“I am a curious person, eager for discovery”
The Swissport adventure
“I arrived in Casablanca on a sad, rainy Sunday in November 2015”, recalls Christophe de Figueiredo. Since then, the Managing Director of Swissport Morocco has found his smile again. How could it be otherwise for this optimist who firmly believes that “tomorrow is always better than yesterday”? This faith in the future, instilled in his teams, is one of his methods for taking on new challenges.
The world’s number one in airport ground handling, Swissport is present in nine airports in Morocco. Today, the objective is to “consolidate our presence and renew our licence, which expires at the end of 2019”, he explains. “We are the first and the last people visitors meet when arriving in or leaving the country! We therefore have a key role for Morocco’s image.”
A taste for elsewhere
It was in the gentle way of life of Martigny, in the Valais, that Christophe de Figueiredo grew up… It was also in his home town that he “came across the famous Swiss patron Leonard Gianadda, whose life story is a real success story that inspired me”. After obtaining his Maturité*, he headed for Lausanne and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. He then completed his civil engineering training with a master’s degree in Supply Chain Management. After a first “job at the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport”, he joined British Américan Tobbaco (BAT), the world’s number two in tobacco, in the logistics department. “I then had the chance to do internal audit in several European countries and to have my first experience in sub-Saharan Africa, in Uganda. It is a fantastic country with wonderful landscapes, where for the first time I saw a giraffe outdoors, without a fence.” An indelible image that marked the beginning of a very fine story with this continent.
Africa, a land of professional fulfilment…
“It is hard to go back to vinegar once you have tasted honey”, says Christophe de Figueiredo, referring to his return to Switzerland… The African imprint was so strong that he volunteered for any assignment abroad. “I flew to Kinshasa, where I had my first experience as an expatriate, as Human Resources Director for BAT. My two years there (2006-2008) are worth 15 anywhere else, so much were the density and intensity of events multiplied. We went through two evacuations, an earthquake and an Ebola epidemic.” But it is with satisfaction and pride that he looks back on some of his finest achievements. “We moved salaries into bank accounts, which until then had been paid in cash to our 450 employees. This challenge was all the more incredible as the Congo had two currencies; it took a lot of imagination and adaptation, but we succeeded”. The same pride when he recalls “the work of his teams in building up skills in the Congo, which made the country a net exporter of talent, with all the visibility and acceptance that this implies in Africa and internationally!”
… and personal fulfilment
Africa also gave him his “finest personal achievement. When I was Managing Director of Panalpina in Cameroon, I met my wife. I arrived in Douala alone and left with a family”. Outside work, it is precisely the moments spent with family that make up his happiness… A fan of blockbusters and modern art, he shares his interests with his loved ones: “I really like going to the cinema to see good entertainment” As for art, “it is an absolute necessity. It may seem secondary compared with primary needs, but it contributes to the development and fulfilment of minds; it is nourishment in its own right, it is this beauty that makes us human!”
If you were…
A colour… ?
Red.
A country… ?
Switzerland, which I love even more since I have been far away from it.
A personality… ?
Magellan, the man behind the first voyage around the world.
An animal…?
The cat, for its independence.
A dish…?
Raclette.
A film…?
The Empire Strikes Back, I am a Star Wars fan…
A book… ?
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking.
A song…?
Master of Puppets by Metallica. I love metal and opera, two styles that require virtuosity and that people will still be listening to in 100 years!