in Africa – but from a connection standpoint unless you are going to Europe or Nigeria it is a nightmare. If our French sales guy wants to go to Algeria he has to go to Rome first. The connections are really difficult.”
Semple’s own journey has been convoluted but driven by a passion for the Middle East. Instead of doing his national service in France in 1996, he was offered a post in the French embassy in Damascus.
“I had many distant destinations in mind like the US and Australia,” he explains. “But they asked me: was there anywhere I wouldn’t go and I answered ‘no’. I honestly believe that’s one of the reasons I got a call back.”
When he was asked whether he would take a post at the embassy in Syria he admits that he was opening that page of the map for the first time.
After some thought he took a gamble and the position and has never looked backwards. In fact, when he returned to France, it was clear that there was only one place he would like to go work in.
“Before Damascus I had no idea about the Middle East,” he admits. “But aftwerwards I was looking for the next opportunity to get back.”
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