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Don't try to pin a title on John Coetzer. Even if you could, it wouldn’t stick for more than 10 minutes. That’s actually the way Coetzer likes it. As Otis' representative in Malawi, Coetzer never quite knows exactly what to expect when he awakens in this tall, thin, land-locked republic in east Africa. He may wear a tropical-weight suit for a meeting with an architect on Monday morning and change into coveralls in the afternoon to troubleshoot the machinery at the top of an elevator shaft. He is a salesman dealing with a building owner on Tuesday or a forceful negotiator on Wednesday as he shepherds a pallet of spare parts through customs. As his own chief financial officer, Thursday may bring spreadsheets or meetings with bankers. Coetzer as the purchasing manager may shop for the best buy on Friday’s commodities with the afternoon spent working out the logistics of getting those consumables to Lilongwe, the nation’s capital, 186 miles (300 kilometers) away by often rutted roads. "If you want the cleaner, you call me," Coetzer says. "If you want the salesman, you call me. I definitely like the variety. We (Coetzer, his two Malawian operatives, and his wife, Yolande, who handles all the administrative office chores) are basically on call 24 hours a day, every day." A native South African, Coetzer moved to Malawi 11 years ago after an Otis assignment in Botswana. He arrived in a country with only half a dozen Otis elevators -- all installed in presidential palaces around the country. Malawi's remaining elevators belonged to competitors. Most of them were in the southern city of Blantyre, the country’s "business" capital. Coetzer changed his focus and the market mix by approaching the private sector, suggesting modernization, service or new equipment from Otis. The turnaround has been dramatic. After 11 years, only half a dozen elevators remain that are not Otis. That's in a country with slightly more than 50 elevators, total. The tallest building is 11 stories. Part of the turnaround, Coetzer says, is the result of customer loyalty built on Otis' willingness to remain in Malawi despite periodic economic downturns that have driven competitors out. "It’s not always easy here," Coetzer says. "Many companies seem to move in when there's good times, make promises to stay, then leave as soon as the economy weakens." It is, Coetzer says, a country full of surprises. There are regular power failures, and telephone service suffers in the rainy season (November to May). Roads that are well maintained in the dry season go to pieces again in the wet. There is a daily flight scheduled between Lilongwe and Blantyre, but the schedule may slip based on load factors. "Some days I’m ready to pack up and leave, but the next moment you swear you’d live here forever. At the end of the day, it’s probably one of the best times of my life." Many others rave about Malawi, too. Some call it "the Switzerland of Africa" because of its mountains and rivers. It's known universally as "the Warm Heart of Africa" because of the friendliness of the 11 ethnic groups that make up Malawi's population. "As far as my personal experience goes," Coetzer says, "Malawians must be the friendliest people in Africa. They really want to make you feel welcome in their country and their homes." Perhaps that should not be surprising in a country in which raising your voice in anger is considered extremely rude, and possibly punishable by a fine. It is a beautiful country, too. Lake Malawi (Nyasa Lake) forms more than half of this former British colony’s eastern boundary with Tanzania and Mozambique. Locally, it is called the "Calendar Lake," for good reason, Coetzer says – it is 365 miles (584 kilometers) long and 52 miles (83 kilometers) wide at its widest. An estimated 600 fish species, many of them colorful aquarium varieties, inhabit the lake. The rivers, on the other hand, are home to crocodiles. Birders have built permanent stands along the lakeshore to observe scores of colorful, sub-tropical species. And then there are the snakes. Coetzer says his garden is popular with harmless "house" snakes and red-lipped snakes, but lethal green and black mambas exist, as well as puff adders, lowland vipers and cobras. But Malawi isn't as wild as most people think, according to the 30-year Otis veteran, although the contrasts are huge. There are no wild animals roaming the streets of modern cities like Blantyre and Lilongwe, but a 31-mile (50 kilometers) drive takes you back in time to villages of wattle and daub huts surrounding a central well. There is, Coetzer admits, still a feeling in Malawi of working in a frontier atmosphere requiring "street smarts," common sense, flexibility, and the ability to think quickly on your feet. Take the case of the customer that ordered an elevator, then after it had been built and was on its way to Malawi via Mozambique, admitted there wasn’t enough money to pay for it. Coetzer thought fast. He happened to be competing against other manufacturers for an office-building customer whose main concern was speed of delivery. Normal delivery time was more than 20 weeks. "When I told him I thought I could have his elevator installed in four weeks, he didn’t believe me," Coetzer said. "I explained that he would have to let us decide what size it would be and what it would look like, but we still had a very happy customer, and I didn’t have an unpaid-for-elevator on my hands. "As I said, I like Malawi. It's full of surprises."
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