Western Cape Africa Agribusiness Forum

Venue: Lord Charles Conference Centre Somerset West

Date: 14th June 2012

Presenters: Andy Knox & Andy Church

“DOING SUCCESSFUL AGRI-BUSINESS IN AFRICA”

Exporters Club of SA

Infrastructure Projects

Operations & Maintenance

Industrial Projects

Group Structure

CEO – Mike Gibbon

BMS (Pty) LtdMD – Allen Liversage

MD – Bill YeoMD – Stephen McCarleyMD – Max Stemele

OM – Fábio Bellam100% Employee Owned

Joint Operations

Infrastructure

Operations and Maintenance

New Business

Industrial

Initial Strategy

Targeted niche market with few competitors.Able to service from South Africa without expensive setup costs.English speaking.Reasonably stable.Close enough that could be reached within one or two flights.

Financial

Fixed fee contracts are the preferred norm.Most clients like to negotiate, so make sure there is something to give away.Secure up-front payments and try and stay cash positive.Don’t release work until you are sure finance is available or in your bank account.Try and secure payment sureties (not popular).

Contractual Agreements

Majority FIDIC based.Not always the end all, be all. Good to have, but normally personal relationships and a handshake has more meaning.Generally those (local companies) in Africa doing big business have good connections, so legal action is normally not effective.Best to retain good relationship with Client and be abreast of his current financial situation.

Project Viability

Problems encountered in Africa:

Availability of water.Power.Access.Soils.

Have a plan in place.Emergencies normally happen over weekends.

Medical

Security

Work force needs to be mobile.Constant security monitoring.

Thank you...