Dennise Williams, Staff reporter
Rafael Diaz - JUNIOR DOWIE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
"I LEAVE GraceKennedy at peace. It is in tremendously good hands," said Amauri Rafael Diaz, retired chairman and chief executive officer of GraceKennedy. Mr. Diaz recently retired as a director of GraceKennedy on May 30th, although he remains a director of a number of companies within the group, including First Global Financial Services Limited.
At 75 years old, he has given over 35 years of service to building the company into a dominant Jamaican brand, recognised in over 36 countries.
While the limelight has not fallen on him for some time now, his guiding force continues to reverberate throughout the diverse companies that make up the GraceKenney group.
He took up the mantle of leadership at GraceKennedy in 1989 at the cusp of the globalization movement and held the company steady during a particularly turbulent time.
Originally from Belize, Mr. Diaz found love and employment opportunity in Jamaica.
"I worked with the Commonwealth Development Corporation for 16 years as an accountant. My job started in Belize but it took me around the Caribbean and I eventually landed in Jamaica. As life goes on, you get married. My wife and I stayed in Jamaica to have our kids."
Mr. Diaz explains that he and his wife would travel back and forth between the two countries for a number of years but eventually they decided to settle down in Jamaica.
"I began working with the Myrtle Bank Hotel as a controller and company secretary. Then the Urban Development Corporation said that the hotel had to be closed down and I was charged with tidying up the books. However, GraceKennedy had a 30 per cent share in the hotel and Carlton Alexander, the CEO and chairman, asked me to come to work for them. That was the beginning of my life with GraceKennedy."
That was 1969 and the start of a solid relationship.
PROSPEROUS TIME
"The 1960s was a relatively prosperous time for businesses in Jamaica; really a docile period for businesses because of steady inflation and bank interest rates. There were social problems, but corporate Jamaica did well. However, executives at GraceKennedy said by the end of the 1970s, Jamaica would run out of foreign exchange.
I scoffed at them and said it would never happen."
History proved Mr. Diaz wrong.
Mr. Diaz continued. "By the 1970s, we really started to get into deep waters. I remember February 1971 when we experienced a massive devaluation. The exchange rate was experimented with and there were difficult regulations implemented. You couldn't ask questions, but had to accept price controls, licensing and quotas."
It was at the period where the Government aimed at nationalising the 'commanding heights' that Mr. Diaz's gained his early experience at GraceKennedy.
In 1973 he was appointed financial controller and by 1976 he was made finance director.
And while acknowledging that the 1970s were "difficult", Mr. Diaz insists that the "experience was invaluable."
Despite the difficulties of the situation, GraceKennedy was able to leverage their brand name. He explains, "Because of price controls, competition was set aside. Product availability was limited. But because of the history of GraceKennedy, we could get higher import quotas."
And within the GraceKennedy model was the strategy to earn income from economies outside of Jamaica. From the company's inception, they had companies that operated in other countries to source or finance goods. This would prove the company's saving grace in terms of finding foreign exchange to pay their overseas suppliers.
In 1980, Mr. Diaz became Deputy Chairman. This new decade was to prove no less difficult.
"We put aside walking to the hilltop with (Fidel) Castro in 1980 but then we had to deal with crime. That was, and still is a big social problem."
Nine years later, Mr. Diaz was appointed CEO of GraceKennedy. It was a momentous time. "In 1989 the Berlin Wall (in the former East Germany) collapsed. The world changed and Jamaica had to change with it.
Price controls, import quotas and licenses were drastically reduced. And importantly, foreign exchange control eased.
ACCESS TO FOREIGN CURRENCY
In recognising the changes to come, Mr. Diaz in his capacity as financial controller and eventually head of GraceKennedy focused on making the access to foreign currency more efficient.
It was under his watch that GraceKenney became super agents of the Western Union franchise. "This franchise allowed us access to foreign exchange, but we considered it a information business not a financial business. No money really passed hands, it was information transferred that money had been deposited into point A so that someone in Jamaica could access it."
In addition to the secure sourcing of hard currency, Mr. Diaz took as his mandate two other important changes at GraceKennedy. First, when he because Chairman and CEO at age 59, he decided to document the GraceKennedy culture, mottos and ethics. I want to instil these values to all our team members."
And sensitive to the corrosive effects of the brain drain experienced in the 70s and 80s, Mr. Diaz developed the GraceKennedy's Learning Centre.
His objective was to get GraceKennedy people to be the best. What they couldn't learn in house from the Learning Centre, the company encouraged staff to get externally, with many GraceKennedy staff earning MBA's and even law degrees.
And there was one staff member who stood out. "I thought from the very beginning that Douglas Orane was the right person to take over from me. Although I could have retired at 65, there is nothing like a seamless transition. At 64, I asked the board to appoint Mr. Orane as CEO. He had the right attitude, skills and personality. He has tremendous leadership qualities and was respected by the staff."
By 1998, at age 68, Mr. Diaz felt that Mr. Orane was ready to also become chairman. "I didn't believe in standing in the way of people and progress."
TIME TO RETIRE
However, the board asked Mr. Diaz to remain as a director. "But now at 75, I decided it was time to retire. I know that the company is in capable hands. You have seen Mr. Orane's success. He has put the company in a real global trading position. Mr. Orane and his team have built new companies in insurance and finance in CARICOM. These were ideas we started but didn't have the success that they enjoy now.
The current management team has adopted the ethics and values established 80 years ago. The integrity of the company continues."
And while immensely proud of the team at GraceKennedy, Mr. Diaz is equally impressed by the 'youngsters' in business now.
"If I was a young man right now, I couldn't get a job. I am qualified by experience not education. In these days, you don't start as a clerk and work your way up. You get an appointment. Now it is about education. And the educated entrepreneurs of today in Jamaica are making more money, honestly and fairly, than salaried employees. For example, take JMMB, Capital & Credit Merchant Bank and First Global Bank - all these young people are doing extremely well in a competitive environment. And what about the cell phone industry? That is something brand new to Jamaica, and yet look how it has taken off.
Yes, there is crime and violence, but commerce goes on. Entrepreneurs who can harness information technology while remaining ethical will take this country forward. To them I say bravo."
