A chat with Mr. Ifeanyi Odoh—Schneider Electric Country President, East Africa:

Schneider Electric, undoubtedly and evidently, is a world conglomerate working with thousands of partners throughout the world as a technology partner keen on bringing world-leading expertise in electrification, automation and digitization to smart industries, resilient infrastructure, future-proof data centers, intelligent buildings, and intuitive homes.

“Schneider Electric is today a multinational listed in several national stock exchange markets in the world and having been founded over 180 years ago,” explains Schneider Electric, Country President for East Africa Mr Ifeanyi Odoh in a chat with writer Fred Ndungu. “Our strategy has always been to create Impact by empowering our customers to make the most of our energy and resources, bridging progress and sustainability for all. This is what we at Schneider Electric call: Life Is On.

“We are what you would call a ‘G-Local’ (global yet local) organization. We engage closely with local people to help them identity their needs and work with them to provide and customize the appropriate solutions they need,” asserts Odoh.

Essentially, the Company’s core business is to promote industrialization through the provision of reliable and sustainable energy.  Anchored by its deep domain expertise, Schneider Electric provides integrated end-to-end lifecycle, AI enabled Industrial IoT solutions with connected products, automation, software and services, delivering digital solutions to enable profitable growth for ALL our customers.

“We are very committed to providing or enabling the provision of reliable energy power which drives production and industrialization for better economic activities and growth of economies and countries’ GDP,” the President  expounds. “Today for example, we understand that traditional business models are coming under great scrutiny due to astronomical cost increases for labor, resource extraction, and materials processing. These, coupled with the amplified shareholder scrutiny surrounding operational efficiencies and carbon emission & keenness of government regulators, are also dynamics that did not exist 20 years ago,” he adds.

“We must understand that most of the energy today is used in a company’s operations.

In a building, 70 per cent of building-based carbon emissions results from operational essentials such as lighting, heating, and energy. In an industrial setting most energy is used by processes. This is why incorporating reliable, safe and smart solutions helps make sure the energy used to deliver any operations in a business case is always integrated for full efficiency and full transparency.

“As an Industrial Technology Leader, we provide the architecture that is IoT (Internet of Things) ready. Our over-arching software enables networks to ‘listen in’ and thus call for predictive maintenance before the system can fail.  It is our responsibility to educate clients on the solutions available and work with them to bring efficiency in their systems” confesses Odoh.

“As East Africa, we need to aspire to having transparent operations in our buildings, industries as well as in grids.

“In this age of the Internet of Things, making sure every end point (like the smallest sensors in a control system) is connected means you can access all the data needed, and infuse it with new AI applications, to generate insights and improve efficiency. Storing this information centrally for all to access means different stakeholders in a business can access what they specifically need to improve efficiency, sustainability, and profitability,” he expounds.

Commitment to the Region

The future needs more energy. Over the next 30 years (by 2050), the world will need to provide energy for 3 billion more people most of whom will be in Africa. To accommodate this new population, there will be massive need for more buildings, more industries, and more grid power to accommodate the growing development needs in the most sustainable way.

With such opportunities projected for the region, the best way to serve the market is through partnerships.

Globally, Schneider Electric is a people company with an ecosystem of more than a million partners operating in over 100 countries to ensure proximity to its customers and stakeholders. Moreover, its footprint in East Africa serves 10 of the countries surrounding Kenya with partners well defined and mapped to serve every country in the region.

The Company, as aforementioned, is committed to establishing and maintaining local partnerships given that this helps in promoting value addition for the equipment and systems offered. “For us to provide sustainable and meaningful service in the market, we can’t do it alone. We train our local partners and empower them to deliver international standard service.” he adds. According to him, the dynamic partnership programs mostly led by the Company’s technical and related experts also help in deploying Schneider Electric’s wide range, end-to-end solutions that are fit for every industry they serve.

Powering the Communities Around

Schneider Electric has partnered with the education community for many decades.

Through its Access to Education Program, Schneider Electric works with TVET institutions such as PC Kinyanjui, Don Bosco and Eastlands College of Technology. It supports the TVET institutions to get industry grade equipment and offers thorough skilled and hands-on training aimed at providing lasting solutions for access to energy and to overcome energy challenges.

On the strength of the group’s expertise and its staff experience, Schneider Electric provides up to date, industry standard teaching solutions that are designed entirely with the development of skills and enhancement of students’ employability in mind.

“Our ambition for 2025 is to reach the objective of training 1 million people and 10,000 trainers and to achieve this, we believe that working with TVET institutions is the one of the best ways. In addition, these TVETs play a very critical role of bridging vulnerable populationi with skills that enable them to participate fully in the energy market.” asserts Odoh.  He affirms that it is possible to make East Africa the Industrial Hub of continent with the development of ‘Green Skills’ such as the ones being developed with the collaborative partnership with TVET Institutions.

Articulate & Friendly: A brief glimpse into Ifeanyi’s life:

Prior to taking over as Schneider Electric E A President, Ifeanyi served as the Strategy and Transformation Leader for Vietnam and Cambodia where he pioneered strategic priorities, including the introduction of e-Mobility and Energy as-a-Service, showcasing his commitment to driving transformative change and delivering sustainable value.

Ifeanyi has also made significant contributions in West Africa, where he led commercial and go-to-market strategies with one of his marked achievements being a partnership collaboration with multiple start-ups to build the Renewable Energy sector solutions that impacted more than 10,000 people.

Evidently, very informed, knowledgeable, articulate and friendly, Ifeanyi Odoh says he is a passionate entrepreneur who firmly believes in the need and essence of humility. “I believe in promoting local values and in sharing resources and developing the people we interact and partner with. I further believe that people should always be humble, and intentional in their work and operations. People should also be collaborative,” he affirms.

Odoh’s other passions and hobbies include pushing teamwork to grow and progress business. He also believes in balancing work and leisure/pleasure and enjoys much when he is out supporting youths. Often, he plays chess with children at a local orphanage. He also enjoys a game of table tennis and soccer (occasionally) in addition to his weekly jogging routine to help him relax.

“I also enjoy spending time with entrepreneurs from whom I get new ideas. With entrepreneurs, I discern simple new ideas that can be promoted to great things and projects. And of course, where would I be without family,” he says in conclusion.