The clocks tick differently here

Continent, climate, culture – everything is different, but the French language connects. In 2021, Jean Melotte makes the leap from Europe to the Ivory Coast. Here, he helps to expand Geberit’s presence in West Africa.

Chips and waffles instead of manioc and plantains: Jean Melotte is back in Europe after three years in the Ivory Coast. Today, the Belgian works as B2B sales representative for Geberit in France. He won’t forget his experiences: “I learned a lot.”

A thirst for African adventure

After more than 20 years as a project consultant at the Geberit sales company in Belgium, he is gripped by a thirst for adventure. Geberit sends him to the Ivory Coast as Business Development Manager.

He arrives in 2021 as the pandemic makes its rounds – a bumpy start. However, settling in goes well. The only thing he cannot quite get used to is the time system – the clocks tick differently here: “From 12 noon onwards, people greet each other with ‘Bonsoir’, which means good evening, and it can take weeks or months to get an answer from business partners.”

The wait is usually worth it. The Ivory Coast is a market with great potential, but European sanitary technology is largely unknown and the infrastructure still has to be developed. “The demand for Geberit products has to be created here first,” explains the 58-year-old. Therefore, a central element in introducing modern sanitary know-how is training.

Valuable experiences

Three years later, the father of three and his partner return to Europe following this intense experience. “I learned to build good relationships and trust before talking business. And of course, a lot of patience is essential,” he says with a laugh.

I learned to build good relationships before talking business.