Safal Group BFM 84

SAFAL GROUP

BUILDING FOR AFRICA

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SAFAL GROUP

WE TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT THE SAFAL GROUP, TO SEE HOW THEY ARE CONTINUING TO MANUFACTURE PRODUCTS IDEALLY SUITED TO THE AFRICAN MARKET.

BUILDING FOR AFRICA PROJECT MANAGED BY: JAMIE WAITE

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African identity runs through the Safal Group like a name through a stick of rock. The company is strongly committed to providing products that meet the needs and purposes of African people, but beyond that, they want to do it in a way that is sustainable, ethical and will leave our planet intact for generations to come.

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he Safal Group does this across several core fields of expertise. The first of these is Safal Technology, an umbrella which includes Safal’s coated steel businesses, Safal Engineering, provides for Safal’s building solutions companies, and the Safal Coated Steel businesses that make metal and colour-coated steel that has been specially developed for use in African conditions.

That coated steel forms the basis of a wide variety of proprietorial products sold through Safal Building Solutions, such as sheeting and cladding systems, light

steel trusses, decking sheets and even entire steel buildings ready to erect on site.

Every one of Safal’s products is designed and manufactured in Africa, and looking at the company’s work it is clear they are proud of that African heritage and identity. These products are sold under respected brands, trusted to deliver durability and long-term value.

The Group’s history goes back to Mombasa, Kenya in 1962, when it opened its first manufacturing facility.

By 2003, all of Safal’s operating companies were brought back

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into one entity under the name “Safal Investments Mauritius Ltd”, or “the Safal Group” as it would become known.

Over the last 60 years, the Safal Group and its subsidiaries have gathered the insights and experience necessary to keep at the very forefront of the premier building systems and solutions market, standing on a foundation of decades of technical, design and engineering expertise.

Today, the Group is responsible for manufacturing a huge variety of building solutions for East Africa’s fastgrowing construction markets, as well as exporting inwards to all adjacent countries in the greater region.

BUILDING NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Success breeds success, and the Group’s reputation has meant that the company continues to attract the cream of talent. As Anders Lindgren, CEO of the Safal Group, told us when we spoke to him last year, “I think the good thing is we know the value of a good brand name, and here we’re very well known.

We’re reputable as a company which attracts good talent and works in a number of countries.

We’re not multinational but we are international and we can give opportunities around the region.”

That brand name is attached to a company culture that people are keen to be a part of.

“I think also this whole in-road of creating a good platform for people and taking care of them is essential,” Lindgren said last year. “People don’t go to work only for salary, they go to do something new in a comfortable environment, and I think we have that family culture and those values. That and the opportunities we provide brings people in.”

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SAFAL GROUP

Safal Group’s strong culture and identity have informed the company’s strategy going forward. When we last talked with Lindgren, his goals for Safal were clear.

“Our strategy has not changed,” he said. “We’ll continue to drive the building solution side of the business as much as we can. I think we will continue to keep up strong service, good people and develop even more our good trust, building solutions, moving to solar. There are a lot of opportunities there.”

The latest opportunity Safal is pursuing comes from Safal Group subsidiary, Uganda Baati Ltd, Uganda’s preferred provider of quality building construction materials. The building solution, SAFBUILD, has been designed to bring down property development times while reducing expenses for customers and contractors alike.

In February this year, the new product was unveiled by Uganda’s Minister of State for Housing, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, the Board Chairman of Uganda Baati, Dr Alan Shonubi and Business Head, George Arodi, at the Kampala Serena Hotel.

Arodi has said of the products, “The launch of SAFBUILD is in line with our effort to address the current construction needs and help customers meet tight property development timelines as they seek more space for investment and expansion.”

The product itself is a preengineered steel building solution made from high-tensile, cold-formed, and galvanizedsteel structures which can be easily assembled on-site within a space of 12 weeks. These structures are optimised with high-tensile galvanised steel to ensure durability and maximum strength.

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It’s an ideal solution for the construction of warehouses, factory sheds, parking sheds, market sheds, horticultural and agri-processing buildings, institutional buildings, workshops, places of worship and much more.

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY

Of course, the Safal Groups achievements are all carried out with the goal of adding to Africa by being a responsible and involved corporate citizen.

The Group has an extensive portfolio of social investment programmes focused on the communities where it operates.

Its attention is particularly focused on those most afflicted by poverty and social disadvantage, with three main areas of interest based on how the Safal Group can make the greatest impact. These are Education, Health and Shelter. These three peoplecentred areas of interest are matched by a fourth Corporate Responsibility Programme, which focuses on the Environment.

Environmental concern runs throughout the Group’s business, with Safal’s manufacturing processes dictated by the practices that will minimise their environmental impact. Reforestation, land rehabilitation, recycling and resource protection are core themes in the Safal Group’s initiatives.

These initiatives are all inspired by one of the Safal Group’s core pillars, “caring towards the community and environment, in all we do”. The Group is working for the mutual benefit of its

people, their families and the wider communities it operates within.

The company strives to offer opportunities and services that will empower Africans to improve their livelihood, as individuals and as a society.

The Safal Group’s ultimate goal is to do this not only through corporate social initiatives but also by creating wealth and adding value for millions through its economic impacts.

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