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Covid-19: Faced with the coronavirus pandemic, the President of CCI-BF invites all stakeholders to strictly respect the protection measures recommended by the Burkinabè Government.


 

 

The President

Express biography of the President of the CCI-BF:

Son of an illustrious merchant from the North Region (Ouahigouya), Mahamadi SAVADOGO is in his sixties. From his early childhood and alongside his father, he acquired a taste for trade and business. Polyglot, he is fluent in French, English and Arabic.

A man of dialogue and consensus, he invests in the settlement of conflicts between economic operators and whenever social cohesion is threatened.

Mahamadi SAVADOGO's career has been shaped by travels, encounters and cultural exchanges. His nickname "Gaddafi" comes from his stay in Libya from 1978 to 1982, where he obtained the baccalaureate. This stay also allowed him to build strong relationships in the Libyan business community and to perfectly master the language of Shakespeare (English) and Arabic.

At 25, Mr. SAVADOGO has invested in business. For this, he will settle in the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, then in Lomé and then in Lagos. In these different cities, competition is fierce. And faced with this, Mahamadi SAVADOGO as a good trader, understood that to prosper, you must have a comparative advantage. This is how he began trips to Asia (Hong Kong and Singapore). He buys consumer products there that he resells cheaply at home in Burkina Faso. Hong Kong served as a supply point for products of Chinese origin, at a time when China had not yet opened up to the world.

From the status of individual entrepreneur, Mahamadi SAVADOGO built a multi-sector group, the SMAF International Group (SAVADOGO Mahamadi et Frères). The SMAF group, it must be said, is one of the first private groups in Burkina Faso. This group is currently made up of several entities ranging from the transport of goods and hydrocarbons to major works (Building, Civil Engineering, etc.), including real estate, hotels and trading.

His dynamism and his leadership have earned him, on many occasions, distinctions and decorations on the national and international level.

TITLES AND HONOURS:
- Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SMAF International Group;

- Shareholder and Director of several local companies;

- Consular member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Burkina Faso;

- President of the Circle Association of Young Business Leaders in BURKINA;

- Member of several business associations;

- Commander of the National Order;

- Officer of the National Order;

- Knight of the National Order - 2005;

- Knight of the Burkinabé Order of Merit - 2005;

- Officer of the Order of Merit of Commerce -2005;

- Knight of the Ivorian Order of Merit - 2003;

- Winner of the Oscar prize for the development of African Managers - Dakar 1994;

- Winner of the Oscar Prize for Excellence - Paris 1999;

- Winner of the ARCH D'EUROPE DE FRANKFORT 2002 prize for Q 100 quality;

- Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Thailand to Burkina Faso.