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Tanzania’s most productive mine How the Geita Gold Mine has became one of AngloGold Ashanti’s largest production centres

special preview: mining indaba 2014

3-6 February, 2014

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issue no.8

8

Event preview:

Mining indaba 2014 Mining & Minerals: 14 AngloGold Ashanti – Geita Gold Mine (GGM)

Tanzania’s most productive mine

In 2012, the Geita Gold Mine (GGM) became one of AngloGold Ashanti’s largest production centres and cash generating assets. Michael Van Anen, talks about how the company intends to further build upon its success.

14

24 SEAMIC

Promoting responsible mineral development in Africa

The Southern and Eastern African Mineral Centre (SEAMIC), an international organisation under the umbrella of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

32 Base Resources

32 4 |

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The path to production

Base Resources’ Kwale mineral sands operation is a game changer for both the company and the Republic of Kenya.

contents

42

42 The Kenya Chamber of Mines (KCM)

A land of opportunity

How Kenya playing a vital role in making East Africa one of the most exciting new frontiers for mining on the planet.

54 kengas group

reliability in transport

56

Kengas Group Limited started with bulk petroleum products before moving into supply and delivery services within the Great Lakes Region including Southern Sudan.

56 Lubritene (PTY ) Ltd Growing on goodwill

Lubritene specialises in the manufacture of high performance greases, compounds and oils.

64 Foskor: Phalaborwa

Feeding South Africa’s growth

Foskor is vital to South Africas agriculture sector, its Phalaborwa mine is one of the largest open cast operations in the world.

74 Petra Diamonds

A diamond in the rough

Petra Diamonds is fast becoming an increasingly important player in the rough diamond market thanks to the leveraging of its impressive asset portfolio.

82 Howden Africa Focused yet diverse

74

Howden Africa’s main business activities are the design, manufacture and marketing of air and gas handling solutions to a wide range of industries.

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issue no.8

92

92 Planet Projects Men of steel

Planet Projects is well-established with a client list that reads like a who’s who of the country’s mining and infrastructure sectors.

96 Swakop Uranium

Namibia’s gift to global green energy

Chinese capital and the combined resources of southern Africa’s experience in mining come together in the Husab uranium mine.

food & drink:

106

106 Country Bird Holdings Chicken and egg

Country Bird Holdings (CBH) is a leading brand in South Africa: its sights are set on growing markets across the continent.

manufacturing: 130 Alpine Lounge

Alpine Lounge goes lean

130

How South Africa’s premium furniture manufacturer is adopting best manufacturing practices more often associated with automobiles than luxury seating.

Transport & logistics: 142 Roads Authority of Namibia The road to prosperity

The Roads Authority of Namibia is striving to build and maintain a safe, efficient national road network that benefits the entire country.

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contents

150

150 Namibia Airports Company Limited (NAC) The sky is the limit

Becoming a benchmark service provider in airport operations and management.

158 RwandAir

Winging to Africa’s heart

RwandAir is making full use of Rwanda’s position to link with Africa’s capitals and beyond.

168 MCLI

A pathway of prosperity

The Maputo Corridor is just one part of a network that is key to securing Africa’s economic future.

182

energy & utilities: 182 Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa A symbol of national pride

The keystone of southern Africa’s quest for sustainable and reliable power.

192 Eskom Medupi

Medupi’s strategic power

A megaproject that has delivered great achievements despite being faced by many challenges.

Telecoms: 202 Airtel Madagascar

202

Making waves in Madagascar

Airtel Madagascar is a relative newcomer to this island nation but is already making a big difference.

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EVENTS

Mining Ind

where the world connects with MINing indaba™ 3-6 February 2014 The Cape Town International Convention Centre, cape town, south africa Twenty years ago a new day dawned for both South Africans and for the mining industry on the continent. That year, South Africa freed itself from the grip of apartheid and established itself as a global beacon for democracy and growth. There was also a small group of people that came together (at the Cape Sun Hotel) with a shared vision

8 | Be africa

for the acceleration of mining investment on the African continent and the Investing in African Mining Indaba™ was born. Twenty years later South Africa is still one of the best and brightest stories in the world and the Mining Indaba is the world’s largest and most revered mining investment event.

As Mining Indaba has expanded in scope and size, the mission of our organisation remains true – to serve as the focal point for capitalisation and development of mining interests in Africa. As the event has grown and evolved into a global deal-making

Special preview

daba

h african mining

Sustainable development at Mining Indaba Together with our partners we look to strengthen world class social licensing standards for African mining. This special and focused forum will arm delegates with the information and knowledge to support the implementation of sustainable development principles. Access to these sessions is included with your conference registration.

Tuesday, 4 February 16:59 – 17:39 Keynote Address: Fireside Chat with Paul Collier and Aidan Davy

Jonathan Moore, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Mining Indaba LLC

platform – approximately 8,000 professionals from 2,000 international companies representing 110 countries in 2013 – so have our investments and commitments to the mining industry, South Africa, and the local Cape economy.

In 2013, we introduced our Mining Indaba bursary; a US$20,000 (approximately R192,000) investment in toward the future of our industry. In 2014, we will increase the bursary to US$30,000 (approximately R264,000) and will disburse to

Thursday, 6 February 08:40 - 08:45 Welcome Remarks Jonathan Moore MD, Mining Indaba, LLC 08:45 - 09:00 Opening Remarks Aidan Davy ICMM 09:00 - 09:45 Keynote Address: Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane 09:45 – 11:00 Panel Discussion: Mining and Communities: Moving From Conflict to Resolution 11:00 – 11:30 Coffee & Tea Break 11:30 – 12:45 Panel Discussion: Responsible Sourcing of Materials: Global Trends and Challenges 12:45 – 13:00 Conclusions – ICMM Representative

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EVENTS Conference Agenda Summary Saturday, 1 February 12:00 - 18:00

Registration Open

Sunday, 2 February 08:30 – 18:00 10:30 – 18:00

Registration Open 9th Annual Mining Indaba Golf Tournament at Pearl Valley Golf Course

Monday, 3 February 07:00 – 19:00 Registration Open 08:30 – 13:30 Special Presentations from the World Bank and Partners 09:00 – 12:00 Pre-Conference Workshops 12:30 – 19:00 Exhibit Hall Open – NEW OPEN TIME IN 2014 12:30 – 14:30 Securities Exchange Session – TSX 12:53 – 12:58 Welcome to Cape Town – Honourable Mayor Patricia de Lille 12:47 – 17:12 Commodities Outlook & Review Forum 13:30 – 15:00 Special Topic Workshop – Hosted by ENS 14:43 – 15:28 Keynote: Phil Newman 15:00 – 17:00 Securities Exchange Session – ASX 17:30 – 19:00 Welcome Reception in the Exhibition Hall

Tuesday, 4 February 07:00 – 18:00 Registration Open 07:30 – 18:00 Exhibit Hall Open 07:55 – 08:05 Opening Remarks – Jonathan Moore, Mining Indaba LLC 08:06 – 08:25 Official Welcome from H.E. Minister Susan Shabangu, DMR RSA 08:26 – 09:16 Keynote Address: Eleni Gabre-Madhin 09:17 – 16:58 Mainstage Corporate Mining Presentations (throughout the day) 09:15 – 13:23 Corporate White Paper Presentations (throughout the morning) 09:30 – 11:30 Securities Exchange Session – LSE 09:50 – 12:30 Non-African Government Presentations 12:26 – 13:25 Keynote Address: Hon. Colin Barnett MEc MLA, Western Australia

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Special preview

13:00 – 14:45 Networking Luncheon 12:30 – 14:30 Special Topic Workshop – hosted by KPMG 13:30 – 15:00 Securities Exchange Session – SGX 14:00 – 17:34 African Mining Ministerial Forums 1 & 2 15:30 – 17:30 Special Topic Workshop – Hosted by ERM 16:59 – 17:39 Keynote Address: Paul Collier in Conversation with Aidan Davy 17:40 – 18:30 Cocktail Reception 19:30 Official Mining Indaba Gala Dinner (invitation only) at the Vergelegen Estate

Wednesday, 5 February 07:30 – 18:00 Registration Open 08:00 – 18:00 Exhibit Hall Open 08:30 – 09:10 Keynote Address: Robert Friedland 09:11 – 09:51 Keynote Panel: Graham Briggs and Robert Friedland 09:15 – 13:40 Corporate White Paper Presentations (throughout the morning) 09:50 – 12:30 Non-African Government Presentations 09:52 – 16:53 Mainstage Corporate Mining Presentations (throughout the day) 12:00 – 13:45 Networking Lunch 14:00 – 16:00 Special Topic Workshop – Hosted by DuPont 13:45 –14:15 Keynote Address: Makhtar Diop 14:00 – 17:29 African Mining Ministerial Forums 3 & 4 16:54 – 17:35 Keynote Panel: David Hale and Frank Holmes

Thursday, 6 February 07:30 – 12:00 Registration Open 08:30 – 13:00 Exhibit Hall Open 08:40 – 13:00 Sustainable Development at Mining Indaba 13:00 20th Annual Mining Indaba Concludes

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EVENTS

7,800+ Number of attendees in 2013

four South African students who are pursuing a career in mining. This year the Mining Indaba will once again be the catalyst for millions of dollars of revenue for the local cape economy. As the mining world descends on Cape Town every February,

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Phil Newman

H.E. Susan Shabangu

Eleni GabreMadhin

Chief Executive Officer CRU Strategies

Minister of Mineral Resources Republic of South Africa

Chief Executive Officer Eleni LLC

Monday 3 February 14:43 – 15:28

Tuesday, 4 February 08:06 – 08:25

Tuesday, 4 February 08:26 – 09:16

Hon. Colin Barnett MEc MLA Premier; Minister for State Development; Science Government of Western Australia Tuesday, 4 February 12:26 – 13:25

Paul Collier Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Blavatnik School of Government; Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies University of Oxford Tuesday, 4 February 16:59 – 17:39

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Special preview the city’s worldclass attractions, hotels, and restaurants are fully booked for one week by powerful deal-makers. Most importantly, Mining Indaba and its African partners serve as the conduit for the infusion of millions in foreign direct investments into the mining value chain...a crucial element for accelerating mining on the continent.

Now we begin a new decade where the futures of the continent, our host country of South Africa, and the Mining Indaba are all very bright. As you will see in the pages that follow, the annual Mining Indaba continues its tradition of bringing

together global game changers on economic policy, investment strategies, commodities research, and the world’s leading mining houses. We look forward to welcoming more of the world to Mining Indaba in February 2014 and give thanks for the support of regional government, our sponsors, and professionals who have helped make this event unlike any other.

For more information about Mining INDABA 2014 visit: www.miningindaba.com

Robert Friedland

Graham Briggs

Makhtar Diop

David Hale

Chairman Ivanhoe Capital Corporation

Chief Executive Officer Harmony Gold

Vice President for Africa World Bank Group

Founding Chairman David Hale Global Economics

Wednesday, 5 February 08:30 – 09:10

Wednesday, 5 February 09:11 – 09:51

Wednesday, 5 February 13:45 – 14:15

Wednesday, 5 February 09:11 – 09:51

Wednesday, 5 February 16:54 – 17:35

Frank Holmes

CEO and Chief Investment Officer U.S. Global Investors, Inc. Wednesday, 5 February 16:54 – 17:35

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Tanzania’s most pro

In 2012, the Geita Gold Mine (GGM) became one of AngloGold Ash production centres and cash generating assets. Managing Director, Anen, talks about how the company intends to further build upon

written by: Will Daynes research by: Candice Nice

14 | BE Africa

AngloGold Ashanti - Geita Gold Mine (GGM)

oductive mine

hanti’s largest r, Michael Van n its success

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AngloGold Ashanti - Geita Gold Mine (GGM)

S

Engineers carrying out general maintenance

ince the early 1990s, the use of modern technology and refined models has seen gold exploration in Tanzania grow rapidly, in turn transforming the country into one of the fastest-emerging gold producers in Africa, behind only South Africa and Ghana. Yet despite the relatively recent expansion of the sector, the presence of gold beneath Tanzania has been known about since it was first discovered in the Geita region in the late 1800s.

Today, the region is home to the Geita gold deposit, located 20 kilometres south east of Nungwe Bay on Lake Victoria, at an elevation of approximately 1200 meters above sea level. Geita Gold Mine (GGM) commenced production in 2000, initially as a joint venture between South Africa’s AngloGold Ltd and Ghana’s Ashanti before the two companies merged in 2004.

An open cast mine with three pits, GGM has been the recipient of approximately US$600 million in investment from AngloGold Ashanti since 2000, while the mine has paid some US$683 million in direct contributions to the Tanzanian government through taxes and royalties in the same time period.

“AngloGold Ashanti is immensely proud that Geita Gold Mine is currently Tanzania’s most productive mine,” states Managing Director, Michael Van Anen. “Four years ago, GGM underwent a focussed turnaround and in 2012 became AngloGold Ashanti’s largest production centre and cash generator.

Presently, Geita produces about one third of the total ounces of gold from our African production, excluding South Africa, and

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Tel:+255 28 2540790 | Cell: +255 784 223 007 Email: princeco@thenet.co.tz www.princeco.co.tz

Princeco Ltd. is a Tanzanian registered company based in Mwanza, Tanzania. It started its operations in September 2005 as a Procurement and Trading company to cater the growing needs of the approaching gold & oil / gas investors in the country. Princeco selects sources and delivers products and services for the mining, fishing, and the overall corporate sector. Today it has a product range of over 350 items and more than 30 corporate customers. We are dealers & stockist for Welding Equipments, Abrasives, Personal Protective Equipments,

Workwear & Rainwear, Geological & Survey Items, Visibility Products, Fire Equipments, Filters and General Procurement. We have dealership for Lincoln Welding, 3M, ‘Steelblue/Howler/Krusher’ Australian Boots, ‘Dy-Mark’ Mine Marking, ‘Wild Africa’ Workwear, ‘Precious Earth’ Geology & Survey items, ‘Fleetguard’ filters, ‘Norton’ Abrasives. If you are a foreign company looking to invest in Tanzania in the Mining Sector & looking for a local partner do contact us.

KARIBU SANA! TUJENGE NCHI TANZANIA – HAKUNA MATATA!

Wild Africa

WORKWEAR

NEW PRECIOUS RESOURCE DISCOVERED

Click here to visit our dedicated homepage for the mining community www.bus-ex.com/mining BEST PRACTICE IN MINING

AngloGold Ashanti - Geita Gold Mine (GGM) is one of our largest mines in Africa. It therefore goes Princeco is always adding new products to its product list without saying that we are to make sure the mining industries and oil & gas industries very proud of our investment are served in this country to the best of Tanzania’s ability at Geita and in Tanzania.” so that we preserve its opportunities within the country. We In making its ambitions are proud to say we have grown and developed our supplies in the country a reality, and services to Mining Industries with the knowledge and support from the foreign investors to an international level. the company has worked We work with world renowned mines like Barrick Gold Mine, tirelessly to ensure that it AngloGold Ashanti Mine, Xstrata Nickel and etc. If you are a maintains productive and foreign company looking to invest in Tanzania in the Mining fruitful relations with all of Sector and looking for a local partner do contact us. its stakeholders in Tanzania. www.princeco.co.tz Part of this work has involved helping to strengthen the capacity of all stakeholders involved and interested in extractive industries to build a shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities presented by the extractive sector for Tanzania’s long-term development.

Despite the obvious success that the company has had with GGM, it continues to push this further forward and at present has three key growth projects that it is continuing to explore, these involving underground extensions, surface extensions to already open pits and a refractory ore project.

“Each of the above projects is designed

Princeco

$4.8

Million (US) Invested by the company into community development projects Haul truck

BE Africa | 19

to build upon GGM’s current strong performance and invest in its future as a mine,” Van Anen continues. “Geita is an important mine for AngloGold Ashanti, Tanzania and the local Geita community and as such we will work to ensure that remains the case for a long time to come. In Tanzania, we have successfully turned around the business over the last three years, with a 30 percent improvement in productivity and throughput improvements that had provided us with a more robust margin.”

In addition to these projects, the company also has exploration tenements surrounding its Special Mining License at Geita. This means that should an appropriate opportunity with sufficient economic potential be identified in the future, AngloGold Ashanti has the option to apply for a separate license to mine and realise the potential of said opportunities.

AngloGold Ashanti is committed to fulfilling its obligations and duties as a responsible corporate citizen across the entirety of its operations, and its belief in the importance of the concept of sustainability clearly extends through to its activities at GGM. It was as recently as August 2013 that GGM was named the winner of eight awards from the Tanzanian Presidential

Award on the Extractive Industry Corporate Social Responsibility and Empowerment Programme (CSRE) for its commitment to communit y investments. These awards were bestowed on the company as recognition of its health, education,

“The mine has paid some US$683 million in direct contributions to the Tanzanian government through taxes and royalties since 2000” 20 | BE Africa

AngloGold Ashanti - Geita Gold Mine (GGM)

Aerial view of the mining operations

procurement, and water programmes for its host communities in Tanzania.

As GGM continues to gain ground in its own right, so too are many of AngloGold Ashanti’s current community empowerment projects. These include the Geita Town Water Project Implementation, which has seen the company invest US$4.9 million towards the implementation of a water supply system in partnership with the Tanzanian government.

The establishing of a clean water supply will ultimately benefit some 130,000 residents located around Geita.

Another US$5 million investment from

GGM has gone into the construction of the Nyankumbu Girls Secondary School, the final stage of which began in July 2013. This stage includes the construction of the remaining batch of teachers’ housing, school fence, sports fields and purchase of laboratory equipment. The overall project is expected to be completed by the end of March 2014, after which more than 900 girls will have access to a science-focused boarding school, the only one of its kind in the Geita region.

Meanwhile, a joint venture with the Geita local government authority, and other parties, has successfully implemented an

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“AngloGold Ashanti is immensely proud that Geita Gold Mine is currently Tanzania’s most productive mine”

The open pit at Geita

22 | BE Africa

AngloGold Ashanti - Geita Gold Mine (GGM) integrated malaria control program in Geita. The Geita Malaria Prevention program, which covers approximately 19 villages annually, focuses on carrying out indoor residual spraying within the community and was responsible for offering this prevention to more than 90 percent of the target population. Furthermore, from an environmental perspective, GGM is understandably proud to have maintained ISO 14001 certification, which will remain valid until June 2016.

“In addition to the work we carry out on behalf of local communities,” Van Anen highlights, “we are also a significant taxpayer in Tanzania, making US$213.8 in tax payments last year alone. This represents the second highest tax contribution across our global portfolio, and second only to South Africa where we have a much larger operating base. In addition to our tax remittances in Tanzania last year, AngloGold Ashanti provided a direct income and benefits to about 3,600 people and thousands more indirectly, and invested US$4.8 million in community development projects. We believe we contribute a great deal towards national development goals through our direct contribution to government and through our community investments.”

As Van Anen goes on to conclude, AngloGold Ashanti is committed to building on this

success by continuing to explore efficiencies and further opportunities to ensure that Geita’s future remains bright. “Crucial to our success going forward will, of course, be the support of our host communities. GGM is currently rolling out an enhanced engagement strategy, involving the surrounding communities and creating awareness of our mining processes and activities. We believe this will enhance public knowledge and understanding of the industry and strengthen the all so important stakeholder relationships which currently exist.”

For more information about AngloGold Ashanti - Geita Gold Mine (GGM) visit: www.anglogoldashanti.com

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24 | BE Africa

SEAMIC

Promoting responsible mineral development in Africa The Southern and Eastern African Mineral Centre (SEAMIC), an international organisation under the umbrella of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa: its sphere of influence continues to widen as does the relevance of its services to both public and private sector interests

written by: John O’Hanlon research by: Candice Nice

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The Director General of SEAMIC

SEAMIC

S

EAMIC traces its origins back through the next phase of its development. to the late 1970s with the He explains the changes he has seen so far as establishment of the Eastern follows. “In the late 1990s, thanks to the well and Southern African Mineral advanced restructuring programmes in Africa Resources Development Centre and the privatisation of the minerals sector by (ESAMRDC), supported by UNDP and African states, the role of governments with various bilateral support programmes from respect to the mineral sector was changed the UK and Japan. Its headquarters were to become a regulatory body, and because of established in Dodoma in central Tanzania, this the role of SEAMIC was also changed. and in those days its remit was principally to SEAMIC was reorganised with a new role to carry out regional geological surveying and provide mineral related services and trainings to provide consulting services for programs and hence started to draw in the private sector of its founding member states, Ethiopia, as well as public institutions. The new role of Tanzania and Mozambique. These were later the Centre was realigned to become a mineral joined by Uganda, Angola resource services provider”. and the Union of the Comoros The Centre has a Governing followed by Kenya in 2006 Council, made up of the and Sudan in 2010 bringing Ministers responsible for the total membership to mineral resources from the eight. The name ESAMRDC member states. It is supported African states currently was also changed to the more by a standing committee members of SEAMIC pronounceable SEAMIC, and of the Ministers’ advisers. moved its operations to an The Board of Directors extensive new site at Kunduchi, to the north supervises the activities of the Centre and of Dar es Salaam. In 2007, at a meeting reports to the Governing Council which meets in Maputo, Mozambique the organisation once a year to approve the work programme announced that it was now open to all and budget of the Centre.

SEAMIC is now an ISO 9001:2008 African states, with a mandate to provide mineral related quality services and testing certified institution, with state-of-theas well as consultancy work for the private art laboratories. “The facility provides and public sectors. The mission of the the member states and the private Centre is to “Promote socio-economic and sector, including small and large scale environmentally responsible mineral sector mining operations with geoinformation development in Africa.” and associated data processing services, The Director General Ketema Tadesse, who particularly geochemical and airborne served as Chairman of the Board of Directors geophysical data processing and mineral from 1997 until he took over the executive analytical laboratory services, for the entire leadership in 2006 to lead the organisation region,” he says.

8

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The work of the Centre is distributed across two major departments providing five technical services. These are: 1. Testing of chemical and environmental samples is carried out in the laboratories under the Chemical & Environmental Service, whose capabilities include whole rock analysis, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and AAS/ICP-OES techniques, fire assay gold analysis and purification.

2.

M ineralogical, Petrological and Gemmological Service conducts analyses including X-ray diffraction technique; to name only a few of the techniques at its disposal.

3. Then there’s the Minerals Processing and Small Scale Mining Service that serves

big mining companies and small scale mining operations in processing and upgrading of different types of minerals and conventional bench scale operations; 4. Industrial Minerals Applications Service for bench scale industrial minerals product development mainly ceramic assay crucibles, tableware and other products; and 5. Geoinformation Services for geoscience data management and dissemination.

There are 35 permanent members of staff, with a core of nine professionals, five technicians and seven laboratory assistants.

The Kunduchi site covers a large area, Tadesse points out, and it needs its large warehouses to house all the rock samples it is sent for

A gem cutting trainee practising faceting of gemstones

28 | BE Africa

SEAMIC

“Our principal activity is making high tech analytical services available to major companies, to small scale enterprises, and also to our member states” archiving and sample preparation prior to analysis. The laboratories themselves are fully equipped and certified. Work on mineral processing, chemical and environmental analysis, gemmology and petrology (including a separate lapidary unit for working on grinding and polishing gemstones) all have their own separate sections, and there is another for industrial minerals.

On the one hand these facilities are working laboratories, providing services to clients – at cost (without any profit) both to member governments and the private sector clients, making this undoubtedly the best value-for-money resource available in Africa.

“Our principal activity is making these high tech analytical services available to major companies, to small scale enterprises, and also to our member states with a view to provide an incentive to developers and thereby accelerate mineral resources development in the member states,” says Tadesse. “And within the technical departments we also provide training in instrumental analysis, sample preparation, assaying gold and precious metals and a whole range of other specialisms for university students and the private sector.”

On the other hand this is a training facility, unique on the continent of Africa and possibly one of its best kept secrets. Demand for its

services will grow significantly as more states join SEAMIC, and the proposed students’ hostel at Kunduchi, for which the land has been set aside, will be built. Training is a significant source of funds for the Centre, though no fees are charged to universities and students sent by member governments and private companies are charged at cost.

Among the courses on offer are a three week gemstone cutting course for miners, dealers and other interested parties, mineral laboratory management, environmental analysis, ore beneficiation testing methods, geophysics and geoscience data processing, The lion’s share of SEAMIC’s income which is up to 60 percent comes from the US $62,000 annual contribution paid by each member state, while the remaining income of 40 percent is derived from the sale of other services and training activities, notably chemical and environmental analysis and the work done on samples by the minerals processing laboratory. A further source of income is consultancy work, gem cutting and identification, and ceramics. The last is a growing capability: the ceramics laboratory has produced low tension electrical insulators and fire clay crucibles for the regional markets, and now makes a range of tableware that is sold to support the work of the Centre.

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The geoinformation department deals with data processing and management as well as documentation and archiving data. This important work contributes to the mapping of geological data for the whole of Africa, and SEAMIC co-ordinates the submission of the survey data from different states to the One Geology portal, which aims to create dynamic digital geological map data for the whole world.

The information for Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia has already been uploaded.

SEAMIC has achieved much under Ketema Tadesse but he has a number of other pressing objectives in his sights. One is to pursue capital projects through joint venturing – an example would be to establish a gold refining plant on the Dar es Salaam site. Another is to advance the goals of the African Mining Vision (AMV), which was adopted by Heads of State at the February 2009 African Union summit following the October 2008 meeting of African Ministers responsible for Mineral Resources Development. “It aims to make better use of Africa’s mineral wealth in ways that will benefits population and help them rise out of poverty,” he says. The AMV is a first and foremost developmental mining approach that insists that the road to growth is through building economic and social linkages that benefit Africa itself. The African

Mineral Development Centre (AMDC) an implementation body for AMV has been established by the African Union through the support of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) which will make use of the services of SEAMIC’s Geoinformation facilities and expertise in realising this vision. This programme for the coming five years will be funded by the World Bank and the governments of Australia and Canada with the aim of collecting geoscience data and process the same; and analyse samples generated from explorations activities from all African countries. SEAMIC has the capacity to receive and analyse this data, and the Director is keen to see the agreement finalised.

A further goal is to set up a regional minerals analytical ‘fingerprinting’ laboratory for the eleven member states of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), headquartered in Burundi. Its main objective will be to install a high tech laser ablation mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analytical technique to pinpoint where particular minerals come from with the view to avoid exportation from conflict zones. The program is designed to stop illegal mining activities that are fuelling conflicts in the Great Lakes

“All the ore deposits in the Great Lakes region will be analysed and entered into a database” 30 | BE Africa

SEAMIC

Environmental samples analysis using Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) technique

Region. “All the ore deposits in the Great Lakes region will be analysed and entered into a database. Anyone wishing to sell a commodity will be obliged to send it to the laboratory for analysis to be established at SEAMIC. Once the samples are analysed by the LA-ICP-MS analytical technique the results are sent to Burundi to be matched against their master database. The benefits to these governments will be incalculable, and it will be a useful source of revenue for SEAMIC too.”

As set up, and as defined by its name, SEAMIC is a regional body. However as soon as it concretises its pan-African initiative and as other countries outside of the eastern and southern African region join the organisation, SEAMIC will have to drop its S and E and align itself with the new agency being set for

the whole of Africa, “... to create equitable, transparent and optimal exploitation of Africa’s mineral resources.” The African Minerals Development Centre’s creation by the AU and UNECA that was announced in March this year, is envisaged to benefit SEAMIC in the very near future as the data processing work that will result from the setting up of this new body will be allocated to SEAMIC. To make use of the expertise and the already installed laboratories invitations have been sent by SEAMIC to all mineral rich African nations to join the Centre.

For more information about SEAMIC visit: www.seamic.org

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Charting a path to production Base Resources’ Kwale mineral sands operation is a game changer for both the company and the Republic of Kenya

written by: John O’Hanlon research by: Richard Halfhide

32 | BE Africa

Base Resources

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Tim Carstens

Base Resources

I

n 2008, after a career spent “being dropped into things that had to be turned round and fixed”, Tim Carstens founded Base Resources. The MD’s intent was clear - to build from scratch a meaningful resource company - and he has accomplished precisely that.

Base listed on the ASX in October, 2008, with a portfolio of Australian iron ore projects. Carstens and his team, recognising that these assets would not produce any company-makers, “set sail round the world looking for the right opportunity we could build the company around”. In July, 2010, Base acquired its 100 per cent interest in the Kwale minerals sands project in Kenya.

By the time the company dual-listed on London’s AIM bourse in January, 2013, it was clear that this project was rapidly emerging as the company-maker Carstens had set his sights on.

Situated just 10 kilometres inland and 50 kilometres south of Kenya’s principal port of Mombasa, Kwale had already undergone investment surpassing $60 million to progress the project through resource definition, government approvals and Definitive Feasibility Studies (DFS) when Base took the reins. This meant the project was well advanced, allowing its new owner to fast track financing and development. “It was the ideal project to build our business model round, get our team in place, the capital base, the reputation to move to the next project and beyond,” Carstens says.

His is a sentiment encapsulated by Base’s development model for Kwale. Instead of delegating project execution to a single

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ECPM contractor, Base engaged best-in-class specialists in port construction, dam building, process plant design and construction, and power land access infrastructure. “We have our own integrated management team that knits the whole thing together,” Carstens explains. “That model has worked well. It enables us to anticipate issues before they become reality and get engaged with the contractors very early, while we have plenty of options for dealing with those issues, supplementing the horsepower when we need to and keeping the project ‘on the rails’.”

Kwale is of genuinely strategic importance to Kenya’s future mineral production and the sector’s role within the nation’s economic wellbeing. As well as proving up Base’s company mettle as an explorer, developer, and producer, the project heralds the dawn of a significantly enhanced mineral sector in Kenya. Kwale is Kenya’s first large scale modern mining operation and is poised to have a huge impact on GDP: income from titanium mining at Kwale will see mineral exports displace coffee as the fourth highest foreign exchange earner and contribute an estimated $225 million in royalties and taxes over the 13-year life of the mine.

Beyond the numbers underpinning Kwale’s medium-term beneficial impact, the project is seen as a poster child for future large-scale resource development in Kenya. According

to Kenya’s Vision 2030 framework, Kwale is a long-term development blueprint to create a globally competitive and prosperous nation and transform Kenya into ‘a newly industrialising, middle-income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens by 2030 in a clean and secure environment.’

There is collateral benefit for the government, Carstens emphasises, in terms of Kwale being a catalyst for future inward investment and development of the mining industry. “The government has been enormously supportive

“Kwale was the ideal project to build our business model round” 36 | BE Africa

Base Resources

Pushing first ore to DMU

and has played its role.” company does business.” The So it’s important for ‘establishment’ phase of the Kenya, but it’s a blueprint to project involved the relocation of some 500 households. the future of Base Resources too, wherever it goes next.

While most of these Workers on site at peak Reaching this point has taken households were squatting more than paying lip service on the land, Base treated all to CSR, Carstens says. He as if they were landowners in sees CSR more as the language of obligation the relocation and compensation process. This whereas, Base engages with the community on relocation was completed in compliance with a more transactional basis as a core function The World Bank’s Equator Principles. Roads of its business. “We give them what they need were re-routed, all infrastructure replaced so we get what we need” he says. Base wants and enhanced. Mosques, churches, schools, the communities to be satisfied with the value community hall and a new regional health and benefit the Company’s activities deliver centre have been built. to them. “In exchange, we have a proud “Employment is obviously very important workforce and a supportive community that is in a situation like this,” Carstens explains. an active and positive referee for the way the “During our peak construction phase, we

2,400

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had 2,400 people working on site, of whom 1,000 were from the local community – many had never had a job before.”

Currently, 1,600 Kenyans are working onsite at Kwale and, for a country that has a very underdeveloped mining sector, Kenya has a good skills base, Carstens confirms.

“71 percent of our operational workforce comes from the coastal province. There’s a good general level of education. And at a more advanced level, we have three or four comparatively young geology graduates working in the business; according to our exploration manager the guys coming out of Kenyan universities are as good as the guys coming out of Australia!”

On the ground, Kwale has progressed with amazing efficiency and speed for a

DMU & process plant

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country new to mining. An eight kilometre access road, a 700 bed camp, a 16 kilometre 132 kVA power line and substation and the tailings facility have all been completed as well as the eight million cubic metre Mukurumudzi Dam that will provide water for the project while giving reliable year-round supply to the communities downstream. And the finishing touches have been put to Base’s dedicated Likoni Port facility, just across the channel from Mombasa itself, complete with a 65,000 tonne storage shed from which ilmenite and rutile is loaded onto ships via a conveyor system and a 1,000 tph shiploader on the wharf.

Kwale’s infrastructure is in place. Its mining unit and concentrator are running well in the ramp up process ahead of commissioning of the ilmenite and rutile separation circuits at

Base Resources

“Zircon has very similar physical Properties to the remaining minerals in the concentrate and requires as much art as science in the separation process” the end of November. Commissioning of the zircon circuit will follow in January. “The key milestone for me is going to be in January, when we wave goodbye to our first bulk shipments,” Carstens says. “We will ramp up the ilmenite and rutile fairly quickly, so by May both will be producing at the full run rate. Zircon always takes a little longer. We will be most of the way to our target run-rate for zircon by mid-2014 but achieving the full

30,000 tonne per annum rate will most likely take all of 2014.”

Mineral sands concentrate production is largely straightforward from a technical standpoint, Carstens explains. Ilmenite’s magnetic qualities, courtesy of its iron content, mean it can be extracted using powerful rare-earth magnets, while rutile, as a conductor, is amenable to electrostatic separation. “Zircon is different. It has very similar physical properties to the remaining minerals in the concentrate and requires as much art as science in the separation process.

It is always the hardest part of a mineral sands plant to get your arms around.”

Base has offtake agreements in place for all of Kwale’s production of rutile, ilmenite and zircon for the first year and most of the first 5 years of production. Ilmenite and rutile are predominately used as inputs in the production of titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigments used in paints, papers, ink, plastic and a huge array of other applications. Zircon is mostly used in ceramics and has many high-tech applications. China is the world’s largest consumer of all these chemicals: its demand for them has grown steadily and will certainly continue.

As Kwale’s production profile is established, Base is also mindful of leaving a beneficial

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Process plant

Base Resources legacy in Kenya beyond Kwale’s 13-year mine life. Base Titanium, the parent company’s wholly-owned operating subsidiary in the country, is not just getting behind its in-house training programmes but also a scholarship programme for talented youngsters. It is also exploring a partnership with Business for Millennium Development (B4MD), an Australian not-for-profit organisation founded to build awareness and provide market insights on inclusive business opportunities in developing countries, to establish a agricultural development programme to get people efficiently growing selected crops that can be marketed globally to B4MD’s programme partners, among them the world’s largest food groups.

In the near-term, Base remains fully supportive of its partner, the Government of Kenya, and continues to discuss ways in which changes to the nation’s mineral legislative frameworks can drive national economic prosperity and build a globally competitive destination for mining investment.

“The real challenge at the moment that the Kenyan government is wrestling with – like many others in Africa and elsewhere – is getting in place the right fiscal and regulatory settings to balance the need to attract investment and at the same time maximise local benefit and participation,” Carstens says. “That’s something we really want to contribute to.”

For more information about Base Resources visit: www.baseresources.com.au

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A land of op

Monica Gichuhi, Chief Executive Offi (KCM), discusses how the country is Africa one of the most exciting new

written by: Will Daynes | r 42 | BE Africa

The Kenya Chamber of Mines (KCM)

pportunity

ficer of the Kenya Chamber of Mines s playing a vital role in making East w frontiers for mining on the planet

research by: David Brogan BE Africa | 43

The Kenya Chamber of Mines (KCM)

I

t is fair to say that until recently Kenya and all service providers that wanted to was not generally renowned for being become involved with mining. This has led a destination for mining investment. to a situation where today we have gone from However now, with the world’s eyes having a membership portfolio that was once focused firmly on Africa as an epicentre home to exploration companies and mine for mining activities, Kenya is emerging as operators, to one that caters for those in the a location of particular interest in the wake legal, financial, consultation and equipment of developments that have proven that supply fields. This in turn has helped the country does indeed hold significant bring added value to the aforementioned mineral-based potential. explorers and operators, as well as any With the industry taking on ever greater foreign owned entities looking to enter the significance and the country receiving more marketplace, as they now have direct access and more interest from international investors, to a list of all manner of service providers that the creation of a dedicated can cater for their needs.”

Proof of the rapid Chamber of Mines became development of the mining a necessity. “The Kenya sector in Kenya can be seen Chamber of Mines (KCM) throughout the country, from was established in the year the major breakthroughs 2000,” explains Chief The year that KCM being made at the Kwale Executive Officer, Monica was established Mineral Sands Project to the Gichuhi, “with its key purchasing of licences by mandate being to act as a representative for the private sector companies the likes of Barrick Gold in the last year, an operating in Kenya’s mining sector.” event which marked the entry of one of the At first KCM existed mainly as a lobbying best known global players into the country. body, pushing for more favourable working Such events have also resulted in an influx conditions for miners and private stakeholders. of junior miners coming into Kenya seeking However, in line with the growth in their own opportunities.

These developments have clearly not prominence of the sector, the Chamber’s role has continued to evolve to take on a gone unnoticed and have helped lead to the number of core roles including the marketing Kenyan government establishing a dedicated of the industry locally and internationally Ministry of Mining for the first time in its to promote investment opportunities, history. “In the past mining had always been drive awareness of the industry amongst banded together in government with other local communities and be a source of natural resources or as part of environmental information for its members. discussions,” Ms Gichuhi states. “It is of huge “Over time,” Ms Gichuhi continues, “we significance therefore that it now has its own began opening up our membership to any docket within government, something which

2000

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The Kenya Chamber of Mines (KCM)

“Kenya is emerging as a location of particular interest having proven that the country does indeed hold significant mineral-based potential” very clearly highlights the confidence it has in the positive benefits the industry can bring to Kenya in the future.”

What is happening within government does not mean however that the role of KCM has diminished in any way. In fact it is perhaps more important now than ever before that the Chamber maintains the pressure it places on the powers that be to ensure that the proper legislation and regulations are in place to

properly support the growth of mining and attract investment.

In addition to its lobbying for the legislation reform process to be speeded up and for the introduction of better tax conditions for the industry, a topic that is high on the Chamber’s agenda at present is the gathering of comprehensive geological data for the whole of Kenya, an act that will prove invaluable when it comes to attracting

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POWERING AFRICAN MINING For a mining operation to be viable, a number of factors must be in place. Sustained demand for the commodity, a market price that offers profitability, once extraction, refining and transportation costs are subtracted and a licence to operate are three such factors.

Access to a robust, high-quality power supply is another. Without reliable power, mines simply cannot operate.

Traditionally mine power has been supplied from accessing the local power grid or through independent power plants owned and operated by mining companies. Typically when relying on grid power, a fleet of back-up generators are also located on site to step in when grid power goes down.

Another option for powering mines that is becoming increasingly popular is the rental of power plants for either primary or backup power. Mining companies are starting to recognise the clear benefits of outsourcing this vital, yet non-core activity to specialised suppliers. Rental power offers flexibility in capacity and avoids tying up large amounts of capital in the purchase and maintenance of power infrastructure. Further, it allows miners to concentrate on what they do best, while leaving the supply of power in the hands of dedicated power experts.

“Over the course of a mine’s lifespan, power demands will increase incrementally and then decrease as the mine is scaled back,” commented Charly Wittgenstein, Area Sales Manager, Aggreko East Africa. “By renting power, miners can opt for exactly the power capacity they need and then grow or decrease this as and when required. This avoids the

costly situation of having either unused or redundant capacity or potentially worse, an insufficient power supply.”

Aggreko is the world’s leading supplier of rental power to mining operations across the globe. From providing small generators to power initial exploration camps to powering entire mining operations with multi-megawatt power plants, Aggreko is recognised as the industry leader. With a network of eight depots across Africa, supported by regional hubs in Europe and the Middle East, Aggreko has the unique ability to service practically any power requirement, in any geography across Africa.

“From our depot in Nairobi we can rapidly mobilise fleet to support our customers when emergency situations arise,” continued Wittgenstein. “Yet we also have the capacity and proven experience to supply large–scale and longer term power installations. Aggreko are an excellent partner for mining companies as we can support them at each and every stage of their operations.”

Aggreko supplies temporary power and temperature control solutions across Africa and throughout the world to a wide array of heavy industries, government utilities and to international major events. With a local African depot network encompassing Nairobi, Johannesburg, Port Elisabeth, Cape Town, Durban, Walvis Bay, Luanda and Lagos, backed up by regional hubs in Europe and the Middle East Aggreko has an unrivalled ability to support our customers across the entire African continent.

Africa.aggreko.com

The Kenya Chamber of Mines (KCM)

investors to take up licencing the reaction to the increase opportunities. “As of today we in mining activities and are still waiting to conduct operations from Kenyans a full airborne survey that themselves, particularly will map out the country’s local communities around Number of current resources,” Ms Gichuhi says. which said operations are members in KCM “This is something that we beginning to take shape. want carried out as soon as As KCM is well aware such possible and we continue to push hard for it to events can open the door to misinformation take place. In truth I believe the government of the positives and negatives of the is now starting to realise, thanks to the development of the industry spreading ever-growing amount of licence applications amongst local people, therefore it is one of it is receiving, the importance of such the Chamber’s key tasks to act as an accurate an undertaking, but we will continue to source of information and advice. lobby for it until it happens.”

Of course the buck doesn’t stop there with It would be remiss to not also consider the Chamber. It also falls upon the mining

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TAITA TAVETA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE VOI KENYA Taita Taveta University College (TTUC) was established in 2007 as a campus of the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology (JKUAT) but was upgraded to a Constituent College of JKUAT in 2011.

With a student population of over 2,000, the University College currently has five schools. The flagship programme of the University College is the BSc in Mining and Mineral Processing Engineering (MMPE).

In addition SEMTECH also runs short courses in Gemology. The importance of the BSc in Mining and Mineral Processing Engineering Programme continues to rise dramatically in Kenya following discoveries of commercially viable deposits of titanium minerals, iron ores, niobium and rare

earths, among others, and prospects of a major gold find soon on the heels of intensified exploration efforts. Shortage of engineering workforce to service the mining, oil and gas industries will continue to bite for many years to come not, only in Kenya but in the whole region of eastern, central and southern African nations. To enhance its educational training capacity, both in terms of academic staff as well as in terms of engineering infrastructure, TTUC has entered into partnerships with other reputable mining universities in Australia, Europe and Africa. principal@ttuc.ac.ke www.ttuc.ac.ke

TAITA TAVETA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE - THE HOME OF IDEAS

Taita Taveta University College is increasingly recognized as the Centre for the training of University level engineering workforce for the oil, gas and mining industries in Kenya. Our graduates come out having acquired competence and basic skills in design of both surface and underground mines, mine surveying, blasting with explosives in quarries, mines, civil engineering works, design of mineral processing flow sheets and Computer-Aided Design, among others.

Services/programs • Technical advice to investors on mine design, mineral processing and extractive metallurgy • Research and Technological Innovation, including innovation geared at creating indigenous industries in the minerals, oil and gas downstream activities

• Offering Short Courses on Gemology, Gem Cutting, Jewelry Manufacture Marketing and other Value Addition processes • Community Outreach Programmes Other Courses offered at TTUC include the Following • Bachelor of Science in Information Technology • Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science • Bachelor of Commerce • Bachelor of Purchasing and Supplies Management • There are also various Certificate and Diploma programs on offer For more information please visit: www.ttuc.ac.ke

The Kenya Chamber of Mines (KCM)

“Anyone wanting to become a member of KCM must be in full compliance with the laws and regulations that govern the environment” companies themselves to build and maintain a positive image for the sector. Where the Chamber does play a role in this is by constantly promoting the concepts of responsible, ethical and sustainable operations.

“First and foremost,” Ms Gichuhi says, “anyone wanting to become a member of KCM must be in full compliance with the laws and regulations that govern the environment.

Further to that, part of our own strategic

objective has been to develop a code of ethics for our membership which will see them ensuring their full compliance with issues surrounding environmental protection, community relations and corporate social responsibility initiatives.”

When asked to look ahead to what the future holds for KCM, and the mining sector in Kenya as a whole, one of the first things on Ms Gichuhi’s agenda is the third annual

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“Kenya is undoubtedly one of the foremost reasons why Eastern Africa is now regarded as a new frontier for mining in the developing world” Mining Business and Investment (MBI) Conference taking place in October at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi. “The MBI Conference is one of the significant events on our calendar,” she enthuses. “It is here that we draw in a whole host of current and future investors, all of whom are keen

52 | BE Africa

to get a better understanding of mining in Kenya, what opportunities exist here, the challenges that we are working to overcome and what the government’s position is when it comes to supporting the industry, all of which makes for a hugely important event for all parties involved.”

The Kenya Chamber of Mines (KCM)

Kenya is undoubtedly one of the foremost reasons why Eastern Africa is now regarded as a new frontier for mining in the developing world. With the country’s relatively unexplored land playing host to a wealth of mineral based opportunities there is unlikely to be any slowdown in the near future when it comes to investors seeking out new projects for exploration and development.

With that in mind Ms Gichuhi is keen to emphasise that there are long-term plans for the KCM to evolve and grow alongside the mining sector so as to continue fulfilling its mandate and obligations. “As well as positioning ours for the expected growth in membership that

the Chamber will receive going forward, we are also planning for the possibility of one day becoming part of an integrated Chamber of Mines and Energy. The bringing together of these two separate entities would bring Kenya in line with international standards and will help give both fields a larger platform for dialogue and one collective voice to represent the hugely important extractive industries in the country.�

For more information about The Kenya Chamber of Mines (KCM) visit: www.kenyachambermines.com

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Reliability in transport Kengas Group Limited started with bulk petroleum products before moving into supply and delivery services within the Great Lakes Region including Southern Sudan

written by: will daynes | research by: james boyle

K

engas Group Limited started with bulk petroleum products before moving into supply and delivery services within the Great Lakes Region including Southern Sudan. The company has over 25 years’ experience and operates in some of the most demanding locations.

Kengas Group firmly believes in putting customers’ needs first, promoting equity within its ranks and re-investing its profits on tangibles that make a difference to customers.

Bringing together the best minds and the best technologies, Kengas understands that having high standards is the driving factor of change in life. By bringing greater synergy to daily business, maximizing the efficiency of businesses and providing specialized services

54 | BE Africa

across countries, Kengas integrates continuous improvements to bring changes for the better.

Kengas’ vision is to become the regions leader in providing specialized services in remote environments based on sound success in the oil industry. In its quest to do so the company strives to efficiently and reliably provide services that fuel the national economy, improve quality of life, create maximum value for its shareholders and stakeholders, and empower its employees.

Distinguishing characteristics of the business stem from a combination of management experience, service experience and quality of service. Above all else, Kengas Group treasures the corporate values of integrity, teamwork, communication, achievement, compassion and understanding, in the people it employs.

Kengas group

Much in the same way as its employees, Kengas itself endeavors to always conduct itself according to a set of core values. These include its desire to operate its businesses safely and remain good guardians of the environment, and comply with environmental regulations.

Integrity in the form of being honest and open with its employees, customers and stakeholders is another core value, as are trust and respect.

Kengas Group is committed to fairness in the rewarding of employees on the basis of their performance and contribution to the organization. It recognizes diversity as a key strength, and works hard to foster an inclusive environment that will enable everybody to fully participate and contribute.

Last but not least is competitiveness. Kengas aims to be competitive through efficient

and reliable operations, superior customer service, the adoption of best practices, seeking innovation and applying technology as a competitive advantage.

Kengas Group today boasts a wide range of capabilities. These include fuel logistics and supply, cargo logistics, catering services, procurement, camp designing, construction and management, fleet management and ICT services. In addition to all of the above it is also able to provide warehousing, laundry services, consulting, contract logistics and other specialized services.

For more information about Kengas Group visit: www.kengasgroup.com

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Growing on goodwill

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Lubritene (Pty ) Ltd Lubritene is a South African registered company, specialising in the manufacture of high performance greases, compounds and oils: a statement that barely describes a company that enjoys remarkable symbiosis with its clients

written by: John O’Hanlon research by: Robert Hodgson

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M

ining operations rely on their equipment, and there’s no doubt that each site has a lot of moving parts in its conveyors, trucks, shovels, milling and grinding trains, not to mention its associated drilling programmes. All of this has to be nursed and protected with the right oils and greases. As any operations manager knows, lubricants can be a big budget item and one that pays back in proportion to its contribution to things like frequency of maintenance, equipment life and the avoidance of running problems that involve stopping the machine.

The market is crowded and to a large extent protectionist in nature. The big oil companies all sell their own brand specialist industrial oils. Some equipment OEMs list approved suppliers; others provide a spec; some even sell their own branded lubricants, made for them by third parties, and try to compel the mines to use them by warranty sanctions.

But this very market has been Lubritene’s opportunity. The privately owned company, which started life around 16 years ago as the spin-out of the lubrications division of a more diversified chemicals company, has made a point of staying the right size. It has also steadily grown its own range of products specifically designed for mining applications including earthmoving equipment like draglines, shovels & dump trucks, drilling rigs and a variety of equipment in open cast mining operations.

Typically the major oil companies approach the market from the outside in, providing a product that meets OEM specs. Lubritene has always approached it from the inside out

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Lubritene (Pty ) Ltd

– starting with the equipment’s user. “Our model is that we supply a product specifically designed for the machine,” says Dave Gons, Lubritene’s Sales Director. “We try to keep in line with OEM specs and if we do have a spec we try to exceed it.”

But more important is that the product works in the field. The big companies are not always hot on service: a customer may be pressured into using an OEM product for fear of nullifying his warranty but will think again when the warranty expires and he realises he has been paying a large premium for something that originates from an unknown third party, with indifferent support.

Other larger customers use their buying power to insist on keeping their long-standing relationship with Lubritene, which at a large site is likely to have its own personnel permanently on site, looking after all its lubrication requirements. “Backup service comes as part of our package, and when these customers procure new machines they are not about to be told they have to change the way they have operated for many years.” There’s always another supplier, he points out.

There may be two permanent Lubritene engineers at a large Anglo Coal mine, equipped with their own vehicles. The relationship is a close one – almost a family relationship at

the mine site, says Gons. “It doesn’t matter what mineral they mine: our business is to look after the machines and we have a very strong relationship with the mining groups going back many years.”

The lubricants, branded as Lubrene, are manufactured on the company’s site at Edenvale near Johannesburg. There are separate plants for each of the different

“We try to keep in line with OEM specs and if we do have a spec we try to exceed it” 60 | BE Africa

Lubritene (Pty ) Ltd

products – open gear established in the Australian lubricants for example, nonmarket, with offices in Perth melt grease or drilling core and Brisbane. At one time fluids as well as synthetic oils it experimented with local for enclosed gearboxes. toll manufacturing but Years since Lubritene In 2006 the management unsatisfied with the quality was founded of the company discussed the and consistency it drew next phase of its expansion, back to supplying direct realising the domestic market from South Africa. Better a was reaching saturation. It was decided that dependable product than saving a few dollars the next target should be Australia, where in transportation costs, he says. there was growing interest in Lubritene’s Lubritene is used to requests from other product and service model. A subsidiary parts of the world too, largely driven by the company was set up there, and to cope with diaspora of mining engineers from South the increased demand a new six-ton capacity Africa. The latest new office was opened in Santiago, Chile, where it is servicing the grease plant commissioned at the factory.

Seven years later the company is well booming South American market. And Dave

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Gons has been able to advance his personal he declares, “Our model is a bit different dream of capturing the wider African from theirs. They have tried to open service market. “We supply neighbouring Namibia, divisions but they provide a service for a Mozambique, Botswana and all the way up period, then it breaks down or they outsource it to a generalist” into Mali, and Tanzania.”

Service levels in these territories are no Service is not the only differentiator less than in South Africa. With 40 van- though. “Most of our products arose from equipped engineers ready to fly out to a problems at mines that we were approached mine if it is not close enough to solve. If you are faced with to drive to, Lubritene will a persistent problem and ask one of the big players to not compromise on the service that differentiates it. make a grease with special Gons is undismayed by the properties to solve that – competition that undoubtedly forget it. They have a list exists. “You need to know of products that they work Year Lubritene Australia was founded your position in the market from. We are completely or you know nothing at all!” different.”

2006

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Lubritene (Pty ) Ltd

“If it works, well and good; if not we try something different till it does work!”

In such a situation he will travel to the mine, accompanied by a chemist, and analyse the problem with the customer’s engineers, testing the product they have been using.

Back in Gauteng, Lubritene’s R&D team will work on a customised sample then return to the mine to test it. “If it works, well and good; if not we try something different till it does work! Unlike the large companies I can

talk to my chemist any time, tell him what I want, and he can do it. No red tape.”

And once the right product has been formulated, that product is thenceforward available to that customer. In a recent case, a large mine near the Namibian coast had problems associated with the regular 20-degree daily temperature swing in that climate. No existing product could cope with that so Lubritene made one: “It is made specially for them and it is their grease. The quantity is not a problem.” Try getting one of the majors to develop a special product then manufacture just four tons for a single customer, he says. It won’t happen.

There’s no pressure on Lubritene to grow exponentially – one of its strengths is that it is right-sized. Nevertheless the breaking news is that it is on the point of commissioning a new 16-ton grease plant. Joining the existing four-ton and eight-ton kettles, this one will keep a growing band of satisfied customers happy. Not just the customers. Lubritene, he says proudly, enjoys vanishingly small staff turnover rates.

For more information about Lubritene (Pty) Ltd visit: www.lubritene.co.za

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Feeding South A

As the only vertically integrated ph Foskor is vital to the country’s ag mine is one of the largest open

written by: Joh research by:

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Foskor: Phalaborwa

Africa’s growth

hosphate producer in South Africa griculture sector: its Phalaborwa n cast operations in the world

ohn O’Hanlon Candice Nice

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Foskor: Phalaborwa

P

halaborwa in Limpopo Province in the Phalaborwa area as early as the 8th holds reserves of some 2.5 billion century. At that time the Ba-Malatji metaltonnes of phosphate-bearing ore, working tribe, on discovering iron and copper or five percent of proven world 150 kilometres north of Bushbuckridge where phosphate rock reserves. The they had settled, moved to this site and named Phalaborwa complex, within which Foskor’s it ‘Phalaborwa’, which means ‘better than operation is situated, is a geological intrusion the south’. Here they established a primitive caused by sub-volcanic activity approximately smelting and metalworking industry, 2,000 million years ago. The complex is unique some of the remains of which have been as it is host to many valuable minerals, the preserved and are on display at the Foskor most relevant of which are phosphate, copper, Museum in Phalaborwa. zirconium, iron and vermiculite. Rio Tinto’s Foskor is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Palabora Mining Company is a near neighbour Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). of Foskor and is South Africa’s only producer The company was established in Phalaborwa in 1951 with the aim of making of refined copper Development of modern the South African fertiliser mining activity started at industry independent of the beginning of the century phosphate rock imports, when several geologists and has since grown into noted the occurrence of the a successful commercial phosphate bearing mineral, enterprise. The Phosphate Rock & Copper division as well apatite, in the vicinity of Tons of ore as the Zirconia Business Unit Loolekop. The presence of processed annually are situated in Phalaborwa apatite was first described in 1906 and an unsuccessful in the Limpopo Province, attempt at mining phosphate ensued. In and together with the Phosphoric acid and 1940, however, the eminent geologist, Dr. Fertiliser division situated in Richards Bay, Hans Merensky, started mining vermiculite KwaZulu-Natal, comprise the two operating in Phalaborwa and proved the phosphate entities within the Foskor Group. reserves to be truly vast in extent although Foskor’s Mining Division in Phalaborwa low in grade by world standards. extracts phosphate rock (foskorite and Archaeological evidence and carbon isotope pyroxenite), from which Foskor’s Acid Division dating indicate that primitive mining and in Richards Bay produces phosphoric acid smelting of copper took place at Phalaborwa and phosphate-based granular fertilisers some 1,000 years ago, followed by the for local and international markets. The smelting of iron ore 700 years later. From phosphoric acid is exported to India, Japan, artefacts found in the area it is known that the Netherlands, Bangladesh and Dubai, and copper of remarkable purity was produced a small quantity sold locally. Phosphoric acid

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million

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SUP PER

Akulu M toiletries facility w sulphon manufa

The Chl supply c and inst

Contact us: 011 806 8700 info@akulu.co.za | www.akulu.co.za

Akulu M and pet certainly

PPLIER OF CHOICE TO THE DETERGENTS, RSONAL CARE AND INDUSTRIAL MARKETS

Marchon has a unique 36 year history as the leading supplier of chemical raw materials to the surfactants, s, personal care and household industries. Two manufacturing sites, first and foremost the Chloorkop which was constructed in 2008 and commissioned in 2009, operates the latest technology Ballestra nation plant which primarily produces sulphonic acid, sulphated alcohols and esters. Secondly the Mobeni acturing site, specialises in the production of various grades of petroleum jelly and mineral oils.

loorkop site is also home to a National Distribution and Warehousing centre which encompasses a total chain management structure. Akulu Marchon also operates a fleet of tankers and trucks ensuring delivery tant access of quality products to customers.

Marchon Mobeni, has a highly specialised team, assuring quality and producing top grades of mineral oil troleum jelly which complies to stringent standards.The formal quality management system and standards y adds value in the market to the Akulu Oils product range.

AKULU MARCHON

Akulu Marchon is a division of AECI a company listed since 1966 on the JSE Securities Exchange which has its origins dating back to 1894, as a Nobel dynamite company at Modderfontein, near Johannesburg. The AECI portfolio of businesses include AEL Mining Services, Africa’s leading explosives supplier and the Specialty Chemicals Cluster which comprises of 15 value-adding specialty chemicals in which Akulu Marchon is one of these. Heartland Properties a services business, optimizes the value of real estate holdings surplus to AECI’s operational requirements by selling land and selectively investing in revenue-produced buildings to act as a catalyst for sales.

AECI’s vision to be the chemical and mining services supplier of choice for customers in its chosen markets. In South Africa, several of the companies trade and have an international reach with various customers

70 | BE Africa

and suppliers across the globe. They use world class technology to operate in South Africa, the rest of Africa and in other emerging markets.

Safety, Health, Environment and Quality are of paramount importance to Akulu Marchon. Both sites, are OSHAS 18001:2007 accredited, as well as accredited with ISO 14001: 2004 and ISO 9001: 2008 certification. Akulu Marchon is a signatory of the Responsible Care™ initiative through the Chemical Allied and Industries Association, whereby Management Practice Standards are verified by independent third party auditors. Akulu Marchon have been audited successfully against these standards which are also supported in line with internal company policy and AECI’s Green Gauge initiative.

Akulu Marchon has extensive Principal representation covering a diversity of household and personal care markets, as well as other industrial and agricultural markets, supplying a range of customers from multi-nationals to local manufacturers and companies. For Akulu Marchon to meet its vision and objectives of striving to deliver value, a dedicated sales team is supported by a team of highly specialised technical chemists who assist with the development of various formulations, provide application assistance and trouble shooting, as well as offering the latest market trends information and product briefs and training.

E. info@akulu.co.za www.akulu.co.za

Foskor: Phalaborwa

has agricultural, industrial, medical and retail applications. Products made from phosphoric acid include catalysts, rust proofing materials, chemical reagents, latex, dental cements, tooth whiteners, toothpaste, disinfectants, food supplements, carbonated beverages, waxes, polishes and animal feed.

The opencast mine in Phalaborwa, in South Africa’s Limpopo Province, has the capacity to yield 2.6 million tons per annum of phosphate rock concentrate from processing 35 million tons of ore per annum. Once crushed, milled, concentrated and dried, most of the phosphate rock concentrate is transported by rail to Foskor’s processing plant in Richards Bay, 800 kilometres away on the country’s east coast.

Agricultural markets continue to drive the business. “While the phosphate rock is used to produce a wide range of products including food and industrial grade phosphates, the bulk

of future expansion will be driven by increasing demand in the fertiliser and feed markets.”

Says Foskor’s Chairman M G Qhena who is also the CEO of the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC), Foskor’s parent company. “Global granulation capacity is estimated to rise by a total of seven million tons of phosphoric acid input between 2012 and 2017. Similarly, new capacity of some 0.9 million tons of phosphoric acid is expected over the same period.”

Given the attractive margins available to vertically integrated producers, the location of this new downstream capacity is increasingly being dictated by the availability of rock resources. Most of this additional demand will be met by projects located in Africa, the Middle East and South and Central America. The future for Foskor therefore seems favourable from a global economic perspective.

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Following some challenges mainly attributable to equipment failure, the management committed Foskor in 2011 to a strategy of asset replacement costing around R320 million over a three year period. The benefits of this programme cannot be overemphasised, says Mr Alfred Pitse, Foskor’s CEO: “New technology and reliable production capacity will reduce plant downtime and maintenance costs, provide additional production capacity, improve the utilisation of equipment, ensure compliance with anticipated environmental legislation and improve the safety and health of both our employees and the surrounding communities.”

The company takes its stakeholder relations very seriously. “The relationship between Rio Tinto’s Palabora Mining Company (PMC), Foskor and Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality is very important,” says Pitse. “PMC mines in the same area as Foskor and for this reason there should always be respect for the relationship between Foskor and its fellow corporates.”

If the businesses should collaborate, the local people are even more important.

“Foskor’s operations can dominate the socioeconomic destinies of the communities in which we operate,” he says. “We therefore work closely with government at national, regional and local level to support their social

imperatives and policies, and provide financial and in-kind support for specific projects that improve education levels, alleviate poverty and upgrade local infrastructure.”

The company hosts three schools on its premises at no cost, two at Phalaborwa and one at Richards Bay. It adopted the former Stanbury Primary School and renamed it Foskor Primary School in November 2009.

Foskor is also encouraging early childhood development training at a pre-school in

“Being recognised as one of South Africa’s top employers enables us to attract and retain only the best in the industry” 72 | BE Africa

Foskor: Phalaborwa

Phalaborwa by partnering with the national Department of Basic Education in providing teaching aids and development programmes to educators in the region. At Richards Bay Foskor is reconstructing the Ntambanana Community Centre as a lodge for widows, orphans and other vulnerable persons. This community centre will be equipped with training facilities for business start-ups and will offer assistance to entrepreneurs. At tertiary level Foskor sponsors the University of Zululand’s Science Centre to ensure that Zululand’s communities have access to worldclass science and technology apparatus.

Not merely one of the region’s biggest employers, Foskor is also one of the best places to work. This was confirmed when in August it was one of the few organisations that achieved the exclusive Top Employers South Africa

2014 certification. Companies were assessed on such criteria as primary and secondary benefits and working conditions, training and development, career development, and culture management. Only those companies that met the most stringent research criteria received the Top Employers South Africa recognition. As Vice-President for Corporate Affairs and Human Capital, Sarah Luthuli said: “This award is a great achievement not only for Foskor as a company but also for our employees. Being recognised as one of South Africa’s top employers enables us to attract and retain only the best in the industry.”

For more information about Foskor: Phalaborwa visit: www.foskor.co.za

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74 | BE Africa

Petra Diamonds

A diamond in the rough A leading independent diamond mining group, Petra Diamonds is fast becoming an increasingly important player in the rough diamond market thanks to the leveraging of its impressive asset portfolio

written by: Will Daynes research by: Robert Hodgson & Candice Nice

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Petra Diamonds

F

The Kimberley underground mines in South Africa

irst listed on the AIM in 1997, with a market capitalisation of ÂŁ10 million, Petra Diamonds has since grown into a leading independent diamond mining group and an important supplier of rough diamonds to the international market.

A year after its listing Petra made significant new kimberlite discoveries in Angola, before later identifying a sizeable kimberlite field in the country at Alto Cuilo. As a result of its rapid success the company entered into a joint venture in 2004 with BHP Billiton to continue the exploration of its Angolan projects.

In the years that followed Petra would go on to merge with ASX-quoted Crown Diamonds, operators of three producing diamond mines, and would acquire assets including the Koffiefontein mine and the Kimberley Underground mine in South Africa, as well as the Williamson mine in Tanzania. In 2013, the company’s production has increased to 2.7 million carats.

In acquiring a total of five of the world’s most important diamond mines Petra has compiled for itself a major diamond resource of more than 300 million carats. With this base behind it the company has set out a transparent growth plan that is expected to see production rising from its current levels to approximately five million carats by the end of the 2019 financial year.

Everything that the company has achieved to date has been with the aim of becoming a diamond mining group of global significance.

Through its strong and responsible leadership, Petra is investing in the expansion and optimisation of its world-class assets in

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Petra Diamonds order to deliver significantly geovia increased production in the GEOVIA’s (formerly Gemcom) longstanding partnership years to come. Underpinning with Finsch Mine spans more than a decade. “From open Petra’s strategy is a focus pit to underground long hole open stoping and block on safety and sustainability, caving, Finsch’s use of GEMS and PCBC in addition to thereby driving value GEOVIA’s software customisation and services have for all stakeholders. been key to the success of Finsch’s extensive and varied mining operations”, Johan Langenhoven, Survey Analyst, Petra operates an Petra Diamonds. integrated and transparent www.3ds.com/geovia business, with commitment to its values being present at every step of the production cycle. At the forefront of said cycle is the company’s exploration programme, which is presently focused in Botswana, where modern exploration techniques offer the potential to make new discoveries in previously explored areas. Meanwhile, from a mining and development perspective Petra operates both underground and open-pit operations in South Africa and Tanzania, with expansion plans in plans for each of its core assets.

Following the processing phase, where ore material is disaggregated to extract the rough diamonds, the cycle moves into the sorting process where, once cleaned and acidized, the rough diamonds are sorted by in-house experts who assign them to parcels according to their shape, size, clarity and colour. Last but not least, Petra’s internal marketing team sells the rough diamond parcels by competitive tender in the key markets of Johannesburg and Antwerp, Belgium.

Over the years the company has invested significant capital in order to extend the lives of its mines. Such an approach has helped reaffirm the fact that it is a business very Cullinan mine in South Africa much focused on value as opposed to volume

BE Africa | 79

production, with Petra going to great efforts to meticulously plan its mining and processing operations to capture a mine’s optimal rough diamond profile.

Petra is committed to the responsible development of its assets and as such corporate social responsibility is integral to the way that the company structures and operates its mining, development and exploration projects.

In its own words, Petra strives to make

a lasting contribution to the “triple bottom line” of people, profit and planet. This involves enhancing the local environment to the benefit of employees and communities, and is achieved through various initiatives that aim to stimulate local socio-economic development, as well as by upholding high standards of environmental stewardship.

As well as endeavouring to create a zero harm environment for its employees to work in, the company also works to

“Petra has tried to foster a culture in which innovation and creativity in the workplace is encouraged and rewarded”

The Koffiefontein mine in South Africa

80 | BE Africa

Petra Diamonds

Rockbreaker breaking ore on top of a grizzly underground at Cullinan

ensure that these same men and women are empowered and accountable for their own actions, something it believes encourages them to work to the very best of their abilities at all times. Furthermore, Petra has tried to foster a culture in which innovation and creativity in the workplace is encouraged and rewarded. The company believes that no-one knows its operations better than its own employees and accordingly it looks to leverage its internal skills-base wherever possible.

When it comes to its end product, Petra believes in the responsible mining and sale of its diamonds, and will only operate in countries which are members of the Kimberley Process.

As a legitimate diamond miner operating in South Africa, Tanzania and Botswana, 100

percent of Petra’s production is fully traceable and conflict-free.

As is the case with any forward thinking business, Petra is always looking to generate efficiencies across its operations and has applied a “back-to-basics” approach designed to review and assess areas for improvement at all times. Key focus areas at present include power and water usage, security and the effective use of labour. All of this is conducted in the knowledge that using past experience to improve future performance is integral to the company’s long-term success.

For more information about Petra Diamonds visit: www.petradiamonds.com

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82 | BE Africa

Howden Africa

Focused

yet diverse Howden Africa is a market driven, customer orientated company: its main business activities are the design, manufacture and marketing of air and gas handling solutions to a wide range of industries

written by: John O’Hanlon research by: Jeff Abbott

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Compressor plant for a Howden thermal ice storage system

Howden Africa

H

owden Africa was established in companies to focus on supplying a range of Johannesburg in 1952, to supply market-leading products to applications where fans for the mining and power performance and reliability are paramount. generation industries, just under The Howden business units located in Africa a century after the Scottish are Howden Power, Howden Fan Equipment, engineer and inventor James Howden set Howden Projects and Donkin Fans. What sets up the parent company in Glasgow. Howden Howden Africa apart from its competitors is was an innovator par excellence, but his most that many of the technologies used in these successful invention was a forced draught industries, including mine ventilation and system that dramatically improved the cooling, were first conceptualised by Howden performance of steam boilers. itself. The business units are supported by two Today Howden and its many subsidiaries world-class manufacturing centres designed have a long history of innovation in the air to service their particular needs, both located and gas handling field. It has grown to become in South Africa. The Johannesburg operation a worldwide organisation handles a range of large with over 4,200 employees scale engineered plant and products, including the design and companies in 17 countries. Its equipment can and fabrication of turnkey be found in virtually every projects. It manufactures industry, but particularly equipment including fans, The year Howden Africa heat exchangers, furnaces and in those such as power was established cooling systems, gas cleaning generation, petrochemicals, solutions and dust scrubbers. mining, steelmaking and cement manufacture, where the most arduous The Port Elizabeth centre is responsible air and gas handling duties are to be found. for the design and manufacture of the So Howden has been a major engineering comprehensive range of Donkin preforce in Africa for over 60 years – well over engineered fans and accessories. Howden in fact, since as early as 1925, Howden customers thus have the benefits of a companies were supplying main surface fans personal service and a presence in Africa to South African, Zimbabwean and Zambian with all the additional advantages of access mines. In early 2012, the Howden Global to an international network of world-class holding company Charter International was technological and engineering skill. Its acquired by the global manufacturing group involvement in the past development of Colfax Corporation of the United States. Africa’s industrial infrastructure is in this way Though the customers probably did not detect matched by its commitment to the future. any immediate change in the service they Howden Power has supplied virtually all receive, the synergies with Colfax’s existing the boiler Forced Draught (FD), Induced fluid handling capabilities will help both Draught (ID) and Primary Air (PA) fans for

1952

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ISC

Internoise (Pty) Ltd t/a International Sound Control & Insulation 13 Francolin Street, Somerset West, 7130|Tel. +27-(0)21- 855 1530 | Fax. +27-(0)21- 855 0875 | www.intsound.co.za

WE SOLVE YOUR NOISE PROBLEMS TURN-KEY SOLUTIONS • Survey / Measurements / Advice • Acoustical & Mechanical Design • Engineering & Fabrication • Installation & Commissioning • 25 Years Worldwide Experience • German Experts MAJOR CONTRACTS • Power Stations (via Howden Power) - Medupi and Kusile P.S. for Eskom South Africa, 2 x 6 Boilers - All Silencers for FD- Fans 8000 x 8500 x 5050 mm and for the PA – Fans 2000 x 2900 x 1500 mm • Mines (via Howden Fan Equipment) - Ø 5673 x Ø7172 x 2800 H conical Silencer, Zondagfontein Mine, South Africa - Conical Silencer Ø 4163 x Ø 5000 x 4000 lg.

Paardekraal Mine, South Africa

• Mines (via Actom - ex Alsthom/ABB-Flakt) - Ø 6300 x Ø 6829 x 1500 high conical Silencers, Thubelisha Mine, South Africa - Ø 6600 x Ø 7258 x 2500 high Conical Silencers for Shondoni Mine, South Africa - Ø 6600 x Ø 7258 x 2500 high Conical Silencers for Impumelelo Mine,South Africa • Mines (directly) Anglo – Gold - Ø 4310 x Ø 6625 x 3000 long Inlet Silencers for Bulk Air Cooling Towers at Anglogold-Ashanti Moab Khotsong Mine, South Africa.

De Beers - Large Blow- off Silencers for Main Compressor House at Cullinan Diamond Mine, South Africa.

I N T E R N AT I O N A L S O U N D C O N T R O L H A S T H E GRIPS ON NOISE CONTROL TECHNOLOGY

ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI - MOAB KHOTSONG GOLDMINE 3 off Ø 4310 x Ø 6225 x 3000 LG. CONICAL EVASE TYPE SILENCERS FOR BULK AIR COOLING TOWERS

CONICAL EVASE TYPE SILENCER, Ø 7172 / Ø 5674 x 2800 H FOR HOWDEN FAN EQUIPMENT / ZONDAGFONTEIN MINE

W E D E S I G N , E N G I N E E R , M A N U FAC T U R E A N D I N S TA L L E F F E C T I V E A N D E C O N O M I C S O L U T I O N S

Howden Africa all of Eskom’s fossil-fired fleet of 13 power stations dating back to the 1960s.

However as Africa’s leading supplier of boiler fan and air pre-heater technology it also supplies, petrochemical, sugar, paper and many other industries. It maintains a comprehensive inventory of parts and detailed records of every major installation.

Additionally, it frequently finds a way to make considerable medium and long-term savings by refitting older plants with up-to-date fan and pre-heater equipment that offers far greater efficiency.

It is happy to provide costed proposals for

any installation, whether or not it currently uses Howden equipment, to investigate the potential advantages of a partial or total refit.”

Africa’s deep mines represent some of the most challenging and demanding situations in the world.

Howden built its reputation by providing solutions for engineered systems in harsh environments and has taken the demands of deep mine ventilation in gold mining, where excavations often extend to depths of thousands of metres, in its stride. The quality and performance of equipment such as underground booster

ISC

INTERNOISE (PTY) LTD Company owner and MD, Heinz J. Beinroth (Dipl.-Ing & Dipl.

Wirtsch.-Ing), has more than 25 years experience in the Noise Control Industry. Heinz worked for 15 years with G+H Montage, largest insulation & noise control company in Germany with some 5500 employees (Head of Export Division). A further 7.5 years was spent at Willich, the second largest insulation and noise control company in Germany where he

held the position as Area Manager for South and Southern Africa.

In 1995, Willich set up their South African Division and in 1999 the Willich Division was taken over by H.J. Beinroth and the name changed to Internoise (Pty) Ltd. t/a International Sound Control & Insulation.

Over the last 25 years they have been involved in many major noise control projects in the USA, India, UK, Indonesia, Malaysia, U.A.Emirates and Germany.

Their South African projects include Kendal, Letabo, Matimba, Majuba (Power Stations), Saldanha Steel, Sasol 2 and many others. www.intsound.co.za

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Specialists in: • Detailing, planning and fabrication of all types of structural steelwork, Platework and piping with specialised welding capabilities.

• Plant fabrication and have the capacity to fabricate shop and site assembled Tanks, Chutes, Storage Bins, Silos, Ducting, Conveyors, Structures and Launders.

• Drawing office service includes detailing and developing fabrication items for various industries.

• Planet Projects has a comprehensive construction team to perform site erections and construction duties.

Planet Projects is an ISO 9001:2008 and OHSAS 18001:2007 certified company and all work undertaken is subject to our Quality Assurance and Safety Processes.

Tel: 011 738 1700 | E-mail: info@planetprojects.co.za www.planetprojects.co.za

Industrial Cleaning - T: +27 16 971 1218 | E: rockent@mweb.co.za Hydraulics & Engineering - F: +27 16 971 35 30 | E: andriesrockent@vodamail.co.za

Howden Africa and surface ventilation units PLANET PROJECTS has helped to introduce Our line of business is the detailing, planning and Howden products into other fabrication of all types of structural steelwork, plate work facets of mining such as dust and piping with specialised welding capabilities and we scrubbing and temperature also specialise in plant fabrication and have the capacity control, designing and of fabricating all types of shop and site- assembled Tanks, manufacturing a range of Chutes, Storage bins, Silo’s, Ducting, Conveyors, Structures and Launders. process compressors to cool Planet Projects is an ISO 9001:2008 and OHSAS deep-level gold mines.

18001:2007 certified company and all work undertaken is The technologies offered subject to our Quality Assurance and Safety Processes.

by Howden to the mining Our clients include Howden, Alstom, Bhubezi Projects, sector are changing. South Bateman, TWP Projects, Anglo Platinum, Impala Platinum, African mines are getting Xstrata Coal, Group Five and Goldfields.. deeper, and conventional www.planetprojects.co.za air cooling methods using surface chillers and blowers are becoming inadequate and energyinefficient, making it necessary to use hard ice plants to cool underground air. At 1,500 metres underground, rock surfaces reach 57 degrees, and hard ice plants provide an economical method of cooling.

The acquisition of Donkin Manufacturing in 1988 strengthened Howden’s position in medium and smaller fans that can shift up to 13,000 cubic metres per hour. The company had built up a considerable reputation since its foundation in 1956. Donkin has a modern, comprehensively-equipped manufacturing facility with full performance and noise level testing capabilities in Port Elizabeth, and sales offices in Johannesburg, Cape Group Marketing Director, Geoffrey Chingwaru

“Howden has been a major engineering force in Africa for over 60 years” BE Africa | 89

Town and Durban. Donkin Fans supplied several different fan types for installation in the new soccer stadiums constructed for the 2010 World Cup, for example the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. And it doesn’t just supply the local market, having built up a considerable export business, including the recent supply of 500 HVAC ventilation fans, comprising both roof units and axial flow fans, to the prestigious Old Town Commercial Island project in Dubai.

The diverse capabilities of the business come together in Howden Projects, which provides cost effective turnkey solutions to a variety of industries including mining, manufacturing and power generation.

Wherever air cleaning is an issue, a system can be designed to keep particulate levels within statutory levels. Howden can design and supply single units, to integrate with and improve a customer’s existing plant, or become totally involved with the development of new projects from feasibility studies and consultancy right through to a full design, manufacturing, installation, testing and commissioning package with the highest standards of engineering and quality control throughout. A good example is its work at Eskom’s Majuba power station

in Mpumalanga, which boasts the world’s largest fabric filter plant - designed, built and installed by Howden Gas Cleaning.

Howden Africa has always been a great place to work and to acquire engineering skills. Being part of a global group allows

“South African mines are getting deeper, and conventional air cooling methods are becoming inadequate” 90 | BE Africa

Howden Africa

Howden main surface fan

the expertise and experience gained in one location to be applied in another and is an essential part of the approach that has kept Howden at the forefront of technology, and it has long recognised the importance of allowing individual engineers to develop their skills and knowledge to the full.

In 2008, the company took the groundbreaking step of adding a formal dimension to its training capabilities by instituting Howden Academy, a residential training course in which engineers from all Howden business units are brought together for an introduction to the technologies and business

practices it employs and the industries in which it operates. This has the additional benefit of reinforcing the spirit of friendship, co-operation and shared knowledge that has always distinguished the company and is exemplified in South Africa by its support for broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) as the best route to empowerment for all the country’s communities.

For more information about Howden Africa visit: www.howden.com

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Planet Projects

Men of steel A well-established South African fabrication and boiler-making company with a client list that reads like a who’s who of the country’s mining and infrastructure sectors

written by: John O’Hanlon research by: Jeff Abbott

I

t was in 1969 that Douglas Simpson founded his fabrication business to serve the burgeoning industries of South Africa’s Gauteng Province. Today Planet Projects, the brand name under which the company sells its services, is located in the Labore district of Brakpan, an industrial town near to Benoni in the municipality of Ekurhuleni and conveniently located to the east of Johannesburg.

The town has excellent road and rail links to the mining operations of South Africa, which today tend to be Planet Projects’ principal customers. The company has been involved in an impressive array of high profile projects such as Great Basin Gold’s Burnstone mine in the South Rand area of the Witwatersrand Goldfields in Mpumalanga Province, Goldfields’ South Deep mine to the

south-west of Johannesburg, Xstrata Coal’s Atcom mine and Anglo’s Waterval smelter.

Other major clients include Alstom, Howden Energy Systems, Bhubezi Projects, Bateman, TWP Projects, Anglo Platinum, Impala Platinum, Xstrata Coal and Group Five.

Though the company lists many of the majors in its client list the company still serves a wide range of industries from infrastructure to manufacturing and mining services. From its 6,168 square metre production area Planet Projects offers services such as the detailing, planning and fabrication of all types of structural steelwork, platework, and piping with specialised welding capabilities. It also offers a drawing office service which includes the detailing and developing of fabrication items for a range of industries. Total production capacity is 850 tonnes per month.

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“Planet Projects’ internal transportation division ensures that its clients can rely on deliveries that are both on time and competitive” So while Planet Projects’ primary offering to its clients would be the detailing, planning and fabrication of structural steelwork and platework, it also specialises in plant fabrication and has the capacity to fabricate all types of shop and site assembly tanks, chutes, storage bins, silos, ducting, conveyor structures, launders (troughs used for washing ore), furnaces and incinerators.

94 | BE Africa

Each client has its own requirements.

Planet Projects’ internal transportation division ensures that its clients can rely on deliveries that are both on time and competitive in price. Its fleet includes tractors, double and tri-axle trailers and pick-up trucks. The construction team can travel to the client’s site to carry out on-thespot erection and construction duties. With

Planet Projects

so many years of experience, the team is well qualified to ensure that all essential quality, health, safety, legal and statutory requirements are followed. Planet Projects is an ISO 9001:2008 and OHSAS 18001:2007 certified business: quality and safety are twin priorities in all the work it carries out.

The work Planet Projects does is diverse and all of its operators have to be skilled.

Training is thus an essential part of its remit – both to fill its own vacancies and to address the skills shortages that affect the industry as a whole. The company is accredited to offer both welder and boilermaker institutional training and it offers apprenticeships in both trades. As well as on the job training, these apprentices

receive theoretical instruction and do practical work in a controlled environment.

An important aspect of this focus is it certification as a merSETA workplace. MerSETA is one of the 21 Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) established to promote skills development in South Africa, and encompasses manufacturing, engineering and related services. Planet Projects is participating in the accelerated artisan training programme (AATP) project as well as other merSETA skills development projects.

For more information about Planet Projects visit: www.planetprojects.co.za

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Swakop Uranium

Namibia’s gift to global green energy Chinese capital and the combined resources of southern Africa’s experience in mining come together in the Husab uranium mine, a project that confirms Namibia’s leading position as a uranium oxide producer

written by: John O’Hanlon research by: Jeff Abbott

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Swakop Uranium

C

onstruction of one of the world’s largest uranium mines was officially inaugurated on April 18 this year, with fireworks, foot-stomping, marimbas and a fountain that danced to classical music, when a ground breaking ceremony took place at the mine site in the desert near Swakopmund in Namibia. Swakop Uranium’s $2.5 billion Husab project has been in development since the signing in Beijing of an EPCM contract in November last year, but the ground breaking ceremony was an opportunity for the partners in the project, including the China Africa Development Fund, the China Guandong Nuclear Power Holding Company (CGNPC) and the Namibian government-owned Epangelo Mining Company to reiterate the project’s importance for Namibia.

The Swakop deposit is undoubtedly the most significant uranium discovery of recent years, even decades, said Swakop Uranium’s CEO, Mr. Zheng Keping. “It will elevate Namibia past Niger, Australia and Canada to the second rung on the world ladder of uranium producers,” he said. “The eight kilometre uranium mineralisation has been confirmed as the highest grade, granitehosted uranium deposit in Namibia.”

Until April 2012, Swakop Uranium was a 100 percent owned subsidiary of Extract Resources, an Australian company listed on the Australian, Canadian and Namibian stock exchanges. During April 2012, Taurus Minerals Limited of Hong Kong, a subsidiary of CGNPC, a large, clean energy corporation under the supervision of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration

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Long recognised for our ability to engineer productive equipment, Joy Global is taking production to even higher levels through the enhancement of cost-focused technologies.

Our proven productive solutions are setting the standard for surface and underground mining world wide.

Steeledale, Johannesburg South Africa Joy Global, P&H and Joy are trademarks of Joy Global Inc. or one of its affiliates. Š 2013 Joy Global Inc. or one of its affiliates. All rights reserved.

JoyGlobal.com

Swakop Uranium Commission (SASAC) of Joy Global the State Council of China, It starts with an unparalleled commitment to mining. became the new owners Our business is focused solely on serving surface and following a successful underground mining operations with superior equipment takeover of Extract Resources and direct service that achieves the lowest cost per unit of which was subsequently production over the life cycle. delisted. CGNPC’s investment Our reach is global, with facilities and service centers that span six continents and more than twenty countries. But in Swakop Uranium was our focus remains local. Our people and services are close not only the biggest in to the mines to provide better decisions and solutions.

Namibia since the country’s Above ground and below, we strive to create a more independence, but also seamless experience that raises the bar for the entire by far the single biggest industry. And it starts with Joy Global. investment by China in www.joyglobal.com Africa. In November 2012, the Namibian state-owned mining company, Epangelo, and Swakop Uranium finalised an agreement for the subscription of a ten percent stake in Swakop Uranium in a deal valued at $226-million.

More than $100 million was spent in getting the project to the construction phase, which as we have seen will cost another $2.5 billion.

The mine is being developed as a conventional, large-scale load-and-haul opencast mine, feeding directly into a conventional agitated acid lead process, incorporating ion exchange and solvent extraction circuits. Both these processes are necessary to obtain the optimum amount of uranium from the ore and to concentrate and

“Husab will elevate Namibia past Niger, Australia and Canada to the second rung on the world ladder of uranium producers” BE Africa | 101

purify it. Construction of the Husab mine, is progressing well. Most of the main contracts have been awarded, bulk earthworks are well in progress, construction of the permanent road and bridge to the mine site is under way. Nampower, Namibia’s state energy supply company, has approved guaranteed power supply of 50 MW for the mine and the first water was delivered via a temporary pipeline from the Rössing reservoir into a newly-built pond on the Husab mine in February 2013. For this purpose, Swakop Uranium purchased a redundant pipeline from Areva (owner and developer of the Trekkopje uranium mine). Permanent water will be come from a desalination plant, either from the large-scale plant Areva built to supply water to its own mine, or from a new desalination plant that is going to be built near Swakopmund.

The tight schedule for construction envisages a plant in full sustainable production by the end of 2016. Pre stripping will commence next year; the next significant target is to have a stockpile of a million tonnes of run of mine (ROM) material ready by mid2015, with the permanent water supply so critical to the project available by the end of the third quarter of that year. At that point it will be possible to ‘cold’ commission’ the

plant, with first uranium production taking place by the end of 2015.

Assembly of the massive Komatsu haul trucks that will be used on the mine started in August 2013. The trucks, each with a payload of 327 tonnes, are delivered to site in a knocked-down kit form at a rate of two trucks per month. While 26 of these trucks will be procured during the project phase, 39 of them will be operating on the mine when

“Each gigawatt of increased new capacity will require about 150 tpa of extra uranium mine production” 102 | BE Africa

Swakop Uranium

the mine starts producing at as two South African road its nameplate capacity of 15 authorities,” said Komatsu’s million pounds of uranium Gerhard Klopper. The huge dump bodies are the last part oxide per annum. Getting of the truck to be fitted: it the first two dump bodies takes two cranes to lift them. the 2,250 kilometres from 15 million pounds of Johannesburg to the site in Capital cost of the uranium oxide (U₃O₈) is June was a major logistics Husab Project within spitting distance of operation. The bodies are 14.6 metres long, 10.7 metres the largest uranium mine in wide and 5.4 metres high. the world, McArthur River “Every step of the journey had to be carefully in Canada, which can produce up to 18 measured and investigated before the million pounds a year. It is certainly a lot 50-tonne load could be granted permission more than its local competitors Rössing, the to travel. Even then, strict conditions were longest running operation producing around applied and the vehicles needed to be four million pounds annually and Langer accompanied by at least two escorts from Heinrich at about five million pounds. That the transportation company Transcor, as well it is backed by China comes as no surprise.

$2.5

Billion

BE Africa | 103

Swakop Uranium Despite the question mark that Germany’s retreat from nuclear posed, as well as the Fukushima incident, nuclear remains the most developed source of green power and is being enthusiastically pursued by China, India – and even the UK. Swakop Uranium’s, director of communications and stakeholder involvement Grant Marais, says that even though the uranium price will remain low in the short term, the company believes that prices will increase substantially in the medium and long term.

The World Nuclear Association 2011 Market Report reference scenario (following the Fukushima accident) shows a 48 percent increase in uranium demand from 2013 to 2023, he says. “Each gigawatt of increased new capacity will require about 150 tpa of extra uranium mine production routinely, and about 300 to 450 tonnes of uranium for the first fuel load. About 435 reactors with a combined capacity of over 370 GWe, require some 78,000 tonnes of uranium oxide concentrate, containing 66,000 tonnes of uranium from mines, or the equivalent from stockpiles or secondary sources, each year. This includes initial cores for new reactors coming on line.” Uranium mines worldwide currently supply some 68,800 tonnes of uranium oxide, containing 58,344 tonnes of uranium. That’s about 86 percent of utilities’ annual requirements and it leaves a significant shortfall, he adds.

For more information about Swakop Uranium visit: www.swakopuranium.com

BE Africa | 105

Chicken and egg Country Bird Holdings (CBH) is a fully integrated poultry company with breeder facilities, hatcheries, broiler sites and processing plants and feed mills: a leading brand in South Africa, its sights are set on growing markets across the continent

written by: John O’Hanlon research by: Jeff Abbott

106 | BE Africa

CBH

BE Africa | 107

Nutri Feeds delivery truck

CBH

K

evin James acquired CBH in 2003 when it was a small and struggling operation processing just 250,000 chickens a week at its Bloemfontein location.

However, having just shaken the dust of Zimbabwe, where he had built up a thriving poultry business, he hit an auspicious moment for the South African market, with feed prices declining and chicken prices firm. A year later he and his partners were able to buy and restart an operation in Mafikeng turning out 400,000 birds a week. They increased the capacity of both operations and by 2007 had a joint weekly capacity of 1.5 million birds. To this they added a number of feed mills, and in that year listed the group on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Today the group employs 5,379 people and trades its poultry into the South Africa market under the Supreme Chicken brand and its animal feed under the name of Nutri Feeds, now the leader in animal feed manufacturing in South Africa with manufacturing plants in Viljoenskroon, Mafikeng and Bloemfontein.

“The feed market is very consistent,” says James. “We produce 500,000 tonnes of feed a year, around half of it for our internal use and the rest sold into regional and even global markets. We have three abattoirs, each of them working double shifts to produce half a million birds a week and additionally we have our own breeding programme.”

After just five years, then, CBH is now the third largest poultry producer, and at times has been the largest poultry exporter in South Africa.

BE Africa | 109

Albrecht Machinery since1

Pty (Ltd)

949

Solutions for food producers & manufactures Freezing, Chilling, Frying, Cooking, Roasting, Baking, Proofing, Searing, Steaming, Blanching, Thawing, Drying, Slicing, Dicing, Cutting, Peeling, Breading, Battering, Coating, Filling, Multihead Weighing, Product Forming and Extruding Machines, Thermoforming Packaging Machines, Carton Erectors, Fillers and Closers, Dough processing, Pie and Bread lines, Bread roll lines, Baking Equipment

Through our World Leading Food Machinery Suppliers

Frigoscandia Spiral Freezers

Stein M series fryers And coating equipment

Double D Ovens

Portioning

Extrusion

DJM FORMING & EXTRUSION

Cabinplant Multihead Weighers

Albrecht Machinery Carton Freezers VacForm series

Frigoscandia | Stein | DSI | Double D

foodprocessing

T: 0861 000 516 | E: gcc@albrechtmachinery.co.za We also offer the following in-house services: • Project management • AutoCAD drawing services • Trained technical support

• 2nd hand machinery dealers • Equipment moving and refurbishing • Equipment servicing

CBH

5,379 People employed by CBH group

Feed may be a consistent market – chicken meat is more volatile. At the time of listing, the South African poultry industry was quite buoyant. Since then rising maize prices have chipped at margins and rapid expansion of the poultry industry has led to over-supply.

But an even more serious challenge has come from cheap meat flooding into the country from overseas, particularly the EU and Brazil. The South African Poultry Association has asked the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa to raise duties to as much as 82 percent from

CBH founder, Kevin James

Albrec

ALBRECHT MACHINERY

since1

949

Solutions for food

Established in 1949 to service the growing needs of the food industry in South Africa, Albrecht Machinery has developed a reputation as a leading supplier of equipment and turnkey solutions. The quest for reliable new equipment and innovations is on-going in a bid to ensure that local industries are exposed to the best that the world has to offer.

The company is currently agents for a number of global players in food processing equipment. These companies have been selected for their individual areas of

expertise and their compatibility with others in the stable to provide solutions to various Through our World Lea processing and packaging needs.

We have an extensive service and spare parts network with technicians based in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.

Our technicians are highly skilled in multi disciplines.

We strive to build partnerships with our customers and believe that we have a vested interest in their success.

Freezing, Chilling, Frying, Cooking, Blanching, Thawing, Drying, Slicin Coating, Filling, Multihead Weighi Thermoforming Packaging Machin processing, Pie and Bread l

Frigoscandia Spiral Freezers

P

Extrusion

FO EX

Cabinplant Multihead Weighers

VacForm se

E. gcc@albrechtmachinery.co.za

Frigoscandia | Stei T: 0861 000 516 | E:

We also offer the f • Project management • AutoCAD drawing services • Trained technical support

BE Africa | 111

WHY IS ARBOR ACRES THE INTEGRATOR’S CHOICE?

LOW COST PER CHICK

PARENT STOCK PRODUCES EXCELLENT CHICKEN NUMBERS

SELECTED TO OPTIMIZE FEED EFFICIENCY

BEST GROWTH RATE AND LEADING FCR

LOW COST PER KILO

EFFICIENCY AND YIELD ADD PROFIT

ARBOR ACRES FITS ALL STAGES OF THE INTEGRATOR’S PRODUCTION CHAIN AND HAS WELL-ESTABLISHED PERFORMANCE CREDENTIALS TO IMPROVE YOUR PROFITABILITY AND SUCCESS. We are pleased to have partnership with Supreme Poultry to continue serving customers in the region. aviagen.com

GENETICS PLUS SERVICE PLUS PERFORMANCE.

The Ross® 308 is driven by industry-leading investment in R&D and new technology that continues to yield the greatest rate of genetic improvement for customers like you. This long-term commitment to research and genetic progress together with world-class support of a knowledgeable, regional technical team gives you not one, but two, key advantages. We are proud to be associated with Ross Breeders Zambia and look forward to a future of providing unequalled value to your business.

CBH Arbor Acres

Arbor Acres has remained a leading product and generated trust and respect in the global poultry industry with: • An easy to manage breeder with excellent chick production • A broiler with the best growth rate and outstanding feed conversion • Dedicated service team experienced in Africa • Support from the industry’s leading R&D breeding programme. www.aviagen.com

ROSS

The Ross 308 has a unique R&D breeding and selection programme utilising first class pedigree facilities together with more challenging, industry-like conditions to identify the most efficient and robust birds for future breeding stock. The use of multiple selection environments together with life time feed conversion testing enables the Ross programme to improve faster than competitors. www.aviagen.com/ross

CBH produce 500,000 tonnes of feed a year

the current 5-27 percent range, saying that as many as 20,000 jobs are being put at risk across the industry.

CBH has not escaped the effects of this unfair competition. “Producers are selling the breast meat and thighs on their own markets and dumping the leg quarters cheaply on South Africa,” he points out.

But CBH has a strategy that is mitigating the damage. The company has been very successful in penetrating the demanding QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) market, selling value added products to expanding chains

“The company has been very successful in penetrating the demanding QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) market” BE Africa | 113

CBH like KFC, Hungry Lion and Captain Dorego.

These products now make up 15 percent of CBH’s total production of around 3,000 tonnes a week and the plan is to increase this segment to around 35 percent, which he feels is eminently doable. The result will be a balanced business selling a third of the product into retail, a third wholesale and a third to the foodservice market.

These plans are keeping the marketing department very busy at the moment, backed up by investment in plant and machinery.

Specialised cutting equipment, crumbing lines and tumblers are examples of the sort of machinery that has to be sourced

BIDVEST LAUNDRY GROUP For over 35 years, Bidvest Laundry Group has been leading the field in total laundry solutions and we pride ourselves on being South Africa’s Industrial Laundry of choice.

And we do it all – from work-wear, mat rental, bulk laundry, hotel guest laundry, on-premise laundry and even eco -friendly industrial laundry equipment- you and your staff will never have to worry about clean laundry.

• Our service is comprehensive, from A to Z • We are ISO9001 compliant and operate to the highest standards • We only use top of the range SABS approved chemicals, including our specially formulated advanced detergents • Our laundries are state-of-the-art, with built-in redundancies to ensure no downtime (backup generators, compressors, boilers, water storage, fire protection)

Bidvest Laundry Group considers the protection of the environment as essential and is also committed to sustainable use of the environment. That’s why we have implemented a number of green policies and constantly monitor and improve our water, fuel, and chemical efficiencies. We are also exploring alternatives to phosphates in our detergents, reducing our electricity consumption through variable speed controls, and using boreholes to reduce our eco-footprint. All in all, Bidvest Laundry Group is a fast, reliable and fresh solution to all your laundry requirements. And, as a proud member of the Bidvest Laundry Group, we have the credentials and clout to consistently deliver on our promises. Truly, Bidvest Laundry Group is your A-Z solution to laundry excellence. www.bidvestlaundry.co.za

BE Africa | 115

CBH from abroad. Additionally all the abattoir lines are Farmwise offers a comprehensive futures and physical being upgraded to meet the brokerage service to the Agricultural industry. Our standards required globally clients include producers and consumers in the Food by the customers. All three and Feed sectors. processing plants have Farmwise has developed an internet based trading system achieved YUM food safety that enables our clients to monitor the market in real time, as well as placing electronic orders. accreditation and can supply As one of the founding members of the AMD Division of KFC, CBH’s biggest QSR SAFEX, we have stood the test of time. customer, with product, but www.farmwise.co.za other outlets like Nandos, Hungry Lion and Captain Dorego each have their own specifications. With something like 12 percent of the South African foodservice market already captured, there is plenty of room for CBH to expand.

Exporting into Africa is hard to do if your production base is in South Africa.

Most of the neighbouring countries have taken measures to protect their indigenous producers, some imposing very high import duties, some entirely banning imports of frozen poultry. The only solution is to set up businesses in these markets, and that is something CBH is continuing to focus on. In fact, with operations already set up in Zambia, Namibia and Botswana it was Kevin James’s original intention of leaving

Farmwise

$25 million Loan amount from the IFC to fund its African expansion

BE Africa | 117

CBH Zimbabwe to focus on these countries had not an unmissable opportunity arisen in South Africa.

Now the emphasis is once again on Africa.

CBH has in fact already started its return to Zimbabwe where it has been given the KFC franchise. The first restaurant will open in Harare in November – something of a departure for a company that is primarily a breeder and producer but the longer term plan, when the time is right, is to set up an operation to supply poultry to the trade.

In April this year the IFC (International Finance Corporation, the private sector funding arm of the World Bank) provided

Operators in the Botswana factory

BIOMIN Mycotoxins a serious threat to broiler producers Broiler operations are under enormous pressure to produce chicken meat for the lowest possible cost. Feed conversion, growth rate, mortality and hatchability are all monitored carefully and strategies are constantly reviewed to maximize efficiencies. As production is fine-tuned, there is increased attention placed on the effect of mycotoxins on the bird. Consumption of even low levels of mycotoxins can lead to decreased feed consumption, poor growth rate and increased susceptibility to disease. Higher levels lead to clinical signs such as beak and intestinal lesions, kidney disorders and mortality.

Unfortunately, mycotoxins often occur in low concentrations that are difficult to detect, interactions between individual mycotoxins are not well characterized and unidentified mycotoxins may be causing the sub-optimal performance.

The dilemma for broiler producers is to counteract the risks associated with mycotoxins, against the

cost of ensuring they do not adversely affect bird performance. While mycotoxin analysis will provide some indication to the type of mycotoxins and levels present, the speed of chicken meat production usually means this information is only useful in ‘hindsight’. Mycofix® Select provides the solution to the dilemma faced by broiler producers. This product is added into the feed and will deactivate Deoxynivalenol and other Trichothecenes, as well as bind adsorbable mycotoxins (e.g. aflatoxins).

When clinical mycotoxicoses is seen in the birds or the feed contains highly contaminated/high risk raw materials, treatment levels of 1.5 – 2.5 kg Mycofix® Select per tonne of feed should be used.

The Mycofix® Select recommendation for subclinical mycotoxicoses, with 1.0 kg per tonne being more appropriate for those flocks which are under immunological, environmental or nutritional stress.

E. office.za@biomin.net www.mycofix.biomin.net

BE Africa | 119

EASY PACKAGING SYSTEMS Due to the nature of the market we operate in and industry standards, we are constantly improving on our products and offering.

We offer a wide variety of plain and printed packaging and packaging products and accessories: • Polyethylene Bags (Plain and Printed) • Fresh Produce Bags • Sheeting • Tubing • Shrink Wrap (Plain and Printed) • Shrouds • Pallet Wrap • Food Wrap • Machine Wrap • Refuse Bags • Form File & Seal (Plain and Printed) • Book Covers • Industrial Packaging Products • Plain & Corrugated Board • Packaging Tape / Strapping We are pleased to list some of our achievements thus far: • We are proudly a BBEE Level 4 supplier and contributor • We are SABS approved • We are ISO9000 approved • We fully comply with HACCP requirements

Contact us: T +27 11 837 6789 | F +27 11 837-1031 | E sales@easypack.co.za

Providers of professional veterinary services to the pig and poultry industry throughout the SADEC region and beyond. www.avimune.co.za

Preferred supplier of day-old broiler chicks and hatching eggs.

Tel +27 (0)18 632 0336/9 Email optichicks@nwk.co.za www.optichicks.co.za

CBH

“Africa needs dynamic regional agribusiness companies that help encourage competitiveness” Easy Packaging Systems

Easy Packaging Systems has been operating for over 19 years. It was the determination to succeed, and to offer the very best in quality and service that has ensured the success of the company.

We have grown from strength to strength and become a major force within the packaging industry. We employ a large workforce of dedicated employees who are linked to a fully operational factory.. www.easypack.co.za

CBH with a loan of $25 million, convertible to shares within two and a half years from disbursement, to fund its African expansion plans. Apart from the money to increase production and set up new operations, this is a massive vote of confidence from an organisation committed to helping African economies and companies that catalyse growth. “Africa needs dynamic regional agribusiness companies that help encourage competitiveness and can expand successful models outside their home markets,” said

BE Africa | 121

Morupule Coal Mine (MCM) is located

Tel: +267 492 0667 Fax: +267 492 0643 www.mcm.co.bw

14 kilometres west of Palapye in eastern Botswana. With a vision of being recognised as a leading coal energy business, MCM delivers energy for the benefit of its stakeholders in a sustainable and responsible manner.

CBH Saleem Karimjee, IFC Senior Country Manager for Southern Africa.

With increasing urbanisation and disposable incomes, per capita meat consumption is expected to double in Africa by 2030, particularly that of poultry, which is cheaper relative to other meats.

“We are spending $15.5 million in Zambia on upgrading our hatchery from 380,000 to a million birds a week” Also in Zambia, CBH has bought a ‘grandparents’ farm.

Hatchlings become the great-grandparent flock, which produce grandparent stock, which in turn produce parent stock – it is the offspring of the parent stock that are raised for meat production, so the operation in Zambia will supply Angola, Zimbabwe,

MORUPULE COAL MINE In 2000, Debswana acquired MCM as its 100 percent owned subsidiary and it has since grown both in stature and production to be a dominant influence in the coal mining sector in the country and region. Situated above the Kgaswe coalfield, which is endowed with good quality coal contained within four main seams, MCM is estimated to hold reserves of approximately 2.91 billion tonnes of coal within the number 01 and 02 seams, with a total inferred inventory coal resource of 12 billion tonnes across all the seams within the mining lease area.The main customer for MCM’s thermal coal is the adjacent Botswana Power Corporation (BPC), with supply historically going to the existing 150MW Morupule ”A” Power Station. In 2008, South Africa advised Botswana of its intention to

gradually terminate export of power to Botswana and other neighbouring states. This resulted in BPC constructing a new 600MW power station. MCM rose to this national challenge for power supply and executed its own MCM Phase I expansion project that resulted in a threefold increase in installed capacity to 3.4 metric tonnes per annum. Since the successful completion of its Phase 1 expansion, MCM continues to explore its vast reserves and is currently undertaking further exploratory and investigative work (Phase II expansion) with the objective of establishing an open pit mine in the northern boundary of its mining lease area to meet the additional regional and overseas markets’ demand for coal. www.mcm.co.bw

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A hEAD START FoR hEAlThy ChICkS With the new product hP AviStart in the poultry feed you benefit from: • Excellent digestibility • High in energy • Just 5% dosage in prestarter • Supports optimal performance up to slaughter • Attractive return on investment • Available in a non-GM version

Distributed in South Africa by: NUTRIBASE CC P.O. Box 74155, Lynnwood Ridge, 0040 Pretoria Tel: (+27) 12 004 0165, anta@nutribase.co.za

Feel free to discover www.hamletprotein.com

Contact: Pietman Blignaut Tel: + 27 12 348 9291 Cel: + 27 82 322 8297 Email: pietman@nutribase.co.za

RANAN TRADING LTD.

ELECTRICAL & HARDWARE Suppliers of: Hardware, Building Materials, Paints, Electrical & Plumbing Fitting Email: ranan@zamtel.zm • www.ranantrading.com P.O. Box 33546, Corner of Kalambo & Cha Cha Cha Road, Lusaka, Zambia.

Telefax: 231454, 233528

Northend, Cha Cha Cha Road, P.O. Box 33546, Lusaka, Zambia.

Telefax: 222875

CBH Nutribase

Nutribase focuses on supplying feed additive solutions that create economic benefits for our customers. We have proudly been a business associate of Country Bird Holdings since 2008, supporting them towards success.

Nutribase products include: • Hemicell enzyme: Assisting with the reduction of feed cost, while supporting health parameters.

• Avistart (Hamlet Protein): Improves pre-starter feed quality, bird health and production parameters at slaughter.

• Biostrong feed additive: The natural solution for profitable poultry production Nutribase, your partner to create value through feed additives. www.nutribase.co.za

Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi and Uganda with the parent stock for breeding.

These are all territories that Kevin James and his associates know well.

However the biggest prize of all in Africa is Nigeria, its most populous and diverse country. CBH is actively and currently moving into Nigeria with a turnkey project, he explains, in partnership with four partners who came from Zimbabwe

$15.5 million Investment amount for the Zambain hatchery

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BTC

BTC Products & Services (Pty) Ltd +27828535201 +27823319720 brandon@btcproducts.co.za www.btcproducts.co.za

BTC Products is a company specialising in chlorine dioxide technology.

We offer a full technology package based around Chlorine Dioxide.

This package includes: • The design, supply, installation and maintenance of our Chlorine Dioxide Generators and associated dosing control and automation systems.

• The supply of the precursor chemicals for use in conjunction with our chlorine dioxide generation systems • Ready-To-Use Solutions.

• Monitoring of residuals and supply of the test kits.

• Technical Service and Back-up.

BTC Products is in a unique position of being able to offer specialty expertise in a variety of chlorine dioxide applications for disinfection

and oxidation within agricultural to food & beverage as well as industrial applications.

Chlorine Dioxide is a powerful oxidizing with broad-spectrum efficacy against bacteria, fungi, algae, viruses and protozoa.

The basic properties of chlorine dioxide that differentiate it from other disinfectants are: • Not sensitive to system pH. • Does not produce carcinogenic by-products.

• Provides a residual disinfectant level.

• Is significantly less corrosive than chlorine.

• Is 100 – 1000 times more effective at removing/preventing biofilm than chlorine.

Chlorine dioxide and disinfection solutions B S I

Boiler & Steam Installations c.c.

Our products are of high standards and we wish to maintain this standard for customer satisfaction.

We are proud to be able to inform you that we have supplied and continue to supply major industries.

We specialise in: • the manufacturing of the NEW THERM “O” STEAM BOILER • reconditioning of secondhand boilers • gas, oil, water & compressed air pipelines • steam and condensate systems • boilers and steam controls

• calorifiers & heat exchangers • chimney stacks, hotwell tanks etc.

• underfeed stokers and spares • water treatment plants • new and secondhand spares • mobile boilers • boiler re-tubes • boiler services and inspections

11 - 1st Road, Bredell, P.O. Box 10425, Aston Manor, 1630 Tel: +27 (11) 396 2737 | Fax: +27 (11) 979 3097 | Email: bsi.aj@mweb.co.za | www.boilerandsteam.co.za After hours: Andries Jacobs - 083 268 4077 | Dirk Jacobs - 083 395 3788

CBH eight years ago at the BTC express invitation of the Chlorine dioxide is a powerful disinfectant, that goes a then president Olasegun long way in the effort of satisfying consumer demand for Oba sa njo.

Oba sa njo a better quality food product with lower chemical input. gave each of them 1,000 BTC Products is specialist company, whose focus is on hectares near the western how best to undertake dosing, process integration, control and monitoring. We put together full service packages, city of Ilorin. covering design, installation, servicing and maintenance.

Kevin James is very Our aim on offering our expertise in partnership with our excited by the project. customers to meet their food quality goals. It is along “With 4,000 hectares at these lines that we have implemented chlorine dioxide our disposal we will have a as the primary process water disinfection system for breeding operation, a feed Supreme Poultry Processing Plants. mill, and a broiler operation www.btcproducts.co.za there, doing 250,000 birds per week by the end of this year. We will be supplying KFC in Lagos and the local market there.” Many people think that Nigeria is a difficult market to crack, and are put off by reports of inter-community conflict. Well, that does not apply in Kwara State, he observes, where Muslims and Christians coexist harmoniously. And he has found Nigeria to be the most collaborative of the many African governments he has worked with when it comes to cutting the red tape associated with getting permits, arranging investment and the like.

The Nigerian operation is already in pilot production, processing 25,000 birds

“Many people think that Nigeria is a difficult market to crack, and are put off by reports of inter-community conflict” BE Africa | 127

CBH

25,000 Number of birds processed per week by the Nigerian operation.

a week, and the feed mills and houses are under construction. It will be in full production by the end of 2014, with a target output of 100,000 birds a week – with no lack of demand from a population that is both affluent and famously fond of chicken. The area is already benefiting: “We are empowering a lot of the farmers there,” says James. “We buy 90 percent of our maize from the Ilorin area, and we give them soya bean seed for them to grow and supply back to us.”

Wherever there is a need for poultry in Africa, Country Bird will be present, he promises. “We have a training school in Zambia for people who know about farming and want to go into poultry. That gives us a real edge, having high calibre managers at our disposal.” Trainees come in from Angola and other territories, and South African staff are trained there for deployment in other countries including the staff needed to supervise the Nigerian business, who recently concluded their training.

For more information about CBH visit: www.cbh.co.za

BE Africa | 129

Alpine Loung goes lean South Africa’s premium furniture manufacturer is meeting the challenges of a changing market by adopting best manufacturing practices more often associated with automobiles than luxury seating

written by: John O’Hanlon research by: Vincent Kielty

130 | BE Africa

Alpine Lounge

ge

BE Africa | 131

Aerial view of the factory

Alpine Lounge

A

member of the Bravo Group, South Africa’s largest and most diverse furniture ma nu f ac t u rer, A lpi ne Lounge has left behind the world of high volume mass-produced furniture. It is a premium marque and its Ashanti brand can only be described as aspirational. Founded in 1969 it has built its reputation on state-of-the-art technology, quality products, on-time delivery and caring and efficient after-sales service.

Alpine Lounge only uses top quality raw materials and enjoys exclusive use of indigenous leather types sourced from South Africa and Namibia. In fact one of the company’s unique selling points is appreciated by the discerning purchasing independent and therefore not suited to the mass market. Leather furniture has come into demand from a mass market in recent years; at the same time leather-look PU (polyurethane) and microfibre-faced fabrics have been perfected to the extent that it’s now virtually impossible to tell the real thing from the imitation. Car seating in particular, which consumes the pick of hides but routinely uses plastic on the non-contact sections of top of the range car seats, presents a challenge to the purist so perfectly matched are the colours and the textures.

Alpine Lounge furniture on the other hand makes a virtue of the marks that distinguish African leather whether from cattle grazed on the veldt or other indigenous species like gemsbok (sourced through strictly controlled culling programs in Namibia).

These hides show tick bites, thorn scratches and even the scars left by fighting. They tell

BE Africa | 133

Hanni fine quality leathers since 1724 We at Hannitan are proud to be associated with Alpine Lounge.

Hannitan Leather, under the management of Rudolf Hanni, started from very humble beginnings. Hannitan has expanded into the largest supplier of furniture leather in South Africa, producing an average of 1,200 hides daily. The tannery produces a wide variety of upholstery leathers including, aniline leathers, semi-aniline, full grain, corrected grain, buffed leathers and oil pull-ups in a huge selection of colours. Hannitan manufactures a HANNI range of leather goods including travel bags, hand bags, leather cushions, leather folders and slippers to various outlets . It also offers a customized service manufacturing for various other well known labels and brands. Hannitan supplies its own range of leather care products including waxes, silicones and hydrophobic products.

Tel: +27 (0)11 817 2150 | Fax: +27 (0)11 817 5259 | Email: hannitan@iafrica.com

www.hannitanleather.com

Alpine Lounge Alpineand Lounge feature text tempor incididunt labore a story are appreciated Lawrence van derutMerwe, to here...Lorem ipsum et dolore magna Operations aliqua. Ut by go a select but significant Alpine Lounge’s enim ad minimDirector veniam,– quis and Technical and dolor sit amet, consectetur number of purchasers across Africa elit, and insed the UK, he has exercitation seen it all, ullamco having nostrud adipisicing do laboris nisithis utcompany aliquip for ex where Alpine Lounge has a been with eiusmod tempor incididunt devoted all but 40 years. consequat. ea commodo ut laborefollowing. et dolore magna All this makes Alpine Currently theredolor is an Duis aute irure in aliqua.

Ut enim ad minim Lounge a quis niche nostrud leather international in shortage of reprehenderit voluptate veniam, exercitation laboris leather,esse as cattle ranchers in furniture ullamco manufacturer. velit cillum dolore nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo South America, world’s Other companies in the eu fugiat nullathe pariatur. consequat. main source, haveoccaecat moved group focusDuis on aute the irure mass Excepteur sint non proident, sunt marketinwhile Alpine Lounge dolor reprehenderit in This is a caption this is a caption cupidatat into shorter-term farming, in culpa qui of officia prides itselfvelit on its high level voluptate esse cillum and many the deserunt Chinese animare id estaggressively laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor of customisation customer focus.

“These mollit dolore eu fugiat and nulla pariatur.

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HANNITAN LEATHER CC The Hanni family have dedicated itself to an unbroken lineage in the leather trade since 1724.

The Hanni family coat of arms Rooster symbol is incorporated as the main element representing the forefathers and next generations of the Hanni family. The crown signifies the handing over of the Hanni family trade of leather tanning from the father rooster to the son rooster.

The father rooster holds two arrows namely craftsmanship and quality which is

passed onto the next generation. The son rooster holds one arrow, signifying innovation to adopt to new trends and current changes.

E. hannitan@iafrica.com www.hannitanleather.com

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PROUD SUPPLIER TO ALPINE LOUNGE

South Africa’s largest producer of polyurethane foam.

Solutions in any shape, size and type.

Tel: +27 (0)21 5352280 | www.vitafoam.co.za

Quality Springs cc Distributors Of Industrial Staples, Coil Nails, Pneumatic Tools, Sagless Zed Springs, Hardware Products & Accessories to The Furniture & Allied Manufacturing Industries.

Telephone: +27 11 402 4250/7 | Fax No: +27 11 402 6661 | Email qualitysprings@tiscali.co.za KZN Branch: Telephone: +27 32 551 2262 | Email: qstanger@mweb.co.za | www.qualitysprings.co.za

Alpine Lounge when van der Merwe went Vitafoam to America, after Alpine Vitafoam South Africa is proud to be associated with Alpine secured the Africa-wide Lounge, a premier brand in the furniture industry in South licence to manufacture and Africa. As the leading producer of polyurethane foam in distribute La-Z-Boy products.

South Africa we offer our customers innovative solutions that This major US brand assist in product development and improvement. Vitafoam founded in 1927 had begun has been a major supplier to Alpine Lounge for many years and congratulate Alpine on their success and look forward to to struggle too, some seven making new contributions to their future success. or eight years previously, but www.vitafoam.co.za the common denominator was not just the competition from China. La-Z-Boy was founded in the 19th century and its designs reflected that but more importantly it was still manufacturing in a way consistent with mass production – the Ford model of motor manufacturing, if you like, which that industry had already abandoned in favour of the Toyota Production Method (TPM). “We started producing on line back in the mid 1970s, the time TV came to South Africa. And the factory was still laid out that way until last year. But the market has changed. We don’t have the volumes to enjoy the same economy of scale.

Stoppages are more frequent due to shorter runs and line imbalances result from that, Sewing department so it is no longer advantageous to produce smaller quantities on line.”

He put in some time in Quality Springs the States to learn how some We specialize in the BeA and Brett range of pneumatic tools and employ qualified technicians to service and maintain seven years ago La-Z-Boy these products both”in house” and on site at our customers had switched over to cell premises. Our mission is to offer the best quality products manufacturing, adopted lean and service on our ever increasing product range. We practices in its factory and are proud of the fact that we have established long-term revolutionised its designs, relationships with our clients and we continue to assist its methodology and quality them with their requirements. standards. At the same time www.qualitysprings.co.za it had revamped its design

BE Africa | 137

14 Chestnut Grove, Bower Road, Wynberg, 7800 Tel: 021 761 0513 Fax: 021 761 0915 Email: gregd@procbroc.co.za Procurement Services is hugely grateful for being granted the opportunity to honour the relationship we have enjoyed with Alpine Lounge since 1979, to whom we value the status of being a preferred and worthwhile supplier.

The function of Procurement Services is to select suitable supplies for Alpine Lounge. This begins with the selection and sustainability of the raw material, starting from the forest, its species and density.

From there our reliable and sustainable sawmilling procedure is equipped to selectively cut, dry and define the quality that is required by Alpine Lounge.

Alpine Lounge has secured the highest quality of raw material, specifically selected and processed for their individual needs and has built secure and much valued supply sources. On behalf of all of our selected suppliers we would like to thank Alpine Lounge for its past support and we wish to reinforce our gratitude and commitment to its future and continued success.

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vincent@bus-ex.com 138 | BE Africa

and marketing thrust to appeal to a younger audience, even getting Brooke Shields in as the ‘face’ of the La-Z-Boy brand. “I was struck by how successful they had been in turning the business around. It pulled them out of the red and into the black and the business is now fully recovered and doing very well internationally.”

Back in South Africa he persuaded his CEO that, facing the threat from low cost imports and a changing market dynamic, the business should adopt the same approach that had delivered such a great result for La-Z-Boy. As a result the entire group has started its lean journey, an initiative that will undoubtedly deliver results across the value chain from raw materials procurement to showroom, though

Alpine Lounge

Adam recliners and sofa

it starts with production. It’s early days in a process that started in September 2012 but will, he emphasises, never end. “There’s a huge task ahead of us. We are starting with a five-year transformation programme, that being continuous improvement, or Kaizen. I believe it will take us forward into the next decade and beyond, as lean manufacturing is the survival kit for modern manufacturing.”

Cell manufacturing differs from single element procedures, where each operator

repeats the same step on a production line.

Instead there may be six operators, multiskilled and between them taking complete responsibility for the product. “There are so many advantages when you work out the return rates compared to online,” says van der Merwe. “Quality is so much better, as is general control of production, particularly with smaller runs. You can identify product that is relatively easy to produce, what falls into the middle area of complexity and what

“I was struck by how successful La-Z-Boy had been in turning the business around” BE Africa | 139

“Lean manufacturing is the survival kit for modern manufacturing” requires more work – and allocate these to particular cells, with people who have matching skills.”

The lean journey is a challenge to people used to the old ways, and some move on, but there is no turning back. Cell manufacturing delivers better productivity with fewer people, less waste, better quality and faster lead times. The factory is already looking a very different place, he says, with clutter

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disappearing, and everything that is needed close to hand, visible and accessible.

This new manufacturing approach suits the increasing complexity and technical sophistication of furniture, a large proportion of which falls into the ‘motion’ category, with dynamic options built in. Alpine Lounge is the biggest manufacturer of motion furniture in South Africa and has been producing it in increasing quantities since 2002. To keep

Alpine Lounge

Panda in leather-look microfibre

pace with the growing sophistication of these systems as well as the volumes needed, Alpine Lounge recently shifted its sourcing to Leggett & Platt, the leading global supplier of mechanisms that can, for example, now recline a seat forward – or rather, ‘incline’ it like the latest aircraft seats into a 180 degree lay-flat position. This also means its back can be close to a wall, making it more suitable for the smaller room.

Finally, Alpine Lounge is now much in demand for cinema and auditorium seating, one sector of the market that seems to be recession proof. “Perhaps people go to the pictures to forget their problems!” Lawrence van der Merwe speculates. Whatever the

reason it is a growing market for Alpine Lounge, in happy partnership with the leading installer Destiny Seating. One UK cinema, Vue in Manchester, has just been completed, major cinema chains in South Africa are ordering, and the company is providing the seating for four cinemas in Doha, Qatar. Alpine is looking forward to the opportunity that offers to combine its luxury cinema offering with the innovative design and highly decorative finish beloved of customers in the Middle East.

For more information about Alpine Lounge visit: www.alpinelounge.co.za

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Roads Authority of Namibia

The road to prosperity A non-profit, mission driven organisation, the Roads Authority of Namibia is striving to build and maintain a safe, efficient national road network that benefits the entire country

written by: Will Daynes research by: Robert Hodgson

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Roads Authority of Namibia

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ith its stable, multi- two sister organisations, Road Fund party parliamentary Administrators and Roads Contractor democracy and an Company. Together these three organisations economy buoyed by where tasked with spearheading what was strong agricultural, then known at the Ministry of Works, tourism and mining sectors, Namibia has Transport and Communications Project. a lot going for it as a nation. This fact was Said project was established with a reaffirmed this year when Bloomberg named view to commercialise the functions of the Namibia the top emerging market economy in then Department of Transport in order to Africa and the 13th best in the world. improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Despite the remote nature of much of the the management of road construction and country, Namibia boasts seaports, airports, road maintenance in Namibia. To this day narrow-gauge railways and highways, and is the Roads Authority continues to carry out actively seeking to become recognised as a the tasks it was originally mandated to, to regional transportation hub. the best of its ability.

One of the major players The Authority’s vision of responsible for making this maintaining a sustainable vision a reality is the Roads road sector that meets, and Authority of Namibia. even exceeds, national and The core business of the regional socio-economic The year the Roads Authority is to construct and needs runs parallel to Vision Authority of Namibia maintain the country’s road 2030, a document issued was established sector, while also playing in 2004 that clearly spells a pivotal role in improving out Namibia’s development and maintaining road safety in Namibia programmes and strategies to achieve its along a network that has been ranked among national objectives. In helping to pursue the safest, most efficient and sustainable in Vision 2030, the Authority accepts that it the developing world. In order to achieve has to go beyond its statutory objective of its aims the Roads Authority has adopted managing a safe and efficient network. The several distinct strategic goals. These include result has seen the Authority pursue additional delivering safe, sustainable and efficient improvements to road infrastructure and management of the national road network, road user support systems. improving organisation process, making In its quest to make itself among the very itself a strategic partner and ensuring its own best companies to work for in Namibia, the financial sustainability. need to establish a value driven workforce Fully owned by the Namibian government has been identified as one of the Authority’s under the Ministry of Works and Transport, strategic priorities. Today the Authority the Roads Authority was formed alongside has a well-articulated Corporate Charter

1999

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Roads Authority of Namibia

outlining its Vision, Mission, Values and Brand promise. This, it feels, helps provide a sound base for collective action and synergy toward excellence and optimal performance amongst its workforce.

A further recent development within the organisation has seen the rollout of its “Values our Pride” initiative, which represents a strategic approach aimed to encourage all

members of management and supervisors to lead by example and guide staff to live and enact the corporate values in their day-today working life.

This initiative will be a biannual event during which employees celebrate, reflect and take pride in the Authority’s values. The objectives of this initiative are to establish coherence and congruence between personal

“This year Bloomberg named Namibia the top emerging market economy in Africa and the 13th best in the world” BE Africa | 147

“To this day the Roads Authority continues to carry out the tasks it was originally mandated to, to the best of its ability” values and the core values espoused by the Authority’s Corporate Charter, for management to “walk the talk” by enacting the values through their conduct, to build synergy and creative co-operation among employees and to raise the level

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of organizational trust and performance throughout the business.

More recently the Roads Authority was successful in completing a new six-point corporate strategy, a part of which has seen it commence with an organisation-wide

Roads Authority of Namibia

rebranding exercise. In the time since it has also embarked on creating a new six-point growth strategy. As part of this growth strategy, the Roads Authority has taken it upon itself to become more responsive to public demands and has begun investing in the revitalization and extension of the country’s road infrastructure.

The growth of said infrastructure and the on-going expansion of the country’s road net work has unquestionably contributed immensely to the economic development of Namibia and the Southern African Development Community (SADC)

sub-region as a whole. Going forward, the road construction projects that the Roads Authority will oversee will be geared towards expanding the road network to the more neglected and marginalised communities as part of the government’s long-term goal of bringing the linked economic benefits to as much of Namibia’s population as possible.

For more information about Roads Authority of Namibia visit: www.ra.org.na

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Namibia Airports Company Limited (NAC)

The sky is the limit Existing at the heart of one of Africa’s most exciting epicentres of aviation growth, it is the vision of Namibia Airports Company Limited (NAC) to become a benchmark service provider in airport operations and management

written by: Will Daynes research by: Robert Hodgson

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Namibia Airports Company Limited (NAC)

S

haring its borders with the is the country’s only international airport Kalahari Desert and the South serving more than 640,000 passengers and Atlantic Ocean, Namibia is one handling 14,000 aircraft movements a year. of the youngest countries in Each of NAC’s other airports all contribute Africa and as such enjoys vast something special to Namibia’s economic potential for future prosperity. Since gaining growth, with Eros Airport recognised as independence in March 1990, Namibia has the country’s hub for general and leisure successful transitioned into a multiparty aviation, Keetmanshoop Airport being the democracy with an estimated annual GDP home of the Namibia Aviation Training per capita of $5,828.

Academy (NATA) and Katima Mulilo Airport Despite the remote nature of the much of representing the gateway to the tropical the country, Namibia is unique in comparison Caprivi region, a huge area of interest for to other developing African nations in tourists, to name a few examples.

A mong it s key that it boasts world-class responsibilities the NAC aviation facilities, with oversees the provision and airports, admittedly many of them unpaved, in almost maintenance of all terminal buildings, check-in counters, every major city.

In the pursuit of building flight information display one of the continent’s most boards, baggage conveyor efficient and advanced belts and sorting systems, Served annually by aviation sectors, Namibia airfield navigational and Hosea Kutako Airports Company Limited visual aids equipment, International Airport (NAC) was created. A baggage trolleys and even public car parking.

100 percent state owned enterprise, which functions autonomously The company’s revenue streams come under a Board of Directors, appointed from two basic sources, these being by the Minister of Works and Transport aeronautical revenue and non-aeronautical in his capacity as the portfolio Minister, revenue. The former refers to the airside and the vision of the NAC is to recognised as aircraft related revenue that is derived from a world-class service provider in airport landing and parking fees, passenger fees operations and management. and ground handling fees. Meanwhile, nonToday the NAC owns and manages eight aeronautical revenues come from landside airports, Hosea Kutako International Airport, and commercial activities such as property Eros Airport, Walvis Bay Airport, Lüderitz and land leases or rents, concessionaires and Airport, Keetmanshoop Airport, Ondangwa motor-vehicle parking charges.

Airport, Rundu Airport and Katima Mulilo The NAC develops and manages its Airport. Hosea Kutako International Airport airports on sound business principles with

640,000 passengers

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Contact us: +26 461 222067/222111

Namibia Airports Company Limited (NAC) due consideration paid to the Windhoek Transfers, Tours and Rentals interest of its stakeholders.

We take you away from your daily routine, to experience a Its main operational truly African Transport/Tours with our friendly drivers. We partners and clientele also organize ‘design-your-own’ private safaris for small comprise airlines or aircraft groups and individuals depending on duration and interest, operators, ground handling for you to discover and experience the timeless beauty agents, gover n ment of our landscapes and scenery and the great variety of indigenous wildlife of Namibia. agencies, private retailers We offer Transport/Tours to the Western, Northern and concessionaires licensed and Southern regions of Namibia for pairs and groups to operate at its airports. throughout Namibia.

A member of the www.namibiatours.com.na International Civil Aviation Orga n isat ion (IC AO), Airports Council International (ACI) and the International Air Cargo Association (TIACA), the NAC is also a national corporate member of the Namibia Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NCCI), and given its central role in the tourism sector, the NAC has representation on the Marketing Committee of the Namibia Tourism Board.

The NAC recognises the need for a strategic corporate focus to better enable it to serve its clients and improve its financial sustainability. The company is guided by a high standard of ethics and integrity in dealing with its stakeholders. Consequently the Airports Company Act, Act 25 of 1998, Namibia’s Vision 2030 and Performance Agreement with the shareholder guide

“Namibia is unique in comparison to other developing African nations in that it boasts world-class aviation facilities” BE Africa | 155

its strategy, in addition to other industry benchmarks and guidelines.

Key focus areas for the NAC now and for the immediate future include the on-going modernisation of its infrastructure and technologies, achieving both aeronautical and commercial revenue growth, bringing in cost efficient processes and the

continuous development of human capital.

The coming months and years will no doubt also see the company improving further still its impressive corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. The NAC has long recognised the considerable role it has to play in the socio-economic growth of Namibia as a whole and as such it has

“The NAC values the importance of developing and maintaining good infrastructure and facilities to maintain world-class standards�

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Namibia Airports Company Limited (NAC)

initiated a comprehensive CSR programme targeting a number of key themes. These include environmental protection, the promoting of tourism, providing educational improvement, industry-related social investment and nation building endeavours.

The NAC values the importance of developing and maintaining good infrastructure and facilities at its airports to maintain world-class standards. In line with its long-term growth strategy, the company has been undertaking several

strategic infrastructure and commercial development projects with the aim of improving its overall service delivery. As these projects are completed they will add yet another dimension to the upward growth of one of the country’s more important industries.

For more information about Namibia Airports Company Limited (NAC) visit: www.airports.com.na

BE Africa | 157

Winging to Africa’s heart RwandAir is a young airline with a young fleet: it is making full use of Rwanda’s position to link with Africa’s capitals and beyond

written by: John O’Hanlon research by: Robert Hodgson

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RwandAir

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R

wanda may be one of Africa’s smallest nations, and one with an unenviable recent history to say the least, but since its now President Paul Kagame was elected in 2003 it has experienced a decade of relative peace and security. This has enabled Rwanda to take advantage of its strategic location within the African continent. ‘Landlocked’ can also mean ‘central’: Rwanda is situated at the heart of Africa, and therefore well placed to act as a hub for regional air traffic

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The country’s new national carrier began operations on 1st December 2002 under the name RwandAir Express, with passenger transportation as its primary activity though it held a concession to carry out airport ground handling of freight at Kigali International airport, Kanombe, as an ancillary activity.

In March 2009, following a tragic accident at Kanombe, it was decided that the airline would stop being a fleet borrower and become a fleet owner and operator. To mark the change of direction the company changed its name to RwandAir.

RwandAir

Since 2009, RwandAir has built a reputation as a reliable timekeeper that offers affordable fares to most capital cities in eastern Africa while operating a young, state-of-the-art fleet. Passenger numbers have just about doubled each year as the airline acquired new aircraft and opened new destinations. Today the airline operates a fleet of seven aeroplanes made up of two Boeing 737-800 NG series planes with a capacity for 154 business and economy class passengers, two Boeing 737-700s seating 120, two Bombardier 75-seater CRJ900

NextGen and a Bombardier Dash 8-200.

RwandAir was the first African carrier to fly the 737-800 NG with its interior mood lighting and enhanced ‘Sky’ interior design.

This aircraft offers a much higher operating range capability than was previously available, in the region of 6,000 kilometres.

RwandAir is now able to offer direct flights to south-western Europe, Asia Minor and Southeast Asia as well as the Middle East and any number of West African destinations.

In April this year Bombardier Aerospace and RwandAir announced that a purchase

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RwandAir agreement for one Q400 Oando Marketing NextGen turboprop airliner Oando Marketing is Nigeria’s leading petroleum retailer, at a cost of approximately distributing 1-in-5 litres of petroleum products sold in $33 million. “As demand Nigeria. It also supplies jet fuel to local and international for domestic and regional airlines in search of efficient aircraft refueling services. travel in Africa accelerates, A subsidiary of Oando PLC, Oando Marketing delivers our 67-seat, dual-class Q400 excellent service by leveraging a variety of operational strengths. These include skilled staff, presence at Nigeria’s NextGen aircraft will ensure key international airports, fleet of ultra-modern aircraft RwandAir is well positioned refuellers and strategic partnerships to provide services to offer increased capacity across West Africa, most recently with GOIL in Ghana. on popular routes that are Oando is ISO 9001: 2008 certified, a member of Joint being opened and serviced Inspection Group (JIG) and a Strategic Partner of IATA. with our 37-seat Bombardier www.oandopic.com Dash 8-200 aircraft,” said John Mirenge, RwandAir’s Chief Executive Officer. “The Q400 NextGen turboprop is the right aircraft to develop our domestic and regional market and to firmly support RwandAir on our path towards growth and increased profitability.”

Stressing the importance of getting fleet selection right for the passenger profile that RwandAir is targeting, he added: “We are also complementing our new dual-class Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen regional jets by offering similar cabin amenities on the Q400 NextGen aircraft, providing for a seamless passenger service between the two aircraft models and aligning our total fleet strategy towards a unified passenger experience. We

“Africa is not short of people who want to fly” BE Africa | 163

As pioneers in oil trading, we are constantly expanding our scope of operations to provide fuel, consultation and related support services to our global client base. Major services provided by Royal Petrol are listed below: • Royal Aviation • Royal Lubricants • Oil and Petroleum Trading • Consultation Service • Financial Solutions • Into Plane Negotiation and Inventory Fuel Programs www.royalpetrolco.com

DO THE RIGHT THING RIGHT THE FIRST TIME AND ON TIME!

Kenya Airways Technical offers maintenance services to Kenya Airways and third party airline aircrafts and aircraft components guaranteeing world class service, quality and on time performance.

We provide the following services: • Base Maintenance for A and C-checks and aircraft modifications • Line Maintenance for

Transit, Daily, 48Hour and weekly checks • Components maintenance in Technical Workshops • Technical Services including Engineering, Planning, Training and Quality Assurance.

Kenya Airways Technical is currently responsible for the maintenance of RwandAir aircrafts in Nairobi, Mombasa, Lagos and Accra stations.

Email: technical.sales@kenya-airways.com Telephone: +254-20-6422097 | www.kqmro.com

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vincent@bus-ex.com

RwandAir are developing the RwandAir brand and we are gaining Royal Petrol is a worldwide fuel service company, which momentum in the region has proven itself as the leader in the industry for trading of through selection of the right lubricants and various petroleum products,bunkering and aircraft and right services for aircraft refueling. After being the preferred fuel provider our growing market.� in the Middle East, Africa and Asia for years, Royal Petrol This is a well-tried plane. is today globally recognized for its distinguished service standards and worldwide reach. As pioneers in oil trading, RwandAir will become the we are constantly expanding our scope of operations to 12th operator of Q400 and provide fuel, consultation and related support services to Q400 NextGen aircraft in our global client base.

Africa, and its Q400 NextGen www.royalpetrolco.com aircraft will join more than 40 Q400 and Q400 NextGen aircraft that are already in service with, or have been ordered by, eleven operators in nine countries in Africa. Now RwandAir serves most East African Community (EAC) capital cities with daily flights and flies to Johannesburg and Dubai three times a week.

Recently it introduced flights to Lagos in Nigeria, Libreville in Gabon and to Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo. Current destinations include Nairobi, Entebbe, Mombasa, Bujumbura, Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Johannesburg, Brazzaville and Dubai.

In 2012 RwandAir launched direct flights to Mwanza, Tanzania’s second largest city and a key centre for the mining and minerals industry. Until then there were no direct flights between Kigali and Mwanza and passengers

Royal Petrol

$33 million Cost of new Bombardier Q400

BE Africa | 165

“We are in the heart of Africa and almost every other African country is between three and four hours’ flight time from Kigali” had to travel via Dar es Salaam. Additionally the company has codeshare agreements (a form of aviation industry arrangement where two or more airlines share the same flight) with SN Brussels on the Kigali-Brussels sector and Ethiopian Airlines on the Kigali-Addis Ababa sector. In February 2013, Mirenge announced that the airline would soon add Accra, Cape Town, Harare, Juba and Zanzibar to its list of destinations.

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John Mirenge, himself a Rwandan citizen, was appointed CEO of RwandAir in October 2010. A graduate of Uganda’s Makerere University he is also Chairman of Tristar Investments and Prime Holdings, a government-owned investment company, and a director of The Rwanda Investment Promotion Agency. From 2008 until 2011 he also served as a non-executive director of the South African power

RwandAir

utility Eskom. Under his leadership the company has broadened its horizons.

Keeping up passenger numbers is not the primary problem for a growing carrier like RwandAir, he says. “Africa is not short of people who want to fly. But over the last 18 months we have developed our strategy and stopped thinking like a small airline.

We have decided that rather than just meeting existing demand we need to go out and create it. We want to be a catalyst for air transport in the region, stimulating the market and demonstrating that flying is not something reserved for the well-off.”

He would like to see Kigali become a mini-hub within Africa; and this is no fanciful vision. “We are in the heart of Africa and almost every other African country is

between three and four hours’ flight time from Kigali,” he points out. Apart from the codeshares it already has in place, RwandAir signed an agreement with Turkish Airlines two years ago that extends the African carrier’s reach into Asia, particularly South East Asia, as well as other international destinations including North America. With a young and competitive fleet, RwandAir is now in a much better position to realise Kigali’s potential and its aspiration to become what has been describes as the economic turntable where east meets west.

For more information about RwandAir visit: www.rwandair.com

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MCLI

A pathway of prosperity The Maputo Corridor is just one part of a network that is key to securing Africa’s economic future

written by: John O’Hanlon research by: Robert Hodgson

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Image credit: Grindrod SA & Maputo Port Development Company

T

he Maputo Corridor is a great African success story in terms of regional integration between the regions of Swaziland, southern Mozambique and the industrialised regions of Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Limpopo. And it is a traditional route for people and goods to take when they want to get from South Africa to the sea. In the 1970s 40 percent of South Africa’s exports went out through Lourenço Marques, as the capital of Mozambique was then called. The situation has changed out of recognition since then. South Africa has developed specialised hubs at Durban, Richards Bay, Port Elizabeth and Coega that take much of its bulk exports, cars, container traffic and the like, but Maputo has invested too, and has developed as a multiterminal port that suits many freight carriers.

And it retains its geographical advantage for anyone situated in the north of South Africa.

The number of businesses and people wanting to use the corridor is growing at a rapid rate as Africa’s economy expands.

In 2004 eight interested parties came together to form the Maputo Corridor Logistics Initiative (MCLI). It is a non-profit organisation designed to present to the interested governments the case for sustained investment in the corridor to keep pace with the growing pressure on the infrastructure, and work together to anticipate and plan for future growth. It was inaugurated to support the Maputo Development Corridor (MDC), launched as a ‘spatial development initiative’ (SDI) in 1996, as the governments of South Africa and Mozambique sought to rebuild their economies and restore trade and

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MCLI

Mozambique Community Network S.A..

What is it?

Mozambique Community Network (MCNet), is a Public Private Partnership, with the main objective to facilitate international trade and enhance the business environment in Mozambique with innovative solutions designed to facilitate international trade.

The major objectives of MCNet are the design, implementation and operation of the Single Electronic Window (SeW) in Mozambique.

A SeW is a complete trade facilitation solution that includes all infrastructure and resources necessary for an efficient, effective, sustainable and continuous operation of a system for the clearance and monitoring of goods movements.

E.mail: info@mcnet.co.mz | www.mcnet.co.mz

MCLI MCNET & CUSTOMS CLEARANCE EFFICIENCY SINCE SEPTEMBER 2011 Mozambique Community Network (MCNet), was created on 2009 within the context of improving the business environment, following a Public and Private Partnership (PPP) model in accordance with current Mozambican legislation.

The company was created as a joint venture between the public and private sector, with the Government holding 20% of the total shares, another 20% held by CTA (Confederation of Business Associations of Mozambique) and 60% held by Escopil, with SGS as a strategic partner responsible for the implementation and operation of the Single Electronic Window (SeW).

The system observes the best practices and international standards established by such organizations as the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and embraces the principles established by the Revised Kyoto Convention.

The system is a complete trade facilitation solution customized to take account of the conditions pertaining in the Mozambique business environment, involving 2 components, namely Tradenet, working as a messaging tool for data submission by the trade community to Customs and Customs Management System (CMS), a closed network for declarations process by Customs.

The SeW system boasts a number of advantages, including reducing the time and cost involved in the clearance process, the fact that operations are performed faster and safer with the use of computers, that the amendment of errors can be made faster and that it enables an increase in competitively.

MCNet provides since September 2011 two systems for information exchange that enables a faster sharing of information among the users, government entities and others that depend on this information for their operation.

Mozambique TradeNet (TradeNet) is the SeW server that contains a platform that allows the sharing of information among several parts involved in the processing of commercial documents for the clearance of goods. Mozambique Customs Management System (MCMS) is a Customs Management System for the processing of goods clearance operations.

These two systems bring benefits to Mozambique Customs and to the Trading Community, such as the submission of declarations, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the validation of declarations performed automatically by the system, integrated risk assessment module for customs, the automatic clearance of goods, a powerful monitoring tool for customs and an integrated database enabling accurate trade statistics.

E. support@mcnet.co.mz Call centre +258 21 34 11 10

Official launch of SeW by former prime Minister and Minister of finance

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$204 million Investment needed to upgrade Mozambique rail link

Maputo car terminal

174 | BE Africa

investment ties. Today MCLI has more than a hundred members. “We see ourselves as part of the African Union’s push to increase regional trade and also inter-African trade,” says Barbara Mommen, the organisation’s Chief Executive Officer. “But also we see more and more from the AU and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) that the corridors are being used to push at a greater speed the implementation of a truly continent-wide free trade area.”

The Maputo Corridor links to the transKalahari and trans-Oranje corridors and the much longer North-South Corridor that links Dar es Salaam with Durban through them to a pan-African network that will be the key to the continent’s economic growth. She sees it as one of her tasks to sell this broader vision to the members, who naturally focus on day to day issues connected with getting their cargoes through the congested border crossings and thence to the ports at Maputo and Matola.

It is becoming increasingly evident that the corridors will play an important role in the social as well as the economic development of Africa. And not just in making them efficient tools to allow mining companies to rush Africa’s wealth to the ports. Mozambique in particular has to be prudent about its

MCLI

Lebombo border dry port

exploding coal industry. “How do you derive benefits for the man on the ground in such a big picture?” she asks. “We have always assumed that if we can ensure that goods and people move and at the same time create the environment for economic development along the routes so these benefits trickle down. But we don’t really know that.”

Barbara Mommen is determined that MCLI

should be more than a lobbying group for the transport industry but should engage all the stakeholders in a true public-private partnership whose aim is to improve living standards, and the economy of the region as a whole. “My grand vision for the Corridor is to have a special economic zone from Ressano Garcia to Matola.” There’s plenty of opportunity, she points out, for support

“We see ourselves as part of the African Union’s push to increase regional trade and also inter-African trade” BE Africa | 175

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MCLI industries, tourism, mineral distinctive clearing beneficiation activities and We specialise in cargo transported via air, road, rail and sea the like to grow. Just as much freight. With over 14 years of experience we attend to all as the large corporations, procedures, delivering personal “hands on’ service in the she asks how MCLI can be shortest possible time to avoid costly delays at the borders. relevant to the small traders An open door policy is in place for all our customers (mostly women) carrying meaning we are available 24/7 all year around to assist with custom processing of shipments. goods on their back or their Guaranteed service satisfaction is the basis of our business head between Komatipoort making us DISTINCTLY the best clearing agent at the and Ressano Garcia. “We Komatipoort/Lebombo border. need to ask that increasingly E alda@telkomsa.net as we see the growth of bulk cargo driven by demand from India and China. I wonder are we doing any real service to the poorest? I believe we need to start broadening the scope of our organisation, not so much into social issues as to understanding the underlying dynamics we are facing.”

Of course these concerns have to go hand in hand with the need to ensure that Corridor traffic is economically viable, efficient and corruption-free. MCLI has been spending a lot of time lobbying the three governments of South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique to engage them in a memorandum of understanding with the South African Revenue Service (SARS), representing the public sector and MCLI the private sector, to work closely on advancing the economic Maputo ship loader

“My grand vision for the Corridor is to have a special economic zone from Ressano Garcia to Matola” BE Africa | 177

trajectory of the region. To do this will require a shift in her organisation’s role. “At the moment this is not possible because of our pure freight focus so I think it important that we get the balance right. We can do that by involving the governments and understanding their policies on economic growth and see how we might leverage their work to benefit the corridor from an

efficiency, economic growth and a research point of view. That way you create a balance of accountability which does not exist in our present arrangement.”

Though MCLI is in fact a coalition of private and public sector partners it runs on goodwill. That will always be needed but the goals need to be hardened up. “We have the multinationals pushing coal and magnetite and

“Our key message is that it is vital to create the environment for borderless trade”

Loading of sized coal

178 | BE Africa

MCLI

Maputo Port

other commodities through the ports at a rate of knots but where does that leave the man on the street in those communities along the corridor? We need to balance the exports with manufacturing beneficiation and want to move towards providing or facilitating research on the corridor that can be passed on to government agencies to work with us. We have a moral obligation to answer these questions.”

Meanwhile there are plenty of headaches to be faced if Maputo is not to lose traffic to the alternative ports to the south. The creakiness of the rail link, which is double track electrified on the South African side but single track and not electrified on the Mozambican side. A bad crash closed that line earlier this year. The loss was great. Before

the accident the Ressano Garcia line carried seven goods trains and two passenger trains a day. Each month it carried 30 trainloads of coal and iron ore from South Africa to Maputo port. “It was something of a wake up call for the corridor,” says Mommen. “Now there’s a plan to spend $204 million on upgrading the track and rolling stock.” The three operators in the corridor, MCLI partners Transnet Freight Rail (TFR), Swazi Rail and Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CSM) have formed a joint operations centre that, she feels, will offer a more robust approach to future needs.

The pressure for rail to function efficiently needs to be kept up though. Road capacity is bursting at the seams with up to 600 trucks

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MCLI trying to get through the border crossing daily. For an African border post it copes quite efficiently, she concedes, but so much more could be done quickly if the political will was there. “We need the implementation of the one stop border post which was agreed by the governments in 2007 and still has not been implemented. Without that we are not going to be able to compete with Durban.”

And though the port itself is open 24/7/365 the crossing shuts overnight except at peak periods over Christmas and Easter. “This is a short corridor and you want to maximize turnaround times,” she says.

MCLI has made good progress on issues like corruption, which will decline as the trade environment gets fairer and the goals of trade facilitation and customs modernisation are advanced, Barbara Mommen believes. “Our key message is that it is vital to create the environment for borderless trade: I think the political will is there now. SADC, COMESA and the EAC have agreed to implement a free trade area in 2014. The African Union was looking to that tripartite free trade area to be the precursor to a continent-wide FTA. It is a complex situation and I may be over simplifying it, but smaller countries are still seeing their revenues running the wrong way. Nevertheless I believe that if you see the bigger picture the benefits of vibrant intraAfrican trade are far greater than the loss of customs duties.”

For more information about MCLI visit: www.mcli.co.za

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na

Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa

A symbol of ational pride The Cahora Bassa dam is more than Mozambique’s defining engineering achievement: its development

by Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) is the keystone of southern Africa’s quest for sustainable and reliable power

written by: john o’hanlon research by: candice nice

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Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa

T

he Cahora Bassa dam was completed in 1974 just as Portuguese control of Mozambique was coming to an end. It was conceived as a colonial project, Portugal’s infrastructural master work, that was designed to ‘foster human promotion through an improved standard of living for thousands of Africans who live and work there’ and that the power station would also boost economic revenue for Mozambique as it would sell cheap electric energy to South Africa and other neighbouring countries. However in the years of internal conflict that followed independence in 1975 the dam’s transmission lines were regularly sabotaged, to the extent that 1,895 towers needed to be replaced and 2,311 refurbished over a distance of 893 kilometres on the Mozambican side of the line. This made HCB’s task of generating, transmitting and selling clean electricity a difficult one.

A protocol signed in 1975 between Mozambique’s ruling party Frelimo and the Portuguese government provided for the project’s eventual transfer to full Mozambican ownership once the investment made for its construction was paid back. Decades of wrangling between Mozambique and its former colonial ruler over who should pay for damage to the dam in the war of independence and the subsequent civil war created an atmosphere of tension that was finally laid to rest six years ago with the transfer of all but a 15 percent holding.

The reversion of majority control to the government, for a consideration of more than $900 million, was celebrated as a

BE Africa | 185

Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa moment of immense national INTELLICA pride; so much so that it INTELLICA is a consulting firm guided by professionalism, has been regarded by some thoroughness and integrity with the sole purpose of as a ‘second independence’ helping its customers achieve operational excellence and for the country and market competitiveness. heralded a final break with INTELLICA bets on solid and lasting relationships with its its authoritarian colonial customers, putting their interests first, valuing teamwork through continuous interaction. Since 2009 INTELLICA has past, with Mozambique’s maintained a solid relationship with HCB. President A r mando We wish to highlight the support we have been providing Guebuza declaring: “Cahora for HCB throughout various initiatives and projects to Bassa is ours!” improve their management processes, with special focus on In 2012 the sense of the design and implementation of HCB’s Human Resource urgency in Portugal to resolve Integrated Strategic Management System. the issue increased sharply HCB has been an example of operational and management excellence and a regional and international reference in as its economy came under promoting socio-economic and environmental development pressure from international by producing clean energy. We wish to remain the first choice lenders to privatise state for HCB when it comes to strategy consulting, management, assets at a time when Portugal human resources and corporate finance segment. itself is in deep recession.

Jorge Mondlane, Intellica Managing Partner In November last year the www.intellica.co.mz Maputo administration and the government of Portugal signed an agreement that handed over a further 7.5 percent of the shares, giving Mozambique 92.5 percent ownership, with just a final 7.5 percent remaining in the hands of the Portuguese power company REN. Over the next two years, REN will

“There is no development without electric energy” BE Africa | 187

HidroelĂŠctrica de Cahora Bassa relinquish its holding in HCB, in exchange for shares in a company that will operate a new electricity transmission line, the CentreSouth (CESUL) project from Tete province to Maputo which is needed because the existing line, from Songa to South Africa, cannot carry any more power. The estimated cost of CESUL is about $1.8 billion.

This means that from only 18 percent national ownership ten years ago Mozambique has finally realised its ambition to take over the dam completely from Portugal, allowing HCB to sell more power to other African nations.

Currently Mozambique sells electricity to neighbouring SADC countries South Africa, Zimbabwe and Swaziland.

Botswana, Malawi, Tanzania and the DRC have also expressed their desire to purchase power from Mozambique.

Mozambique is growing at a very fast pace. So are the other countries mentioned, and South Africa will always be able to make use of this source of clean power on its northern border, within easy reach of its industrial base in the provinces of Gauteng and Limpopo. Power is transmitted to South Africa via a 1,420-kilometre high

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We, as ABB are proud to be associated with such highly renowned companies as HCB, who recognize and supports quality, technical knowledge, integrity and open communication�

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BE Africa | 189

voltage direct current (HVDC) line from the Songa substation at Cahora Bassa to the Apollo converter station near Johannesburg.

Around 20 percent of HCB’s production capacity is directed towards Mozambique, which might seem a small proportion but represents a substantial increase when it is considered that as recently 2007 only 13 of output was consumed locally. Much of this increase is accounted for by the major coal and other mineral exploitation projects in Tete province, where the dam itself is located, such as Vale’s deposit in the Moatize Basin, and Rio Tinto’s Benga coal mine.

As downstream industries develop in the port cities of Maputo and Beira and elsewhere, and the economy grows thanks partly to associated infrastructure development, demand for power is expected to increase rapidly. “There is no development without electric energy,” HCB’s CEO Paulo Muxanga says. “Because we are aware of this, we are always expanding our electrical power production capacity.”

Muxanga, a former transport minister, replaced his Portuguese predecessor in December 2007 becoming the first Mozambican to occupy the position of chairman of the board of the Cahora Bassa It was under his leadership that HCB went through a period of unparalleled growth that culminated with reporting its

first profit in 2010. The following year saw a growth in profitability of more than 262 percent, to $130 million.

On the production side, HCB maintains an enviable level of 99 percent reliability.

Nevertheless to a greater or lesser extent Mozambique itself, South Africa, and all the other countries in the SACD region struggle with intermittent supply, causing problems

“As downstream industries develop demand for power is expected to increase rapidly” 190 | BE Africa

Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa

and added cost for industry of every kind.

This is largely due to transmission issues, which HCB is determined to address. The new $800 million power transmission line project linking the central and northern regions of the country, the so called CentralNorth project, should be operational by the middle of 2015.

The dam’s existing power station on the south bank of the river contains five turbines, each with the capacity to generate 415 megawatts, giving the company a total notional generating capacity of around 2,075 MW. By far the most transformational project in preparation is a completely new power plant on the northern bank of the Zambezi River which, with a planned capacity of 1,245

MW, will effectively double output over the coming five years. More power stations are planned for Tete, including a new dam at Mepanda Nkua, 60 kilometres downstream from Cahora Bassa. Between them, Mepanda Nkua and the Cahora Bassa North Bank power station will produce as much again as HCB’s entire current generating capacity.

That will again throw the burden for getting that power to market onto the distribution networks, both within Mozambique and beyond its frontiers.

For more information about Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa visit: www.hcb.co.mz

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Medupi’s stra

The new coal-fired power station South Africa’s Limpopo Province i great achievements despite be

written by: John O’Hanlon | research 192 | BE Africa

Eskom Medupi

ategic power

that is being built at Lephalale in is a megaproject that has delivered eing faced by many challenges

h by: Vincent Kielty & Robert Hodgson BE Africa | 193

Boilers at different stages of construction

Eskom Medupi

S

ince we last spoke to Roman Crookes, project manager of the R105 billion Medupi power station, he has refereed a game of two halves. The press has had a field day throughout the three years since June 2010, and any observer could be forgiven for thinking the site has been a battlefield. However in every problem lies an opportunity, and it was good to get a chance to hear firstly about the achievements of the project, then about the good that has come from the setbacks that have been encountered.

As Crookes puts it: “This year has been satisfying: we have seen a lot of progress on construction, though unfortunately that progress can get lost in the noise.”

One of this year’s most significant milestones was the conclusion of an agreement between Eskom and Exxaro on a new schedule to supply the huge amounts of coal that will be needed from the Grootegeluk mine. This takes into account the delay in starting Unit 6, the first of the 800 MW units that was due to be completed by the end of this year but will now only be connected to the grid in the second half of 2014. “The infrastructure between us and the mine is now fully established and Eskom has 160,000 tonnes of coal on site,” says Crookes. The coal stockpile capacity on the 900-hectare site is 2.4 million tonnes, to keep all six units fed once they are all commissioned. Eskom now has the option to defer the commencement of coal deliveries to the Medupi power station from March 2013 to the first quarter of 2014. The subsequent rate of coal deliveries will then be increased to take the full volume of the deferred coal

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Eskom Medupi over a period of 24 months prior to December 2016.

A second achievement that pleased the project team as they saw plumes of smoke arising for the first time, was the commissioning of the auxiliary boiler, an oil fired plant that produces the steam needed for chemical cleaning and testing Unit 6. This was something of a landmark, the first new boiler commissioned on a construction site in South Africa in the last 20

years. In advance of this too, the bulk fuel oil plant that will be used for the ignition phase of the boiler units as well as running the auxiliary boiler was commissioned.

The water treatment plant is nearing completion too, as are vital fire protection and auxiliary cooling systems.

All that is needed now is for the number 6 boiler to be commissioned – the turbine for that unit has been rotated to test bearing clearances

EXXARO Exxaro Resources is one of the largest South African-based diversified resources groups, operating the Grootegeluk Mine near Lephalale in the Limpopo Province. The mine has been contracted to supply coal to Eskom’s Medupi Power Station which is currently under construction. A 40-year agreement requires Grootegeluk to deliver approximately 14,6 million tonnes of coal per annum to the power station. To enable this, significant expansion of the mine and development of the surrounding area were necessary. The project involved geology, mining, metallurgy, civil engineering and construction solutions which were planned and managed by Exxaro in conjunction with Eskom, the Lephalale Municipality and other stakeholders.

The Grootegeluk Medupi Expansion Project involved five key elements: 1. Expansion of the pit.

2.Building two new coal processing plants (GG7 and GG8) and supporting infrastructure (such as two new additional blending beds and coal delivery conveyor systems) to deal with the increased volume of coal to be produced.

3.A backfill project to return overburden and discard material to the pit, which would previously have formed a surface ‘dump’.

4.A housing project to build 740 new houses in Lephalale to accommodate workers attracted to the region by the new power plant and mine expansion.

5.General infrastructure requirements in the region such as the development of local roads, stormwater drainage systems and electrical substations, the rehabilitation and expansion of the local Zeeland Water Treatment Plant and general warehousing requirements. www.exxaro.com

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Mr Roman Crookes, General Manager

198 | BE Africa

and the lubrication. The Unit 6 Generator Transformer has been back-energised, which means it is now connected to the grid.

Very recently the turbine contractor Alstom installed its final stator. All the plant really needs now is a supply of steam.

However it is well documented that the steam will take a little longer to flow than originally envisaged. Given the perfect storm of problems the plant has faced, a few months’ delay is not surprising. With the completion of some of the civil works the number of workers on site has come down from the original 18,000 to around 16,000, 95 percent of them South Africa nationals.

Much of the delay has been caused by labour issues affecting the seven different unions that represent them. A lot has happened in the labour relations field over the last three years. A Project Labour Agreement (PLA) was entered into by contractors and unions, and worked well until at the back end of 2012 when some of the unions withdrew.

This introduced a fracture among the unions themselves, says Crookes, and that forced Eskom to step in and intervene, working with the unions and contractors to forge a new agreement to replace the PLA, that this time included Eskom as a signatory and regulates labour relations at both Medupi and the other large plant under construction, Kusile.

Among other things, the new Partnership Agreement (PA), signed on June 12 this year, prescribes a minimum wage for all hourlypaid contractor employees; standardised pay rates within each company, across companies and within the same industries; and allows parties to appoint a task team to address

Eskom Medupi

Segwate pre-school at Medupi, built as part of its corporate social responsibility efforts

skills development and training needs. “The PA irons out the kinks in the PLA that caused much of the tension,” Crookes says.

The period that led up to the PA had seen some disruption, and that disruption has continued, with a wildcat strike on July 24 that resulted in property damage on site. This was caused by miscommunication around the question of pay for commuting time for the approximately 50 percent of workers who live within a 70 kilometre radius of the plant.

Workers are affected differently depending on precisely how far from the site they live.

The situation is now settling down well,

though, as the workers themselves appreciate that their new minimum wage is well above national levels in the construction industry.

The new PA is nothing less than a game changer for the entire South African construction industry, Crookes claims.

“Eskom, as a client, is now actively influencing the construction environment for the better.

The new PA agreement we have struck is now being used as a reference point for the unions when they are negotiating other contracts.”

On its own, the delay caused by labour disruption would account for much of the slippage in project delivery. However severe

“Eskom, as a client, is now actively influencing the construction environment for the better” BE Africa | 199

technical problems have played their part too.

One issue was where the boiler contractor Hitachi fell foul of an Inspectorate of Machinery code compliance issue and had to review 180 welds in the pressure parts circuit, four of which had to be retrofitted – all additional work that had not been planned for. A second more serious problem arose when it was discovered that the subcontractor responsible for post welding treatment, a critical process in which welds are de-stressed, had fraudulently created charts in a sophisticated scam that left uncertainty as to how thoroughly the weld had been checked.

In short every weld – 9,000 of them – had to be re-checked. The sophisticated fraud led to a criminal investigation and further delays.

These technical problems have all been identified and addressed using well understood procedures that are part of any project management process. Medupi is a critical national asset, and any delay is to be regretted. However the labour relations issues are less predictable and negotiations involving powerful unions are sensitive in the run-up to national elections. What cannot be disputed is the fact that the project has been a great boost to the local manufacturing and economy.

The Medupi power station project created a lot of skills development within the

country. “Once we started building Medupi and Kusile we effectively introduced a lot of manufacturing capability back in to South Africa,” Roman Crookes points out. “For example for the first time in 20 years we now have the ability to build boilers here in South Africa. Technically we can now export boilers, which is a huge step in the right direction.”

Medupi’s local sourcing and industry creation policy has undoubtedly had a big impact

“For the first time in 20 years we now have the ability to build boilers here in South Africa” 200 | BE Africa

Eskom Medupi

High voltage yard, air cooled condenser columns with boiler units and two chimneys

in the Limpopo region and nationally. The decision to build a third large power station, recently announced by the South African cabinet, will probably be implemented once the Medupi and Kusile projects are complete in 2018, adding a combined 9,600MW to the national grid. This should finally put an end to the electricity supply challenges that have affected South Africa since 2008, costing the economy billions of Rand in lost production and economic growth.

Thus the social impact has been significant, to Crookes’ great satisfaction. “People are becoming employed for the first time; given skills for the first time; paid for the first time!

And to sustain the impetus once construction is complete we have the Medupi Leadership Initiative where we work closely with the

contractors to produce opportunities for post construction employment in different infrastructure-related projects.”

The third power station will eventually mop up many of the newly-skilled people, and there are other important upcoming programmes in the pipeline, he says. “The government has said it wants to place a rail hub in the Lephalale region. That will need a lot of civil and mechanical trades to build it and lessen the impact of unemployment on the local community once all the Medupi units start supplying power to the national grid.”

For more information about Eskom Medupi visit: www.eskom.co.za

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Airtel Madagascar

Making waves in Madagascar Airtel Madagascar is a relative newcomer to this resource rich, ecologically diverse and culturally vibrant island nation but its ability to bring together the economic and social strands that unite the people is making a big difference

written by: John O’Hanlon research by: Candice Nice

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Airtel Madagascar

I

t is hard to believe that it is only just 20 years since the Bharti group listed its telecommunications business on the Bombay Stock Exchange, soon after that bringing its cellphone operations together under the Airtel brand. At the time, just ten years from the founding of the business by Sunil Bharti Mittal, it had yet to extend its coverage to the whole of India, let alone the whole sub-continent, though by 2009 it had launched into international operations by launching a network in Sri Lanka. The rapid roll-out of the business has been attributed to its pioneering outsourcing model, whereby its infrastructure is maintained by world leading organisations like Ericsson, Nokia Siemens and IBM, enabling it to offer low per-minute rates to its subscribers, while giving them a level of functionality that is every bit as good as that available in the USA or Europe.

Nevertheless it really was only yesterday – in 2010 to be precise – that Airtel went truly international when it acquired the African operations of the Kuwaiti company Zain Telecom for $10.7 billion. Zain had entered the African market in 2005 through the $3.4 billion purchase of Celtel International which had operations in 13 countries in that continent. By the time the business was bought by Airtel in 2010 it had more than 40 million customers in Africa, and a presence in Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia – and Madagascar, where it takes the second place in the mobile telecoms market, with 39 percent of the market and more than 1.5 million customers.

BE Africa | 205

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• TELECOM BUSINESS • ENERGY MANAGEMENT • OPERATIONS & MANAGEMENT SERVICES We have worked with Airtel Madagascar since 2011, providing the following: • Construction Works: 52 Pylons • Managed Services: 156 Sites Phone: +261 33 37 660 06 E-mail: sitraka.fanomezan@reimenis.com www.reimenis.com

MADAGASCAR

Airtel Madagascar

$10.7 billion Cost of Bharti Airtel’s acquisition of Zain

this sector, something that the top-down business development model of many western telecoms companies, anchored by generations of legacy, have struggled to take on board.

The Airtel offering was developed from scratch to meet the needs of today. It is not surprising that as a result Airtel is far and away the most innovative mobile cellular operator in Madagascar and one that can be said to be disrupting the market. It was the first operator to introduce many advanced services including a BlackBerry prepaid service, ‘Validité dynamique’, ‘Chat’ a national and international customer SMS service available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The ‘Information Kiosk’, which sends out smart stuff that people choose to receive via SMS is particularly popular. Examples are jokes, horoscopes, exchange rates which can be crucial in cross border African trading situations or thought for the day. ‘Music Box’

“The remarkable growth of Airtel Madagascar is directly related to our desire to be an innovative company” BE Africa | 209

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Airtel Madagascar

allows a subscriber to dedicate a song to credit – for the customer’s own phone or any someone special, and ‘CpourToi’ allows the other Airtel subscriber’s. transfer of credits from one person to another In the short time that has elapsed since its in a simple and secure transaction. establishment here Airtel Madagascar, has However if you asked small business grown from strength to strength, says CEO customers and people with family living Heiko Schlittke, a German national with more away from the island the single most than 20 years of experience in FMCG, media important and differentiating and telecommunications, innovation from they would including Celtel. “Making probably say Airtel Money. services accessible to people This service allows them to in remote areas is a priority,” pay for purchases, settle bills he says. “Already Airtel has the and access bank accounts largest mobile phone coverage, securely and in real time, at with access to major cities any time. The revolutionary communities connected by the money transfer service also major highways. In fact ours is Airtel Madagascar allows person to person the only company to cover all subscribers transfers and to top up phone 22 regions of the island.”

$1.5

million

BE Africa | 211

Airtel Madagascar Achieving this level of coverage, however, is merely a service goal, essential but not to be confused with the objective of really touching people’s lives in a transformative way. “The remarkable growth of Airtel Madagascar is directly related to our desire to be an innovative company that works to achieve a positive difference in people’s lives by facilitating communication and supporting communities.” Airtel is committed, he emphasises, to providing consistently improved products and services, and opening up new worlds of opportunity.

“Our goal is to expand the world of possibilities and opportunities, whether in music or culture.”

The music sharing capabilities of mobile phones make Airtel the ideal partner for programmes that promote the many genres of music created by the Malagasy people, and the company invests in many of these, paying special attention to the most disadvantaged and vulnerable segments of the population.

Just after his inauguration in 2002, President Marc Ravalomanana established his leadership in HIV prevention. He chairs the nation’s multi-sectoral HIV/AIDS programme Conseil National de Lutte contre le SIDA (CNLS).

Airtel Madagascar is an active partner in the programme, with a special information hotline. It also supports the President’s fund for bringing infrastructure, including schools, to remote areas of the island.

For more information about Airtel Madagascar visit: www.africa.airtel.com

BE Africa | 213

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