Philippe de Moerloose, born in 1967 in Watermael-Boisfort (Belgium), is the founder and CEO of the consortium SDA-SDAI.
Education
Born in Belgium, Philippe de Moerloose completed his education in Lubumbashi, the second largest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo where his family settled when he was three years old. He returned to Belgium where he graduated in business studies from the ICHEC Brussels Management School. His education combined with his multiple local experiences gave Philippe de Moerloose a deep understanding of Africa related issues and an insight on various challenges the continent faces. Profoundly attached to Africa, he is fluent in Swahili (Bantu language).
Career
Right after graduating in 1991, Philippe de Moerloose founded DEMIMPEX (de Moerloose Import-Export), a small import and export company. The company grew bigger thus becoming, twenty years later, the consortium SDA-SDAI, a front-line player in the African economy.
Philippe de Moerloose initially oriented his activity to the import and export of automobile spare parts between Belgium, the DRC (former Republic of Zaïre), Rwanda and Burundi before extending the activity to the supply and distribution of vehicles, construction, mining, agricultural equipment. He developed a genuine expertise on pan African distribution by buying and rescuing a number of companies (VRP in 1995, Transco in 1999, ATC in 2001, Multitech in 2011). Based on the in-depth experience acquired throughout the years, Philippe de Moerloose was able to build a powerful distribution network supplied with an important stock of branded vehicles and machines (Mercedes, Volkswagen, Nissan, Ford, Volvo Construction Equipment, Volvo Trucks, John Deere Construction and Forestry, John Deere Agriculture, etc) spread over two main platforms in Dubai and Antwerp.
The merge of the automotive activities with those of the Optorg Group in 2011 lead to the creation of a second key actor in the sub-Saharan Africa, the Tractafric Motors Corporation (TMC), 40% owned by SDA, the group of Philippe de Moerloose. The consortium SDA-SDAI with its 3.000 employees generates a turnover of €450 million in 27 African countries where it operates. Although distribution represents the core of Philippe de Moerloose’s activity, he also owns a Luxembourg registered holding which groups together shares and financial participations in the hotel, construction and mining industry.
Anecdotes
Philippe de Moerloose is an avid sports fan. He especially enjoys endurance races and tennis. He participated in four different marathons in Paris, Brussels, Barcelona and New York.
