Hass Petroleum Group is an Oil Marketing Company initially incorporated as a family business in 1997 by two brothers Abdinasir & the late Abdirizak. The group has since transformed into a multinational organization with a significant presence in East Africa, the Horn of Africa, Southern Africa and the Great Lakes region. 

The group has established wide and strategic fuel distribution infrastructure across the region, covering Kenya, Uganda, S Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania, DR Congo, Zambia, Somalia, Somaliland and UAE. Its product range consists of all white oils, namely: Diesel, Gasoline, Jet A1, Kerosene, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), and its own brand of lubricants, blended to world-class standards.

In this episode, we spoke with Mohamud Salat, Group CEO of Hass Petroleum.

The following is a condensed version of the full video interview.

What is your professional and educational background? Can you tell us more about your current situation?

I was born and raised in the Northern part of Kenya. That’s where I did my basic education and High school. I later pursued a bachelor’s degree in economics and masters in economic policy analysis from the University of Nairobi. I´m also a Chartered Accountant CPA (K). In 2008, upon completion of my degree I joined KPMG one of the international audit firms. That’s where I’ve got my first training in financial audit and risk management for about 6 years. My tenure with KPMG is where I honestly gained immense exposure in wide range of sectors from the financial institution to manufacturing industries to public sector. My last two years with KPMG I focused on the public sector – the audit and advisory of government and NGO’s.

In 2013 is when I joined Hass Petroleum as the head of internal audit, a position I served for about 2.5 years and later transitioned to become the CFO. CFO role gave me the opportunity to make things happen compared to my initial audit role that is normally advisory. During that period, we have turned around our business model. The group finance and bookkeeping function was centralized under one team called shared service, we adopted cutting edge accounting system and built exceptional team. Alhamdulillah, last year I was offered an opportunity to lead the team as the CEO of the group – one I have gladly embraced. 

Can you tell us about Hass Petroleum and your regional reach, specifically Somalia?

First Let me state one of the many reasons I am passionate about Hass group and my role as the CEO is what Hass means to the Muslim communities at large and to the Somali Community to be specific. The group is by far one of the biggest employers, its committed to the communities in the countries we operate and through our hass foundation give back to most vulnerable. All above despite barely being 2 decade old! Hass Foundation today manage and operate several orphanages and children’s homes, cater for utility bills for far fledged mosques.

The group employ over 1,500 employees, is critical contributor to taxes in the region we operate and partner with several small traders in building their capacities and business acumen.

Somalia specifically is close to our heart, as part of our contribution to the nation rebuilding, we have extended our exceptional services and investment in infrastructure in most major towns from Hargeisa, Berbera, Burco, Las Anod, Bosaso, Garowe, Galkacayo to the heart of Mogadishu. You should be able to drive across with less worry on fueling stations across!

Your mission is to be the region’s premier provider of high-quality petroleum products through innovation. Can you tell us more about this?

The reality today is there is a lot of evolution happening in the technological aspect of every business/sector and only those who adopt and appreciate will have the edge. I can’t compare ourself with what’s happening in the West today. We are still building a typical petrol station using fossil fuel. We know where the world is heading and we appreciate it. But we are cognizant of the disruption of say electric vehicle to our sector and we are more than ready to adopt in time. 

We endeavor to be the first one in innovation. In Somalia, we have introduced composite LPG gas cylinders. This makes usage and handling of the cylinders much safer compared to the regular steel containers which our competitors in the market are still using. In its own right, the composite cylinders is an innovation we adopted in most of our market of operation and it paid off. My role as the CEO is therefore to be ahead of the pack and ensure our clients enjoy many first when they walk to our premises.

Sustainability is essential to the longevity of a big company such as Has Petroleum and your role as a member of society. What does sustainability mean at Hass Petroleum?

There is one thing in the back of our head that we don’t want to lose, the identity that we are Somali. 

For us to be sustainable then you must have a Somali society that is stronger, empowering that community is a top-notch priority. Having our group shared service operate out of Hargeisa is a confirmation of commitment to Somalia – we had fresh university graduate work alongside our best of brains, the creme de la creme of the company. We vision Hass being an employer of choice in all our markets of operations. To achieve this, we work closely with the institutions in Somalia in training and providing skills necessary for the student to excel in the job market.

Whatever we do in our business we always want to influence the society where we work. Pass the knowledge to the next generation. We also very much appreciate Environmental sustainability. To do so we work with the local governments and communities in attaining environmental sustainability.

We, therefore, believe as a company we build on our own sustainability by having an empowered community, well-trained staff, and the best environment around us. 

The world’s energy system is going through a transition. Access to reliable, affordable, and clean energy resources is a key priority. Is Hass Petroleum thinking of new energy business opportunities and new ways to connect customers to energy?

I agree the energy sector is going through a transition. Unfortunately, we cannot run faster than the economies where we operate. It might take a while before I see the first electrical car driven in Nairobi or even Hargeisa. At Hass Petroleum it’s a conversation we always have, how we can transition ourselves. The partnership with the Oman government through their biggest oil company allows us the opportunity to see what is happening in those kinds of markets. We are seeing a petrol station having a mix with elements of charging ports for electrical cars and so on. 

We are ready and aware of the evolution we just don’t want to run ahead of our economies. We want to wait when the economies and people embraced these technologies. And Hass we will definitely embrace this.

From machine learning to computer vision, deep learning to virtual assistants, and autonomous vehicles to robotics, There is a range of technologies that have supported advances in AI. Businesses that harness new data sources and use AI and machine-learning technology to provide insights will be in a strong position to shape future commercial development and influence how society changes. Many of the algorithms behind AI and machine-learning systems are not new but limited volumes of accessible data have hampered their application. The recent explosion in data volumes and availability has led to a step-change in the training of algorithms and provided important new insights. Easy access to vast data volumes is making AI algorithms smarter. Can you give us examples of AI delivering value to Hass Petroleum or are you planning to work with AI companies in the future?

The reality is there is a serious transformation happening in terms of AI technology. 

I can be specific around the oil industry; in a supply chain, you might have a refinery selling oil to Hass Petroleum.

A basic example would be a bill of lading documents issued. We would be interested in a few points like; quantity in metric tons, dates, and a few other clauses. With AI or machine learning you can have this basic information extracted and provided to you, and not necessarily the 10 pages that are technical and legal that have nothing to do with the transaction that you are keen on. 

As a business accepting this level of technological transformation will really ease this whole aspect of doing business. You should be able to use AI to get the basic information that will aid in speedy decision making.

There is currently a blockchain initiative that streamlines this process where I would be able to access this data from my end of the cycle essentially making manual data entry processes obsolete. The need for human involvement will never be eliminated in the process, but it will not be the same. 

There are a lot of opportunities for both Hass Petroleum as users and companies that are developing these AI solutions. 

Africa’s economies have largely failed to create stable and well-paid jobs. What can you advise Somali youth who want to work in a challenging work environment like Somalia or other African countries?

Let me start with demystifying first. Somalia is not a challenging environment.  Instead, I will say Africa is the land of opportunities Somalia included. I have personally traveled to some of these developed worlds.  I will say life is quite stable there. It’s very easy for you to live stable, the best healthcare, the best education etc. 

But if you have this young Somali guy and this dream of becoming a billionaire.  I think you have better chances of being one in Africa. The Somali youth should therefore come back and take advantage of these immense opportunities.

Equally, there is no shortcut in life. It’s all about sheer hard work. Youth across must therefore embrace hardwork in what they do. 

If you are Somali living in the West and you are blessed with best of education and in the best of environments. You have read and seen how innovation in the west like apple or Tesla transformed industries. It is time for you now to pack up and take with you all this in the fertile land of Somalia. We will welcome you with a red carpet and come and make it in Africa. 

In Somalia specifically, we all want to be bystanders. We want things to change but we don’t want to be part of the change. So if you are not coming back, if you are not taking part in the evolution of Somalia to what it deserves to be. Then stop questioning the happenings back home.

I have appreciated that the Somali community is a resilient one and all they are yearning for is the right environment for them to work and earned halal means.