1. OUR FRAMEWORK
MTI’s strategy places sustainability development at the heart of the business by focusing on the following key areas which together help us strive for economic, social and environmental responsibility. Shareholders Operating ethically and transparently Employees Developing our people and fostering a culture of trust and achievement Subsidiaries and Affiliates Embedding sustainable policies, planning and procedures into our Investments Customers Offering clear and accessible products and services Suppliers Promoting responsible procurement Environment Reducing our direct and indirect impacts Communities Using our resources and expertise to strengthen society.
2. SHAREHOLDERS
2.1. Corporate Governance
MTI is committed to upholding a robust corporate governance framework to ensure fairness, responsibility towards all stakeholders & ethical behavior in the company’s work environment. The company heavily depends on its Board of Directors, appointed through its General Assembly, and its committees to lead the Company’s efforts & generate the maximum shareholder and stakeholder value.
2.2. Board of Directors
In order to preserve well-balanced governance structure, MTI’s bylaws require having at least 2 independent directors, Our Board is comprised of 3 independents out of a total of 8 members, with a broad knowledge in the legal and financial sectors with 2 female representatives on the BOD since 2016.
2.3. Separating CEO &Chairman Roles
For the past years, Our Chairman and founder Mr. Khaled Mahmoud was also acting as the group CEO. During April 2020, the financial regulatory authority (FRA) has issued a mandatory rule for all listed companies to separate both positions within a maximum period of 1 year in accordance with the global corporate governance best practices, where a decision was taken in the general assembly meeting to appoint Mr. Khaled Mahmoud as the CEO only.
2.4. General Assembly Meetings
MTI holds an annual General Assembly meeting as per the company’s bylaws, where all company shareholders are represented and given say in core company related decisions. Attending members vote on matters of discussion listed on the agenda, including external auditor’s appointment, distribution of dividends, stock splits and hiring of BOD members as well as the approval of the company’s annual financials. Shareholders attending get a chance to voice their opinions, allowing MTI’s Chairman a chance to digest more insights, opinions and challenges and act upon any inquiries.
2.5. Minority Rights
The corporate governance framework at MTI ensure the equitable treatment of all shareholders, including minority shareholders which is done through the following procedures;
- Ensuring that the Board adopts a shareholders’ perspective when making decisions and ensuring minority shareholders’ interests are protected;
- Aligning the concerns of stakeholders at large vs shareholders of the Company;
- Improving communications and interactions between minority shareholders, Board members and management;
- Amending the company’s bylaws to incorporate the cumulative voting in the election of the board members and the right to invite for the Ordinary and Extra-Ordinary General Assembly Meetings If requested by at least a number of shareholders representing 5% of the capital of the company;
- The right to request the suspension of the General Assembly’s resolutions Upon the request of shareholders who own at least 5% of the shares of the company;
- The use of the cumulative voting system in the election of the Board of Directors and that there shall be a minimum proportional representation of capital in the Board of Directors of the company, with a maximum of one board seat for each (10%) of the company’s shares.
2.6. Disclosure Rules and Transparency
In line with listing rules and disclosure regulations, MTI reports to the public on a quarterly basis its financials and regularly on any material information that affects the business operations and financials. The company management and its auditors, work closely to ensure that such disclosures adhere to strict corporate governance rules and regulations.
2.7. Board Sub-Committees
BOD sub Committees, involving the independent BOD members, have been formed to aid with specific issues and ensure the company is operating within the rules of corporate governance, ethics, respect and fairness to all stakeholders. These sub committees include; Audit committee which reports on the financial performance and associated risks, Health and Safety committee which is responsible for health and safety measures across our premises, the provision of appropriate safety tools and individual equipment, and the conduction of safety trainings and drills.
2.8. Internal Audit Department
The department monitors the implementation of internal policies, codes, regulations and additionally responsible for investigating any reports of wrongdoings, including but not limited to fraud, theft, and waste. It is also tasked with verifying that the annual and quarterly financial statements are following the directives of the Egyptian Accounting Standards.
3. EMPLOYEES
3.1. Diversity and Inclusion
MTI employs a total number of 1800 employee across all business lines, women are fairly represented with 18% of the total work force and some of which are holding managerial positions.
MTI creates work opportunities for employees with no education certificates, giving them the opportunity to complete their education while working at MTI, after completion of the education certification the employee is promoted to a white collar job with the relevant salary adjustments.
3.2. Compensation and Benefits
MTI’s efforts to provide a comfortable work environment and quality of living has reaped its benefits with retention rates of over 99% for corporate staff (excluding sales force which as per industry standards have lower retention rates). Such efforts include;
- Providing a salary base & commission structure that affords a comfortable living standard for employees and their families.
- Corporate efforts to enhance home quality of life for MTI families supporting employees and their families include zero interest employee loans to be paid over 18 months (noting that bank interest rates are in the range of 18%-20%), product purchases at cost or at discounted prices to be paid in installments over 10 months with zero interest payments, annual giveaway bags, annual football tournament where MTI families meet and socialize creating a healthy bonding experience. In 2023 the company plans to utilize the interest accumulated from an amount of EGP 3 million that has been funded by employees late and absentee fines as per Egyptian regulations to create a more comfortable work environment for all employees
3.3. Labor Rights
The company has focused on creating a safe, decent & respectable working environment for employees, parents and caregivers which we believe directly and indirectly affects the MTI families and their children, respecting these labor’s rights and committing to supporting their human rights
3.4. Employee Development
Our strategy in MTI is “Creating effective people” by promoting a management style that empowers employees, in line with the Group’s core values of professionalism, innovation, and integrity ensuring that the people in each segment know exactly what is expected from them. With that in place, business units and Human Resources department can prioritize their activities and gain maximum leverage from the company’s investment in people.
3.5. Health and Safety
Employee health and safety in the workplace remains at the very top of MTI’s list of priorities in creating a successful work environment.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, MTI’s initial response was to quickly implement safety measures across its operations, to protect its people and to contain the spread of the coronavirus in addition to applying new policies starting March 2020, such as;
- The company has reduced physical work force to 50% of total staff as well as implementing women stay at home policy during school closures to take care of children to protect against Covid-19 risks and allow for proper functioning of the family units.
- Spending a total of EGP 500,000 per month on protective measures such masks, sanitizers and sanitization of the work space.
- Renewal of medical insurance coverage with one of the top international insurance providers that covers medical expenses associated with Covid-19 and increasing the per employee coverage from EGP 60,000 to EGP 150,000. Other insurance policies in place include employee life insurance and coverage against political unrest, fire, theft as well as transportation and accidents insurance
3.6. Excellence
MTI has worked in 2020 on automating some of the business processes in an attempt to increase efficiency and maximize the efforts and productivity of the workforce , among such efforts was the consolidation and automation of the company’s Enterprise Reporting System (ERP) from 3 systems into 1 system, automation of the fixed assets reporting system which was finalized in January 2021, as well as automating the HR system for requests & permissions for work from home & vacation approvals to be done remotely. Also the company is currently testing a sales tracking system that allows sales representatives to place purchase orders and invoices while on the move.
4. Subsidiaries and Affiliates
MTI embedded sustainable policies, planning and procedures into its subsidiary Kanawat for trading and Distribution Company to pave the way for improvements on long-term performance and contribution. Below are Kanawat’s policies, codes of conduct which are heavily aligned with MTI’s guidelines;
- Women represented 35% of the total managerial positions out of a total number of 350 employees across all business lines.
- Supporting the blue collar employees and giving them the opportunity to complete their education.
- Supporting its employees with a special loan for either master degrees or special courses.
- Special program loans for Kanawat’s married employees to support their kids during their education journey (whenever needed).
- Supporting the employees with up to 10 months’ salary loans (house loan, car loan… etc) with zero interest installment up to 3 years.
- Granting the employees in their special events like: Marriage, new born or death for the 1st degree relatives with up to half month salary with additional 5 days paid vacation.
- launching in 2021 the employees’ pension plan to be as follows;
1 month for each year for his first 5 years and increasing it to 2 months for each year after the second five years, this benefit is supporting the retirement plan especially for the managerial position.
- Providing a grading matrix salary scale to ensure that the employees are in equal employment opportunities, including their promotion plan, according to the industry standards.
- Using a performance management system to ensure that the employee development is linked with company objectives.
- Collecting all the papers, plastics and any recycled item and sending them on a weekly basis to a charity organization for recycling and then using the revenue generated to support poor and homeless people.
- Kanawat is always keen to support the environment by focusing on distributing only the environment friendly air conditioning products, Daikin (Japanese # 1 AC worldwide) and LG inverter ACs.
- Inside the 15 retail outlets, Kanawat use a very high level of Hygienic standards to protect the employees, their families and customers from any risk following the rules according to the (WHO) standards.
5. CUSTOMERS
5.1. Treating Customers Fairly
Respect for the client in providing accurate and accessible information on our products and in our marketing activities. We also commit to offer sound advice, to guarantee confidentiality at all times, and to ensure fair treatment for all. To ensure product knowledge, training of sales representatives at retail outlets on newly launched products is a key element in making sure that customers are provided with accurate and complete information on the MTI product range.
5.2. Customer-Centered Culture
MTI’s focus on customer satisfaction & loyalty through ensuring that clients receive all-inclusive services of value, from the time they begin to scan possible purchases to after-sales services and support. We continue to leverage on the client satisfaction to extract more favorable results and further embed efficiency and sustainability across our operations.
During 2022, we had achieved the first rank in the after sales services from Samsung Egypt among the local players with the below KPI’s;
- Customer satisfaction rate = 97%,
- One-hour repair time (Cases repaired within one hour from receiving the device) = 86%,
- Repair Quality (Repeated Repair Rate within 90 days) = 1.09 %
Since introducing the Retailer Empowerment program in July 2019 at our Jaguar and Land Rover show rooms, we have been continually reviewing the program to ensure we have a balanced Customer First offering that delights our customers whilst meeting key business objectives, such as;
- Bring decision making as close to the customer as possible
- Empower markets to be accountable and responsible for their decisions
- Provide a commercially sustainable program that cares for customer and business
6. SUPPLIERS
6.1. Responsible Procurement
Many of our social and environmental impacts are linked to our choice of suppliers. We aim to choose suppliers that share our commitment toward sustainability developments by integrating social and environmental criteria into the selection and management of our suppliers.
Our approach to responsible procurement is structured around three main factors:
- We are responsible buyers
- We buy from responsible suppliers
- We buy responsible products
All our main suppliers are vigorously active with corporate social responsibility in various markets.
7. ENVIROMENT
7.1. Climate Change
We were responsible for planting all the area around our main warehouse in 10th of Ramadan and in addition, the company has worked very closely with the government since 2010 in collecting the rice straw to putting into effect an agro-waste system introduced by the ministry. Instead of burning the rice straw which is considered the main cause of what is known as “the black cloud,” a thick layer of smog from burning rice straw that spreads across Cairo for an extended period of time and emits 80,000 tons of carbon dioxide. The toxic practice of burning rice straw at the end of the harvest season has been reduced yearly by 13-15 percent and almost disappeared in 2017.
7.2. Waste Management
Through our service centers we manage to collect all the defective products from mobiles and home appliances and send them to the manufacturer to be recycled.
7.3. Carbon Emissions
Our Supplier Jaguar and land Rover has implemented low carbon development projects, which created a mechanism for lower CO2 emissions on a global basis partnering with Climate Care which is one of the world’s first and largest organizations in originating, development and retail of voluntary carbon emission reductions.
During 2021, the full electric Jaguar car model was introduced in the local market with the remaining Land Rover electric car models to follow which will reduce carbon emissions contributing positively to climate change and smog, improving public health and reducing ecological damage.
8. COMMUNITIES
8.1. Children’s Right
Focus on eliminating child labor across the MTI chain through; ensuring that the company only employs individuals above the age of 18 years through requesting legal documentation from potential employees. Required documentations include birth certificate, identification documents to ensure no hiring of minors. Also our sales staff are tasked with reporting any form of child labor they encounter at any of the distribution points we deal with.
8.2. Financial Inclusion
Financial inclusion aims to help people access financial services that meet their needs at affordable prices. In 2017, MTI has established Ebtikar Holding for Financial Investments which is a non-banking financial services platform (a joint venture between MTI and B Investments Holding S.A.E- “BINV.CA”) that is invested in microfinance (Basata microfinance), electronic payments (Bee & Masary), leasing, mortgage, factoring and consumer finance (Tamweel Group). Ebtikar is a full-fledged financial services company operating in some of the most underserved sectors in Egypt and contributing to the financial inclusion of the Egyptian people as well as aiding in the digitization of the Egyptian economy.