Packing nothing but a small suitcase, Yussury Kallouche, kissed his wife and young children goodbye with the hopes of coming back to his normal everyday life in Tunisia. The idea of staying in Djibouti longer than a couple of days was not appealing enough to bring his family along.

However, being a strong believer in signs, sports loving Yussury was quickly infected with the love and care of our BMMI Djibouti family.

“The move to Djibouti came at the perfect time for me and it was a sign to leave my home country and join BMMI,” he said. “I felt the need to try something else and the humanitarian and logistics aspect of BMMI Djibouti’s capabilities appealed to me. Plus, the team in Djibouti embraced me as their own. They live the Winning Hearts culture and made my life so much easier.”

His small suitcase turned into boxes and boxes of his precious belongings including his newly born daughter Julia, 3-year-old son Junior and 4-year-old Jude.

Yussury joined the team in January 2017 as the Deputy Country Manager bringing 14 years of experience, from a reputable shipping company, with him. After graduating in 2005, he moved to Saudi Arabia where he became Branch Manager and Key Client Manger before moving back to the Mediterranean and experimenting with logistics, business development, marketing, sales and shipping.

Being a speaker of French, Arabic and English helped Yussury fit into Djibouti like a glove. “You need to realise how strong BMMI is,” he said. “Employees always come first and everything is transparent. We all treat each other with respect and have so much care.”

Yussury has already planned and implemented changes within the team as he believes that although the result may be a failure, as long as you try, the effort and the intention is all that matters.

“Staying stagnant is something I can’t tolerate,” he said. “I am a big believer in transformation and driving changes - if you keep doing something the same way you cannot expect different results; it is necessary to introduce as many changes as possible. People are reluctant to change but the team are very accepting and always give things a go.”

His family are still discovering Djibouti, with the children the most excited with this new cultural haven. They will have plenty more years of discovery as Yussury hopes to be part of BMMI Djibouti’s success for years to come.

“I think there is great potential for future expansion beyond borders! There is great opportunity for growth and development in the African region. We have become a big part of the logistics infrastructure in the region and the future can only be better and I see myself as a part of this future!”