INTERVIEW
SIKA ABYSSINIA
Venturing into the Ethiopian Market What sparked the decision to venture into the Ethiopian market?
Petrisor Grindeanu is the General Manager of Sika Abyssinia PLC (Ethiopia) & Sika Djibouti FZE. He is a Professional with more than 15 years’ experience in the construction industry.
We choose Ethiopia for the expansion of Sika AG because it has a huge potential. It is the 2nd most-populous country in Africa with 102 million and an annual growth rate of 2.5% in 2016. Now, it has become one of the fastest
How does Sika see the African construction materials market?
growing economies in the world for the past decade, averaging 10.8% per year to 2014/15. Ethiopia’s market is mostly characterized by consumer market.
Sika has been present in Africa since 1947; we have 19 companies on the
Also, like I said before, in 2014
African continent with 19 production
Euro monitor International identified
facilities, and more than 700 employees.
Ethiopia as one of the 20 market of
Sika is the first company to manufacture locally in many African countries and offers tailor made solutions to customer needs, along with technical and onsite
the future that will offer the most Petrisor Grindeanu the General Manager of Sika Abyssinia PLC (Ethiopia) & Sika Djibouti FZE.
opportunities for consumer goods companies globally. As I said, we think the whole
support. Regarding construction materials market in Africa, I can refer only to the markets in Ethiopia and Djibouti where I am the General Manager. In the case of Ethiopia, in 2014 Euro monitor International identified Ethiopia as one of the 20 market of the future that will offer the most opportunities for consumer goods companies globally. The construction sector grew by 23.7% in 2014 and is expected to grow by two digits annually. Regarding the construction material market in Ethiopia, I can say that most of the products that can be found on the market are low quality. This is the reason that we strongly believe that Sika’s products will be very appreciated.
Regarding Djibouti, there are a lot of projects for expanding the port, but also residential projects, so we consider that the construction material market has great potential.
What are some of the products that you are offering the Ethiopian market? Sika Abyssinia produces locally a full range of Admixture products like accelerator, retarder, water reducer, plasticizer, superplasticizer and waterproofing. It also produces a full range of silicones and epoxy flooring systems. We are also planning to expand production with other product ranges. In fact, more products will be launched at the beginning of next year, like roofing liquid applied membranes, hydrophobics, waterproofing mortars, tile adhesives, grouts and dry shakes.
construction market have a big potential. So, our products are designed for all kind of projects: residential, commercial, industry, infrastructure and so on. What unique aspects does Sika bring into the market to ensure they have that competitive edge? Through this investment, first of all, we provide jobs for local people; even as we speak about specialists or factory workers, with no specialization. On the other hand, Sika wants to offer to the local market access to quality products, that are produced locally and that are perfectly adapted to the local
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Ethiopia is the 2nd most-populous country in Africa with 102 million and an annual growth rate of 2.5% in 2016. It has become one of the fastest growing economies in the world for the past decade, averaging 10.8% per year to 2014/15.
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CR | April 2018
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