For Outare Kokobissi, KSB Regional Manager for West Africa, pumps have always been about more than technology: they are about water, development and responsibility. In this interview, he speaks about his path from Togo to Germany and back, the lessons he learnt along the way, and the future of KSB in West Africa.
Stream of Stories: Mr Kokobissi, your journey with KSB began in the 1990s, when you moved from Africa to Germany to study. What was it like for you to adapt to such a different culture?
Outare Kokobissi: It was a real challenge – but a very positive one! I was born in Togo in West Africa and moved to Germany to study because it has such a strong reputation for mechanical engineering. At the time, I already spoke English and French, but this didn’t help me because all the classes were in German. I had to learn the language for a year and take care of many practical things before I was even able to sit in a classroom.
The culture was also very different from where I came from. In Africa, you see people talking and laughing loudly. In Germany, people are very quiet. But I also found them to be very friendly and open. They welcomed me and were interested in my background. For example, I spent almost four years living with a German family and have very good memories of this time.
Why Germany? Wouldn’t it have been easier to study in France since you already spoke French?
Of course. But everybody knows Germany’s reputation for mechanical engineering. Studying in Germany had always been my dream. That has always been what I wanted to do.
Can you tell us what drew you to pumps and water technology?
It was always my goal to specialise in pumps. Because water is life. It was what people needed at that time in Africa. They didn’t need cars or turbines but basic access to water. In those days in Africa, you had to go to the river to get water. When it rained, all the things that were not good were washed into the river, and that was what people had to drink.
As a young engineer specialising in machine element design at the National Engineering School of Sfax in Tunisia, I decided to specialise further in turbomachinery. I had the opportunity to support my institute by taking measurements on machines in the test bay after my evening classes. This dedication made me well known within the institute and brought me closer to my professor.
I was then fortunate to be among the small number of top students who received a scholarship from the KSB Foundation, although I did not know KSB at the time. I told my professor I was interested in completing an internship with a pump manufacturing company. After meeting pump manufacturers in Frankfurt, he gave me the business card of someone at KSB. I applied for an internship and was accepted into the Energy Department for six months. I learnt a great deal at KSB. After graduating in 1998, I continued working for the company for a further two years before returning to Africa in 2000.
Engineering with a purpose: Outare Kokobissi
Outare Kokobissi was born in Togo, West Africa. He studied engineering in Tunisia before moving to Germany in the 1990s to specialise in mechanical engineering and turbomachinery. His interest in pumps was driven by a very personal motivation: he wanted to contribute to improving water supply in his home region. He first joined KSB in 1995 as a student intern and later returned to Africa with the aim of applying the knowledge he had gained in Germany. Today, he helps develop KSB’s business across West Africa, focusing on applications that support essential infrastructure, from water and energy to industry, oil and gas.
Why did you go back to Africa?
I felt I had an obligation to serve the community where I was born after acquiring so much knowledge. That is why I decided from the beginning that I wanted to go back to Africa. It was a passion for me. After Germany, I worked in South Africa for six months before taking over the West Africa region. Today, I am very happy to see what KSB has done in the region over the past 25 years. We have been involved in many projects that supply water to communities and big towns. Clean water for Africa was always my aim.
Did your time in Germany change you?
Yes, definitely. I spent eight years in Germany, and when I returned, I realised that I had changed in a positive way – and my family noticed it too. Germany shaped the way I approach discussions, responsibility and work. I learnt to be more autonomous, pragmatic and direct.
When I started running a company in Africa, I saw the difference clearly. In Germany, people tend to work very independently within their area of responsibility. In many African contexts, leadership often requires closer guidance and more direct follow-up. That was a real shock at first.
I also learnt to speak more openly. In Africa, we place great value on community, age and social structures, so people may hesitate to say things directly. In Germany, I experienced a culture where people express what they think freely. That is also part of Germany’s success.
Today, you are KSB’s Regional Manager for West Africa. Could you describe your region to us?
First of all, it is a big region. It covers 23 countries and is a mixture of different communities, languages and cultures. People speak French in some countries, English in others and Portuguese in others. These are the official languages, but there are also many local languages.
That diversity makes the region very special. It runs along the Atlantic coast, from Mauritania down to Congo and Equatorial Guinea. When you move inland from the coast, you come across different communities that speak different languages. Sometimes you travel only 50 kilometres and meet people speaking another language.
At the same time, some communities are divided by national borders. For example, people in parts of Benin, Togo, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire speak Ewe. Although they live in different countries, they are still connected by family and culture. So, in many cases, borders divide people who still belong together. That diversity makes the whole region very interesting for me.
Let us talk about your region as an economy. What are the most important industries for you?
It depends on the country. Some countries are rich in oil. In Nigeria, where our headquarters is, the oil and gas sector is very well developed. Nigeria has roughly half of West Africa’s population and half of its GDP. The oil and gas sector is our core market here in Nigeria.
In other countries, the core business may be mining, because they have resources such as gold or phosphate. On the coast, agriculture is a key business. Water supply is also very important. We are talking about 500 million people living in the region, and every human being needs water to survive.
We also have general industry applications. In every country, we have cement factories. There are edible oil companies, and palm oil development is growing. Energy is also growing, because countries cannot develop without energy.
“When you see people working with fascination and commitment, that pushes you to do the same.”
Outare Kokobissi
How do you convince your customers in these industries of the benefits of KSB products and services?
We convince our clients through quality, knowledge and local presence. When we started the business in 2001, we faced many competitors, including cheaper manufacturers from India, China and other countries. But at some pumping stations, we found KSB pumps that had been installed 30 years earlier and were still running. That was a very strong argument for their quality.
We are usually not the lowest bidder, but we can convince our clients in other ways. We train and advise customers and help consultants avoid mistakes when designing pumping stations. When they see that we understand the application and can support them technically, they also gain confidence in our products.
Today, it is not only about which supplier is cheaper. It is about who can help, who can support and who can make a difference in terms of lifespan and availability of products and spare parts. With KSB SupremeServ, we audit pumping stations, work with local partners and keep local stock on the ground in several countries. Many competitors sell products, but they do not offer the same after-sales service.
What resources does KSB have in West Africa today?
Across the region, KSB currently has a team of 29 people. The largest presence is in Nigeria, with 24 employees, while our office in Ghana has a team of five. From these two countries, we also cover other subregions, including Cameroon, Chad, Congo and Gabon.
Our main operational base is in Lagos, where we run a service workshop and a warehouse with local stock. This helps us reduce delivery times and allows us to do local assembly and provide field service to support clients on site. We also carry out repair works in the workshop.
What are the biggest challenges in the region, and how do you address them?
One big challenge is the size of the region compared with the capacity of our team. You have to work extra hard to reach every client and satisfy every need. Logistics is another issue. We are far from many factories, and if something comes from Europe, it can take a long time to arrive. There are also challenges you do not see in Europe, such as security issues in some areas.
What advice would you give European companies that want to do business in West Africa?
The first thing is that you must be psychologically prepared. When you come into this region, you come into a new culture. It’s different from Europe, and you have to understand how to behave and how to establish yourself.
People should be patient and not expect miracles within one year. You may be able to set up a company within three or four months, but getting established in the market, introducing yourself properly and obtaining all the necessary clearances can take much more time. Relationships are very important. That is why you often need consultants who know the paperwork, the system and the people involved. If you try to do everything yourself, it can become very difficult.
How do you see the future of KSB in West Africa?
We have a clear strategy in place. West Africa is growing very fast. KSB Nigeria, for example, is still a young company. We started here in 2022, and the company has achieved double-digit growth almost every year. Nigeria alone has about 230 million people, and the population is growing by around five million every year. That creates a big need for water, energy and industry. The same is true for the whole region. So we are convinced that the region has very strong potential for the future. But we must build the capacity to develop our business here.
Looking back at your career, what has working for KSB meant to you personally?
For me, joining KSB in the 1990s was a big change. The hospitality I received was amazing. Everybody wanted to show me how things worked. Everything I learnt helped me later in my work, especially when I had to act autonomously, since KSB West Africa is very far from all production sites. That enabled KSB West Africa to thrive, build capacity in the region and develop people to make sure they had the necessary capabilities. My time at KSB has shaped who I am, because when you see people working with fascination and commitment for a very long time, that also pushes you to do the same.
Hendrik Wulfmeyer is KSB’s Regional Head of East Africa. In our interview, he explains the importance of pumps for the region’s development and work that has real purpose.
