Zain Ali
CEO
Zain Ali, CEO of Centuro Global is both calm and methodical in his approach as a leader which has been tested particularly in 2020. With the onset of the coronavirus the company has remained on target to launch their new technology at the end of the year. Centuro Global was founded with the intention to provide a much-needed solution to key challenges faced by all scaling companies. With that at the forefront of decisions Zain makes for the organization, he is able to ensure that the company never goes off track. “As a lawyer by background working with multinational clients from multiple jurisdictions, I realized that all international projects have a multitude of moving parts with numerous advisers from different disciplines involved,” he explains.
Centuro Global wants to disrupt the professional services market, particularly in relation to international expansion, and contribute to many more successful new market entry projects. The company is launching software that democratizes access to important information and gives corporates and scaling companies more decision-making power, whilst connecting them with key experts and potential partners in over 150 countries.
The year 2020 has imposed considerable challenges for all businesses so it has been important to continue to focus on transformation and change, particularly to innovate new ideas. Since the world has been hit by COVID-19, Zain has been able to push technology to the forefront, and understand new needs that clients will have in order to adapt to the current state of play in the world. Zain’s optimistic and dynamic personality has helped the company adapt through these turbulent times. As an example, Centuro Global has been successful in securing funding from the UK Government’s Future Fund program. This has coincided with the build of the new technology and has helped boost the company to further growth. Zain adds that the criteria was a tough process but the successful outcome boosted morale and gave security to investors. “We believe our software will save companies both time and money and enable them to better make decisions before scaling into particular markets. We have arranged this valuable information in a unique and cohesive way with details of local experts across multiple sectors and industries that are on hand to assist on the ground,” says Zain. “This unparalleled provision of information and expertise provided in an easy to use, online technology platform will enable companies to scale globally without even leaving their homes.”
By way of example, a global engineering company with a government tender to establish a presence and send expatriate workers to work locally in the country, spent six months establishing the local presence before enquiring with Centuro about the rules to transfer employees to Ghana. Having assessed the structure of the company and other evidence, it transpired that the local entity was not able to hire foreign workers due to quota rules. The client had spent several months paying for expensive services to establish a business, only to realise that the structure would not allow them to fulfil their commercial objectives. Zain and his team worked with the client to help find a fast track solution enabling the client to deliver on the contract with minimal disruption to their business.
“Clients often find it challenging to expand into new markets without taking the appropriate tax and legal advice before embarking on this journey. Our platform, will revolutionise the way international business is done and connections made, particularly in a post-COVID world. Our project will offer all preliminary advice and information for any stakeholder in a business responsible for scaling to new markets,” says Zain. “Equipped with this information our end client is empowered with sufficient knowledge to then decide whether expanding into such a market is viable and the likely expenditure.” Each step is broken down into a number of digestible steps covering strategic advice and support to expand. This self-service portal will simplify access to professional services and expertise through a seamless customer journey.
“Our platform, launching in Q4 2020 will revolutionise the process of how companies seek advice and assistance with international expansion particularly in a post-COVID world.”