Video-conferencing replacing costly board meetings

Every month, the management of Mogas Petroleum would hold a board meeting in either Uganda, Tanzania, Congo or Kenya.

The eight executives would spend three days in the host country, accruing hotel bills, the usual per diem and travel costs.

The costs were heavy —getting two representatives from each country would need at least Sh111, 000 each.

Then there was the added problem of jetlag and general body fatigue associated with the frequent travel.

But faced with thinning cash flows due to the recession, the petroleum dealer was forced to look for innovative ways of making decisions and monitoring the companies’ performance while easing the escalating cost of the monthly physical board meetings.

Oil company

The board soon identified video conferencing as a possible solution.

In the last year, the oil company has saved Sh9.5 million using the technology.

“We now physically meet quarterly, since video conferencing offers a good face- to -face platform, not only drastically cutting costs, but also increasing productivity,” said Mr Andrew Omolo, the managing director of Mogas.

Uptake of video conferencing technology has been sluggish due to the high costs of acquiring the internet bandwidth necessary to make the technology work.

A handful of Kenyan organisations —mostly multinational such as the United Nations and the World Bank — have so far been the major beneficiaries of this technology.

For instance, Google Kenya, and Telkom Kenya have video conferencing facilities within their offices.

Analysts say this is primarily due to the low awareness on the advantages of the technology but also the cost of investing in equipment.

But in the long run, companies save on costs, particularly if the frequency of utility is high.

Another immediate result is that decisions are made much faster.