EXECUTIVE INTERVIEWS > PUBLIC SECTOR
TAD A New Dimension in Facilities Management
Sudan Business Magazine interviews Mohamed Bakhit, CEO of TAD TFM, the leading provider of Integrated Facilities Management solutions in Sudan.
TAD has been established back in 2015, with the concept of providing total sustainable integrated facilities management in eastern African market, its registered in Sudan and South Sudan since then and we have plans to register the business in Ethiopia and Kenya in the coming future, tad grew to become on the leading service providers in the region providing.
Total Facilities Management to high end customers employing more than 1500 full time employees, with its training center, Tad is contributing to train more than 4000 persons every year for free, which helped many people to improve their technical skills in order to get a job in facilities management. Last year we were privileged to get the award of the Best Facilities Management company – East Africa from Build Magazine, UK and this award was a great recognition for the company where we consider it as a milestone for further progress.
TAD was the first company in the market to provide an integrated approach into Facilities Management, at the beginning the concept was challenging to get through since many customers were delivering the services using their in-house staff or outsourcing partial services to conventional cleaning companies or maintenance companies. TAD entered the market to provide a total integrated approach where all building related service are outsourced to one company, starting from cleaning, housekeeping, pest control, landscaping, coming to engineering services such as HVAC, MEP and civil work down to office boys, reception and security guards. TAD is following a strict scientific approach to provide all the services under one roof. This training center is one of its kind and equipped with the latest training material as per German Standard for Soft Services as well as SFG20 British Standard for Hard Services. Also one of our biggest investments beside the training center is our computer aided software, CAFM system, https://www.fsifm.com, where all our daily tasks are scheduled and planned in the system and service can be visible to us as well as to our customers, our “24/7 contact center” is always ready to receive complains and calls whenever happened and a clear taskforce is initiated whenever there is a complain and/or call. Our CAFM system is unique and many buildings worldwide are managed using the same CAFM system, especially in Middle East and Europe.
TAD’s main focus is Business to Business approach at the moment however we have plans to expand to home maintenance services in the near future. Our main focus is to provide Total Facilities Management to corporates in diverse sectors using our high-quality expertise to deliver the services, we are working currently with Co-Founder of TAD, Eng. Osama Osman receiving a certificate of appreciation from KIEHL Germany many customers which we consider class A customer in the market, delivering an integrated services model to them. On top of that TAD is focusing in sustainability service where energy needs to be monitored and saved, waste needs to be captured and segregated and recycled, every customer have clear reporting in such areas and this as we all know is becoming more and more important to customers in order to be part of their sustainability reporting of their business.
However, we provide diverse range of services in regards to building operation starting from air-conditioning, plumping, mechanical and civil services in term of hard services, furthermore we deliver cleaning, housekeeping, pest control, landscaping as well as office boy, reception and security services, all previous services are provided as per standards associated with them. In regard to business to consumer, we are working to develop an online platform for homeowners and tenants developing a mobile application where service can be ordered and booked and delivered in an efficient manner, this idea will be launched during Mid of 2021 where many customers will benefit from it. We also have challenges to get the security business license, however we are working to acquire this license in the near future since business bylaws are changing specially after Sudan Great Revolution took place during 2019.
Our company deals with delivering quality through two main aspects, first of all, our in-house training center is making sure all new employees are well trained as per standards mentioned before, and this is the first even before deploying new employees into customer sites. Secondly, we have our excellence center department where we conduct a routine audit to all customer sites following a strict methodology in both hard and soft services, audit reports are delivered directly to top management where issue logs are initiated, and corrective actions are taken. Additionally, excellence center is responsible for continuous improvement through root cause analysis methodology where permanent solutions are taken care off in order to avoid problem to be repeated again, there is a common phrase in our company culture which is ‘solve the problem now and find out how to avoid it in the future’.
Furthermore, we are in the process to get the ISO Certification 41001 which is dedicated to facilities management, and our plan is to get it during 2020. We also initiated a capacity building program last year, where we bring people from displaced areas due to wars, we train then and we deploy them to our sites, this initiative called We Are More, it simple training a cleaner to be as effective as 5 cleaners, we pay him/her triple the salary of one cleaner, he/she is happy and customer is happy. This approach allowed us to help many people to get a decent income while doing a normal job even if they are cleaners. We believe in our employees, we also learn from our customers every day, our cleaner is our ambassador in front of our customer, our technician is our representative in from of our customer, that’s the reason we work very hard in this part of the business.
Since beginning of Covid-19 pandemic, we have been very proactive and helped many customers to deal with the pandemic. We have initiated TAD Wellbeing Package which includes regular decontamination of customer sites, awareness sessions as well as awareness signage, tapes and stickers to facilitate social distancing specially in receptions and waiting areas. After the pandemic we have provided sterilization corridors and temperature measurement by our receptionists to all visitors and workers from our customers side.
On top of that we initiated a new position in our company for each and every site which is a Hygiene Steward, who is making sure that all touching points are disinfected on hourly basis, touching points such as door handles, light switches, elevator buttons etc… are wiped on hourly basis in order to make sure the workplace is safe, and people are healthy. Receptionists in many locations are responsible to make sure all clients workers are wearing masks and sticking to distancing protocols.
One of the most challenging sectors in facilities management is the healthcare sector, we have decided 5 years ago to start with it since we are confident from ourselves. We started acquiring Elmoalem Medical City where most of our good employees and managers now started to work there at their beginning of their career in TAD.
Furthermore, we have been assigned with the ministry of health as a service provider to manage Covid 19 at Elmoalim Medical City, our staff has been trained and examined, cases to Covid 19 using the premised are well taken care of, our staff are well aware about red zones where patients are allocated and they always understand Standard Operating Procedures about how to deal with cases in such situations. Also one of the most challenging operations in our company is the industrial sector where operations needs to be strong enough to tackle all services related to utilities’ complains, industrial is very tough and losses could always occur if FM service provider is not doing a good job specially when it comes into services to cooling towers, HVAC systems of core staff. We have many stories with our customers such as Teital Factory or JTI where we helped them to tackle issues related to their core activities.
We have signed an agreement with Farnek Services, which is a swiss base Facilities Management Service Provider where we are going to provide an energy and waste management service to hotels in eastern Africa using their novel tool called hotel optimizer, where energy consumption is monitored and audited, waste is captured and audited, www.hotel-optimizer.com we are the sole agent for this service in the while eastern African region and we are going to support Hotelier to save energy, manage waste in a sustainable way, and support them in getting green globe certifications, www.greenglobe.com, this will position TAD as a leader in this part of the world. Furthermore, we are going to start Domestic services using our mobile application to get service enquiries from homeowners and tenants, serving this sector in the most efficient manner using the best technology and automation tools to manage this type of service in the best way possible Tell us more about the Sudanese Facilities Management Association SFMA We also in the process to establish the Sudanese Facilities Management Association for the first time, SFMA aims at unifying the facility management industry in Sudan, by conducting research, providing educational programs and assisting corporate organizations in creating sustainable facility management strategies. The association will provide a standardized framework for facility management professionals, wider construction industry stakeholders and building owners / occupiers across Sudan. Networking, education, knowledge sharing, thought leadership, legislative governance and B2B events are all significant components of strategic FM to be promoted, supported and implemented by SFMA and its Members. We will also establish strong relationships with regional and international similar associations such as MEFMA www.mefma.org and IFMA www.ifma.org
Sudan Business Magazine
Featured In: Sudan Business Magazine | Issue: August 2020
Introduction
Sudan stands at a defining crossroads, a moment filled with both immense opportunity and complex challenges. In this exclusive cover story from the August 2020 issue of Sudan Business monthly magazine, we sat down with Mohamed Bakhit, the visionary CEO of TAD Facilities Management. His profile, dominated by the overarching headline “OPENING THE ECONOMY,” provides a unique window into the leadership perspectives driving Sudan’s transformation.
We met with Bakhit to discuss his vision for the nation’s commercial future and to explore how TAD Facilities Management is contributing to a newly liberalized economic landscape.
Sudan Business: Mohamed, thank you for being on our cover. Your story is central to this month’s focus on “OPENING THE ECONOMY.” Why do you feel this theme is critical right now?
Mohamed Bakhit: The time for Sudan to integrate more robustly with global markets is long overdue. Opening the economy isn’t just about reducing barriers; it’s about modernizing our foundational infrastructure—both physical and financial—to build a sustainable platform for real growth. At TAD, we see the importance of that foundation every day.
Sudan Business: As the CEO of TAD Facilities Management, how do you perceive the practical realities of economic openness?
Bakhit: A truly open economy requires reliable operational support to attract and sustain investment. We are focused on providing the facility management services that allow businesses to operate seamlessly, knowing that their core infrastructure is in expert hands. We want to demonstrate that Sudanese companies can deliver service standards that match international expectations, which is crucial for building investor confidence.
Sudan Business: This month’s issue of Sudan Business highlights several pivotal developments. One is the implementation of Sudan’s first fuel imports tender. How do you read that milestone?
Bakhit: It’s a seismic shift. This first-ever tender signifies a move toward market-driven transparency in our critical energy sector. For years, closed systems have defined how we manage resources. This shift is a necessary step to stabilize supply and ensure competitive pricing, which will ultimately support every other business sector in the country. It’s a core example of what “opening the economy” looks like in action.
Sudan Business: We also feature a special report on Peanuts Processing, specifically focusing on “Keeping it Local.” How does the local processing movement intersect with your views on an open economy?
Bakhit: This is a crucial point. An open economy should not mean an economy that relies only on resource extraction. We must prioritize adding value domestically. Processing our agricultural products—like peanuts—within Sudan creates local jobs, retains profits, and builds specialized expertise. Opening the economy should create the partnerships and market access that make that local processing viable on a global scale.
Sudan Business: The Central Bank of Sudan has just released new Trade Statistics. What is your interpretation of these figures, and how should they guide policy?
Bakhit: The data from the Central Bank is our most important diagnostic tool. The latest statistics tell us where we are succeeding and where bottlenecks remain. When we speak about opening the economy, these numbers must guide the process—helping us identify sectors where our exports can grow and where specific regulatory adjustments can have the highest impact.
Sudan Business: Our feature on innovation addresses a specific challenge: Business Copycats and their impact on Innovation. In an open and competitive market, how do you see this issue?
Bakhit: An open economy creates competition, but true growth comes from differentiation. Innovation must be original to lead markets. Relying too heavily on imitation stifles creativity and prevents Sudan from developing unique competitive advantages. We need to build a business ecosystem that protects intellectual property and encourages the kind of disruptive thinking that truly innovates. Copying might get you into the market, but only innovation keeps you ahead of it.
Sudan Business: Mohamed, looking forward, what is your ultimate goal for TAD Facilities Management and your vision for Sudan?
Bakhit: My goal is to see TAD not just as a services company, but as an operational partner essential to Sudan’s economic engine. We aim to support the businesses, hospitals, universities, and commercial hubs that will define our future. My vision for Sudan is a nation where an open, transparent, and innovative economy creates opportunity for everyone. This August issue is just the beginning of that narrative.
