We continue our #TalentedTeamwork series this week with Bienvenu Mandro, Delmec Country Manager for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Speaking from his office in Kinshasa, Bienvenu takes us through the many hats he wears on a daily basis — including his role as an evangelist in his community.
Delmec has been operating in DRC for almost ten years, opening a permanent office in its capital, Kinshasa, in 2015. There, our team is kept busy supporting some of the biggest towercos in the country such as Helios DRC, as well as MNOs such as Orange, Airtel, Africell and MTN.
Bienvenu Mandro was one of Delmec’s earliest hires in DRC, rising from Project Manager to Country Manager in eight years. He was attracted by the opportunity to work with a global company, grow his career, and travel around the world. Since then, he’s had his foot to the pedal, providing a wide range of services to Delmec’s clients and customers in the region.
“In addition to my role of Country Manager (managing the DRC subsidiary), I also manage the Quality Audit (QA) Team,” he explains. “The QA team is there to make sure that all the data we gather, process, and send to our colleagues and clients is correct. Supplying reliable, trusted information to our stakeholders helps them to make the right decision for their businesses.”
Bienvenu has seen many challenges emerge in our industry over the last few years, but his main focus for the future is the management of power. “I’m seeing telecom sites taking on new technologies that require more power than ever before,” he says. “A big part of my work is thinking about how we at Delmec can innovate in this space and provide smart solutions to our telecom operators.”
His work is fast-paced, but Bienvenu likes it that way: “I enjoy the daily challenges and feel proud when we can deliver what nobody thought possible,” he says. “For example, we carried out 1,240 equipment audits over a period of just eight weeks in 2018. That’s the kind of high-pressure work where my team and I can really prove our abilities.”
Just as busy offsite as onsite, Bienvenue is also pursuing his Doctorate of Business Administration. It’s tough to fit in study around his other commitments, but he’s enjoying his journey in education. When he gets a rare opportunity for down-time, he likes to have a kickabout, playing football with friends on Friday evening or Saturday morning.
Bienvenu is also an evangelist, and spends his weekends preaching and teaching the gospel. It’s part of his lifelong commitment to supporting his community. “The role I like the most is being a mentor,” he says. “Over the last eight years, I’ve recruited more than 70 people in DRC. I’m proud to see some of them being promoted as project managers or senior project managers in Delmec.” Other members of his team have gone onto work for our clients and contractors, or become project managers in other industries.
This focus on training and development is something that’s shared by all of us here at Delmec. For almost fifty years, we’ve worked with talented people from all around the world, helping them grow their careers in the telecommunications industry. Whether they stay with our teams or branch out into other offices, they’re all part of a global Delmec community, proving every day that synergy shapes success.