Petrosol CEO Michael Bozumbil explains how trust fuelled company’s growth

Petrosol CEO Michael Bozumbil says the company’s rapid growth in Ghana’s highly competitive and regulated downstream petroleum sector has been driven by integrity, financial discipline and strong governance. He said Petrosol deliberately built the business around values that have helped it earn the trust of suppliers, banks and regulators. “From day one, we set out to build a business that is a model of excellence.

So, we determined to build a values-based business. And this became the anchor of our growth,” he said. Mr Bozumbil explained that the company’s commitment to integrity, empathy and quality service helped it attract capital and build confidence among its business partners.

“When your business is built on values, integrity, empathy, quality service, you attract capital because people depend on you, they trust you,” he said. He said Petrosol started as a small business with limited capital but was able to establish credibility with suppliers. “We started as a small business with little capital, but suppliers could count on Petrosol because they knew they could supply products to Petrosol without taking any collateral, without taking any form of guarantee, because our name alone served as a guarantee,” he said.

According to him, that confidence became an important part of Petrosol’s growth. But Mr Bozumbil stressed that earning support from suppliers and financial institutions was only one part of the company’s strategy. “We also applied discipline, because it’s one thing being supported, and another making yourself supportable,” he said.

He said the company established systems to ensure that credit extended to it was repaid and that its finances remained properly managed. “Once you are, you know, given products on credit, you make sure that you consistently put in systems and structures to ensure the monies come back to the system, and that you are financially disciplined, you put in right governance structures, right risk management systems,” he said. Mr Bozumbil said the approach has helped Petrosol maintain a strong credit record over the past 12 years.

“Thankfully over the past 12 years, the industry has known Petrosol to be creditworthy,” he said. He added that Petrosol’s banking partners have also maintained confidence in the company as it expands its retail infrastructure. “Our banks, who support us to construct our retail infrastructure, ha…