Alieu conteh biography of williams

Alieu Conteh is a Gambian entrepeneur who has been deeply involved with the Democratic Republic of Congo, even during some of the nation’s darkest days.

Alieu conteh biography of williams

Under the Mobutu government, he was a coffee exporter, purchasing beans, roasting them in Kinshasa and flying it to London for export.

When the Congo descended into civil war (sometimes called the First Congo War, from 1996-7), Conteh saw this potentially rich nation in ruins.

But when Laurent Kabila took power, Conteh saw the possibility to build a business around telecommunications.

He remembered spending five hours at a post office waiting to make a phonecall, watching people sleep at the post office so they could make phonecalls.

When the first war ended, there were only about 15,000 fixed lines in the country, largely assigned to Mobutu’s ministers, bodyguards, and some wealthy businessmen. It’s impossible to overstate the need for communications, since there’s very little transport infrastructure in