africa outlook issue 3

Eaton towErs 18

Towering ahead

Ingram mIcro 68

BrightPoint rebranded as Ingram Micro Mobility

FEltEx automotIvE 50

King of the trim

aFrIca outooK IssuE 03 a l s o t H I s I s s u E : o l a m m o ç a m b I q u E | P P m | s E c E q u I P | Z I m P o s t | s u n d r y F o o d s

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EKurHulEnI munIcIPalIty 40

Aerotropolis set for take off

Swakop Uranium’s $2.5 billion Husab mine to create 8,000 Namibian jobs

Husab breaks ground Emerging Namibia-based miner Swakop uranium has started developing the $2.5 billion Husab mine, a move that will create 8,000 Namibian jobs, increase export earnings and taxes, and elevate Namibia past Niger, australia and canada to the second rung on the world ladder of uranium producers.

The project is ambitious and daring and it’ll see the creation of the world’s third-largest uranium mine, with first production in the third quarter of 2015.

on page 16, we talk to grant Marais, Swakop uranium’s Director of communication and Stakeholder Involvement who tells us that the project, which officially kicked off on 18 April, will increase the number of people employed in Namibia’s mining sector by 17 percent.

This month we also look at signs of transformation in South africa’s engineering sector, learn how Nigeria’s Sundry foods is

targeting growth in the quick service industry through its restaurant brand Kilimanjaro, and talk to Bruce layzell, Kfc general Manager for new african markets.

on top of that, we examine BrightPoint’s rebranding as Ingram Micro Mobility, and discover why growing internet use will see Eaton Towers build 250 new transmitter towers this year.

we’ve much, much more inside.

Enjoy the magazine.

W E L C O M E

Ian armitageEditor, Outlook Publishing

EdItorIal Editor: Ian [email protected]

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magaZInE dEsIgn: optic Juice ltdImagEs: gettydIgItal & It: Hamit SakaHElPdEsK: James leMay

outlook Publishingmanaging director: Ben [email protected]: Mark weaver contactafrica outlook / uK22 wensum Street, Norwich, uK, Nr3 1HYsales: +44 (0) 1603 559 551Editorial: +44 (0) 1603 559 144Fax: +44 (0) 1603 559 553

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C O N T E N T S

06N E W Sall the latest news from across africa

08B U S I N E S S

Signs of Transformation in the Engineering Sector

Black engineers are a scarce and critical resource in South african industries

12I N v E S T I N A f r I c A

The role of cities in Africa’s riseThe nature of the business environment

in africa will increasingly demand a far more city-oriented investment approach

mInIng

16S W A k o p U r A N I U m ’ S H U S A B m I N E B r E A k S g r o U N dSwakop uranium has started developing

the $2.5 billion Husab mine

24d T c B o T S W A N A : A c U T A B o v E T H E r E S TIn 2011 De Beers and the Botswana

government signed a ten-year agreement to move the london DTc to Botswana

28I N T o A f r I c A : c A r d N o S E E k S E x p A N S I o Nafrica is undergoing a period of

unprecedented economic growth

32p A r A d I g m S H I f TIs South africa losing its status as the gateway to africa? Not if gauteng-based

multidisciplinary mining consultancy Paradigm Project Management is anything to go by

16

38

88

132

66

108

136

84

114

142

In this issue of Africa Outlook...

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lo cal govErnmEnt

38E k U r H U l E N I S E T f o r T A k E o f f Key to Ekurhuleni Municipality’s 2055 growth and Development Strategy is the

aerotropolis masterplan

tEcHnolo gy

66T o W E r I N g A H E A dafrica outlook talks to alan Harper, the co-founder and cEo of african telecoms

infrastructure firm Eaton Towers

74I N g r A m m I c r oBrightPoint rebranded as Ingram Micro Mobility

agrIculturE

84o l A m m o ç A m B I q U EOlam to build Mozambique’s first roller cotton gin

manuFacturIng

88k I N g o f T H E T r I mAfrica Outlook profiles Feltex Automotive

98T A k I N g T o T H E S k I E S as africa continues to grow, so do its airports says aDB Airfield Solutions Southern Africa’s CEO Manfred Oettl

104W H E E l I N g A H E A dProfile of Autohaus Windhoek, the only distributor of the whole Volkswagen range in Namibia

constructIon

1083 0 N o T o U T ! Murray & Dickson construction celebrates 30 years in business

114E N g I N E E r I N g S U c c E S Safrica outlook talks to Derek weston, the general Manager of Sandton-based civil engineering

contractor Eigenbau

118S T E E l g o I N g S T r o N ga look at South african manufacturer of roof sheeting and cladding Global Roofing Solutions


ProPErty

124k E E p I N g I T I N T H E f A m I ly National real Estate in Bloemfontein manages over 12,000 residential

properties in both the sectional title and property rental portfolios

Fo od & drInK

128I N S I d E k f c africa outlook talks to Bruce layzell, Kfc general Manager New

african Markets

132W H A T A c A T c HNigeria’s Sundry foods is targeting growth in the quick service industry

HEaltHcarE

136A f r I c A N H E A lT H S o l U T I o N S The Hutz brand is synonymous with high

quality hospital equipment

suPPly cHaIn

142f I r S T p A S T T H E p o S Tas Zimbabwe postal company Zimpost continues to evolve we speak to

Managing Director Douglas Zimbango

148T r U S T W o r T H y A N d r E l I A B l ESouth africa’s notoriously high crime rate

is recognised across the world and it presents huge opportunities for firms like Secequip

FInancE

152A o N B E N f I E l d Demand for insurance and reinsurance continues to grow quickly in africa

158E v E N T SEvents from across africa

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N E W S

B u S I N E S S

EVraZ BacK IN BlacK

JSE-listed vertically integrated steel and vanadium slag producer Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium has returned to profit after suffering big losses during 2012.

The group reported an operating profit of R50 million for Q1 2013, which compared to an operating loss of r283 million in the December 2012 quarter.

EBITDa was r124 million, while headline profit hit R30 million for the quarter under review.

Evraz said the turnaround was down to increased sales, higher vanadium prices and significant cost reductions.

revenue increased to r1.4 billion during Q1.

B u S I N E S S

ucHuMI TargETS EaST afrIca ExPaNSIoN

Kenya’s uchumi Supermarkets will open 13 new stores over the next year, chief Executive Jonathan ciano has said.

The firm plans to sell 100 million shares to existing shareholders through a rights issue and cross list its shares on the uganda Securities Exchange, the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange and the rwanda over-the-counter market.

The funds will be used to fuel expansion and

refurbish some of its stores in Kenya.

“In the next one year or so, we plan to open around 13 retail branches across East africa in a bid to competitively and strategically position our business, and these will also require substantial capital spend,” Mr ciano said.

uchumi is East africa’s sole listed retailer and Kenya’s second-largest retail chain by sales.

It has 25 stores in Kenya, uganda and Tanzania.

Mr ciano said transaction advisors had already been appointed to spearhead its proposed cross listing and rights issue.

uchumi has picked and approved faida Investment Bank as the lead transaction advisor and sponsoring stock broker.

S P o r T

EgYPTIaN gIaNTS DrawN TogETHEr IN caf cHaMPIoNS lEaguE

Egyptian giants al ahly and Zamalek have been drawn together in the group phase of the african champions league.

The cairo rivals will play in group a, alongside South africa’s orlando Pirates and debutants ac leopards of congo.

al-ahly defeated Esperance of Tunisia 3-2 over two legs last November to claim a record-extending seventh african title. They’re favourites to win the tournament again this year.

Esperance are in group B with 2008 runners-up coton Sport of cameroon and newcomers Sewe San Pedro of Ivory coast and recreativo libolo of angola.

Egyptian teams are still being forced to play behind closed doors following the Port Said tragedy. It means there will be no fans in four of group a’s matches.

B u S I N E S S

BarloworlD rEPorTS fIrST Half ProfIT

Industrial group Barloworld grew its revenue by 11 percent to r31.3 million in the six months to March, the South african head-quartered multinational firm has reported.

Operating profit rose 14 percent to R1.5 billion, while profits before exceptional items was up 20 percent to r995 million.

cEo clive Thomson said there were “good performances” across many parts of the group.

Barloworld’s operations are split into three divisions – Barloworld Equipment, Barloworld automotive and logistics, and Barloworld Handling.

“It has been a very good performance for the group in the six months to March 2013,” he said. “These strong results have enabled us to raise our interim dividend by 20 percent.”

a highlight of the six months was the performance of Bucyrus, he said.

“The Bucyrus operations have already met expectations in

the period. They actually offset revenue declines in the traditional caterpillar business on the back of a slowdown in mining capital expenditure.”

caterpillar bought mining and machinery group Bucyrus in 2011.

Barloworld is the biggest dealer of caterpillar earth-moving equipment in southern africa. It holds the rights to cat’s Bucyrus business - whose products include trucks and loaders used in mining - in South africa, Botswana and russia.

6

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N E W SB u S I N E S S

SafarIcoM PoSTS fY ProfIT

Kenyan telecoms giant Safaricom has posted a full year profit for the year ended March.

The company said after-tax profits rose 39 percent to Sh17.5 billion off the back of increased revenue flows from voice, M-Pesa and data services.

Its pre-tax profit was up 47 percent to Sh25.5 billion.

overall revenue increased by 16 percent to hit Sh124.3 billion.Safaricom chief executive Bob collymore said a better economic

environment that saw the company reduce costs and increase efficiency was behind the good performance.

“we are happy to have recorded positive growth in all our business,” Mr collymore said.

“The full year results demonstrate our continued strong commercial and financial performance across our service portfolio. These solid results reaffirm our strategy to transform lives through the provision of quality services, delivering the best network in Kenya through our continued investment in technology and deepening financial inclusion, with services such as M-Shwari on the M-Pesa platform.

“Voice remains a major revenue generator and recorded impressive growth of 13 percent and contributed 66 percent to service revenues.”

Safaricom is Kenya’s largest telecommunications firm with a market share of 77.5 percent based on voice traffic.

M-Pesa offers clients the facility of financial transfers and withdrawals via mobile phone operations.

B u S I N E S S

SouTH afrIca’S gDP growTH SlowS In Q1

South africa’s economy, africa’s largest, grew at the slowest pace since 2009 in the first quarter as manufacturing output slumped.

according to Statistics South africa, seasonally adjusted and annualised gross domestic product (gDP) increased by 0.9 percent in the quarter, well below forecasts of a 1.9 percent rise, and falling short of fourth-quarter growth of 2.1 percent.

Negative contributions to the slowdown included the manufacturing industry (-1.2 percent), the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry and the electricity, gas and water industry (each contributing -0.1 of a percentage point).

The news knocked the rand to a four-year low.

N E w S

ParKS Tau PlEDgES r30BN for JoHaNNESBurg INfraSTrucTurE

The city of Johannesburg had budgeted r30 billion for infrastructure development for the next three years, according to city mayor Parks Tau.

“last year I announced that we would be spending over r100 billion on infrastructure over a period of ten years. In pursuance of this objective we have budgeted an amount of r30 billion on new replacement and maintenance of infrastructure, which will be spent over the next three years,” he said in his state-of-the-city address.

The spend would form part of an ambitious public transportation development programme dubbed “freedom corridors”.

“we will introduce transport corridors connecting strategic nodes through an affordable and accessible mass public transit that includes both bus and passenger rail,” Tau explained.

Tau said the roll-out of the Johannesburg broadband network would be completed by the end of May.

“The end of May 2013 will mark the completion of the three year roll-out phase for the Johannesburg Broadband Network, which includes over 900km of fibre infrastructure. The next step is to make access available to the public, integrating the network into the city’s processes and systems, further roll-out our smart metering, introduce intelligent traffic management, and improve public safety and e-health so that residents can enjoy the benefits of living in a smart city. It will stimulate opportunities for the business sector, create more small to medium enterprises, bring business and people together and increase employment opportunities,” he said.

7

T r a N S f O r M a T i O N i N E N g i N E E r i N g

in the Engineering Sector

SigNS Of

Black engineers are a scareand critical resource in South african industries.By Abram Molelemane and

Nicholas Owsley - Fetola


Metallurgy, 111, April 2011, pp.217-224). reason suggests that the apartheid education legacy would have created a ‘lag period’ for aspiring black engineers to register as professionals, as it would have been difficult for them to attain educational benchmarks. These numbers are now slowly making a turnaround.

one only needs to look at the number of candidates for professional engineering status and the picture brightens, as some 47 percent of candidates are black. Broadening the assessment, the percentage of candidate engineering technologists who are black is at 72 percent and the proportion of black students enrolling for engineering degrees and diplomas has risen to above 60 percent (EcSa

here is a common thread in arguments about the status of engineering in South africa: that there are

simply not enough black engineers. research shows that black engineers make up only 14 percent of South africa’s professional engineers (those registered with the Engineering council of South africa). This sub-par representation, however, does not tell the whole story.

Prior to 1992, there were no formally registered black engineers whatsoever (cruise, J. a. (2011) The gender and racial Transformation of Mining Engineering in South africa, The Journal of The Southern African Institute of Mining and

Transformation

b u S i N E S S

(2013) Member Statistics-March 2013). Despite these improvements, the representation of black society in the engineering industry still has room to grow and a look at the industry as a whole bears some worrying signs.

according to 2005 figures used by the Engineering council of South africa, there is only one engineer for every 3,100 people in South africa. This is one tenth of the number of engineers in developed countries: in the united Kingdom the number is one for every 310, in germany it is 200, and in Brazil, a country to which South africa is often compared due to its middle-income status, you will find an engineer for every 227 people. furthermore, the representation of women in

the industry is highly disconcerting (only three percent of registered professional engineers in South africa are women).

Despite these challenges, however, many companies have taken it upon themselves to improve the situation. among them is lesedi consulting Engineering, a black-owned KwaZulu Natal based engineering firm. Since its inception in 2010, the company has been creating employment and offering mentorship and hands-on experience to engineering students to help them complete their studies.

“we are aware of the imbalances in our country, and because of that our company has a special focus on social development and resolving

these issues, especially of gender imbalance,” explains Managing Member Theo wilcox, who founded the company alongside Sibusiso Mncube and clyde Pellew.

according to wilcox, 40 percent of lesedi’s permanent employees are women (significantly above the industry average) whilst 70 percent are youth. He says that lesedi consulting Engineering has always had a keen interest in employing women and youth, following a clear mandate to redress historical imbalances in South africa.

However black engineers still face a number of challenges in the industry and wilcox notes that his own experiences as a black engineer, making his way in an industry that


Transformation

10 www.aFRICaoutlookmag.Com

has also seen a drastic increase in its turnover since the 2010/2011 financial year, proving that capable black-owned engineering firms can certainly make an impact in the industry.

what makes their commitment to youth development so remarkable is that the business itself is only three-years old, and most of its senior management could be classified as ‘Youths’ themselves. The example that lesedi, as a small and growing firm, is setting lays down the gauntlet to more established firms in the industry to turn their far deeper pool of resources towards development and transformation.

lesedi’s case is not isolated. Other small firms like the AM Group, which was registered in 2008 and whose employees consist entirely of black engineers under the age of 30, are featuring more regularly on the South african engineering landscape. “There are a number of small black-owned firms emerging in

has been slow to transform, includes a number of cases of discrimination and favouritism.

one of the reasons behind the low number of black engineers in South africa is the lack of mentorship opportunities and of the right support structures for young up-and-coming engineers. The 2012 Infrastructure Sector research Survey (South african Institute of civil Engineering (2012) pp. 44-49), a survey of 75 companies in the infrastructure sector (including major engineering and construction firms), found that graduate hiring and training programmes were sorely needed to get talent into the industry.

In the absence of formal support structures, firms like Lesedi have taken responsibility for giving young black engineers the opportunity to excel in the industry. The firm provides training opportunities to students from higher learning institutes, and has converted a number of these to full-time employment positions. The company

T r a N S f O r M a T i O N i N E N g i N E E r i N g

We are aware of the imbalances

in our country, and because of

that our company has a special

focus on social development and

resolving these issues, especially of gender imbalance”

11www.aFRICaoutlookmag.Com

the (engineering) industry, and the competition is growing quite quickly,” explains aM group’s founder, anda Maqanda. He notes that the aM group, which specialises in overhead electrical power line construction and renewable energy, regularly competes with over 20 other proposals from small firms for any project management opportunities that arise. “That said, the barriers to entry of creating a credible, multi-faceted engineering consultancy are high, so many of the smaller operators either merge with others or partner when it comes to submitting tenders. we have done that to our advantage in the past as well, but are now in a position to be able to offer a full spectrum of services as we have grown significantly.”

Transformation in the industry is not only happening at an SME level; some of the infrastructure giants have also made major in-roads in transformation. Murray and roberts, an historically white firm, now has a BBBEE level 3 rating and is involved in a number of BEE initiatives. group five, another of South africa’s major construction firms, has a BBBEE rating of level 2 and has seen the representation of black employees in middle-management double between 2006 and 2012.The company Vision clearly states that the firm is ‘working towards sustainable and relevant company transformation’.

The government too has shown intent to spur growth and transformation in the industry. In 2001 the Department of Education made a commitment to increase the proportion of higher education enrolments in engineering, science and technology from 25 to 30 percent, and within this to grow the percentage of black engineering students. Since 2001 this change has taken place and the proportion now exceeds 30 percent, whilst the percentage of black

engineering students has also grown (advice and Monitoring Directorate council on Higher Education, (2009) The State of Higher Education in South Africa. Higher Education Monitor, No. 8). The total number of engineering graduates from higher education institutions increased from only 3 100 to almost 10 000 between 2000 and 2010 (Seggie, E. (2012) Sa’s Engineering Shortage widens).

The new impetus from government and the growth of small, civic-minded youth- and black-empowered firms appears to be pushing South africa’s engineering sector in the right direction. These changes, and the increased output of engineering graduates, are providing much needed skills to tackle South africa’s infrastructure and transformation demands, but comparisons to developed and even developing countries show that we still have some way to go.

about the authorsAbram Molelemane is a third year journalism student at the Tshwane University of Technology. He has written for various publications such as Wealthwise magazine and Reckord newspaper. In 2011 he was nominated for the Reckord print journalist of the year award. He is currently a media officer at Fetola.

Nicholas Owsley graduated from the University of Cape Town in 2012 with Honours in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. His research paper, ‘ The Occupy Movement: a Polanyian Analysis of Contemporary Dissent’, was published as a working paper for the Centre of Social Science Research in December 2012. He has since moved into the world of Enterprise Development and is currently working as a Business Intern at Fetola.

b u S i N E S S

T h E r O L E O f C i T i E S i N a f r i C a ’ S r i S E


THE rolE of

cITIESIN AfrIcA’S

i N v E S T i N a f r i C a

with a population of one billion and an economy likely

to double in size from $2 trillion to $4 trillion before 2025, africa

has quickly emerged as the next economic driver for the

global economy. Writer Ian Armitage

hile the success of africa’s rise is well-founded, a far more granular approach to grasping the nuances

and realising the opportunities is essential – according to accountancy giant KPMg. It says this goes “beyond country-by-country assessments” and that a deeper assessment of “this economic energy and growth” reveals that it will be “largely driven by africa’s emerging cities”.

The nature of the business environment in africa will increasingly demand a far more city-oriented investment approach, it believes.

“close to three quarters of african people will be living in african cities by 2050. african cities and megacities already have a larger population than all of Europe,” says De Buys Scott, KPMg Head of global Infrastructure and Projects group in africa, who notes that we cannot afford to ignore cities.

while boosting strategic infrastructure is more than just the role of cities, the KPMg report The Role of Cities in Africa’s Rise, makes clear the importance of the rise of the urban economy in africa.

“There’s greater growth of urbanisation in africa than anywhere else in the world. over 50 percent of the african population is already urbanised, and expected to grow to approximately 70 percent in the foreseeable future. Historically, city infrastructure has been viewed in silos – with cities looking at projects on a one to one basis where they would just build a hospital or a school or a road or power station. with so much pressure on the cities, as a result of this massive urbanisation, it is critical to assess their infrastructure needs from a much broader perspective. cities have to consolidate all the infrastructure needs and must develop the measurement tools to



assist them in prioritising their capital allocation that will lead to long-term sustainable cities,” adds Scott. “Cities play a very significant role in attracting investment”.

It is though, not just about the investment, it is about the capacity of cities to manage this investment. Sound financial and urban planning expertise is critical to appeasing the financial community that their investments are being well managed, KPMg says.

cities are quickly becoming the “economic engines of entire national economies” and they need the “tools to deliver a product that can withstand the test of time”.

while cities bring with them great economic growth prospects and coordinated development, it says they are “not void of challenges”. The role of urbanisation as the most significant driver of the economies of countries

There’s greater growth of urbanisation in Africa than anywhere else in the world.

Over 50 percent of the African population is already urbanised,

and expected to grow to approximately 70 percent in the

foreseeable future”

T h E r O L E O f C i T i E S i N a f r i C a ’ S r i S E

The Central Market in Kinshasa

Nigerian Naira


cannot be denied, but it can also play one of the most divisive roles in society, the report says.

David o’Brien, global lead of KPMg’s cities centre of Excellence warns that “there is a tenuous balance between opportunity and despair” when it comes to the “implications of massive urbanisation”.

“we have to be very careful to balance the needs of all of the residents of our megacities. we must not marginalise whole segments of our society for the sake of economic gain. If we do, we run the real risk that the cost of dealing with our marginalised population will, in the end, consume all of the benefits of urbanisation. cities should never be about size – they should be about quality of life,” says o’Brien.

The report notes that only three african cities – lagos, cairo and Kinshasa – fall within the true

definition of ‘megacities’, a category of cities with populations of 10 million or more. But this is likely to change in the near future, with at least six other cities expected to join the megacity class in the next 20-30 years.

o’Brien believes that it is important “to step back now and assess how we want these cities to develop in order to use their potential to drive the economic and social expectations of africa”. He also believes that, in this process, the role of the medium-sized city versus the megacity should be properly unpacked and understood.

Kobus fourie, Head of the South african cities centre of Excellence, concludes: “one should take into account the diversity and maturity of the different African cities. Some of them are emerging/new cities, some of them are existing fast-growing cities and, very importantly, some of them are becoming mature cities – all with related but different urbanisation pressures. There is no one easy solution for all cities.”

To learn more visit www.kpmg.com.

i N v E S T i N a f r i C a

Egyptian woman peruses costumes in a

market place Cairo

General view of congested traffic in central Lagos

S W a k O p u r a N i u M

World’s third-largest

Swakop uranium has started developing the $2.5 billion Husab mine near Swakopmund,

the third-largest known primary uranium deposit on the planet.

Writer Ian Armitage

Project manager Debbie Clark


M i N i N g

merging Namibia-based miner Swakop uranium’s Husab mine has the potential to transform the nation. It

will create thousands of jobs, increase export earnings and taxes and will elevate Namibia past Niger, australia and canada to the second rung on the world ladder of uranium producers.

The project is ambitious and daring. It’ll see the creation of the world’s third-largest uranium mine, with first production in the third quarter of 2015.

It will reach 15 million pounds per annum of nameplate production by 2017.

“The project officially kicked off on 18 april but we actually broke ground in october last year,” says grant Marais, Swakop uranium’s Director of communication and Stakeholder Involvement. “Several contracts have been awarded, bulk earthworks have commenced, construction on the temporary road to the Husab mine is well under way, Nampower has approved guaranteed power supply for the mine and the first water from the temporary pipeline was delivered from the reservoir near rossing into a newly-built pond on the Husab mine.”

The project’s 8km uranium mineralisation has been confirmed as the highest-grade granite-hosted uranium deposit in Namibia and one of the world’s most significant discoveries in decades.

“Swakop uranium was established in 2006 to explore, evaluate, develop and produce uranium oxide as a source of fuel for low cost, environmentally-friendly, nuclear power,” says Marais. “Husab will be one of the largest and most efficient uranium mines in the world.”

The Husab area was targeted as an exploration area of interest in 2006-07. Swakop uranium has since completed more than 800km of combined reverse-circulation and diamond core drilling.

Based on the definitive feasibility study, Husab is being developed as a low-risk, conventional, large-scale load-and-haul open pit mine, feeding ore to a conventional agitated acid leach process plant.

The mine has a potential life of more than 20 years, with uranium resources of at least 280,000 t. The forecast ore grade at Zones 1 and 2 is 518 parts per million, while the total ore resource is more than 242,000 tonnes.

“The Husab mine should take roughly three years to build, which means that commissioning activities will start in the third quarter of 2015,” says Marais, who is confident the project will be completed on time. “at the end May we will be 25 percent complete, so it is progressing well. It is all systems go really.”

Several high value contracts have already been awarded to the likes of Basil read Namibia, who are building the 22.5km permanent access road that connects the mine to the main road.

“at the moment we have issued about 52 contracts of which 40 percent in value has gone to Namibian registered companies.”

while Swakop uranium had toyed with partnering on the project - and even considered joining forces with the well-established rossing uranium mine in terms of production - it eventually decided to go it alone.

“after looking at the numbers we decided to go solo and we will operate independently. while initially it is a lot of capital it is much better long-term,” says Marais.

Some 2,000 permanent jobs will be created and an additional 6,000 temporary construction jobs. This will increase the number of people employed in Namibia’s mining sector by 17 percent.

“It will create many, many jobs,” says Marais. “They’ll be direct and indirect. when it comes to indirect jobs, it’ll be thousands more.”




tHE Husab ProjEct joInt vEnturE

The Husab Project Joint Venture (HPJV), comprising of aMEc and Tenova Bateman, is executing the contract for engineering, procurement and construction management (EPcM) of Swakop uranium’s Husab Project. The HPJV is responsible for project management, engineering, procurement and construction.

aMEc and Tenova Bateman’s complimentary skills and experience make a great partnership for successful delivery of the Husab Project, and through aMEc’s involvement in the lead-up to the execution phase of the mine, HPJV has developed a strong sense of ownership in Husab.

aMEc is a focused supplier of consultancy, engineering and project management services to its’ valued customers in the world’s Mining, oil & gas, clean Energy, and Environment & Infrastructure markets.

Tenova Bateman, a Tenova Mining & Minerals company, provides comprehensive services for new process plants and brownfield upgrades, covering a wide range of commodities and which are tailored to both large and small projects. Tenova Bateman’s engineering and EPcM skills have been proven on some of the most exacting mineral resource projects, in the most difficult of terrains.

HPJV is striving to successfully deliver the Husab Project, in line with Swakop uranium’s strategic business objectives - safely, on time and on budget, and equally importantly, adhering to the environmental requirements imposed by the construction of a major mining development within a National Park.

HPJV recognises the contribution the Husab mine will make to the Namibian economy, and co-operation with local businesses in terms of employment opportunities and procurement processes is an important part of HPJV’s involvement in the Husab Project.

www.amec.com

www.tenovagroup.com

Employment is one of the most critical things in Namibia right now, with unemployment sitting at 27 percent. Job creation is a key government driver.

“Besides helping to make Namibia the second-largest uranium producer in the world, Husab is set to boost the country’s exports by 20 percent and will boost gDP by five percent per annum,” says Marais. “and with that ‘second-largest’ tag, it is important to explain what that actually means. Being second, in itself, isn’t important for us. what is important is the volume of uranium that we are pushing out and then earning foreign exchange on. That is critical for me.”

He’s obviously proud to be involved in such a project.

“I am, and we firmly believe that our reputation will not only be measured on our exploration, mining activities and contribution to the economy, but will be affected by the manner in which we conduct ourselves through our interaction with the broader community and the environment. we’ve invested accordingly and have committed to several social and empowerment initiatives.”until april last year, Swakop uranium was a 100 percent subsidiary of Extract resources, an

Construction of the temporary water pipeline commenced late last year

and flowing water has been available on site as

of 17 February

HPJVHUSAB PROJECT JOINT VENTURE



BASIL READ – actIvE across bordErs

Basil read is a JSE-listed company and a leader in the South african construction sector. It has a proven track record and its subsidiary companies are active in the areas of civil engineering, road construction, building, mixed integrated housing developments, property development, bitumen distribution, opencast mining, blasting operations and engineering design, procurement and construction management. The group operates throughout africa. The Group has been awarded a number of significant projects. worthy of mention are:

St Helena airport project, St Helena Island

Husab uranium Mine road project, Swakopmund, Namibia

Extension of drilling project at Jwaneng Mine, Botswana

US$32,5 million, TWP offices at Melrose Arch, Johannesburg

tel (011) 418 6466www.basilread.co.za

australian company listed on the australian, canadian and Namibian stock exchanges. Then however Taurus Minerals limited of Hong Kong – owned by china general Nuclear Power company uranium resources and the china-africa Development fund - became the new owners, following a successful takeover and subsequent delisting of Extract resources. and in November, the Namibian state-owned mining company, Epangelo, and Swakop Uranium finalised an agreement for a 10 percent stake in Swakop uranium in a deal valued at N$1,882 billion.

“The Husab Project has been brought to this stage of development in record time by a dedicated and professional management team, engineers and staff,” says Marais. “I think we have communicated a few times that more than N$1 billion has already been spent to get the project to its current state and a further N$20 billion will be required to develop the mine alone.

“local government and the general population constantly question why foreigners own the majority of the mines. The reality is that mining is extremely capital intensive and ordinary people and government are unable to expend the huge sums needed to start up mines and carry massive exploration costs. So, potentially, you end up with a situation where the ore deposits won’t be mined because there is limited capital or expertise to invest in mining. This is the role that foreigners play. By investing in mining the mines will obviously need to be able to create wealth locally as well

nEw concEPt ProjEcts New concept Projects through a joint venture agreement with Astec Osborn offers new grinding mills to clients situated across the globe.

our latest project involves the mill supply to the prestigious Swakop uranium, Husab Project. The scope of supply includes one (1) 36x19.5ft, 13 500kw Dual Drive Sag Mill and one (1) 22x34ft, 8500kw Dual Drive Ball Mill. Both mills will operate with VVVf Drives and share a liner handler. NcP’s scope includes mill supply, delivery to site, installation and commissioning. once installed, the Sag Mill will be amongst the largest gear driven mills in the world.

tel 087 353 6791Email [email protected]

Namibia’s Mines and Energy Minister, Isak Katali and China General Nuclear Power Group (CGNPC) Chairman HE Yu officiated at the Husab Mine ground breaking ceremony on 18 April 2013.

M i N i N g


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so that local people will benefit and participate – and not just through royalties and taxes etc. Some shareholding has to be held by local government, whilst the controlling interest must be held by the commercial partner risking the capital. governments should be left to creating an enabling environment as the commercial aspects of building and running a mine are best left to big business. a relationship where government work alongside investors and share in capital growth through some shareholding with limited risk I regard as the best commercial mix possible. In addition public and staff shareholding should be encouraged to create a sense of ownership in the utilisation of resources. I regard this as a great result.

“we must be careful that the return on investment for the investors is still attractive after shareholding has been diluted due to local participation, otherwise they will seek alternative more profitable destinations.”

an important aspect for Swakop uranium is to secure supply for the chinese nuclear industry. “I believe that the chinese, through their investments in mines will be able to supply

IN a NuTSHEllEstimated capital cost: N$ 20-billion

($ 2.3 billion)

34 months from go ahead to hot commissioning

N$7.3 billion ($850 million) per year contribution to Namibian exports

The Husab mine will produce about 15Mlb u3o8 per year

Mining reserve: 320Mlb u3o8 (august 2011)

Estimated life of mine: 20 years plus

Grant Marais at the temp water ceremony

First water to flow in February through the

temp water pipeline

M i N i N g


CORPORATEConsultants to the Mining Industry, Project

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sufficient uranium to feed their reactors on an ongoing basis,” says Marais. “what I believe is that, through the use of nuclear power and through mining uranium in Namibia, we are ultimately reducing co2 emissions and are saving an energy hungry world from global warming. There are a lot of people that are anti-nuclear, which club I am not a member of. I firmly believe nuclear power must form an integral part of the energy mix and supply clean base load power for all countries worldwide. If the chinese get to 10 percent nuclear mix (which is a far off target) it would do a tremendous amount for the planet in terms of co2 emissions.”

The engineering, procurement and construction management (EPcM) contract for Husab has been awarded to the Husab Project Joint Venture, comprising the international engineering and project management companies aMEc, and Tenova Bateman (sub-Saharan africa). aMEc will act as lead on all Husab Project Joint Venture activities and will hold specific responsibility for project management and engineering, with responsibilities for procurement and construction management to be shared with the joint venture partner.

To learn more visit www.swakopuranium.com.

D i a M O N D T r a D i N g C O M p a N y b O T S W a N a

the rest

a cut

In 2011 De Beers and theBotswana government signed a ten-year agreement to move the london DTc to Botswana.Writer Ian Armitage

Project manager Debbie Clark

otswana has experienced a serious resurgence of mining activity, with more discoveries seemingly

every month.Speaking with me in 2012, charles

Siwawa, cEo of the Botswana chamber of Mines, said the minerals sector of the country was flourishing and that “exploration for a wide variety of minerals is active and several new minerals projects were launched during last year.”

Botswana, he said, is a country “getting back to its feet” following the disastrous effects of the 2008 global economic meltdown.

“The downturn in the global economy commencing 2008 has had serious repercussions on the mining sector in Botswana,” Siwawa explained. “The industry went into

a lull with some companies closing down whilst others retrenched staff all in an effort to reduce costs and weather the storm. I think since 2010 however the economic landscape has been changing, picking up, to the extent that in July 2011 we had the highest world record sales of diamonds from Botswana. That has tailed off slightly in terms of production and we are not yet back to the pre-2008 crisis levels but we are certainly producing diamonds and the economy is picking up.”

Diamonds are of course a girl’s best friend; they’re Botswana’s too. and in august last year, De Beers began rough stone sorting in the country, a first step in its transfer from London to gaborone.

rough stone sorting or aggregation operations had previously been based in london for nearly 80 years.


above

M i N i N g

a cut

De Beers Chief Executive Officer Philippe Mellier said it was the first step in a process that should be complete by the end of 2013.

The move will transform Botswana into a leading international centre, with Botswana and De Beers signing a 10-year deal to move its rough stone sorting and trading division from london to gaborone in September 2011.

under the deal, Botswana will, for the first time, directly sell 10 percent of gem stones manufactured locally while De Beers will also increase the value of diamonds it makes available to manufacturing companies in the country to $800 million a year from the current $550 million.

Minerals Minister, Ponatshego Kedikilwe, said at the time it has long been the aim of the government to have diamonds from Botswana processed, sorted, marketed and sold in Botswana.

“The fact that the Diamond Trading company (DTc) in Botswana will rough stone sort locally is a huge milestone,” Siwawa told me. “from the point of view of what it’ll do for the country, we believe it is going to inject a significant amount of money into the economy, while we’ll get increased tax yields from the sale of diamonds in this country and also you’ll have a number of secondary industries growing from this move.”

He was excited. He said the whole country is. “There is definitely optimism in Botswana. There is lots of exploration taking place for all kinds of minerals. we’ve coal reserves that are deemed to be the second largest in africa, behind only to South africa and we have another new copper/nickel mine that will be opening in the western part of the country that will have a minimum of a 30-year life.

There will be more exploration and we’re certainly expecting more mines to open.”

on its website, DTc Botswana says its purpose is to “make aggregated diamond mixes available for sale in Botswana for local manufacturing” adding, “This will support the government’s economic vision to drive job creation and value creation from the country’s diamond resources.”

“as part of establishing DTc Botswana, a new building was constructed with a total capacity to process 45 million carats and to accommodate up to 600 employees,” the website continues. “It incorporates state-of-the-art sorting equipment, designed and manufactured by the De Beers group. The building project was delivered at the end of 2007 and was occupied in March 2008, at a cost in excess of P471 million, paid for by


Imag

e: ©

De

Beer

s


De Beers. The company is equipped with the latest state-of-the-art sorting machinery at a cost of P18 million.”

Speaking in March, DTc Botswana’s Managing Director Tabake Kobedi said the DTc relocation would transform the SaDc region.

“we pride ourselves in being the world’s largest sorting and valuing facility responsible for all Debswana’s production and we see ourselves as a centre of excellence for sorting and valuing diamonds,” Mr Kobedi said.

He added that DTc would sell a majority of this production to De Beers and the balance to a new government appointed sales outlet - okavango Diamonds company.

The relocation of DTc is expected to bring more foreign Direct Investment and create additional employment in the local cutting and polishing industry. It would also result in a great inflow of diamond industry expertise,

D i a M O N D T r a D i N g C O M p a N y b O T S W a N a

The company

is equipped with the latest

state-of-the-art sorting

machinery at a cost of P18

million”

Diamonds will be sorted in Botswana from December

The migration from London to Gaborone will see about $6 billion in diamonds being sold in Botswana

Images: © DTC Botswana


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technology, personnel and leading business, especially when De Beers International Sales, aggregation and related functions are transferred to gaborone by December this year.

He said DTc Botswana sightholders have grown from 16 to 21 in the past year, creating 3,500 jobs and that an additional P200 million has been put aside to spend on extending the existing DTc buildings in Botswana.

“It is a ground-breaking business move that will change the history of Southern africa, it will bring international sales, as well as aggregation and supply chain functions, to Botswana by the end of 2013,” explained Executive Vice President, De Beers global Sightholder Sales, Varda Shine in 2012. “This will result in an influx of skills and technology to the country. we hope to establish Botswana as the diamond hub of the 21st century.”

The migration from london to gaborone will see about $6 billion in diamonds being sold in Botswana.

South africa and Namibia will continue selling locally produced diamonds, while canada’s output would be sold in Botswana.

To learn more visit www.dtcb.co.bw.

M i N i N g

C a r D N O b E C


africa:I N T o

Cardno seeks expansion

M i N i N g


africa is undergoing a period of unprecedented economic growth and is increasingly catching

the attention of foreign investors who have contributed to a rapid increase in capital expenditure.

In fact, it’s nothing new - foreign direct investment in africa has been on the rise since the early 2000s, increasing fivefold in 2000-2010.

It is the real deal and the continent’s economic outlook for 2013 and 2014 is promising, confirming its healthy resilience to internal and external shocks and its role as a growth pole in an ailing global economy.

africa’s economy is projected to grow by 4.8 percent in 2013 and accelerate further to 5.3 percent in 2014.

“Now is the time for africa,” says Bruce Johnson, area Manager/Manager New Projects, cardno BEc, the head of project development, service and business development within the cardno BEc engineering team. “we agree that africa’s potential is huge; there are fantastic opportunities in africa. Its large reserves of undeveloped mineral resources are in demand and in that there is opportunity.”

cardno BEc is part of Brisbane-based environmental and engineering consulting services company cardno limited. cardno, with its large project history in africa, strong infrastructure capabilities, and prior experience working with government policy makers around the world, is uniquely positioned to provide the services to help africa fulfil its potential, says Johnson.

“cardno has been in africa for many decades; it is not a new market for us. The opportunity we see at the moment is taking advantage of the large gDP growth. a lot of countries are seeing five percent plus growth and much of that is on the back of revenues from

mining activities and that is work we have focused on.”

right now africa has taken centre stage as a “bastion of opportunity”, he adds. It is rapidly emerging as a destination of choice for many investors and developers as they look for high-growth markets.

“More focus is going onto africa,” says Johnson. “we have the experience there, we aren’t tied to a specific type of mining or extraction process, and we aren’t limited in the scope of what we can do. The opportunity is much, much larger than what we have seen in australia and so the potential is huge. we’re excited by it.”

The focus isn’t just on mining.“we have capability in infrastructure

and utilities etc. and one area that we have high on our agenda is power - transmission systems and large power stations. They have to be built to cater for the increasing development. There are also port and rail facilities that are going in, and need to go in. Now is the time for cementing africa’s potential and delivering on that. It represents huge opportunity.”

Johnson believes cardno BEc and other Australian firms can compete successfully against the likes of the chinese for work in resource rich africa.

“It’s a big world and we have been up against competitors across the global for a long time,” he explains. “we have succeeded in the international market place based on the quality of what we have to offer and our competitiveness.

We agree that Africa’s potential is

huge; there are fantastic opportunities in Africa”

africa is undergoing a period of unprecedented

economic growth and this represents huge

opportunities says Bruce Johnson, area Manager/Manager New Projects,

cardno BEc.Writer Ian Armitage

Project manager James Mitchell

C a r D N O b E C


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“I think also we have a lot of experience in working in remote areas, being australian. australia has low population density and the mines are far remote from any cities or population centres. That capability of constructing and operating facilities in remote locations is one of the advantages that australian companies have. Now whether that will remain an advantage for long who’s to say but for the moment it is certainly helping.

“one thing we know for sure is that cardno BEc has a proven capability across all aspects of electrical engineering in the mining and resources sector, an area into which we have been expanding for some time and so we are optimistic.”

africa isn’t without its challenges. “one of the main things investors

want to see is more transparency,” says Johnson.

cardno BEc is currently working on Toronto-listed Endeavour Mining corp’s agbaou gold project in the Ivory coast, which remains on track for completion by the end of the year.

“The other project that we are on the ground with is the grande côte Mineral Sands Project in Senegal. That is a good sized project for us.”

This is a good time for cardno and the firm recently projected net Profit after Tax of between $73 million and $77 million for the year ending 30 June 2013.

It said all its divisions, BEc included, were “trading profitably”.

“The geographic and discipline diversity of cardno’s global businesses continues to underpin the company’s performance by reducing risk and volatility of earnings. However, cardno is not immune to challenging conditions in its major markets. Economic conditions continue to affect

demand for our services worldwide,” said cardno Managing Director andrew Buckley.

“The last 12 months have been an interesting period,” says Johnson. “like any other engineering company we have been subject to the drop in capital projects in the mining industry as well as general infrastructure and construction industry and that has happened around the world. In australia, there have been delays in investment decisions and projects and the mining sector has slowed, with non-essential work being halted or delayed. Infrastructure is also down. cardno does have a lot of work in the u.S. though. It does probably 50 percent of its work in there and they have been doing a lot better as the economy has gotten better, seeing an improvement in the demand for private sector infrastructure.

M i N i N g


“There have been ups and downs,” he adds. “The general construction industry in australia has been down and Europe has been quiet through all the structural changes over there. So, we have been lucky that we’ve had the U.S. to balance that off against.”

a bright future is on the cards however.

“cardno has a fairly aggressive expansion plan,” says Johnson. “That’ll require getting involved in larger projects with some joint ventures with various contractors and other engineering companies. I think you’ll see us getting involved in the larger projects. There’s a lot of work in South america for the world cup and olympic games coming up and cardno has hopes to get significant work out of that; I know they have already got some work up in that area.

“as well as africa, I think there will be a lot of expansion into asia. It is a strategic area. another area is canada, boosting our work there. a lot of that is mining focused.”

Historically cardno has been aggressive in pursuing growth through acquisitions, having bought nearly 40 smaller companies in the past 15 years. It acquired BEc in 2011.

As well as Africa, I think there will be a lot of expansion into Asia. It is a

strategic area”

cardno BEc is an established engineering company providing a wide range of support services to the mining, mineral processing, industrial, petrochemical and utility sectors.

With offices in Western Australia (Perth), Queensland (Brisbane) and in Tanzania (Dar es Salaam) it has been maintaining a presence in the mining and minerals processing industry since establishing the business in 1996.

Services cover the entire range from feasibility studies through to turnkey packages. It has proven capability across all aspects of electrical, instrument, control, communications and power generation with a dedicated team of qualified, skilled and experienced engineers, technicians, programmers, draftspersons and site support staff.

To learn more visit www.cardno.com.

p a r a D i g M p r O j E C T M a N a g E M E N T

S H I f T

Is South africa losing its status as the gateway to africa? Not if gauteng-based

multidisciplinary mining consultancy Paradigm Project Management is

anything to go by. africa outlook talks to Jeremy clarke.

Writer Ian Armitage

Project manager James Mitchell


paradigm

M i N i N g

ontrary to concerns that, when it comes to mining, South africa is losing its status as the

gateway to africa, recent research has found that South african companies that support the mining sector beyond the country’s borders have in fact expanded.

In One Thing Leads to Another: Promoting Industrialisation by Making the Most of the Commodity Boom in sub-Saharan Africa, Mike Morris and David Kaplan of the university of cape Town, along with open university’s raphael Kaplinsky, provide the most up to date information on companies that service or supply the mining sector, and on the developers of patents.

according to the book, these companies have benefited from the increased demand and the expansion of projects by South african-based mining companies, particularly with regard to expansion into sub-Saharan africa.

one such company is gauteng-based multidisciplinary mining consultancy Paradigm Project Management (PPM).

The company was founded in 2006 and in a short space of time has built up a substantial client base and has delivered on an impressive array of projects.

“PPM operates in the sub-Saharan mining industry and this has seen major changes in the last nine months,” says Director Jeremy clarke. “The current state of the industry varies from country to country. South africa, for instance, is

seeing a contraction of the industry due to low commodity prices and high labour demands. It is likely that more mines will close or reduce production levels in an attempt to try to balance the books, and investment in new projects is limited due to the uncertain future. The wage negotiation season has started and this could cause even more problems for mining companies, in that there is significant potential for unrealistic wage demands driven as much by union rivalry as the need to reduce the poverty gap.

“other countries however have a major opportunity because of this uncertainty in South africa and PPM is seeing real opportunities in lesotho, Botswana, Namibia and the Democratic republic of congo. New work acquired by PPM since the start


paradigm


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rMcE has core skills internally and established strategic relationships with other specialists that cover a broad spectrum of services that are required for most infrastructure and mining developments.

our services range from conceptual and feasibility Studies through to Project Execution for various mining houses, project management and consulting companies within the mining industry.

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of 2013 includes guinea and Sierra leone, and it is likely that this geographical diversity will increase over the next few years.”

He described 2012 as a “mixed bag”.“The last 12 months have been good in parts. The first six months of 2012 saw our highest turnover since inception seven years ago. However, after the Marikana disaster, the southern african mining industry in which we operate has seen some significant downturns. This led to a reduction in PPM revenues in the second half of the 2012/3 financial year (end february 2013).

“Since the start of 2013, work has again increased and the future is looking strong at present. In recent years we’ve completed a number of feasibility studies: for the afema Project for Taurus gold; the expansion project at Sierra rutile; and the Zandrivierspoort magnetite project for Kumba Iron ore. Projects have also included a pre-feasibility study for the Zonnebloem coal Project for xstrata, ongoing operational readiness studies for Kumba Iron ore, a sinter plant study for united Manganese of Kalahari, and tantalite EPcM mine expansion in Mozambique.”

PPM has also recently been appointed as the owner’s Team Engineers for Kalagadi Manganese.

“we’ve secured work beyond South africa’s borders. The main challenges for PPM is to acquire experienced project personnel such as project


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Industrial


managers, project controls managers and planners. The mining industry is not seen as “sexy” by young people and there is a dearth of talent coming through the system.”

So what makes PPM different? It has a few unique qualities. “PPM is a project management company,” says clarke. “The core business is therefore project management which can be applied to any country, any type of mine and any commodity. The recent project list indicates this. all of the management of PPM has widespread experience: the senior management of the company all have a vast amount of mine operational, management and executive management experience. This ensures that the project solutions that the company generates work. There is also a lot of experience of owning and operating in the junior and mid-tier mining sector which allows PPM to gain insight into the specific needs of these clients and thereby deliver “fit for purpose” solutions. PPM concentrates on the correct business solution to a project and does not necessarily chase technical excellence.”

These attributes “generate major opportunities” for the firm. “It allows us to target any commodity and country in Southern africa,” clarke explains. “How are we tapping into africa’s growth? we are positioning ourselves as the partner of choice for the smaller mining projects in Southern africa. we believe that the current client/contractor relationship is too adversarial at present. The client invariably seeks to reduce costs (hourly rates) and does not always think about the quality of work that is required. There is a distinct relationship between price and quality relating to the added value that innovation and flexibility can produce. PPM wants to assist the clients in getting the best value for money rather than just the lowest cost. The best time to think about a project and try to develop the best business solution is during the Scoping Study and Pre-feasibility Study stages, yet this is when the client usually wants to minimise costs due to uncertainty. once the project moves into feasibility Study, there is less that anyone can do that will have a major influence on the final outcome.


Marropino Plant TBS and Spiral Plants

Jeremy Clarke, Director, PPM


“To overcome this dichotomy, PPM tries to develop a partner relationship with its clients. This allows a reduction in study costs as the client no longer needs to duplicate all of the technical positions, as well as a reduction in time since all parties are working for the same end.”

PPM has enjoyed considerable success since founding and recently completed its 100th project.

according to clarke, the people at PPM have played a major role in its success.

“The company has always been seen by those in it as a “family” type business,” he says. “we are small enough to remain so, yet can call on large resources to undertake projects that other small organisations cannot.

“PPM’s expertise in project management and operations allows us to provide solutions that work first time and are cost effective. We always consider the “project” as our client and do what is best to deliver this to the client in a manner that they can operate and make money for the life of the mine.

“when in doubt: simplicity rules!”To learn more visit www.ppmprojects.co.za.

M i N i N g

We are positioning ourselves

as the partner of choice for the smaller mining

projects in Southern Africa. We believe that the current client/contractor relationship is too

adversarial at present”

E k u r h u L E N i M u N i C i p a L i T y

set for take offE k U r H U l E N I ’ S A E r o T r o p o l I S


E k U r H U l E N I ’ S A E r o T r o p o l I S Key to Ekurhuleni

municipality’s 2055 growth and Development Strategy is the aerotropolis masterplan.

africa outlook has a look at the proposals.Writer Ian Armitage

Project manager Stuart Platt

The gauteng Province is divided into three metropolitan municipalities – city of Johannesburg, city of Tswane, and Ekurhuleni - and two district municipalities (Sedibeng and west rand), which are further divided into seven local municipalities.

In 2009, the gauteng Provincial government deployed a specialised team in Ekurhuleni to assist in accelerating ‘the provision of services, infrastructure development and to deal with outstanding disputes’.

The municipality had been facing challenges in its finances, infrastructure and planning.


L O C a L g O v E r N M E N T

t’s no secret that there needs to be improvement in how South africa is managed at a national,

provincial and municipal level. according to the auditor general, only five percent of municipalities obtained clean audit reports in the financial year 2011/2012.

There are currently 343 municipalities in the country and worryingly five of South Africa’s nine provinces did not have a single municipality with a clean audit, including gauteng, the country’s economic engine.



It also lagged behind in providing key services.

The municipality requested that the provincial government step in and deploy a team to assist in the short term, isolating and resolving issues that may be impeding proper service delivery in specific areas.

Much has since changed. But there is still work to be done.

In his latest state of the city address, Mayor Mondli gungubele talked at length about the municipality’s 2055 growth and Development Strategy – a programme he described as “the essence of a future development trajectory for Ekurhuleni”.

“for us as the city of Ekurhuleni, it is important that we create certain conditions in order to sustain the character of our city as a socially mature one that can never be

undermined,” he said. “In particular, three challenges must be confronted head-on, and be overcome: 1) we must continue negotiating the recent economic downturn, especially given the impact it has had on our city; 2) we must overcome our spatial fragmentation, because failure to do so will amount to the perpetuation of the apartheid legacy; and 3) we must halt, and ultimately reverse, the degradation of our city’s built and natural environment. This is the essence of a future development trajectory

In 2009, the Gauteng Provincial Government deployed a specialised team in Ekurhuleni to assist in accelerating ‘the provision of services, infrastructure development and to deal

with outstanding disputes’

Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane shares a joke with Ekurhuleni Executive

mayor, Clr Mondli Gungubele

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“To borrow from u.S. President Barrack obama, “as our parents’ children, we have the opportunity to learn from these mistakes and disappointments. we have the opportunity to muster the courage to fulfil the promise of our forefathers and lead our great nations towards a better future”. In the light of the above, we are today presenting 12 building blocks which are aimed at delivering a liveable city in the short to medium term, and a productive, future city in the long term. These are the blocks that we started laying since the beginning of our term of office. going forward, we will be picking up momentum in their implementation.”

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Those “blocks” are extensive and include, as the mayor put it, “intensifying job creation activities”, “strengthening public participation”, “improving local public services” and “broadening access and combating fraud and corruption”.

other blocks include better revenue management, working to transforming the economy, reviving the manufacturing sector and the development of the Ekurhuleni aerotropolis, a plan that will see Ekurhuleni become Africa’s first “airport city”, a link to the rest of South africa.

The aerotropolis is really “the heart” of the new development strategy and it seems to be taking flight.

referring to the project, the mayor said: “This flagship project has been in the pipeline for some time, and I am aware that there continues to be sceptics in our ranks as to whether it will see the light of day. To them I wish to confirm that we have no intention to go back on pronouncements made previously.

This flagship project has been in the pipeline for some time, and I am aware that

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Several airline companies are already headquartered in Kempton Park – national flag carrier South African airways for example – while low-cost carrier Mango is headquartered at or Tambo.

However, Shaddow MMc for finannce in Ekurhuleni Eddie Taylor believes “the challenge the city faces is the issue of expanding”.

Ekurhuleni is not the only city hoping to develop into an aerotropolis, King Shaka airport in KwaZulu-Natal has the advantage of space for expansion.

what Ekurhuleni doesn’t have in space, it makes up for in roads. good roads. and newly improved freeways.

Being positioned in gauteng gives an added advantage.These factors have seen the project endorsed by

international experts. “If the aerotropolis will inspire economic

growth there will have to be synergy among key stakeholders,” says Schipol area Development company’s Vivianne Blommers, an international

We believe that by making the airport, city and region better

connected, we can develop in a more economically efficient, attractive and

sustainable way”

“following the development of our Strategic roadmap, we have now set out to develop the aerotropolis masterplan. In this regard, a tender has been issued, to invite appropriately qualified service providers to step forward and help us develop this masterplan. we anticipate that process will take up to 18 months to conclude. our plans enjoy the support of Provincial and National government.”

He pledged to “make sure that the Ekurhuleni aerotropolis is an overwhelming success.”

Home to or Tambo airport, Ekurhuleni has every chance of that. Key to the success of the project will be the ability to attract investors.

Ekurhuleni is improving

service delivery Image: Getty

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expert from the Netherlands. “we believe that by making the airport, city and region better connected, we can develop in a more economically efficient, attractive and sustainable way.

according to Blommers, “an aerotropolis model maximises the competitive advantages of having an airport city in a strong Metropolis.

“of course, a global city region can only exist in the presence of a hub. airport, city and region need to be connected in a way that benefits the hub as a whole,” she says.

amsterdam’s Schiphol airport is one of the pioneers of the airport city formula.

“It is a business model based on the concept that an airport is not just an arrival-and-departure terminal. It’s about integrating aviation and non-aviation activities,” says Blommers. “It

is a dynamic hub integrating people and businesses, logistics and shops, information and entertainment offering its visitors and locally based international businesses all the services they require on a 24/7 basis.”

with the high unemployment rate in the country, including Ekurhuleni, the aerotropolis would create employment and economic growth.

“we have the or Tambo, the airport and the city of Ekurhuleni will have to continue to create a secure and conducive climate for business development as the only sustainable way to address unemployment and poverty,” says Professors carel van aardt from the university of South africa. “Ekurhuleni’s responsibility is to improve the enabling of environment and eliminating deterrents to do business in Ekurhuleni, gauteng and the wider South africa.”

gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane believes that the success of the aerotropolis will lead to the prosperity of all the people of gauteng including the business community.

It is a business model based on the concept that an airport is not

just an arrival-and-departure terminal. It’s about integrating aviation and non-

aviation activities”

Ekurhuleni City Manager, Khaya Ngema signs a

pledge in support of the Ekurhuleni becoming the

Aerotropolis City

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“The aerotropolis should be seen as a vehicle to position the Sa economy among the world economies. It must be about creating jobs, poverty alleviation, and the equitable share of business opportunities to small, micro and medium enterprises,” she says.

“we must create a good environment for investors, we must put processes in place to improve turnaround time in making decisions and have teams in place to identify and mitigate threats before it is too late.”

creating jobs is vital; It is one of the Municipality’s “blocks”.

“The official unemployment rate in Ekurhuleni is 28.8 percent, which is three present higher than the national rate as per the 4th Quarterly labour force Survey for 2012,” said Mayor gungubele. “This constitutes a 1.1 percent increase in official unemployment, if compared to our medium term population figures for 2006. However, in terms of the gauteng city region observatory,

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Ekurhuleni’ broader unemployment figures is 39.5 percent, thus implying that over 1,185,000 people in Ekurhuleni have no known income sources. of these people, 61 percent are young people of 34 years old and below.

“This is a major source of worry for us because what it implies is that nearly four out of every ten young people in our city are unemployed. It is against this knowledge that a significant portion of our future plans revolve around job creation for young people.

“as worrying as the increase in unemployment is, it should be understood within the overriding context of a rapidly urbanising city. Such urbanisation is a worldwide phenomenon, where more and more people view places such as Ekurhuleni as holding the answer to

their unemployment woes. Hence it is to these places that they flock in their numbers. as we bemoan the fact that these figures for unemployment are staggeringly high, we should perhaps take comfort in the fact that, compared to 2001, the rate of employment in our city has improved by about 12 percent. In this regard, the global Insight’ Economic data, the Ekurhuleni economy has created at least 12000 formal jobs between 2010 and 2011.

“The question you may ask is: how have we responded to the fact that in real terms, more than a million people in Ekurhuleni do not have known sources of income? our answer is that we have laid some foundations. In September last year, the Municipality approved a Job creation Strategy to enhance the number of jobs that we create

The official unemployment rate in Ekurhuleni is 28.8

percent, which is three present higher than the national rate as per the 4th Quarterly Labour

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percent increase in official unemployment, if compared

to our medium term population figures

for 2006

The unemployment

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in the city. Since June 2012, the city created 3,874 EPwP and 2,091 non-EPwP work opportunities in Quarter 1 and 2 of the 2012/13 financial year. These figures are going to increase significantly as we approach the end of the financial year. I am the first to acknowledge that given the magnitude of the problem confronting us, the number of jobs created seems like a drop in the ocean. But the impact these jobs have had on the livelihoods of families cannot be undermined. I am certain that those who have been beneficiaries of these initiatives can testify to the huge difference these

opportunities have made in their lives; and those of their families. we have secured the commitment of all stakeholder departments to increase their job creation targets significantly. It is envisaged that the Ekurhuleni Municipality will contribute to the

Since June 2012, the City created 3,874 EPWP and 2,091 non-EPWP work opportunities in

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creation of an additional 5,500 work or income earning opportunities in the regional economy.”

He continued that, as part of its Jobs Programme, the Municipality will be setting up a job creation programme management unit. “The unit will be tasked with the coordination and leveraging of external funding from sources such as “The Jobs fund” and other related sources,” gungubele said. “In the final analysis, our Jobs Programme is planned in such a way that from the upcoming financial year and going forward, Ekurhuleni will create at least 15,000 work opportunities per annum. The demilitarisation project is going to be integrated into all the other job creation initiatives we will be implementing.

“Before the end of the current calendar year, we shall be hosting a Jobs Summit and career Expo. It is at this Summit that we shall seek to ensure integration of skills development to placement opportunities, especially for the youth of our city.

In the final analysis, our Jobs Programme is planned in such a way that from the upcoming financial year and

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“In all these job creation activities that we are announcing, the value of partnerships cannot be overstated. More than anything, we are calling upon commerce and industry to enter into strategic partnerships with us, to optimise opportunities that exist in this enterprising city of ours,” he added.

over r10 million has been committed by the city and various businesses in Ekurhuleni towards bursaries for post-secondary education and on-the-job-training, in line with the “window of opportunity” initiative.

This isn’t all the Municipality is doing. Indeed, making sure there is access to electricity and water is just as important as creating jobs and Ekurhuleni has made huge strides in this respect.

over 80 percent of South african households now enjoy the benefits associated with electricity, up from 32 percent prior to 1994.

Nearly all households in South africa have access to clean, drinking water, up from 60 percent before the dawn of democracy.

when it comes to sanitation, at least 63 percent of South african households enjoy the dignity associated thereto – up from 43 percent 20 years ago.


The aerotropolis will help alleviate

poverty



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“I now turn to our report on the electrification of homes and public facilities in the city,” Mayor gungubele said, adding, “In excess of 10,000 solar water heaters have been installed since 2011. 2,636 of these were installed in the first part of this financial year.

“By the end of June this year, the communities of Palm ridge Phase 5, Mayfield Extension 6, KwaThema Extension 3 and Chief Albert Luthuli Extension 5 will enjoy the benefits that accrue due to electricity for the first time. As a result of the implementation of energy efficiency initiatives, we have saved the municipality R2.8 million to date, money which will now assist in rolling out services to those who have never had. Soon we will be rolling out a project for the installation of solar lighting in informal settlements. The project will be launched next month. This project is intended to help minimise fire incidents at informal settlements while also making life easier for our people living there. our city’s water remains the best in the country, having won the Blue Drop award four times in a row – an achievement that has earned us a Platinum Status. our city is officially the third best drinking water provider in the world.

“looking at these achievements, clearly we have done a lot. and yet, a lot more needs to be done. Let me then reflect on our future plans for the next five years.”

To learn more about these projects and everything else happening in Ekurhuleni (there is a lot going on) visit www.ekurhuleni.gov.za. The hosting of the first ever Airport Cities World conference and Exhibition (acE) 2013 on african soil takes place on april 24 – 26.

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T E C h N O L O g y

africa outlook talks to alan Harper, the co-founder and

cEo of african telecoms infrastructure firm Eaton

Towers, which owns and manages telecom

infrastructure across the continent and has plans to

build 250 transmitter towers this year.

Writer Ian Armitage

Project manager Ben Weaver

frican telecoms infrastructure firm Eaton Towers is continuing to expand its mobile operations

and is one of a number of specialist players to launch services in africa in recent years.

It plans to build another 250 transmitter towers in 2013, increasing its african portfolio by a sixth.

what’s that down to? growing internet use.

“we will build about 100 towers in uganda, 100 in South africa and 50 in ghana,” says alan Harper, Eaton Towers’ co-founder and cEo.

customers include airtel, Vodafone, South africa’s MTN and orange.

“The internet boom is one of the key drivers - more people are getting online as smartphone prices fall and telecom operators improve their networks. Mobile operators are building new base stations for two reasons – one is obviously coverage, and there is still some coverage expansion going on, but increasingly it is for adding capacity to the networks.”

A lack of extensive fixed-line infrastructure in most african countries means mobile networks provide the main means for people to access the internet, he adds.

“That’s right. With fixed-line penetration being so low in so many countries most of the data usage is on the mobile networks and therefore whether it is 3g, or now we are seeing some lTE development in some markets, new base stations are needed to meet that capacity growth. That is benefiting Eaton because that is adding to new base station installations on both our existing towers and it is one of the driving forces for the new tower construction as well.”

Internet use in sub-Saharan africa will rise to 24.7 percent of the population by 2020 from 10.5 percent in 2010, according to Euromonitor International.




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“why would a mobile operator approach us?” Harper asks. “well firstly building and maintaining mobile towers in africa is typically more expensive than in other regions because of high security costs and a shortage of electricity and infrastructure – africa’s main challenges. It adds to the complexity and expense. Secondly, many operators are increasingly looking at splitting costs, which they can do via tower-sharing deals – we offer that and so it is increasingly popular to have specialist firms such as Eaton build the towers, which can then host multiple operators at the same site. we’re certainly looking to expand our tower-sharing business.”

Eaton Towers is benefiting from operator plans to roll out things like 3g and lTE (long-term evolution, high-speed networks), Harper says. further expansion is on the cards.

“Historically we operate in those countries so we have towers already. So, we are working with existing

customers in existing markets. we are building towers and selling space on those towers in countries like ghana, uganda and South africa where we’ll be putting in the new towers as an expansion to our established business in those markets. and it’ll be with existing customers, those we already have signed up on other towers. It is really a growth and consolidation in the markets we are already focused in.

“That’s not to say we don’t eye new territory and as we expand into other markets over time we will be building in new countries as well, obviously. But it doesn’t really make sense to build just a handful of towers in new countries. You really look to try to build on top of a portfolio of existing towers in an established market.”

Is expansion into new african nations likely further down the road? Yes, says Harper.

“at the moment we are looking at opportunities in East and west africa – in the west there are three or four countries that we are working on.

We are building towers

and selling space on those towers in countries like Ghana, Uganda and South Africa where we’ll be putting in the new towers as

an expansion to our established

business in those markets”



“There are opportunities too in North africa. up until now, most of the tower activity has been sub-Saharan africa but there are new opportunities emerging all over. we have a pipeline we are working on; I can’t really go into the specifics but it is basically pan-africa.”

capital International Private Equity funds (cIPEf) is Eaton’s majority shareholder, while london-based private equity group Development Partners International and Eaton’s management team also owns stakes.

The business is well funded and well-placed to expand.

what’s its secret?“I think [firstly] we are very focused on what

we do,” says Harper. “we are a tower company for africa. It is the only thing we do. we are not distracted by going into other continents or other markets outside of africa or in other lines of business apart from being a tower company.within that, we have built up an organisation with a very experienced group of people that have been in the mobile business in africa for

Mobile operators are building new base stations for two reasons – one is obviously coverage, and there is still some coverage expansion going on, but increasingly it is for adding

capacity to the networks”

Internet growth is adding to new base station installations


clEan PowEr systEms (CPS)

cPS streamlines the full process of oPEx reduction through passive network optimisation.

cPS Intelligent Power Systems combined with planning and monitoring software means max oPEx savings.

unmatched in service, quality and value-add to our customers.

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many years. we know the countries, the people, the organisations and we know how business gets done in those markets. Importantly, we are well funded and that is significant because this is a very capital intensive game, there is a lot of money that needs to go into it. we have the required equity and debt funding already in place so that when we see opportunities for expansion either in existing or new markets we are able to go into those new opportunities. we don’t have to go out and raise funds for a new idea or opportunity.”

To learn more about Eaton Towers and its expansion visit www.eatontowers.com.

lEadcom IntEgratEd solutIons

leadcom Integrated Solutions ltd. is an international leader in the provision, implementation and management of telecommunication network deployment services and solutions for global telecom vendors, operators and major enterprises for the past 30 years.

leadcom employs over 700 professionals and operates in 25 countries in the africa and americas.

Leadcom turns the benefits of modern telecommunications into a reality for developed and developing nations, rising to the challenge of international telecom equipment vendors, national and pan-regional operators, and major enterprises, by delivering flexible and scalable solutions, adding value to its partners and customers.

as part of the leadcom’s policy and commitment we maintain ISo9001, ISO14001 and OHSAS18001 certificates.

tel +972 3 9706000Email [email protected]


Importantly, we are well

funded and that is significant

because this is a very capital

intensive game, there is a lot of money that needs to

go into it”

Alan Harper, Eaton Towers’ Co-founder

and CEO


4 Hatnufa St. Petach Tikva, Israel | +972 3 9706000 | [email protected] | www.leadcom-is.com

Solutions for all Infrastructure MarketsOur highly trained and motivated professional workforce specializes in all areas of telecom integration, implementation and maintenance:• Network Deployment • Infrastructure • Engineering Services • Telecom Implementation• • Operation and Maintenance• Value Added Reseller (VAR)

T E C h N O L O g y


i N g r a M M i C r O M O b i L i T y

74

Image: Thinkstock


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75

r E b r a N D E D a Sbrightpoint

Earlier this year BrightPoint was rebranded Ingram Micro

Mobility. africa outlook learns more.

Writer Ian Armitage

Project manager Donovan Smith

n 2012 IT giant Ingram Micro, the world’s largest wholesale technology distributor and a global leader

in IT supply-chain, mobile device lifecycle services and logistics solutions, acquired BrightPoint for a cool $840 million, including $190 million in debt as part of its strategy to drive convergence across IT and Mobility markets.

Ingram Micro’s acquisition of BrightPoint marked an important milestone for both companies, but more importantly it offers tangible benefits to its customers and vendors who now have access to the broadest portfolio of mobility and converged technology products

and the most comprehensive suite of supply chain solutions for mobile devices. Ingram Micro Mobility has positioned itself at the centre of the flow of products and commerce within the mobility industry, which will help them anticipate demand and create connections between manufacturers, retailers and carriers, while helping to enable the convergence of IT and mobility.

“we executed the integration against a clear cut plan which has impacted the business more positively than we ever anticipated. The Ingram Micro brand and reputation has been well received by our vendors and our customers,” says Bruce cockburn, regional Managing Director, africa (Mobility & IT).

ingram Micro Mobility



as a vital link in the technology value chain, Ingram Micro creates sales and profitability opportunities for vendors and resellers through unique marketing programs, outsourced logistics and mobile solutions, technical support, financial services and product aggregation and distribution. The company is the only global broad-based IT distributor, serving approximately 160 countries on six continents with the world’s most comprehensive portfolio of IT products and services.

Africa is strategically important as it is one of the last untapped markets globally”

Image: Thinkstock

Image: Getty

The BlackBerry Q10 offers BlackBerry 10 power with a classic QWERTY keyboard

Just released in South Africa, the BlackBerry® Q10 is the first BlackBerry® 10 smartphone to feature a classic BlackBerry® QWERTY Keyboard.

Built with precision and offering premium performance in a signature design, the BlackBerry Q10 smartphone combines BlackBerry’s best physical keyboard and a touch screen with the power of the BlackBerry® 10 platform to help you communicate and collaborate faster and more efficiently. The BlackBerry Q10 includes advanced hardware, communications and multimedia features, and provides long battery life that lets you confidently stay ahead and take action all day long.

The re-designed, re-engineered and re-invented BlackBerry 10 platform offers a powerful and unique new mobile computing experience. It gives you a faster and smarter experience that continuously adapts to your needs. Every feature, every gesture, and every detail is designed to keep you moving forward towards your goals and includes advancements such as:

The ever present BlackBerry® Hub, which brings all your conversations together in one easy to manage place that you can access at any time from any app with a simple “peek”, so you’re always only one swipe away from what matters to you.

BlackBerry® Balance™ technology, which protects what’s important to you and the business you work for.

BBM™ (BlackBerry® Messenger), which lets you share things with the people that matter to you in an instant. BBM in BlackBerry 10 includes voice calling and video chat, and lets you share your screen with another BlackBerry 10 contact.

BlackBerry® Remember, which helps you tackle tasks quickly with a new way to collect, organize and action all the information sitting in different places across your smartphone.

BlackBerry® World™The BlackBerry World storefront, which now includes 120,000 BlackBerry 10 apps and one of the most robust music and video catalogues in mobile today – with most movies coming to the store the same day they are released on DVD.

In addition, Facebook®, Twitter, LinkedIn® and Foursquare apps for BlackBerry 10 are pre-installed, and BlackBerry 10 customers will have access to leading applications from across the globe.

blackberry.com


RAM HAnD-TO-HAnD courIErs

with 40 regional hubs and 1447 vehicles, RAM has the largest fleet and widest courier network in Southern africa.

Because we do not subcontract any deliveries, you can rest assured that your package is in the best hands in the business, all the way to its destination.

with our well-established connections with a number of international airlines and courier companies, raM can deliver to almost anywhere on earth, safely, securely and on time.

www.ram.co.za


In South africa, BrightPoint previously focused only on the wireless communications environment, but today as Ingram Micro there are three divisions: Ingram Micro Mobility, Ingram Micro logistics and Ingram Micro Dc PoS. The Dc PoS (Data capture & Point of Sale) division will launch in South africa in June, 2013 and will be the first of many new business ventures to launch in africa.

“africa is strategically important as it is one of the last untapped markets globally,” says cockburn, who joined BrightPoint six years ago to launch its South african operations.

The opportunity is massive as IT/mobility convergence is now a reality as tablets, improved data speeds and lower cost smartphones drive market demand. There are always challenges to overcome in

We executed the integration against a clear cut plan which has impacted the business more positively than we ever anticipated. The Ingram Micro brand

and reputation has been well received by our vendors and our customers”

Image: Getty


www.ram.co.za

deliveries • distribution • warehousing

to keep your business turning

Has your courier got the goods to deliver on your business needs – no matter how big the job? With 40 hubs, 1447 vehicles, and 2622 safe pairs of hands at your service, RAM Hand-to-Hand Couriers has what it takes to deliver every time, on time, countrywide – without subcontracting a single delivery. Our advanced track-and-trace technology keeps you up to speed every metre of the way. From same-day letter delivery to nationwide merchandise distribution, RAM gets it done. Think big. Rely on RAM Hand-to-Hand Couriers.

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T E C h N O L O g y

penetrating developing markets; however, Ingram Micro’s ability to be adaptable with its business models and routes to market has proved to be a winning formula.

“our ongoing focus on customer service, delivering value through our solutions and services, and our ever increasing logistics footprint will allow us to expand into the IT sector,” adds Bradley lapin, Managing Director of Ingram Micro Mobility in South africa.

The combined capabilities and reach of both these companies position Ingram Micro as the leading global provider of technology, mobility services and products, providing current and prospective customers with access to new manufacturers and solutions.

To learn more visit www.mobility.ingrammicro.com.

Image: Getty


courIEr It

courierit was founded in october 2001.

courierit services a multitude of customers from corporate business to online stores and is well established in supporting and assisting with the fulfilment of the rapidly developing ecommerce sector.

Courierit offers a door to door service aimed at fulfilling the direct to market industry.

we believe with the combination of our highly experienced and skilled management team, coupled with our wide range of services offered has been an advantage to our continued growth and success to date.

tel +27826005568Email [email protected]

What’s behind Ingram Micro’s Brightpoint acquisition?Ingram Micro acquired Brightpoint as part of its strategy to drive convergence across the IT and Mobility markets and, as such, Brightpoint has been branded Ingram Micro Mobility to identify the market segment it services as a division in the group.

The deal has been described as a “game changer” – why is that? The overarching strategy has been to optimise the opportunities of the ever-converging world of IT and Mobility. If one looks at the computing power that consumers have today in their hands by virtue of the smartphone and or Tablet, access to apps, web browsing, mail etc., a total mobile revolution has taken place. You can access virtually your entire computing world on your mobile device.

Will the move open new markets? It will. In South africa previously we were only focused on the wireless communications environment and today as Ingram Micro we have three divisions: Ingram Micro Mobility, Ingram Micro logistics and Ingram Micro Dc PoS. we will expand into the IT sector, cloud computing and increase our third party logistics footprint, and a key focus will be to grow into cross border territories such as Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia, Botswana and Mauritius.

Q&a:

B r A d l E y l A p I N m A N A g I N g d I r E c To r o f I N g r A m m I c r o m o B I l I T y I N S o U T H A f r I c Acontinuing our focus on Ingram Micro Mobility, Bradley lapin, Managing Director of Ingram MicroMobility in South africa, answers our questions.

What do you hope to achieve through all this?Drive overall growth, expand on new market opportunities, and focus on improving our customer engagements and relationships by adding value as a distributor of premium products and services. we have grown significantly over the past five years in the South african market and the integration of the two companies has been relatively seamless here in South africa.


You can access virtually your entire computing world on your mobile device”


TM

DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL COURIER | AIRFREIGHT | ROAD FREIGHT | SEA FREIGHT | CLEARING AND FORWARDING

WAREHOUSING | PICK AND PACK | EXPORTS | IMPORTS | INSURANCE | CROSS BORDER

Johannesburg: Tel: +27 (11) 928 8300 Fax: +27 (11) 928 8333 www.courierit.co.za

Is this a good time for Ingram Micro Mobility? Yes, it most certainly is: we have attracted many new customers and channels and enquiries are growing by the day. This is an exciting and ever-changing industry. The mobile operators and handset manufacturers are constantly evolving from a products and services perspective, which leads to new opportunities. we are able to offer our existing customers access to many opportunities and products that were not previously available, our global footprint allows us to leverage opportunities in a much more effective manner.

what’s the secret to the company’s success? our focus on customer service, delivering value through our solutions and services, and our relationships with our vendor partners and customers.

T E C h N O L O g y

Image:Thinkstock

O L a M M O ç a M b i Q u E

to build Mozambique’s first roller cotton ginolam International, a leading

global integrated supply chain

manager and processor of

agricultural products and

food ingredients, has started

construction of its first

state- of-the-art roller

cotton gin in Mozambique.Writer Ian Armitage

Project manager Eleanor Watson

“Since olam started sourcing cotton in Mozambique in 2008 we have worked closely with farmers, local government and independent partners to increase yields and improve production methods,” Indranil Majumdar, Business Head Natural fibres, olam Moçambique, said at an official ceremony at the site in Beira, Sofala Province. “To date, our volumes have risen fourfold and we are now able to progress existing plans to develop our third cotton gin in Mozambique. The roller gin will be the first of its kind here and will complement our saw gins to provide the additional

his is an exciting time for olam Moçambique, which plans to make large investments over the

next four years. Indeed, last month, olam International, of which olam Moçambique is a subsidiary, started construction of its first state-of-the-art roller cotton gin in the country.

The $2 million development signifies olam’s “continued progress in increasing local cotton production and strengthens supply chain efficiencies by investing in processing operations that are close to smallholder cotton farmers,” it said in a release.


o l A m


a g r i C u L T u r E

capacity required to support future growth. This is an important milestone for olam Moçambique and will contribute to the local economy through job creation and market growth.”

once completed, the new facility - equipped with high speed rollers and modern machinery - will have the capacity to produce around 120 metric tonnes of seed cotton per day and will provide new employment opportunities for up to 200 full-time and seasonal workers.

olam’s cotton operations in Mozambique, including a supplier network of around 67,000 farmers,

are part of the Better cotton Initiative (BcI) programme.

The BcI, together with producers and retailers, aims to improve the social, environmental and economic aspects of sustainable cotton production.

olam has been working with the BcI since 2012 in Mozambique to open more than 400 farmer field schools and train more than 10,000 farmers in jointly approved good agricultural practices to increase farmers’ incomes.

“The revival of Mozambique’s cotton industry is still in its early stages,” Majumdar added. “olam continues to appreciate the support of IAM, the officials of the Sofala

Since Olam started sourcing cotton in Mozambique in 2008 we have worked closely with farmers, local government and independent partners

to increase yields and improve production

methods”

Image: Thinkstock


Province, our partners such as BcI and the farmer co-operatives to help create a thriving cotton industry. our collaboration seeks to unlock mutual value in terms of market growth and social prosperity.”

olam began operations in Mozambique in 1999, handling cashew procurement in the Northern Province of Nampula. Today, its operational scope has expanded to seven product categories spanning the length and breadth of the country.

The company actively assists thousands of farmers with their inputs and financing, and provides them with a market for their produce.

according to its website, it is “actively participating in rice farming to improve food security for the country.”

It rice distribution network spans most of Mozambique’s towns, and its rice brand, Mama africa, is “one of the leading brands” in the country.

olam has five cashew units in Mozambique and employs 5,200

people. It currently operates three cotton concessions in the country’s North and central regions.

In Nampula, it employs 3,000 employees in cashew processing operations, 90 percent of whom are women. This puts olam among the leading employers across the whole country.

“we are now the biggest distributors of rice in Mozambique, importing around 90,000 tons per year,” the company’s Managing Director ujjwalkanta Senapati told Macauhub in a recent interview.

He added that the company was putting together an investment plan for the areas of agricultural production and food distribution, which could equal the amount of investment made since it started operating in Mozambique.

olam Moçambique is a subsidiary of olam International, which is a leading global integrated supply chain manager and processor of agricultural products and food ingredients, supplying various products across 16 platforms to

The revival of Mozambique’s cotton industry is still in its early

stages. Olam continues to

appreciate the support of IAM,

the officials of the Sofala Province, our

partners such as BCI and the farmer

co-operatives to help create a thriving cotton

industry”

Images: Olam International

O L a M M O ç a M b i Q u E


a g r i C u L T u r E

over 12,300 customers worldwide. Its headquarters is in Singapore and it has a direct presence in more than 65 countries.

olam has built a global leadership position in many of its businesses, including cashew, Spices & Dehydrates, Cocoa, Coffee, Rice, Cotton and wood Products.

It ranks among the top 50 largest listed companies in Singapore in terms of market capitalisation and is the only Singapore firm to be named in the 2009, 2010 and 2012 forbes asia fabulous 50, an annual list of 50 big-cap and most profitable firms in the region.

olam has a dominant presence in africa, with ginning operations in

Zimbabwe, cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique and Nigeria.

worldwide, it handled 10.7 million tonnes of products for a sales revenue of S$17.1 billion in fY 2012.

To learn more visit www.olamonline.com.

f E L T E X a u T O M O T i v E

k I N g o f T H E


M a N u f a C T u r i N g


Africa Outlook profiles Feltex automotive a leading supplier

of a wide range of quality automotive acoustic, comfort

and trim components.Writer Ian Armitage

Project manager Tom Lloyd

s this a good time to be involved in South africa’s car industry? well yes: South african car sales in Q1

increased 4.1 percent from 156,673 vehicles to 163,239 vehicles and according to the National association of automobile Manufacturers of South africa (Naamsa) the motor industry sailed a steady course during the first quarter of this year.

Naamsa director Nico Vermeulen said production at South african plants was “well on track”, and that “if production continues at the levels seen in the first four months of the year,” production growth could come in “as high as 25 percent”.

However he said Naamsa was “remaining conservative,” and maintaining a prediction of 18 percent (or about 640,000 units) production growth for the year.

It’s good news but according to Econometrix chief economist Dr azar Jammine we should expect a “sharp slowdown in domestic sales growth” later this year.

whatever happens, increasing sales is good news for manufacturers like feltex automotive, a leading South african supplier of quality automotive acoustic, comfort and trim components.

feltex automotive is a Division of KaP Manufacturing Proprietary limited which is a 100 percent subsidiary of KaP International Holdings limited.


sPrIng lIgHts gas

Spring lights gas advisory services conform to the requirements of clause 12 of their trading licence conditions and the stipulations in Section 21(q) of the gas act (No. 48 of 2001). Services include:

Taylor made technical and safety training to all the customers.

Energy conservation and management, includes regular energy audits, ensuring customers optimise their use of gas, having a great impact on the customers’ bottom line.

Statutory compliance: The newly passed regulation requires gas equipment to be compliant to certain standards (SaNS 329 and SaNS 347) regular safety assessments are conducted on customers’ gas systems.

Product Quality: technical experts to conduct reviews of the gas quality versus process or product quality

tel +27(0)31 266 3865Email [email protected] www.slgas.co.za

The automotive Division comprises seven business units – feltex automotive Trim, feltex fehrer, feltex foam, caravelle, feltex unifrax, futuris feltex and autoneum feltext - that supply products directly and indirectly to the South african original Equipment Manufacturers, with its Head Office in Durban.

according to KaP, it is one of South africa’s largest automotive component manufacturers with manufacturing facilities situated in Durban, rosslyn (Pretoria), ga-rankuwa (Pretoria), Port Elizabeth and East london, in close proximity to the assembly plants to facilitate “just in time” and “just in sequence” supply.

“feltex automotive’s information technology systems interface into the oEM’s production planning systems,” the company says.

If you use feltex you can be assured that the company is market-driven and internationally cost competitive. Its factories are well located to serve the growing South african automotive industry and the firm’s strategic goal is be the market leader in all its

According to KAP, Feltex is one of South Africa’s largest automotive component manufacturers with manufacturing facilities situated in Durban, Rosslyn (Pretoria), Ga-Rankuwa

(Pretoria), Port Elizabeth and East London”


Mercedes Benz C-class

Image: Getty


Construction • Steelwork • Factory Maintenance Electrical • Plumbing • Waste Disposal

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Need work done on your gas system?It’s not a job for any handyman. Spring Lights Gas offers free technical service by a professional registered practitioner.

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a u T O M O T i v E


product categories. “The key success

factors of the automotive business units are consistent quality, outstanding service and internationally competitive pricing,” the company says. “all the automotive business units have achieved an influential supply position in their product sectors and this has enabled the businesses to achieve competitive prices through economy of scale benefits. The company’s factories are well located to serve the growing South african automotive industry and our strategic goal is to be the customer’s first choice in all our product categories.

“we are market driven, internationally competitive with strategic international alliances. we strive to comply with all recognised international standard organisations.”

recent projects undertaken by feltex automotive include BMw f30 and ford T6 and the firm says market leadership is maintained through an

on-going investment programme.The company is performing well

according to KaP’s results for the six months ended December 31st 2012.

“The manufacturing division increased revenues by eight percent and increased operating profit by 15 percent on a comparable basis,” it says. “This increase was led by market share gains and industry growth in KaP’s two largest manufacturing divisions, Hosaf (PET) and feltex (automotive). In addition, the food

We are market driven, internationally competitive with strategic international alliances.

We strive to comply with all recognised international standard organisations”


Ford Ranger(© M 93 Wikimedia Com-mons CC-BY-SA-3.0 (DE))

© Feltex Unifrax

© Feltex Foam

EasIgas Easigas (Pty) ltd is a 100% owned subsidiary of rubis from france and has been a dedicated and leading supplier of Liquefied Petroleum Gas to the Southern african market for the last 30 years.

Easigas’ Vision is to be the leading lPg company in share of supply, customer preference and profitability in the countries where we choose to operate. Its mission is to consolidate the lPg market leader position whilst sustaining profitable growth aligned with shareholder expectations.

Easigas’ strategy is to optimise the current business to drive value growth by improving continuity of lPg supply and competitive status.

tel (011) 389 7700Fax (011) 864 9000www.easigas.com


Softworx - the threadthat connects strategywith execution to putyour business at thetop of its game

PO Box 17297 Randhart 1457Tel: 0800 001 504 Fax: (011) 864 9000www.easigas.com

LPG, A Hugely Versatile GasLiquefied Petroleum Gas, otherwise referred to as LPG, is a hugely versatile referred to as LPG, is a hugely versatile gas which is a mixture of Propane and Butane. Clean burning, LPG has a vast array of uses in the home, within industry, agriculture, on the roads – in fact everywhere! Discover for yourself how LPG is produced and stored yourself how LPG is produced and stored – there’s even a chemical breakdown if you really want to know the subject.



tony’s cartagE c.c.

at Tony’s cartage we strive to provide affordable and reliable transport.

customer service is our highest priority.

feltex Non woven (Durban) is one of our many valued clients.

tel 031 4591546 cell 083 230 2071Email [email protected]

and footwear manufacturing divisions increased profitability, while, despite strong revenue growth, the furniture and bedding division was unable to maintain margins.”

feltex manufactures 90 percent of the moulded seat foam used in car seats in South africa and 95 percent of the trim.

“Key business drivers are consistent quality, outstanding services, investment in modern technology, environmental responsibility and competitive pricing,” says KaP. “The company is continually investing in expanding existing factories and developing new facilities (e.g. waste recycling plant). all divisions have achieved a

dominant supply position in their product sectors and this has enabled the businesses to achieve competitive prices through economy of scale benefits.”

It continues that “Through strategic partnerships with german company fehrer ag and Swiss group autoneum, the company is the dominant player in moulded seat pads and head rests, as well as automotive acoustics and thermal management. There is a strong culture of interdependence and synergy amongst the units, yet each is managed as an individual profit centre with its own management team.”

KaP International Holdings limited is an investment company with a portfolio of diverse manufacturing businesses. These include processed meat, maize milling, leather products, footwear, speciality fibres, bottle resin, towelling products and, of course, automotive products.

Key business drivers are consistent

quality, outstanding

services, investment in modern technology,

environmental responsibility

and competitive pricing”


© BMW

© Feltex Automotive Trim


TONY’S CARTAGE c.c.

[email protected]

Tony’s Cartage have superlink tautliner trucks and deliver to the whole of South Africa

Transport with a Vision

The company is listed on the JSE and “today consists of the companies it has acquired since 2004 and the industrial assets of Steinhoff Africa which was acquired in 2012”.

KaP is now truly a “leading industrial business in southern africa and has moved from a small cap to a mid cap listed company on the JSE” with r11 billion in revenue and r14 billion assets under management.

“The group is focused on delivering on its strategy of being a market leader in the industries it serves in a growing african market,” the company says.

To learn more visit www.kap.co.za or www.feltex.co.za.


© Feltex Fehrer (Pty) Ltd



fElTEx auToMoTIVE TrIMThis division is the leading supplier of a wide range of quality automotive acoustic and trim components including main floor carpets, dash insulators, engine and passenger compartment insulators, trunk packages, parcel shelves and sun visors, shower curtains, seat back trim, trunk mats, roof and bonnet liners, exterior textile wheelhouse liners and loose lay mats. acoustic components are developed to reduce the noise in the passenger compartments of motor vehicles. It is a first-tier supplier to all the leading oEMs and is the dominant supplier in its product range. long-term technology and licensing agreements have been established with global leaders in the manufacture of automotive and trim components. The raw materials for use by the converting units are manufactured in-house.

fElTEx uNIfraxfeltex unifrax, in partnership with unifrax corporation of uSa and using its state-of-the-art technology, manufactures mats for catalytic converters to protect the filter in the exhaust of a motor vehicle. It is the world-leading producer of high temperature fibre products for a wide variety of industrial applications. This is a growth market with increasing environmental demands for lower motor vehicle exhaust emissions.

fElTEx foaMSituated in Durban, this business produces a wide range of polyester and polyether flexible, semi-rigid and rigid thermo-formable foams in peeled and shaped component format. Most of the output is delivered to the automotive market where a significant market share has been achieved. The foam laminates the fabric to the car seat. foam products are also supplied to the apparel, filtration, footwear and leisure industries.

fuTurIS fElTExwith its recent joint venture deal with australian group futuris automotive Interiors, caravelle carpets will manufacture tufted carpets in South Africa for the first time.

fElTEx fEHrEr (74 percent)Established when feltex sold 26 percent of its foam mouldings division to the leading international foam mouldings manufacturer, fehrer of germany (securing the continuity of technical expertise), feltex fehrer manufactures moulded polyurethane products to international specifications and quality standards. The product range includes automotive seat pads, armrests, headrests, wire frames, listing wires and suspension aid buffers.

auToNEuM fElTEx (49 percent)a joint venture with the multinational autoneum automotive Systems group, feltex has management responsibility for operations and has secured the continuity of technical expertise. The JV produces heatshields in rosslyn and distributes noise and thermal protection systems, as well as floor systems and interior trim.

Source: www.kap.co.za

d I v I S I o N S AT A g l A N c E

???????????????????Feltex Fehrer (Pty) Ltd



Growth is Inevitable, we will Grow Naturally.

Manufacturers of Air-Laid / Cross-Lapped / Thermo bonded Needled / Stitch bond and Laminated Non-Wovens

9 Walter Reid Road, Tongaat Tel: +27329445572 | Email: [email protected]

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a D b a i r f i E L D S O L u T i O N S

T A k I N g T o T H E S k I E Sas africa continues to grow, so do its airports. ADB Airfield Solutions Southern africa’s cEo Manfred oettl tells us more. Writer Ian Armitage

Project manager Nick Norris

he african continent has ambitious growth and expansion plans. a key part of that is creating new airports, expanding

current airports and professionalising the existing ones. In a world where airport safety remains a priority and runway incursion accidents are on the rise, technologies such as airfield lighting systems, precision approach and landing systems, surface movement radars, and visual docking guidance systems are imperative for ensuring airport safety.

This is where ADB Airfield Solutions comes in, playing a major role through its comprehensive and internationally

certified product range of safety solutions and management systems. The company’s integrated solutions such as advanced Surface Movement guidance & control Systems (a-SMgcS) include products and services to ensure safety from landing to take off, covering LED runway and taxiway lights, guidance signs and microprocessor controlled constant current regulators.

“we have an innovative portfolio ranging from design and development, installation, maintenance and consulting to training,” says aDB’s Southern african cEo Manfred oettl. “we’re well aware of the potential in africa for our business and our



T A k I N g T o T H E S k I E Ssolutions support airport operations and enable them to improve their performance and reliability.”

worldwide, aDB’s solutions have been successfully integrated across 2,000 civil and military airports and heliports. The company was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Johannesburg. aDB Airfield Solutions (PTY) Ltd operates as a subsidiary of aDB BVBa.

“There will be a lot of growth in the region and aDB is ideally situated for this,” adds oettl. “By integrating the various ADB offices worldwide, we can then achieve a better understanding of the client’s needs, and offer them the service they require.”

aDB was recently selected to assist in the modernisation of the runway at cape Town International airport, helping to improve energy efficiency and ease of maintenance. “we’re upgrading the CATIII Airfield ground lighting at the airport,” oettl explains. “The project is vital for an airport which is a gateway for millions of passengers coming to cape Town.”

The company will supply and install its new High Intensity aD lights for the runway centreline, touchdown and taxiway centreline, the new High Intensity ErEl lED runway edge lights as well as runway closure crosses, which are part of its “green” energy-

efficient LED lighting portfolio. The new runway closure markers will

allow easier airfield lighting maintenance by allowing the airport staff to close commercial operations on the runway when needed. The scope includes commissioning services and the relocation of agl manholes to 50 metres from the runway edge.

“cape Town International airport is by far one of africa’s busiest airports and since the runway will continue to support air traffic during the course of the upgrade, this project demands impeccable standards of quality,” christian onselaere, cEo of aDB, said in a recent press release. “we are


honoured that airports company South africa, a long-standing partner, values the proficiency of our personnel and trusts our ability to implement this project flawlessly.”

The project is scheduled to be completed in July. “It showcases our capabilities nicely,” says oettl. “we have an end-to-end approach to enhancing runway safety and take a complete view of an airport and our customer-first philosophy inspires us to look at ways in which we can deliver a solution that effectively tackles the challenges our customers face.”

The aim now is to grow the business. “our target is to grow the business - in 2013 and beyond - by 30 percent annually. we will invest in training our current team to be able to manage our ever-widening portfolio and we will employ additional highly specialised people in order to sustain our current high standards of service.

“aDB’s exposure in the SaDc region, Nigeria and Kenya is already very good, with an installed base in most of these countries of around 60 percent. This is improving all the time and aDB has always had a good reputation in the region.



There will be a lot of growth in the region

and ADB is ideally situated for this. By

integrating the various ADB offices worldwide, we can then achieve a better understanding of the client’s needs, and offer them the service

they require”

[email protected]



The world’s leading airfield

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“we are looking especially to grow in angola, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi and I feel that africa is an exciting market to work in, even with all the challenges of funding, distances and the wide cultural differences.

“There is a clear need for african countries to improve their safety records, as well as improving the first impression made to tourists and investors, by making their national gateways more appealing. It’s where we come in. africa is a vast continent with lots of challenges and transportation is one of them. The improvement of the air transport industry, and therefore the airports, will be necessary for governments, to allow access to various mineral and industries, as well as to improve the welfare of their people by improving travel opportunities.”

aDB’s history dates back to 1920 when adrien de Backer started manufacturing electrical resistors and transformers before moving into the business of theatre lights and control panels in 1925. The company continues to push the envelope and is set for a very bright future (if you’ll excuse the pun?).

To learn more visit www.adb-airfieldsolutions.com.

Making our runways safer

Reg

No.

199

3/00

4149

/30 A further measure to increase safety at Airports Company South

Africa’s six regional airports has been the replacement of halogen runway and taxiway lighting with LED lighting. This system produces a more clearly visible, crisp white light and has the further advantages of consuming considerably less electricity and having much longer maintenance intervals. LED installations are in progress at the three main international airports.

Runway safety will always receive priority attention at all airports operated by Airports Company South Africa.

www.airports.co.za

Air safety continues to receive worldwide attention as air travel grows. Of particular concern is that runway and taxiway incursions and excursions are the only safety statistics that have not been reduced over the past twenty years.

Airports Company South Africa is the only sub-Saharan country that has followed an International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) initiative to institute Local Runway Safety Teams. Now in place for two years, these provide forums for runway stakeholders to discuss safety issues and perform collaborative decision-making. Represented are Airports Company South Africa, Air Traffic and Navigation Systems (ATNS), airlines, ground handlers, general aviation stakeholders (including flying schools) and the business aviation community.

Generally recognised as a leader in Africa in this field, Airports Company South Africa is also involved in ICAO’s Airports Safety Excellence Programme and has so far performed runway safety audits on its behalf in Mozambique and Indonesia.

a u T O h a u S W i N D h O E k

W H E E l I N g

Volkwagen, germany’s biggest carmaker, has been leaving rivals in the dust. africa outlook talks to JP Pretorius, Dealer Principal and Director of autohaus windhoek, the only distributor of the whole Volkswagen range in Namibia. Writer Ian Armitage

Project manager Stuart Platt

hen ferdinand Piëch (who is now chairman) arrived as Volkswagen’s cEo in 1993, things looked

dire. The company was overspending. Inefficient and overstaffed, it had lost its reputation for quality. How things have changed: in the first quarter of 2013, Vw group deliveries increased by 4.8 percent to 2.3 million vehicles worldwide, while the company’s share of the global passenger car market rose year-on-year, and group sales rose to 2.4 million vehicles.

autohaus windhoek is the only distributor of the whole Volkswagen range in Namibia. It distributes Volkswagen Passenger and commercial vehicles and the Swakopmund branch sells and services Vw Passenger vehicles.


aheadIt also distributes audi vehicles, says JP Pretorius, Dealer Principal and Director of autohaus windhoek.

“we are the sole distributor of audi in Namibia as well as the country’s biggest Vw dealership with branches in windhoek and Swakopmund. we specialise in passenger and light commercial vehicles.”

autohaus is part of Metje+Ziegler ltd, an automotive specialist that has been around for 106 years.

“we have a fantastic heritage,” Pretorius explains.

Namibia is a marginal market compared to its South african neighbour but the industry’s growth prospects are helped by the fact the country is one of the wealthiest in sub-Saharan africa on a per capita income basis.

The country’s economy is booming too – and set to grow 4.3 percent in 2013.



Image: Getty


while it might not be huge in african terms, compared to Europe it could be a lot worse.

“Namibian consumers will continue to play an important role in the country’s growth and we are hoping to tap into it,” says Pretorius. “That said the industry is relatively small; the new car market in total on the passenger side is about 400 to 450 sales per month in Namibia, so it is marginal. commercial sales are pretty much the same.

“In terms of passenger cars we have a significant market share of some 24-28 percent market share on the Vw side, which is quite strong. The market has not been as buoyant in the first quarter this year as we would have liked and I think there is some liquidity within the market fuelling that.”

That liquidity has hit new car sales, Pretorius says.

But things have been better when it comes to pre-owned vehicles.

“on the pre-owned side it is picking up nicely,” he explains. “with new cars, because of the exchange rate, and prices going up, that has a positive effect on used cars. There is a big difference between the price of a pre-owned vehicle and a new one after all.”

Several new product launches have helped when it comes to all facets of autohaus’s business, particularly where commercial trucks are concerned.

“we’ve seen the launch of the amarok,” says Pretorius. “That is something new to us but as a pick-up it is more than good enough to worry Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi – in fact it is taking market share from them. Initially there were supply issues regarding that vehicle from the manufacturer - we had a change in factories, moving from argentina to germany and then back to argentina, and that obviously affected our supply. we only get one boat per month now.

But we have launched the amarok and that is good for volume and we look forward to a great second half of the year with that vehicle. we are happy.”

with there being more retail days in the second half of the year, Pretorius is excited by what the next six months will bring.

“april and May are never great because there are a lot of public holidays and you have school

holidays in Namibia,” he says. “It affects the retail days. The second half is normally better and obviously as people get towards the end of December they want to purchase new year registration product so that has a good effect.

“I think we are looking at a nice second half. we have had some good product launches in the first half which compliment the model ranges. we hope that will have a positive impact in the second half in terms of vehicle sales.”

He is optimistic about longer term success too.

“we have things like the new mines that will be coming on board and it will have a big impact on gDP. as that

a u T O h a u S W i N D h O E k

In terms of passenger cars we have a significant

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increases and more people get employment it will have a positive effect.

“Namibia’s last census was at the end of last year and it showed I think that the population is sitting at 2.1 million people. we’ve had 15 percent population growth in the last 10 years. Now my point is that the data shows that the population isn’t growing as fast as the economy – we are looking at over four percent gDP growth in 2013 and the population won’t grow as fast. That should extend to people earning more money.

“The consumer price index in namibia is definitely up at the beginning of the year. So we are quite happy.”

Namibia has a stable economy and its growth prospects for the medium-term remain favourable.

“It is a stable environment,” says Pretorius. “I think the government has a fantastic monetary policy. They are managing things well and they are quite conservative. Infrastructure expansion is lined up and coming through so it’ll be good for the economy.

“I think we are quite blessed by how well Namibia has survived the global financial storm and growth as a whole has remained reasonably good.”

of course much of autohaus’s success is down to its product.

It is also down to customer focus.“customer service is absolutely essential and a quality product

portfolio like audi or Vw gives the company a unique and strong selling point,” says Pretorius. “We put our customers first and we also have some fantastic products to back-up our service.

“of course customer satisfaction is vital in this industry and Vw and audi rank amongst the very best in the world on that.”

Choosing the right staff is vital too.“There is huge focus on customer satisfaction and we are

baring the fruit of that. We employ our staff with those drivers in mind and every staff member gets fully scrutinised before we employ them – psychometric training and all of that. They need to be approved by ourselves, Vw and audi. So it is robust, making sure we employ the right people able to deliver the right levels of customer service.”

But finding the right people and retaining them can be a challenge.“We definitely have a skills deficit here in namibia but we

represent attractive brands which people want to work for,” says Pretorius.

autohaus has several new models for 2013 – the new Polo, new golf, new gti, Scirocco, Jetta, new Beetle, Tiguan, Sharan, amarok, and caravelle to name a few.

It also has a great used car range.To learn more visit www.vw.com.na.


Images: Getty

M u r r a y & D i C k S O N C O N S T r u C T i O N

not out! 30


C O N S T r u C T i O N

In its 30 years of existence Murray & Dickson construction has undertaken building projects in the

commercial, retail, industrial, educational and leisure sectors – completing everything from offices, shopping centres and large factory warehouses to mini factory complexes, motor

showrooms, schools and university buildings. This coupled with its civil Engineering expertise allows the company to compete

in a broad spectrum of construction projects.By Ian Armitage

Project manager Stuart Shirra

ou may or may not know that 1983 saw the release of Microsoft word and was the year

that McDonald’s first introduced the McNugget. In gauteng, and certainly the offices of Murray & Dickson construction, the year is remembered for a different but very special reason. It was the year that andrew Murray – and a partner who since left the business – launched the company.

while it was a “tough slog” in the early years, the business has grown exponentially from its modest beginnings to a company that now handles most facets of building and civil engineering construction within South africa.

“I started it with a fellow civil engineer and the idea was to create a construction company that was essentially a general contracting firm. It started off very small. We did weekend work building garden walls, putting vinyl down in blocks of flats and so on. we were fortunate to get an early job where we designed and constructed a factory for a client. That was in 1983. Shortly thereafter the economy took one of its many nosedives and my partner left two years after we started. I battled on for a few years surviving on house alterations. gradually things picked up and we moved on to houses and small commercial jobs and eventually grew a lot larger.”

and so things continued to expand gradually until 2006 when andrew recruited two former group five contract managers, renell Devraj Samuel and rukesh raghubir.

“They were young, hungry and very ambitious. They, and Nic Strehler who joined shortly after, added a new dimension of competency to the business,” he says.



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They also brought BEE level 2 accreditation and several new ideas, culminating in the 2007 acquisitions of DoD contractors (Pty) ltd (together with its earthmoving plant division) and the earthworks and pipe laying expertise of Kevin Peinke cc.

DoD contractors (Pty) ltd added bulk earthworks and road construction capacity to the company’s portfolio.

The second acquisition resulted in the creation of Murray & Dickson Pipe (Pty) ltd.

“when renell and rukesh came onboard it gave us an elevated BEE rating, although that was never the reason for employing them. They were picked on their abilities alone. But the BEE component – we are a level 2 BEE company with 50.5 percent black ownership - opened up many doors for us and gave us the confidence to get into bigger contracts. we had only previously done smaller jobs but suddenly we were tendering on contracts that were over r50 million. at the time our annual turnover was less than that. To be honest it took a fair amount of courage, but Renell and Rukesh gave us the confidence to do it. That is when we started taking on larger and more diverse contracts. we were, however, concerned that all our work was in building construction. we realised that if anything ever happened to

that market we would be very exposed, so we started looking around with a view to getting involved in civil engineering. That is when we bought DoD contractors and the large diameter steel pipe laying capabilities of Kevin Peinke. Kevin and his son Kyle have remained with us and are shareholders in Murray & Dickson Pipe.”

Initially things didn’t quite go to plan.“as soon as we made the DoD acquisition the market

tanked,” admits Murray. “The earthworks business dried up completely. People turned the taps off in 2009 and earthworks were first to be affected. That business, we never got into. But we did move plant and equipment into our pipe laying division and slowly started acquiring jobs which was strategically good for us, as building construction was experiencing a downturn.”

Its pipe lying division has been the star performer of the last few years and now, with the market improving for other sectors of its business, andrew is looking to the future with renewed optimism.

“For 2009, 2010 and 2011 turnover was pretty flat and then it dipped in 2012. construction by 2012 was horribly competitive - profit margins, everything was squeezed. It was a struggle. we have found that this year, 2013, things have picked up quite dramatically both in construction and civil engineering and

We have found that this year, 2013, things have picked up quite dramatically both in construction and civil engineering and pipelines”


Laying a 1.5 metre diameter

steel pipeline for Rand Water


pipelines. In terms of the pickup, we’re talking something like 50 percent from a turnover point of view. Profits are still tight but things are looking better.”

accelerated development of several water projects across South africa have contributed to this. The decision to open Murray & Dickson Pipe (Pty) ltd looks like an inspired one.

“I think infrastructural spend is starting to become a reality and water supply is going to be something that will boom. You have growing urban populations and they need water. This is one of those needs that government cannot ignore.”

That’s not all on the job front. Since 2001 Murray & Dickson has been actively involved in the refurbishment of both commercial and residential inner city buildings in Johannesburg. It has a very close relationship with wits university, with whom it has completed several high profile projects – and it has just won another fixed-term contract that’ll see it complete several more in the near future.

“wits university has been a client of ours for many years and we previously won a three-year framework contract – an NEc, best practice, collaborative procurement contract. we are pleased that we have won another three-year fixed framework contract, on open tender. I think we understood the contract and its value to us and we are working with wits currently

building a Maths Block for them on their west campus.”

Murray & Dickson construction wants to offer all staff a career path within the company, believing it is the best reward it can offer. Mr Murray

believes that the employees within a company and the relationships one builds with clients ultimately dictate the extent to which a company will succeed.

Expect to see much more from this ambitious construction firm.

“There is no doubt that construction is a tough business and anyone embarking on it, I believe, has to know that,” says andrew of his 30 years running the firm. “It is a business where cashflow is


I think infrastructural spend is starting to become a reality and water supply is going to be something that

will boom”

Circa Gallery - a landmark building in Rosebank. The construction consists of an elliptical off shutter concrete structure, clad in anodized aluminium fins

Andrew Murray - Chief Executive Officer of Murray & Dickson Construction


so important to manage. There have been a number of times when one has wondered whether or not it was really worth continuing. You just don’t see light at the end of the tunnel. But suddenly things start improving and all the hard work has been worth it. Significantly though, you have to invest. when you look at our pipe laying division it is quite capital intensive, with expensive plant and equipment, but the investment has paid off. You have to keep investing in the company otherwise it is never going to amount to much.”

His task now is to make sure the business is in good shape for future growth and his eventual retirement, although at 57 years young it is still a while off.

“I do see a bright future. we have a marvellously diverse and enthusiastic team. There are very few construction companies that have our BEE rating and we are able, on our cidb ratings alone, to take on any size contract.

“what we are increasingly trying to ensure is that we have a broad base of talent within the company. This will allow us to continue to expand the construction services we offer and allow new leaders to emerge within the company. we have recently completed turnkey projects where we offer our clients a complete design and construct package, relieving the client of the difficulties of working with unknown professional teams.”

To learn more visit www.murray-dickson.co.za.


When you look at our pipe laying division it is quite capital intensive,

with expensive plant and equipment, but the investment has

paid off. You have to keep investing in the

company otherwise it is never going to amount

to much”

Construction of the R150 million Undergraduate

Science Centre at the University of the

Witwatersrand

E i g E N b a u

success


Engineering


africa outlook talks to Derek weston, the general Manager of Sandton-based civil engineering

contractor Eigenbau.Writer Ian Armitage


ounded by Eddie ross in 1981, civil engineering contractor Eigenbau is now almost unrecognisable from

the firm that initially focused on concrete construction. In the years since it has diversified and now has many more strings to its bow.

“we’ve evolved,” says Eigenbau general Manager Derek weston. “our business now encompasses almost every aspect of civil engineering and building and we have our own Mechanical Engineering Division, which specialises in equipment for water and sewage treatment plants and pumping stations.”

That division was formed in 1997, he says, born out of the acquisition of Sewapurco.

“It saw us broaden our activities and means that we’ve had a reasonably good last few years, despite the downturn. we were fortunate that we had some long term projects/contracts that took two or three years to complete during that period. obviously there was a height of activity in getting everything ready for the 2010 fIfa Soccer world cup and there was a lot of work building highways, stadiums and things like that. when that came to an end it left a tremendous vacuum. The government keeps reminding us that they have plans for infrastructure development but we are not seeing a lot of tenders coming out at this point.”

Several water projects across South africa have contributed to Eigenbau’s recent success.

“our Mechanical Engineering Division has been quite active on the water side. certainly over the life of the company it has been the growth area. It was opened around about 1997 so we were doing a lot of work that we were calling in subcontractors to handle and we


Engineering


E i g E N b a u

realised we could be doing that work ourselves. That has been active during the downturn. Those jobs are smaller price-wise but it has certainly been a meaningful contributor for these last couple of years.”

Eigenbau has successfully completed various contracts in building, including industrial, commercial and residential; in the mechanical field, including new water and sewage treatment plants, and refurbishing and maintaining water and sewage treatment equipment; and in civil engineering, including pipelines, culverts and canals, roads, bridges and ancillary works, water and sewage works, reservoirs, dams, irrigation projects and hydro power stations.

“we’re optimistic for the year ahead and future,” adds weston. “a lot has to be done in South africa for water. Several water resources are polluted and they need to be cleaned up. The government and the local governments have been spending on that. It’ll be an advantage to us.”

unsurprisingly most of Eigenbau’s current projects are water related.

“It’s mostly wastewater,” says weston. “That’s on both the mechanical and civil side. our Mechanical Division is almost exclusively in water and wastewater but our civil division does do other work.

“current civil contracts we are carrying out are an extension to the wastewater treatment works for Johannesburg water at their Bushkoppies waste water Treatment Works. We are finishing off a pipeline which is a joint venture in the limpopo Province that is taking water to the villages in that remote area. Those are our two big civil contracts. we are currently busy with a number of mechanical contracts: we are working for rand water at the moment on a new 250 mega litre a day filter block in a three party joint

Sol Plaatjie Hydro Power Station Excavation near

Bethlehem



venture. we are also subcontracted to do some mechanical work at the Bushkoppies facility. and we have a further r72 million contract refurbishing the aeration at Bushkoppies. In addition we are working with the Nelson Mandela Municipality on a 10 mega litre a day extension there to the Driftsands wastewater treatment plant and another one for Johannesburg water at their Driefontein wastewater treatment plant, where we are installing aerators, mixers screw pumps and disinfection.

“we have also built two power stations near Bethlehem that derives energy from water from the Katse dam at about 35 cubic metres a second into the ash river,” says weston.

This is a consequence of africa’s largest water transfer scheme, the lesotho Highlands water Project, which comprises a system of several large dams and tunnels connecting the two countries.

“The power stations produce about 3Mw of power each, which is nice green energy.

“unfortunately there has been a bit of a hiatus in terms of development of further Hydro Power Stations because Eskom, the national power company, and NErSa, the National Energy regulator of South africa, have been resolving the process for independent power producers to supply power into the national grid. The two that we completed do feed into the national grid and the future ones will as well.

“we should start with the third one later in 2013.” for the future he sees growth continuing to

come from the Mechanical Division.“I think that’s right but our civils division will

remain busy as we win contracts. That is the great unknown factor whenever you try to project numbers in an industry that is dependent on work being allocated on a competitive tendering bottom line basis - you have to win the contract before you can do the work.”

Is he confident of securing future work? Yes.“we are a medium-sized company managed

by the owner. we don’t have a massive overhead structure, it is very hands on and we have a track record of delivery. When we are faced with difficult and demanding situations, we work through them, and deliver. we have a good reputation in the industry and we’ve been around since 1981 – there isn’t a lot we haven’t done or seen.”

To learn more about Eigenbau and see its long list of completed projects visit www.dzigner.co.za/eigenbau/eigenbau.html.

g L O b a L r O O f i N g S O L u T i O N S

S T E E l118 www.afrIcaouTlooKMag.coM

going strong


S T E E lAfrica Outlook profiles

manufacturer of roof sheeting and cladding global

Roofing Solutions.Writer Ian Armitage


lobal Roofing Solutions (grS) is one of South africa’s best known manufacturers of roof sheeting and cladding

and its principle businesses – Brownbuilt and HH robertson - have been in operation since 1964 and 1958 respectively. Country Roofing and Helm Engineering also form part of the portfolio, making grS the largest steel roofing and cladding company in South africa. It’s a hell of a heritage.

“Brownbuilt Metal Sections was established in 1964 and pioneered the manufacture of concealed fix roof profiles in South Africa with their “Brownbuilt” profile,” says www.globalroofs.co.za. “The operation is renowned for its expertise and technical grounding in the production of roofing materials at their Boksburg factory, but also from their mobile rolling mills producing longer sheets on site. until 2001 it formed part of the Building products division of JSE listed, Dorbyl group, under the global Roofing Solutions banner. Global Roofing Solutions division was sold to management and together with the sister operation HH robertson they became the two operational divisions of Global Roofing Solutions (Pty) ltd. In 1977, they introduced the first mobile rolling mills in the country, proceeding in 1999 to roll a world record, 136m long single sheet of their Kliplok profile for the Velodrome in cape Town. Ever since, many landmark sites in South africa adorned Brownbuilt roofing and sheeting, from institutional to commercial buildings and entertainment to residential.”



HulamIn

Hulamin is a leading, mid-stream aluminium semi-fabricator and fabricator of aluminium products located in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal and Midrand, gauteng, supported by sales offices in South Africa, Europe and the u.S.

as the only major aluminium rolling operation in sub-Saharan africa, Hulamin is one of the largest mineral beneficiating exporters in South africa, with over 60 percent of its sales exported to leading manufacturers around the world, focusing on specific product and end-use markets.

we create value through meeting our customer’s needs for high-value aluminium semi-fabricated products. In doing so, we boost economic activity in South africa, stimulating business activities in our region, creating employment, and contributing to the upliftment of the local community. we also contribute to the wellbeing of South african manufacturing, through our role as both supplier and customer, and through our role as a responsible leader in sustainable development in Southern africa.

we continually seek to grow our business by satisfying the demands of our customers and supporting the growth of aluminium usage in our chosen market sectors.

www.hulamin.co.za


Moving on to talk about HH robertson, it continues: “HH robertson, established in 1958, was the first company to introduce steel roof sheeting in South africa, and proceeded to be the first manufacturer and a pierced fix roofing specialist. Through the years the operation maintained its leading position as supplier of traditional roofsheeting to the Southern african construction industry. The operation survived many ownership changes and after being part of grinaker lta, Dekex etc, came into the Dorbyl ltd fold as a part of the global Roofing Solutions division in the late 1990s. HH robertson, together with Brownbuilt, now forms the two operational divisions of global Roofing Solutions (Pty) Ltd. They also patented the now generically known “Inverted Box Rib”-Profile, IBR and were the first to offer the unique embossing feature on their sheeting.”

The operation survived many ownership changes and after being part of Grinaker

Lta, Dekex etc, came into the Dorbyl Ltd fold as a part of

the Global Roofing Solutions division in the late 1990s”


TIME TRUCkIng (PTY) LTD

we have increased our warehouse capacity offering local distribution and cross border consolidation.

we have added new technology to our fleet giving us better efficiency and higher payloads.

Our wide spread distribution offers competitive return load rates from all major centres.

www.timetrucking.co.za


grS turns over about r1 billion a year and has previously worked on the Nestle warehouse in longmeadow, Johannesburg, the woodland shopping mall, in Pretoria, the Parmalat warehouse and the firestone plant, in Elandsfontein.

other famous projects include the coca cola Dome in Midrand and the Silverstar casino in KZN.

“apart from providing cover to commercial institutions in South africa, residential developers of both upper end and lower cost projects specify grS roofs,” the company says.

grS is part of Blackstar Plc, an investment company, whose objective is to “gain exposure to the growth on the african continent largely through companies in South africa with the underlying themes of strategic market position and strong cash flow”.

It was incorporated in England and wales and is listed on the alternative Investment Market, operated by the london Stock Exchange (lSE).

“Blackstar’s steel and infrastructure interests include Global Roofing Solutions (Pty) limited (grS), Stalcor (Pty) limited (Stalcor), and robor (Pty) limited (robor),” said its latest financial report. “These businesses represent 22.4 percent of Blackstar’s current gross intrinsic asset value as at 31 March 2013.

“we remain conservative in the intrinsic NaV valuation of our steel interests. However, I maintain that these assets will prove very valuable should the promise of increased infrastructure spend become a reality.”

Summing up grS’s performance, the report continued that the year was “one of rapid change” with

In 2012 we installed manufacturing facilities in

Windhoek to enable a shorter and more cost-effective route

to market”

Typical galvanised/pre-painted specification for the Browabuilt profile


Time Trucking is proud to be associated with Global Roofing Solutions for the past 30 years

Telephone: 011 907 4582 | Fax: 011 907 9133Email: [email protected] | Cell: 082 601 0455Email: [email protected] | Cell: 082 601 0453

16 Jacoba Street, Alberton North | PO Box 83499, South Hills 2136


the coil-to-coil coating line closing, and the “consolidation of the gauteng operations into a single facility”. Both events resulted in “abnormal costs” totalling r14.3 million, Blackstar said. “we do however expect substantial cost-savings and streamlining of management as a result, and we look forward to improved efficiencies and greater productivity.”

why the optimism? well, it added, the recent arcelorMittal breakdown and the Medupi Power Station strike “placed pressure on grS with regard to meeting delivery requirements. However, the recent consolidation of operations has created improved controls and cost-efficiencies which mitigate some of the issues. I remain confident that the numbers will move in the right direction.”

grS’s Namibian business continued on a “path of strong growth”, the document added.

“In 2012 we installed manufacturing facilities in windhoek to enable a shorter and more cost-effective route to market, to satisfy the fast-growing industries in angola and the Democratic republic of congo,” it said.

grS continues to grow its exports into africa.To learn more visit www.globalroofs.co.za.


keeping it

National real Estate in Bloemfontein currently manages over 12,000 residential properties in both the sectional title and property rental portfolios. It also manages more than 1,200 commercial properties and offers insurance services.Writer Ian Armitage

Project Manager James Mitchell

N a T i O N a L r E a L E S T a T E

ome of the world’s most instantly recognisable businesses are family-owned. News corp, Benneton, l’oréal, Playboy, gucci, carnival cruise lines, and car giant ford

Motor co, are just a few. globally, family businesses - defined loosely as a business in which a dominant family owns 51 percent of an enterprise - account for around 70-80 percent of all businesses and are acknowledged as the strategic backbone of most economies and a key source of growth.

Nowhere is this truer than in africa - think of the likes of the ackermans in South africa, the Kenyattas in East africa, and the Dangotes in west africa. all of these have helped define the economies and the business environments of the regions in which they operate.

The du Toit family’s business is doing the same.National real Estate was established in 1933 in

Bloemfontein. over the years it has had some name and ownership changes and today it is run by the du Toits, who took over in 2003.

The company, which specialises in property management and related industries, is a market leader in the property industry in the Bloemfontein area.

“It is our mission to be totally committed in serving our customers in the most effective means possible,” says cEo Marius du Toit. “family businesses have indisputable defining qualities: individuals reporting to one another, confiding in one another, and growing the company together. It ultimately leads to speedier management. You cut down significantly on the red tape and you can make quick decisions. I think there are a lot of benefits. But there are also negatives. However, the benefits outweigh those.”

The family approach seems to be working. Since taking over the business, National real Estate grown by between 12 and 15 percent annually and continues to expand.

“My method of management is to pass responsibility onto even your lowest staff member because it makes them think and makes them part of the business. we want our people to feel empowered and feel like this is their business. we believe that sharing profitability of the company and the growth of the company is very important. It is a great incentive.”

unusually – we’ve certainly not encountered it before – national Real Estate shows financial figures to all staff in monthly meetings. It give employees a valuable insight into the business and is a level of openness not common amongst business.

again, that works.

“Even during the downturn we grew,” says du Toit. “our philosophy and approach had a lot to do with that.

“also what we’ve found is that when the economy is bad, there is still opportunity out there – people always need somewhere to live. we have a broad portfolio and great service and what we have found is that in a recession the rental market grows, even if sales dip. I believe in giving a comprehensive property service. we have a sales side of the business and a lettings side. It is normally the case that when the economy is weak sales drop but more people tend to rent so it balances out. It makes the business easier to run than it would be if you had just one side of the property ladder.”

National real Estate in Bloemfontein currently manages over 12,000 residential properties in both the sectional title and property rental portfolios. It also manages more than 1,200 commercial properties and offers insurance services.

“we are very dominant here. we’re by far the biggest in the free State/Northern cape area,” says du Toit.

Technology is central to National real Estate’s operations. according to du Toit, the company has spent a lot of time and money developing “the right systems”.

“we believe that if you are not ahead or in front you lose out. In business today, technology grows so fast that as soon as you get behind it is very difficult to get back in front, especially on the cost side, and you start losing business and so forth.

“Technology is therefore vitally important, along with personal service to your clients. If you cannot back up your technology with actual delivery and great service there isn’t much point in having it, and vice versa. You have to support your operations with the right technology and accounting systems. we believe in both sides – the best service you can offer and the best technology you can afford.


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caPItaux

capitaux financial Services Trust (fSP licence no. 13247) is an authorised financial services provider established in 1998.

we have a reputation for being a financial partner that delivers and extends our financial services to both individuals and enterprises throughout South africa.

Products provided include Investments, long term insurance (financial & retirement planning), Short term insurance and Pension & Provident funds.

capitaux has its own In-House Multi Manager, capita asset Management Trust (fSP 6066) that makes use of a blend of listed unit Trusts.

Please refer to www.capita.org.za for Monthly fund fact Sheets and Performance.

“we started about 10 years ago buying into a comprehensive property programme that covers the whole field: insurance, rental, sales, accounting, normal business functions and admin; everything goes into one system. Everything is there at the press of a button. You have to be comprehensive when it comes to this type of thing,” he explains.

and the future is bright. This is National real Estate’s 80th year in business and it is showing no signs of slowing down. “I must be honest it wasn’t in my family’s name for all 80 years. we’ve been doing business since the late 60s with National real Estate. There were once a few families and directors involved and eventually I’ve brought them out, taking control in 2003. I’ve been involved here for 45 years. The old folks that started the business have all gone and sold off and eventually I brought out the whole lot. I do believe that a family business is good. But it is only good if the

youngsters come in and really buy into the business and believe in what they are doing. otherwise you might as well get new blood in.

“looking forward, there are two things – you have to sleep and you have to eat. as long as you are in business for one of those two things then there is always a market; people will always want somewhere to live and something to eat. we believe that staying in the property market is the way forward, continuing the way we operate, and as the population grows and the middle class in South africa grows there is more demand for housing. with that the economy grows, commercial business grows – it has positive ramifications for a lot of industries.

“ultimately, we believe in the future of south africa. Sometimes the headlines are very negative. But if you look at the last 18 years, the business has grown, the market has grown, and the potential tenants and buyers has grown tremendously from five

million to 50 million, so you can only imagine the potentially huge market there is in South africa. It depends on the political side, but business-wise if you work hard and work smart there is always business.”

The company is toying with the idea of expanding into other cities.

“we’ve looked at it many times and have toyed with it before,” says du Toit. “It is always a possibility. But we’ve seen so many people opening new branches and burning their fingers because they can’t manage it properly and it is very costly. Every city has its own vibe and you can’t just walk in there and say ‘it worked here, it’ll work there’. That’s not a good model. However, we are always looking at it. we can’t rule it out.”

what the future holds is unclear. what is clear is that South african family-owned businesses generally outperform their non family-owned rivals.

To learn more visit www.nationalre.co.za.

N a T i O N a L r E a L E S T a T E


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p r O p E r T y

k f C

U N l o c k I N g A f r I c A :

K FCas the Kfc brand continues to expand further across africa, africa outlook talks to Bruce layzell, Kfc general manager for new african markets.Writer Ian Armitage


ith the latest McKinsey report suggesting consumer-facing industries in africa are expected to grow by

more than $400 billion by 2020 many businesses are taking the first steps towards establishing themselves on the continent or, if already in africa, to build sustainable business models and expand their footprints.

Kfc is one such business and its african expansion has been well documented – we’ve featured it a few times over the last couple of years (within this magazine and in our previous carnation as South africa Magazine).

The global fast food giant is not new to africa.

Its South african business has been open for more than 40 years.

“africa is undoubtedly one of the fastest growing regions globally and Kfc is fully committed to harnessing this opportunity and building a sustainable business on the continent,” says Bruce layzell, Kfc general Manager New african Markets. “african consumers are coming to expect world class offerings and why shouldn’t they?”

one of the main drivers of africa’s growth is the increasing pace of urbanisation and consumerisation.

By the end of 2012, Kfc had 63 new african restaurants, with operations in angola, Nigeria, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, ghana, Kenya and Zambia.

The 63 figure excludes South Africa, Egypt, Morocco and Mauritius, which if included, would mean there are almost


f O O D & D r i N k

U N l o c k I N g A f r I c A :

K FC900 Kfc restaurants on the continent. Kfc has plans to extend its reach to Zimbabwe, Tanzania and uganda in 2013, with much longer-term growth plans to establish a presence in any african market that “shows a significant economic promise”.

“our recent opening in Dar es Salaam shows the great lengths we go to to ensure that our customer experience will be world class and indeed exceed that of many developed markets.”

Kfc’s african expansion has been impressive. But layzell cautions that taking a blanket approach to conducting business on the continent does not work.

“although we are undoubtedly a global brand when we go into these new african markets the reality is that very few people know who we are.

“Too often, the numerous countries in africa are painted with the same broad brushstroke. The truth is africa is made up of 53 countries that vary dramatically in cultural, socio-economic and political make-up.

“Our KFC restaurants do differ in each market as our aim is to make our brand relevant in a local context - we don’t cut and paste a South african Kfc into Nigeria or Zambia. I believe there are two factors when looking at market potential. The first in how we do business, call it our internal ambit of control. The second is the external environment - political stability, economic growth, infrastructure investment etc. If these two factors play positively together then we are very bullish about our growth potential.”

one of the big things Kfc does is adjust the menu for specific countries.

“we certainly do that, yes,” says layzell. “of course our core products – for example the Kfc original recipe® chicken – are standard in all of our restaurants but we’ll make slight changes to the menu. It depends where you are. In Nigeria for example they eat jollof rice and so we have included that on the menu. we do however try to put a Kfc spin on it so that it becomes unique to our brand. It essential to balance the local execution of a global brand.”

layzell says while africa is undoubtedly full of potential, there are also big challenges.

If businesses aren’t prepared for that, they’ll fail.


i N S i D E


“africa is full of challenges, ranging from the political and economic, to the societal and practical. Some challenges are harder to address than others – consider the power problem: not something that’ll be solved overnight or necessarily something we can control. we can put in local generation and use equipment that uses less power, but we can’t do much more. Some of africa’s challenges you can control but others you can’t. I think we have been successful in solving the challenges within our control and finding ways of mitigating the factors we can’t, even the power issues.”

Typical challenges such as power shortages, quality building materials and potable water have not dampened Kfc’s appetite for investing in africa.

Nor has it dampened supplier appetites.“our suppliers are growing with us,” says layzell.

“we do a lot of work with them, bringing them up to standard. It’s not always easy and you can imagine the interesting conversations we have with suppliers – ‘you need to improve your quality and spend money on your plant but we can’t offer you guarantees for work, or we only have three or four outlets in that country.’ It’s a challenge but what it’s really about is painting our vision of where we want to go as a brand and then finding suppliers who are willing to partner with us on that journey. It is upfront investment that might not be paid off in the short term but the point is to get in early, lay down the right standards and build the relationship. as an example we have some South african companies that have supplied us for much of the 40 years we have been in that country. we allow them to grow their business with us. we also know our global standards are exceptional and will help them in getting other business. Indeed, when other businesses enter africa - other food service businesses – our suppliers have a foundation of the right quality they can supply to the industry, to hotels, to supermarkets etc. It is about painting the picture, finding the suppliers who believe in what we have to offer and creating the vision to become world class. and we have found some fantastic partners, people willing to invest in their business and do the training.”

as well as Kfc is performing in africa, layzell knows more could be done.

“our Nigerian store openings, for example, have been some of the best in the world,” he says. “However, we know that most Nigerians do not know our brand or the heritage of colonel Saunders, so it goes back to fundamental marketing

k f C

Restaurant in Ibadan Nigeria

Leadership team enjoying the launch of Fish Zinger

in Lagos I think we have been successful in solving the

challenges within our control”


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and branding principles and building the brand from scratch. we strongly believe in applying lessons learnt in the 120 countries we already operate from and shamelessly stand on the shoulders of the global giants. globally, Yum! has a majority of franchised outlets and it is this approach we are currently implementing in africa. It allows us to marry the process and discipline of our brand systems with in-market experience and knowledge.

“I’m not going to tell you I’m going to build x number of stores by Y year,” he adds. “That is meaningless. we’ve said we want to build a sustainable business as fast as we can. That means we have to make sure every restaurant that goes into the ground is economically viable and can sustain itself, that we can get enough supply into that market, and build new restaurants. from our point of view we will build each market as fast as we can. But that is dependent on a

number of factors – the availability of supply, real estate, and the people to work in the stores amongst others.”

The secret to Kfc’s african success? “Number one is our product,” says layzell. “You just have to travel across africa and you see that people eat chicken. we have the right product and we believe what we add to it in terms of our unique recipe. It is that which gives us the edge over the competition. also, the world class quality assurance process that we put behind our business plays a major role – every piece of chicken, tomato and bun, which comes out of our store, has gone through the rigorous quality assurance process that the same product coming out of the u.S., the uK or australia goes through. and as I said, the huge advantage we have is that we are part of a huge organisation in Yum! we have 38,000 restaurants around the world and have been in existence for 50 years. all of that

system knowledge, all the markets we have opened before, and the way we have opened them, is tapped into to allow us to open new markets today effectively and efficiently. We have a lot of intellectual property around the right way to do things and in africa that is the way you have to be – africa is no different to any other market. To treat Africa differently is suicide: it’s the fundamentals of marketing, the right product, in the right place, at the right price, and underline it with the promotion and awesome people to serve it.

“we’re excited by the future and if you have a look at any of the countless research coming out it is all saying there is a growing middle class and more disposable income and aligned with that is stabilising democracies and economies –the kinds of things that business is excited about,” layzell concludes.

To learn more visit www.kfc.co.za.

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S u N D r y f O O D S L i M i T E D

W H A T A


f O O D & D r i N k

Nigeria’s Sundry foods is targeting growth in the quick service industry through its

restaurant brand Kilimanjaro and recently launched seafood chain coral Blue

Seafood restaurant. Writer Ian Armitage


sk any fund manager, investor or business development direct and they’ll all say the same thing – this is the

time to invest in africa. The continent is regularly touted as the ultimate investment destination and it’s easy to see why it is so attractive. over the past decade africa has been the second-fastest growing economy in the world according to the world Bank, with gDP increasing an average of five percent a year. Oil-rich nigeria ticks all the right boxes so far as investors are concerned and, as its middle class grows along with the appetite for foreign brands, more foreign restaurants and lifestyle companies are entering the country.

locally-owned and operated Port Harcourt based Sundry foods limited (Sfl) is taking advantage of the obvious opportunity, says Managing Director Ebele Enunwa.

“we are building new restaurants mainly in different cities around the country,” he explains. “We want to offer good wholesome african food.”

Sfl is an integrated food services company founded by young and enterprising Nigerian professionals from diverse backgrounds within and outside the food industry who saw a gap in the provision of quality food services in the retail, commercial and industrial sectors and the urgent need to fill it.

Sfl has many strings to its bow. It is an integrated food services company.

“we provide a full range of products and services: contract and events catering, restaurants and bakeries,” says Enunwa. “we have focused a lot more on the restaurant side of the business because that is where we have seen the biggest growth opportunities. our bakery business provides support to the restaurants while also exploring opportunities in the mass retail baked goods markets. our catering businesses leverage



S u N D r y f O O D S L i M i T E D

on our expertise and investments in the other businesses and enables us provide wholesale catering and related hospitality solutions to corporate organisations and high net worth individuals at their locations.”

It’s targeting growth in the quick service industry through its restaurant brand Kilimanjaro.

“we recently opened a restaurant in the food court of the Polo Park Mall, Enugu, which also houses Shoprite and game stores,” says Enunwa. “The restaurant business is a part of our business that is fast growing and where we are targeting expansion. we will be opening several restaurants in major cities across the country in a determined effort to ensure that we get out to as many potential customers as possible.

“we have also launched a new restaurant brand called Coral Blue, a seafood restaurant. The first one is in lagos. It opened recently. That is another avenue we want to explore to reach a different demographic market, a more affluent consumer.”

Coral Blue Seafood Restaurant aims to offer a variety of exciting seafood dishes, filling a gap in Nigeria’s casual dining sector.

“Is there a big demand for it? There is. Seafood is something people like here in africa and in Nigeria particularly. we noticed a gap in the casual dining

segment of the food business in the country and no restaurant offered a seafood-focused cuisine.

“There are many out there that offer seafood as part of a broader menu but none focus exclusively on it. That’s why we opened this restaurant to fill the gap.”

It is a restaurant for the “discerning” consumer. a place people can dine alone or bring the family. The menu is however designed to encourage group or communal dining.

“That’s what we aimed for. we created a fantastic environment where you can dine alone, dine with a group while discussing business or bring the family and eat delicious seafood served in different forms that many may not have considered. We have the traditional dishes served alongside the continental and more exotic.”

Seafood’s health benefits are another plus, Enunwa says. “We also want to encourage the culture of good health by eating right. Seafood has a lot of health benefits.” Of the opportunities in Nigeria, he adds, “The country is growing. a lot of people now have moved into the middle-income bracket. The retail sector in general is booming and you can see international retail chains coming into Nigeria and doing business in a way that Nigerians hadn’t even consider, particularly in terms of scale. The opportunities are there and it was never too soon for us. we had been trying to secure capital for many years so as to grow the business. we are glad that we have now scaled that hurdle and

Ebele Enunwa, Managing Director,

Sundry Foods Limited


f O O D & D r i N k

been able to commence the process of expanding our business. This is a time when gDP is growing, disposable income is growing, and employment is rising. People have less time to prepare food at home because they are busy at work and they need somewhere to feed themselves. what we are trying to do is provide everyone a service through our business, whatever segment that might be. our target is all the Nigerians out there trying to make a living. we know we need energy to function and energy is provided by food. we are trying to provide meals that are affordable. Meals that are similar to what you’d have at home and hopefully you will enjoy taking a break from the office and stopping by at a Kilimanjaro to have your home cooked meals and then get back to work.”

The secret to Sfl’s success? resilience.“You have to have a firm objective

and focus and just keep pushing at it. There are so many reasons to give up in Nigeria. There are so many things – be it energy problems, security challenges, staffing issues, start up costs, planning or regulation – that will make you want to throw the hat in if you don’t have thick skin and you aren’t focused on your objectives. If you are focused you can definitely succeed in nigeria.

“for our business we see a bright future and are predicting astronomical GDP growth within the next five years especially considering the ongoing power sector reform in the country. The opportunities here are vast.

“Now is about creating the conditions that will drive growth.”

To learn more visit www.sundryfood.com.

We created a fantastic environment where you can dine alone, dine with a

group while discussing business or bring the family and eat delicious seafood served in different

forms that many may not have considered”

h u T z M E D i C a L

africanh e a lt h s o lu t i o n s


h E a L T h C a r E

The Hutz brand has become synonymous with high quality hospital

equipment and is aiming to take advantage of growth opportunities at

home in South africa and across the african continent.

Writer Ian Armitage

Project manager Eddie Clinton

utz Medical specialises in the manufacture of high-tech medical service supply systems, commonly

known as Bedhead Trunking, ceiling Mounted Pendants, that falls under the fixed capital equipment requirements in the construction and refurbishment of all Hospitals. with over 40 years of experience, Hutz offers “specialised solutions to suit customer requirements”, says Julian Hutz, the company’s Sales and Marketing Director.

“our products are known for their innovative, modern and aesthetic designs which are underpinned by practical technology; therefore they are dependable and durable,” he explains. “The Hutz range of hospital equipment has been developed in consultation with healthcare professionals. This enabled us to create a range of user-friendly equipment, tailored to the care giver.

“our products play an important role in the design of new medical facilities and the upgrade of existing ones, helping hospital staff to deliver high standards of care. we understand the needs of the




cumbrIa EngInEErIng

for the past 30 years cumbria Engineering and its associated companies have been involved in the development and manufacture of equipment aimed specifically at the Medical and Industrial gas industry.

a strict adherence to standards, workmanship and detail have resulted in cumbria being approved suppliers to linde South africa (afrox), air liquide South africa, gaz carbonique, Hutz Medical and various other gas installers, contractors and consultants.

The policy of cumbria Engineering is to instil throughout the company a total quality attitude. It is our objective to produce a reliable, functional product at a competitive price, comparable to any overseas product. achieving this and ensuring all products reflect the expectations and needs of the customers is inherent in the specifications, processing and controls of cumbria Engineering.

Our dedicated staff is encouraged to contribute and to accept individual responsibility for quality and regulatory conformance and work in partnership with management to create a culture of continuous improvement. we therefore have the equipment and know-how to offer clients all their requirements.

tel +27 (11) 914-3730


www.lewthwaite.co.za

industry and this is reflected in the equipment we produce.”

The Hutz range of products includes various medical services supply units, operating theatre ceiling pendants, technical panels/walls, highcare and intensive care ceiling pendants, medical lighting, as well as x-ray viewing screens and attachments.

according to Mr Hutz, this is “an exciting time” to be involved in the medical industry.

“There are plenty of opportunities for companies like us,” he says. “a big development has to be the proposed national health system that will have a major impact on the industry. It has great potential; however, the introduction of the scheme seems likely to be somewhat slow. They are looking at a delivery model that will serve the community, from the ground up, building education foundations that will lead to a healthy future for the nation.”

Our products play an important role in the design of new medical facilities and the upgrade of existing ones”

Vertical Service Supply System



opportunities also exist in the greater african market. The Hutz range of products is ideally suited for the african market; they are robust, reliable and durable.

“Hutz has a strong history of working in africa - in Namibia, Botswana and lesotho, and further afield,” says Mr Hutz. “We have worked on numerous projects in several countries – mainly our neighbours in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and lesotho. we have also worked on projects in Tanzania, Kenya, Jordan, Saudi arabia and Nigeria.”

Hutz Medical, forms part of the Hutz group of companies, founded by german entrepreneur and designer, wolfgang Hutz. In 1970 he started manufacturing

a range of high-tech lighting equipment in a small Port Elizabeth based factory and, from the very outset, sought to attain the very highest levels of quality. He also believed that business success could only be achieved through the production of superior products. after considerable research and development – and some 15 years later – hospital equipment was added to the product range.

The high standards of quality, safety and hygiene required for hospital products made it the logical choice for expansion and diversification”

h E a L T h C a r E


“The high standards of quality, safety and hygiene required for hospital products made it the logical choice for expansion and diversification,” Hutz says. “This move was so successful that by the mid 1990s that the company became a dedicated manufacturer of hospital products.”

In 1999 the Hutz group of companies was formed. It is comprised of Hutz lighting Technique (Pty) ltd., the administrative, marketing and distribution platform for the group and Hospi-tec (Pty) ltd., the manufacturing arm with the focus on high quality precision production, training and research and development.

The company has not looked back since.

“our goal is to visit hospitals, understand what is needed and deliver a customised solution,” Mr Hutz explains. “we build strong relationships with our clients and have one-on-one conversations with the end users thereby

ensuring that they get exactly what they require – be that a customisable product or a standard product that suits them in the long run and makes their running of projects more efficient.

“In a recent customer survey that was done through an independent marketing company, our clients ranked our service and quality as our greatest asset. we are a german-owned company that produces proudly South african products and, according to the survey, more than 66 percent of our customers recommended our products to other professionals in the healthcare industry during the last two years. also, 99 percent of our customers believe that we have superior and high quality products, thus emphasing that we are a preferred supplier in our field.”

Hutz is a company that builds on the principle of continues improvement and is constantly moving towards greater heights.

To learn more visit www.hutz.co.za.

Ceiling Pendant - ICU Installation

Horizontal Service Supply System

z i M p O S T


As Zimbabwe postal company

Zimpost continues to evolve we

speak to Managing Director Douglas

Zimbango about a $5 million upgrading

project aimed at modernising its

business methods.Writer Ian ArmitageProject manager Eleanor Watson

hings change. It is a fact of life. and with the decline of the letter – with people opting for faster means of

communication like cell phones and the internet – Zimbabwe’s postal company Zimpost has had to evolve.

The letter has never been less popular and the number being posted continues to fall. Zimpost has responded.

“we have experienced an 85 percent decline in mail volumes. The reduction in postal output and the advent of quicker online methods of communication have forced us to move into new revenue streams,” Zimpost Managing Director Douglas Zimbango says. “The postal service has suffered from electronic substitution. Today mobile devices provide SMS and social media services so people have shifted away from letters. fewer people are writing them, send bills or even pay bills via postal mail.”

according to Zimbango the decline started in 2003. Back then Zimpost handled 100 million pieces of mail.

In 2004 it was half that. Today it has dropped down to

around 15 million pieces of mail.cutting costs and surviving have had

to become a priority for Zimpost, along with changing the way it does business.

“It is not just a case of saying the letter is dead and us shutting up shop - our postal service plays a pivotal role in the country in terms of poverty alleviation and regional integration. Besides, there will also be a demand for postal services. for that reason we want to become better. It is imperative that we build and implement strategies centred on quality service delivering and a greater focus on the customer to survive. That is what we are doing.”

Zimpost has streamlined and is upgrading its operations, designed to make the firm more competitive.


S u p p L y C h a i N

z i M p O S T


nIcoZdIamond NicozDiamond has consistently been the largest short term insurance company in Zimbabwe. The company has maintained its market share and has the strongest capital base in the sector. NDI also prides itself for being the only short term insurer listed on the ZSE. Since 2006, NicozDiamond has subjected itself to a claims paying ability rating by global credit rating company of South africa and consistently enjoying an a- rating.

In recognition of the need for convenience and customer satisfaction, NicozDiamond has a bancassurance arrangement with Zimpost and physical presence in most Zimpost offices in the country.

nicozDiamond is also ISO Certified by the Standards association of Zimbabwe.

tel +263 - 4 704911 / 4, 251008 Fax +263 - 4 - 700083, 704143www.www.nicozdiamond.co.zw

“a $5 million upgrading project aimed at modernising the business is underway,” says Zimbango. “we are going to modernise the whole setup by buying computer equipment and setting up communications centres in rural areas which will be linked to the main centres to enable rural folk to enjoy what city folk enjoy – real time internet access, photocopying, printing and photographic services.”

The project is jointly funded by Zimpost and the Postal and Telecommunications regulatory authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) and will enable the company to introduce modern technologies such as front office automation, postal codes, hybrid mail service and an International financial System (IfS).

“we are moving from manual systems to computer-based automated systems to leverage infrastructural investment to realise increased savings and use interface,” says Zimbango. “also a

single electronic platform will lead to enhanced speed for transactions.

“we are automating customer service transactions – everything from selling mail services, retail services, bill payment and banking transaction.”

The hybrid mail services have been designed mainly for organisations that mail large quantities of invoices, statements, time sensitive notices and business mail and would enable customers to send electronic mail that would be printed at delivery point, he says.

This service would “relieve” Zimpost of expensive physical conveyance of mail over large distances, complemented by onsite enveloping and flyer insertion.

“The move is a further attempt to diversify services. with the new system, what happens is that if any one of our customers, for example, that is based in Mutare and wants to send their statements or mail to Plumtree, all they have to do is simply bring in

It is not just a case of saying the letter is dead and us shutting up shop - our postal service plays a pivotal role in the country in terms of poverty alleviation and regional integration. Besides there will also be a demand for postal services”

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Insurance Centre, 30 Samora Machel Avenue, PO Box 1256, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Tel: 263 - 4 704911 / 4, 251008 Fax: 263 - 4 - 700083, 704143



the mail in an electronic form, like a disc or memory stick, and we plug it into our machines and send it. The printing will happen at the point of delivery. The Zimpost officers in that particular place will just take out the printed mail or statement and deliver it to the customer. It will cut the delivery time significantly.

“In terms of the counter automation project, 47 offices are now online. Zimpost hopes up to 100 offices will be online by August this year.

“why have we gone down this route? It is a couple of things. firstly the number of letters is continuing to decline. By moving from manual systems to computer-based automated systems we will leverage infrastructural investment to realise increased savings and use interface, combined with a single electronic platform leading to enhanced speed for transactions.

“we are automating customer service transactions – everything from selling mail services, retail services, bill payment and banking transaction.

“we want to improve our service. That is why we have embarked on this project.

“we are now more into agency business. we need the upgrade to our computers and increased automation for this too.”

Customer surfing the internet at the Harare

Main Post Office Communication Centre

z i M p O S T


Zimpost is much more than just a postal service. In the past few years it has been diversifying and investing in areas markedly different from its core business of mail delivery as new communication technologies continue to emerge.

“Mail volumes have dropped significantly and the distribution has also changed, with most of the volumes now coming from businesses rather than individuals. as a result, we’ve sought to address our customers’ diverse and changing communication needs by diversifying our product range.”

a wide range of innovative and technologically driven products and services have been introduced.

These include agency services, retail services, financial services, real estate, Postbus services, communication centres and advertising services.

“we are much more diverse and the upgrade and improvements we are making play into that very much,” says Zimbango.

The national address and postcode project is underway. “That will have many benefits and the project

is earmarked to commence in the coming months. The initiative – like everything else we

We are automating

customer service transactions – everything from selling

mail services, retail services, bill payment and banking transaction”

courIErconnEct dElIvErs: on tImE EvEry tImE courierconnect is the market leader in the provision of diversified logistics services in Zimbabwe, and beyond. with an already established branch network in Zimbabwe complemented by an expansive postal network and the EMS global reach, courierconnect is well positioned to provide fast efficient and secure top of the range courier, warehousing and freight solutions, to domestic and international publics.

The general Manager courierconnect, Isaac Muchokomori, said “in line with our drive to establish a firm hold in Zimbabwe and International logistics services, we move documents, parcels and cargo anywhere, anytime, Every Time – on Time!!!” www.courierconnect.co.za

Zimpost Managing Director, Mr Douglas Zimbango

Causeway Post Office banking hall



are doing - will assist in improved service delivery and also create new revenue streams.”

Zimpost has diversified into post bus passenger transport too. The buses carry both passengers and mail.

“We paid for five 65-seater buses, the aim being to reduce the cost of transporting mail,” says Zimbango. “we haven’t got the buses yet. They will be assembled locally with the kits coming from the Netherlands. what that’ll achieve is a cost reduction. By the end of July the buses will be with us. we’ll see how it goes. This is the way we want to go and the way other posts around the world are going.”

The foundations for future profitability are being laid.

“We are definitely laying the foundation for success and I don’t see anything that will stop us from being a successful company again. In terms of moving over from letters, we are still in

transition trying to get our foot down in the new market which is our agency business. we have taken on a lot of new customers, things are coming online. So in terms of getting the client base built up we are moving forward. The modernisation and upgrades are holding us back in that they are not finished and we need the modernised system. Most of the new clients want to be online real-time with us. we have agency services in the offices that are already online but there are many more still to come online.

“How soon we succeed depends on how soon we roll out the automation. But overall we are seeing an uptick in our business. Since dollarization we haven’t got into profit yet but we are reducing our deficit every year and we are hoping that soon after this major project is finished we will be able to get back to profit again.”

To learn more about Zimpost and its remarkable turnaround visit www.zimpost.co.zw.

With the new system, what happens is that if any one of our customers, for example, that is based in Mutare and wants to send their statements or mail to Plumtree, all they have to do is simply bring in the mail in an electronic form, like a disc or memory stick, and we plug it into our machines and send it”

S E C E Q u i p



rom april 2011 to March 2012 there were 15,609 murders in South africa, as well as 101,203 cases of aggravated robbery.

according to the country’s latest victims of crime survey 57 percent of respondents felt that housebreaking/burglary was the crime most feared in their area of residence.

This has fuelled a boom in the country’s private security industry – the largest private security industry in the world with nearly 9,000 registered companies.

“There’s certainly opportunity for people like us,” says John rogers, Managing Director of Secequip, and expert in the South african security industry. “Secequip is an exclusive importer and distributor of leading security products, including award winning Pyronix and Texecom alarm panels. In addition to Secequip’s extensive intrusion range, the group also supply ccTV equipment, video surveillance, motion detectors, perimeter detection and heat and smoke detectors.”

The firm’s headquarters are based in Johannesburg and it has a national network of 12 branches across South africa.

“In South africa crime is a fact of life – and, in my view, homeowners need to make provision for the installation of security systems that will offer protection when they are most in need,” says rogers. “Modern, state-of-the-art security systems, such as the ones Secequip provide, focus on providing reliable security, while at the same time placing an emphasis on being user-friendly, and providing a range of additional features. our expanding network of sales and support centres across the country provide premium brands people can trust, and service standards that can be relied upon. No matter the system or requirement, from domestic to high-end commercial applications, we bring together leading technologies that provide quality and cost-effective security solutions.”

The Secequip business has grown substantially since its original inception. “we started Secequip in March 2001,” rogers explains. “I have been in this industry since 1978, working at Massey ferguson uK


In South Africa crime is a fact of life – and, in my view, homeowners need to make provision for the installation of security systems that will offer protection when they are most in need”

S E C E Q u i p


before starting my own burglar alarm installation business, lighthouse Security, which I sold to chubb in 1986. I then joined the SEE group where I took over the distribution aspect of Texecom in South africa and we opened an office in Johannesburg. Together with Brian anderson, I bought the company back from Texecom uK in January 2009, and that’s where Secequip was born.

“we’ve not looked back ever since. Secequip has come on leaps and bounds.”

In 2011 Secequip was brought by JSE-listed amecor.

“amecor’s core focus is in the electronics and security sector, with reputable subsidiaries Power Development Services, gillespie Diesel Services, Durapower Manufacturing, amecor Integrated Solutions, fSK Electronics and Sabre radio Networks, under its wing,” says rogers.

Speaking at the time of the acquisition, amecor’s cEo Dereck alexander described Secequip as the “natural fit”. “The acquisition of Secequip is a synergistic fit as its products and electronic solutions are complementary to amecor’s current market offering. The Amecor group has had a good relationship with Secequip for a number of years informally. we believe this strategic acquisition is valuable will add value by broadening our business and adding synergistic product lines which offer complete turnkey security solutions to our customers.

“amecor has had Secequip on its radar for some time. The completion of this important transaction will open the door for accelerated organic growth of our existing businesses and will provide a platform to expand product ranges and services,” alexander added.

“The deal has been a major step forward,” says rogers. “It has given us the opportunity to grow while maintaining our independence.

“The business came from humble beginnings in Johannesburg to 12 branches around the country. Secequip is now on par with the largest distributors in the country.

“The future is pretty exciting and there are lots of opportunities in the security industry. There are tremendous opportunities in both the entry level and hi-tech security market.”

There is potential beyond the country’s borders too.

“Secequip supply into Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and ghana. There is tremendous potential for growth into the african market. currently the group has a distributor in Zimbabwe and in Namibia and look forward to further expansion in the near future.

“I must caution that africa isn’t always easy to deal in, but I think there are certainly opportunities from a security point of view.

“It is an exciting time.”what’s his secret? Technology and “superior” products.

“we are fortunate with our two major suppliers of security equipment being Texecom and Pyronix. These key suppliers have been part and parcel of Secequip’s success. although both Texecom and Pyronix are uK based companies, they develop products that are suited to the african market.

“I have to add that Secequip is a service driven organisation and I don’t believe there is anyone else in the industry that offers the same level of service. I think it is our service levels and support that have got us to where we are. we at Secequip are available 24/7, 365 days a year. That is what we have grown the business on and it is what we will continue to do going into the future.”

To learn more about Secequip visit www.secequip.co.za.

Amecor CEO Dereck Alexander

a O N b E N f i E L D

Why reinsurance?


r E I N S U r A N c E ?

On Benfield is the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of worldwide insurance, reinsurance and risk management specialist aoN plc. Basically, it

provides balance sheet protection to insurance and reinsurance companies.

why do insurance companies need reinsurance? Well, there are a couple of reasons: first and foremost is access to capital and protection of the balance sheet. Think of catastrophic events like Hurricane Sandy or the christchurch earthquake - without a fail-safe protection, events like this could bankrupt an insurer or reinsurer if they have not purchased the appropriate reinsurance covers.

with this in mind, you can see why companies like AOn Benfield play an incredibly important role in offering access to reinsurance products and markets, as well as, providing critical actuarial analysis in the form of capital and catastrophe modelling, enabling firms to identify optimal reinsurance structures relative to their risk appetite and capital requirements.

AOn Benfield’s Africa hub is based in Johannesburg. from this location it services 15 African countries in sub-Saharan Africa, offering “specialist expertise” to local insurers and reinsurers around the continent.

Its presence and reach has allowed AOn Benfield to position itself as a market leader.

“reinsurers constantly seek to diversify their books on geographical and regional grounds,” Paul griessel, Executive Head of Sa Treaty, at aoN Benfield says. “This is a great time to be involved in africa as a territory as the demand for insurance and reinsurance continues to grow. africa has been the second-fastest growing economy in the world, with GDP increasing on an average of five percent a year. The middle class ranks are starting to swell, driving demand for goods and services. Demand for insurance products, new or otherwise, should follow. our africa team itself has a substantial market share in Southern, Eastern and west africa; they do this independently with the local insurers, and source the reinsurance on behalf of these local insurers in both local and international markets. obviously growth in the economy filters through into the insurance and reinsurance market.”

South african insurers are pro-actively expanding into the rest of africa says griessel. “They are and where the potential opportunity exists is to


f i N a N C E

Demand for insurance and reinsurance continues to grow quickly in africa says

Executive Head of Sa treaty at aon Benfield, Paul Griessel.

Writer Ian Armitage




EmErald rIsK transFEr

Emerald is a leading provider of corporate property and associated engineering insurance products throughout the african continent.

Emerald is a fully intermediated company and underwrites exclusively for Santam Insurance ltd, South africa’s leading short term insurer with a Standard and Poors rating of a- , and assets in excess of r17 Billion.

Backed by skilled and experienced complex claims technicians and professional engineer, Emerald’s underwriters are able to find solutions for even the most complex risks.

correct understanding and measurement of risk, appropriate reinsurance placement and accounting and effective claims management are all key to Emerald’s underwriting approach.

tel +27 11 658 8200Email [email protected]

piggyback on their expansion. Many of these insurers are existing clients of ours, and this creates an opportunity to grow with them.

“There is also growth potential in facultative reinsurance,” he adds, “especially in the construction sector – the building of dams, roads, and government infrastructure.”

There is a lot of potential for the facultative brokers to access these risks and place them into the South african market where South african insurers and reinsurers participate on this business in the reinsurer role, griessel says.

“I think the South african market is probably a little more competitive because they are closer to, and understand the risks better than reinsurers based in london or Europe. rating agencies are also awarding stronger ratings to some african reinsurance providers, and this encourages the business to remain on the continent.”

Firms like AOn Benfield enable African insurers to offer a “wider

range” of insurance products. “In the african context particularly, we enable insurers to offer packages they wouldn’t otherwise be able to. The product and underwriting knowledge of certain classes of insurance may not be prevalent in specific markets, and here we assist with product development and then arrange the appropriate reinsurance for the company behind the product or product line, e.g., Professional Indemnity classes or contractors and Engineering classes.

I think the South African market is probably a little more competitive because they are closer to, and

understand the risks better than reinsurers based in London or Europe. Rating agencies are also awarding

stronger ratings to some African reinsurance providers, and this encourages the business to remain on the continent”

Paul Griessel, Executive Head of SA Treaty, at AON Benfield

SHAPING UNIQUESOLUTIONSTHAT SHINEEmerald is currently the largest Corporate Property and affiliated Engineering Underwriter in South Africa, and underwrites business throughout the African Continent.

For more information on how Emerald can assist your Corporate clients, visit our website or call us.

T +27 11 658 8200W www.emeraldsa.co.za E [email protected] solution orientated approach of the

Emerald team to create sustainable, quality products is part of their culture. This flexible approach, coupled with the support of their excellent Reinsurer panel, allows Emerald to be truly innovative.

The aim of the company is not to be the cheapest by cutting corners, but rather to be the best by offering expertise and skill.

Emerald writes business into the insurance licence of Santam Limited. Santam has a Standard & Poors rating of A- with a stable outlook.

Find us on Facebook www.facebook.com/ emeraldrisktransfer

Or follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/ emeraldrisk

180x240_Emerald ad.indd 1 2013/04/18 1:01 PM


“In certain circumstances, some markets are extremely well developed, and it would not be fair to say african insurance markets – South africa excluded – are in their infancy”, griessel continues. “In fact, some african markets are extremely well developed and some of them are ahead of South africa in certain areas and technologies.

“There are insurance companies in Kenya that are selling insurance by cellphone at the moment which doesn’t really happen in South africa. There is a lot of innovation elsewhere.

“The problem with their markets is penetration – getting to the man on the street and convincing him to buy insurance. It is not the case that they don’t have the expertise or skills. like any country, there will always be gaps in product offering and knowledge between different markets and that is really where we are trying to get in and provide the intellectual capital and possibly a South african partner to

develop where gaps may be identified. “It’s what our South african insurers

are also trying to do; developing different ideas and products and identifying different distribution channels to access the majority of the population.”

What’s behind AOn Benfield’s success? “a number of things,” says griessel. “we believe insurance and reinsurance is about people. we believe we employ high quality people, both in South africa and in our dedicated african team in london and have a quality product offering.

“our local catastrophe modelling also sets us apart from any other catastrophe modelling capability available in the South african market, as does our analytics capability. our people travel regularly to meet the clients, and provide ongoing support. we deliver a service that clients are willing to compensate us for. we ensure that we maintain regular contact with our clients and do not get

Our local catastrophe

modelling also sets us apart from any other catastrophe

modelling capability available in the South African

market, as does our analytics capability. Our people travel

regularly to meet the clients, and provide ongoing support”


More people want to insure

their goods


a reputation of “renewal Brokers”. clients want you to be in and around their business, to be there to bounce off ideas, look for solutions to issues that may raise their heads during the year, and look at new product development etc. I think that with our knowledgeable and experienced people that are known throughout and active in the markets in which we trade, we deliver that.”

AOn Benfield South Africa has a very diverse team which helps in operating in the different markets on a local level.

“we have very diverse team - people from the u.S., uK, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Kenya that all work within our teams. These are people that are known on the ground in the different territories and bring different knowledge and experience to the party; it is a huge strength for us. There is nothing better than a Kenyan being able to talk to a Kenyan, even if he is working in a South african subsidiary of a global firm, being able to access global capabilities. It makes a big difference at a number of levels – different cultures, languages and business practices are understood, and can be communicated to potential partners. also, the guys like travelling to meet clients because it is their home country and they are happy to go there and actually spend quality time with the client in their home country. I think that is important.”

To learn more visit www.aonbenfield.com.

f i N a N C E

C O M p a N y N a M E


4th Eastern africa oil, gas & EnergyIntercontinental Hotelcity Hall way00200NairobiKenya19 – 20 June 2013www.petro21.com/events/?id=808

2nd East africa oil and gas summit (Eaogs)Intercontinental Hotelcity Hall way00200NairobiKenya29-30 october 2013www.eaogs.com

africa railSandton convention centreJohannesburg South africa24-27 June 2013www.terrapinn.com

africa Ports & Harbours show 2013Sandton convention centreJohannesburg South africa24-27 June 2013www.terrapinn.com

africa railSandton convention centreJohannesburg South africa24-27 June 2013www.terrapinn.com

the Enterprise technology show africa 2013Sandton convention centreJohannesburg South africa29-30 october 2013www.terrapinn.com

africa: converting opportunity into success cambridge Judge Business Schooluniversity of cambridgeTrumpington Streetcambridge cB2 1aguK15 June 2013www.africanetwork.jbs.cam.ac.uk/2013-conference/

dust control and mine ventilation west africa 2013la Palm 1 Bypassaccraghana25-26 June 2013www.dustcontrolandmineventilation.com

E v E N T Ssmart miningIIr Sa training room - 1Sixty Jan SmutsrosebankJohannesburgSouth africa18-20 June 2013http://www.iir.co.za/index.php/conferences/view-all-events

tech4africa nairobi 2013Strathmore ilab & Business Schoolole Sangale roadMadarakaNairobiKenya3 July 2013tech4africa.com/event/tech4africa-nairobi/

mastering saP technologies south africaThe Maslow HotelSandtonJohannesburgSouth africa29-31 July 2013www.masteringsap.com/tech_sa

asia global Fair 2013Venue to be announced lagosNigeria27-29 august 2013www.asiaglobalfair.com

w w w . a s i a o u t l o o k m a g . c o m

R E A C H N E W

HEIGHTSAsia Outlook is a fantastic

platform to share success storiesand find ways of growing your

business in Asia. To discuss your options contact Ben Weaver

[email protected]

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africa outlook issue 3

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