CANADA and partners that have been integral to establishing its position on the mining map . When the company hit financial distress , these suppliers could have been forgiving for parting ways and protecting their own investments , but Banro has been blessed with extremely loyal partners that continue to support the business through thick and thin . “ They know it ’ s difficult but one thing that I said when I came in was , ‘ we are going to pay you , we are not going to run away from our obligations ; we will work this out and establish a plan to move forward together ’,” says Richards . “ I can ’ t speak highly enough about the fact that Banro is still operating today is probably because of our suppliers , and because they allowed us the liberty to work through some challenging times at their expense . I understand that , and I get it and I appreciate it , and I tell them that every chance I get .”
One such partner has been Engen , one of Africa ’ s leading petroleum oil providers and Banro ’ s primary fuel supplier since the company was founded . Richards believes that Engen , as with
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