'Mr Fix-it' goes fishing for success in Namibia

By PAULA OLIVER

At the point where the Kalahari Desert meets the Atlantic Ocean, a Maori businessman will face the biggest challenge of his career.

Declan Millin has been given the task of lifting the fortunes of a small Namibian fishing venture, Coastal Marine Industries, a company with links to Nelson fishing giant Sealord.

Coastal Marine exports orange roughy to markets in Europe and the United States, but there is a feeling the company has not yet reached its financial potential.

Mr Millin has been lured to Africa to make sure it does.

"Operationally, the company is ticking over nicely," the 33-year-old said. "I'm going over to put the financial structures into place that will make it more profitable, and to try to grow the company through joint ventures."

Coastal Marine employs 300, and last year had a turnover of $US15 million ($32.6 million).

Mr Millin's mission begins in earnest in the small town of Luderitz, population 6000.

He jokes that people tell him he will be living in a mud hut, but admits he really does not know what to expect. There is likely to be a language barrier, but Mr Millin is looking forward to overcoming that.

The Mr Fix-it position is worlds away from the comfortable head office environment Mr Millin has enjoyed so far in his career, which includes two years at Te Ohu Kai Moana, the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission.

Involved in the ongoing negotiations for the sale of Brierley Investments' 50 per cent share of Sealord, he said it was time he went and got his hands dirty to further his career.

"I've been involved in the shareholder side of companies for a while now, and it's a move closer to the operational side of things. This will broaden my perspective and give me some international experience."

Until recently Namibia's fishing industry operated on a free-for-all basis, leading to stock levels being damaged.

Now the fishery is sustainably controlled by a quota management system.

Mr Millin said the Namibian Government was strong on giving the natural resource to its people.

While orange roughy is the best-known catch, hake and lobster also made up a big part of Namibia's fish exports to the US, Europe and Asia.

"The way to grow the company is through joint ventures, to capture more of the quota. I'll be there to go through the investment analysis and look for partners."

Coastal Marine's parent company, Gendor, is listed on the Namibian Stock Exchange, and Sealord holds a significant stake in it.

Mr Millin said Sealord had sent crew and skippers to Namibia over the past few months to improve skills, because Coastal Marine's fleet was old and the technology not up to date.

He said the aim was to hand a much more profitable company back to the Namibian people.

Waitangi Fisheries Commission chief executive Robin Hapi said Mr Millin was one of many young Maori people who had the potential to develop further.

"The business, financial and analytical skills he has, together with the fishing industry experience, will stand him in good stead," he said. "We hope to see him back in NZ in a few years."

The commission spent $1 million a year on scholarships for young Maori, but Mr Millin said the hard part was then moving them into a business position.

"I'm lucky I've been given the chance to do this, but I wouldn't say I'm a high achiever. I do feel a pressure not only to succeed in my career and in family, but to hold onto being Maori."

Mr Millin said there were more Maori people achieving now, but the challenge was to keep them coming through. It was sad, he said, that when Maori business people emerged they attracted special interest because they were Maori.

His own ambitions include studying overseas for a master of business administration degree.

But for now he is more concerned about whether to wear a suit in the harsh environment of Namibia.

"I don't know what I'm going to pack to wear. I might hate it over there, but I know the eight months [of the initial contract] will be good for me."