Founder’s biography
Since July 15, 1967, when I stopped going to school, I’ve been working in a welding workshop, learning to weld. As an apprentice, I was paid 25 francs a day, or 750 francs a month. After two months of apprenticeship, I was paid 50 francs a day, or 1,500 francs a month.
At the end of my third year of apprenticeship, I enrolled at the Centre technique à Abidjan (CETI) Côte d’lvoire. On graduating, I obtained a CAP in boilermaking and welding.
Following my studies, I started working for a company called CAMILLE.
MOTELE as a 4th category worker, with a salary of 75,000 CFA francs. After working there for a year, I moved to CMP in Abidjan in 1972.
I was classified as a 6th category B welder, with a salary of 120,000 CFA francs per month. After two years with CMP (1972-1974), I left the company with the 7th H category.
I was poached by a company based in Gabon with a more attractive salary of 500,000 FCFA per month. In 1975, I landed my bags with a Belgian company that transferred me to a diamond mine in Zaire as a highly skilled worker, where I received a net salary of 2,000,000 FCFA (two million CFA francs) per month, including my travel allowance.
Then, another company based in Zaire, which appreciated my potential and technical skills, hired me to work in Belgium, where I spent six (06) months. Following a disagreement over my salary, which was lower than what I was earning in Zaire, I left the company. I took the train to Lyon (France) via Lille and Paris, arriving at 6am.
I didn’t know anyone there. I ended up in a hostel called “The Salvation Army” where I slept with the homeless. This situation lasted two (02) months. As I had substantial financial resources, I enrolled at a welding school in Lyon (Ecole Louis Gerin à Broto) where I obtained my practical welding qualification by fast-track training. This diploma enabled me to pursue my professional experience in France in 1976 at Ville Barn in a company called BOCCARD.
I must admit that I was poorly paid, between 1,800 and 2,000 French francs, including travel expenses. I worked at BOCCARD until I left Paris in 1977. In addition, Organization Managers were looking for human resources to work in a nuclear power plant in Iraq. I went to Sacley to take the test and was accepted by the FRAMATOM Crosoloire group, which sent me to train at the Paris Welding Institute. I took a practical welding license there. You had to pass this exam to carry out this mission in Iraq. I spent two and a half (02) years in Iraq, from 1977 to 1979.
In Iraq, we built an atomic reactor in Basra. It was after this mission that I returned to Côte d’lvoire towards the end of 1979 to spend a vacation with my family.
I have to say that my stay in IRAQ enabled me to generate savings of nearly 525 million CFA francs, which I saved in a local bank. It was with this money that I built my home in Biétry from 1986 to 1989. I took advantage of the vacations to set up my commercial register and created a company called Etablissement KUYO.
Then I went back to France to work for a few more years, before returning to Côte d’Ivoire in early 1981 to start up Etablissements KUYO.
Initially, there were only three (03) of us in the company. I set myself a salary of 100,000 CFA francs, which I used to pay for fuel. Then I bought myself a bike. For a year, I cycled to the refinery and to work.
A year after winning a few contracts from some customers, I set myself a salary of 250,000 CFA francs a month. Between 1983 and 1990, I earned 1.5 million a month. My staff has grown from three (03) to sixty (60). From 1990 to the present day, my salary has been 5 million a month. The company employs one hundred and sixty (160) permanent staff and an average of forty (40) contract staff.
In the light of the above, I must emphasize that my historical account is far from being a narcissistic attitude, but an exhortation to self-sacrifice, hard work and courage to face life’s ups and downs in order to achieve tomorrow’s goals.
