Africa Outlook - issue 100

TIME PROJECTS

Time Projects has been developing Botswana for the last 37 years, becoming a household name in property development. We explore its vastly transformative journey with Managing Director, Brett Marlin

EXPERT EYE Bryan Dean, CEO of Dragonfly Aerospace, highlights the world’s first agriculture-focused satellite constellation supporting efficient and sustainable practices

“Proud to be Digital”

For over a decade, our portfolio of in-house magazines has been lovingly produced, printed, and distributed to our esteemed subscribers across the globe from our headquarters in the UK.

But now we are moving with the times, adopting a digital-first approach by producing online-only publications. A major factor in this decision is to minimise our environmental footprint, reducing the carbon emissions involved in the logistics of print magazine distribution and the resources required therein.

Going forward, we will provide print orders of any magazine in-line with the requests of our featured companies, subscribers, and conference & expo partners.

Please get in touch for a print-on-demand quote or visit our website to find out more.

“We always planned that when our digital subscribers consistently accounted for 85% of our total magazine subscribers, we would cease printing our publications in-line with our environmental and sustainability goals.”

– Ben Weaver, CEO, Outlook Publishing Ltd

EDITORIAL

Editorial Director: Phoebe Harper phoebe.harper@outlookpublishing.com

Senior Editor: Marcus Kääpä marcus.kaapa@outlookpublishing.com

Editor: Jack Salter jack.salter@outlookpublishing.com

Junior Editor: Ed Budds ed.budds@outlookpublishing.com

Junior Editor: Rachel Carr rachel.carr@outlookpublishing.com

PRODUCTION

Production Director: Stephen Giles steve.giles@outlookpublishing.com

Senior Designer: Devon Collins devon.collins@outlookpublishing.com

Designer: Sophs Forte sophs.forte@outlookpublishing.com

Junior Designer: Louisa Martin louisa.martin@outlookpublishing.com

Production Assistant: Megan Cooke megan.cooke@outlookpublishing.com

Digital Marketing Manager: Fox Tucker fox.tucker@outlookpublishing.com

Social Media Executive: Bria Clarke bria.clarke@outlookpublishing.com

Web Editor: Oliver Shrouder oliver.shrouder@outlookpublishing.com

BUSINESS

CEO: Ben Weaver ben.weaver@outlookpublishing.com

Managing Director: James Mitchell james.mitchell@outlookpublishing.com

Sales Director: Nick Norris nick.norris@outlookpublishing.com

Regional Director: Joshua Mann joshua.mann@outlookpublishing.com

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Marvin Iseghehi marvin.Iseghehi@outlookpublishing.com

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Thomas Arnold thomas.arnold@outlookpublishing.com

HEADS OF PROJECTS

Callam Waller callam.waller@outlookpublishing.com

Eddie Clinton eddie.clinton@outlookpublishing.com

Deane Anderton deane.anderton@outlookpublishing.com

Ryan Gray ryan.gray@outlookpublishing.com

SALES MANAGERS

Sales & Partnerships Manager: Donovan Smith donovan.smith@outlookpublishing.com

Alfie Wilson alfie.wilson@outlookpublishing.com

Josh Hyland josh.hyland@outlookpublishing.com

Krisha Canlas krisha.canlas@outlookpublishing.com

PROJECT MANAGERS

Bex Middleton bex.middleton@outlookpublishing.com

Cameron Lawrence cameron.lawrence@outlookpublishing.com

Jordan Levey jordan.levey@outlookpublishing.com

Kyle Livingstone kyle.livingstone@outlookpublishing.com

Taylor Green taylor.green@outlookpublishing.com

ADMINISTRATION

Finance Director: Suzanne Welsh suzanne.welsh@outlookpublishing.com

Finance Assistant: Suzie Kittle suzie.kittle@outlookpublishing.com

Finance Assistant: Victoria McAllister victoria.mcallister@outlookpublishing.com

CONTACT

Africa Outlook

First Floor, Norvic House, 29-33 Chapelfield Road

Norwich, NR2 1RP, United Kingdom.

Sales: +44 (0) 1603 363 631

Editorial: +44 (0) 1603 363 655

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Tel: +44 (0) 1603 363 655 phoebe.harper@outlookpublishing.com www.africaoutlookmag.com

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A CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

It is my pleasure to introduce the centennial edition of Africa Outlook magazine. Since the publication of our inaugural issue 10 years ago, Africa Outlook has evolved significantly over the course of 100 magazines, keeping pace with the ever-changing business environment of the continent itself.

Through the advent of industry-defining trends such as IoT and digital transformation, seismic geopolitical events and world-shaking pandemics, our mission has remained the same and we are delighted to still be a leading platform entrusted with telling Africa’s most innovative and eye-opening corporate stories. To commemorate this occasion, we lift the lid on our behind-the-scenes operations, featuring interviews with our original founding members and highlights from our in-house editorial team.

Elsewhere, we foreground the work of Time Projects, as the world-class construction company specialising in residential and commercial projects across Botswana. Read our exclusive interview with Managing Director, Brett Marlin, to learn more.

Take to the skies with TAAG Angola Airlines, stop and smell the roses of Kenyan floriculture with Sian Flowers, and delve into the ongoing projects and ambitious expansion plans of national utilities board Magalies Water. Meanwhile, we cover a host of other industries with businesses sharing their stories from across sectors including technology, mining, agriculture, and food and beverage.

Drawing to a close, we ask the companies that we are so honoured to feature, what legacy they hope to leave on the dynamic landscape that we are dedicated to foregrounding.

We hope that you enjoy your read.

Phoebe Harper Editorial Director, Outlook Publishing

FEATURES

18 SHOWCASING LEADING COMPANIES

Tell us your story and we’ll tell the world

CONSTRUCTION

20 Time Projects

It’s About Time

Construction o’clock for Botswana SUPPLY CHAIN

30 Nacala Logistics

Laying the Tracks of the Cargo Corridor Setting the benchmark for logistics solutions in Southern Africa

42 TAAG Angola Airlines

Flying High in Angola and Abroad Airline expansion in Africa and beyond

74 HCI Coal

Cleaning Up Coal

Creating sustainable business through responsible mining

84 Sandton Plant Hire

Pty Ltd

Plant Hire Prowess Supply and operational management of earthmoving and mining equipment

92 Gold Fields West Africa

Ore Inspiring Procurement Ghana’s golden prospect

98 Rhino Africa Mining Group

The Be(a)st of African Mining Mining solutions in Southern Africa

50 M24 Logistics

The Partner of Choice Enabling e-commerce growth 56 Fargo Group

112 Mopani Copper Mines Plc

Revitalising the Red Metal Investment and funding for Zambian copper production

118 Cervejas de Moçambique

Ingrained in the Nation Brewing better communities across Mozambique

124 Twiga Foods

Fresh, Frictionless, and Future-Facing Breathing new life into seamless produce delivery

132 Crown Food Group

Food that Reigns Supreme

Supplying quality products and solutions to the food industry

AGRICULTURE

138 Sian Flowers

Inside an Industry in Bloom

From seed cuttings to stems on Kenyan farms

146 Number Two Piggeries

The Pigger the Better African pork and dairy production continues its comeback

156 Dendairy

Nurture from Nature Dairy development for business, mind and body

162 Amiran Kenya Ltd

Holistic Agribusiness

Standing by an age-old commitment to Kenya

ENERGY & UTILITIES

168 Magalies Water

Expansion in the Face of Challenge

Providing a vital resource across South Africa

TECHNOLOGY

180 INFRATEL

Innovation and Communication

Zambia’s premium telecommunications infrastructure provider

186 Afrobotics

A Legacy of Vision

Facilitating a technological future across the continent

TOMATO NO-GO

A BAD WINTER in North Africa and Europe has created a tomato shortage in the UK. Supermarket shelves have been lacking in the popular red fruit department as crops have been affected by the weather.

The UK imports around 90 percent of its tomatoes in the winter from Morocco and Spain, but this year they are taking longer to grow.

Growers and suppliers in Morocco have had heavy rainfall which leads to flooding, as well as contending with cancelled ferries in addition to an extra chilly winter season. The country has now restricted supplies in an attempt to control prices.

DELIVERIES ON TRACK

ALL VESSELS ENTERING and exiting Nigerian waters are to be tracked and monitored, as the Federal Executive Council has approved a contract for an electronic cargo tracking device.

The device is expected to tackle recurring issues such as theft and underdeclaration at ports. It will also provide transparency in cargo invoicing and declarations together with securing imports and exports. Additionally, it will include the tracking of oil exports.

It has already been implemented in 26 African countries including Nigeria’s neighbours Benin, Ghana, and Senegal. Investments in the scheme come from a consortium of private companies.

ECONOMY

ECONOMIC GROWTH PREDICTED FOR SENEGAL

SENEGAL’S GDP IS predicted to grow by eight percent this year, the largest amount of any sub-Saharan African country. The World Bank attributes the growth to significant amounts of oil and gas reserves found

in the Atlantic Ocean.

Alongside the thriving oil and gas industry, the banking sector has driven growth as it dominates the Senegalese financial system with 28 banks, whilst there has been a further uptick in mining investments.

Following this year’s initial jump, the West African country’s GDP is expected to grow by 10.5 percent in 2024, after it slowed to 4.8 percent in 2022.

FOOD & BEVERAGE

Around Africa in seven stories…

AIDS INEQUALITIES

WINNIE BYANYIMA, THE Executive Director of UNAIDS and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, has criticised pharmaceutical companies for prioritising profits over African lives. As sub-Saharan African countries account for more than half of new infections, with marginalised groups facing higher infection rates, AIDSrelated illnesses were the leading cause of mortality.

Debt repayments of the lower income countries are taking precedence over health budgets.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

BRIGHTER DAYS AHEAD

IN ORDER TO protect itself from the country’s energy crisis, the provincial government of Gauteng plans to spend R1.2 billion to build a solar farm in Merafong. The government will soon put out a call

UNAIDS is calling for pharmaceutical company ViiV to reduce the cost of HIV medicines and allow developing countries to produce generic versions.

If HIV infections were to continue on the current trajectory, UNAIDS predicts there will be 7.5 million AIDSrelated deaths by 2030.

AUTOMOTIVE

NEW BUS CONDUCTORS FOR NAIROBI

DURING THE COVID-19 pandemic in Nairobi, authorities called upon the city’s bus operators to cease trading. Although it was to curb the transmission of the virus, an unexpected but welcome effect happened – Mount Kenya appeared.

The completely clear air has prompted the city, home to five million people, to channel clean energy into public transport. Fleets of electric buses could be rolled out this year, which would solve the problem and see Mount Kenya become a permanently visible feature once more.

for proposals to developers.

Premier Panyaza Lesufi wants to lessen the state power company’s grip on the province and generate electricity independently from Eskom. The electricity firm has been struggling with energy shortages recently, with up to 10 hours of daily power outages. Once the solar farm is built it will be able to generate around 800 megawatts of electricity.

Transport company BasiGo plans to have 100 electric vehicles on the road by the end of this year, with Swedish-Kenyan company Roam joining the new chapter for transport in Nairobi.

CONSTRUCTION

FAITH IN THE FUTURE

A NATIONAL CATHEDRAL of Ghana costing over GHS1 billion has been planned for its capital, Accra. Although most costs are covered by donations, the plan has stalled due to the country’s economic crisis. Whilst construction has begun, more donations are still needed to complete the vision.

The enthusiasm of President Nana Akufo-Addo, who announced a personal donation of GHS100,000 towards construction costs, has divided opinion as to whether it is a symbol of economic mismanagement or a strategic and bold investment.

The architectural wonder will be a sacred space for all Christians, who account for 70 percent of the population.

Sustainability from Space

Bryan Dean, CEO of Dragonfly Aerospace, highlights the world’s first agriculture-focused satellite constellation supporting efficient and sustainable practices

Written by: Bryan Dean, CEO, Dragonfly Aerospace

The United Nations’ (UN) World Food Programme (WFP) has called 2022, “a year of unprecedented hunger” due to the devastating effects of climate change on agriculture, alongside food insecurities caused by the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since 2019, there has been an increase of over 200 million people who are now classed as ‘food insecure’. The UN has set ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition, and promoting

sustainable agriculture as the second of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

With the global population set to increase by 1.8 billion, reaching 9.8 billion by 2050, the world is looking for ways to increase food production in a sustainable way. Globally, we are currently in a precarious situation where food production must increase to supply the growing demand, but we are also fighting a degradation of nature which is needed to deliver higher yields than ever previously seen.

For increased food production to happen, we will need to ensure water is available. Currently, 28 percent of agriculture lies in water-stressed regions. By 2050, we will need twice as much water than is used in agriculture today. Waste is a huge issue for the sector – 30 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and 70 percent of freshwater withdrawals occur in agriculture. To ensure sustainable global growth in agriculture, we need agri-tech to create operational processes that can deliver sustainable solutions.

SATELLITE-DRIVEN SOLUTIONS

As a leading provider of Earth observation data, Dragonfly Aerospace has partnered with EOS Data Analytics to create satellitedriven solutions for stakeholders across the entire agricultural sector. Launched from Cape Canaveral on

3rd January, EOS SAT-1 is the world’s first agriculture-focused satellite constellation that will provide the agriculture and forestry industry with high-quality data to support efficient and sustainable practices. Equipped with two DragonEye electro-optical imagers, EOS SAT-1 will provide 44 kilometre (km) swath panchromatic and multispectral imagery across 11 spectral bands at close to one metre (m) resolution – making it one of the most capable imaging satellites in Lower Earth Orbit.

Images obtained from Dragonfly’s EOS SAT-1 will deliver valuable information for harvest monitoring, application mapping, seasonal planning and assessments that analyse information such as soil moisture, yield prediction and biomass levels. By observing Earth from space, farmers can make data-driven decisions which will give them more reliable guidance to effectively control and manage their

land, crops, and livestock.

The agri-sat will help farmers decide whether to increase or decrease water supply to a specific patch of land, or if there is a need to improve the current soil quality to cultivate a certain crop in the future. Such targeted insights can reduce adverse impacts on the ecosystem caused by use of fertilisers and pesticides or through building new water channels, resulting in less runoff chemicals into rivers and groundwater.

This data will also support growers in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, detecting heat, cold and water stress, and averting pest attacks, thus helping them adopt sustainable agricultural practices.

The satellite is only the first of a seven-satellite constellation in low Earth orbit for EOS Data Analytics. The remaining six satellites will be deployed by 2025. Together, the seven satellites will have 100 percent coverage of all farmlands and forests globally – and will be able to cover an area of over 10,000,000 km2 in one day.

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS

All the information gained from the EOS SAT-1, and eventually the sevensatellite constellation, will provide important environmental benefits for the planet and help better manage our natural habitats for increasing crop growth and maintaining biodiversity. As a result, farming will become more sustainable, productive, and profitable, which will increase global food security by improving access to food supplies and helping ensure reasonable prices.

EOS SAT-1 is a testament to how South Africa’s space industry has grown over the past 20 years to a point where it now has the Earth observation capabilities to support not just South Africa, but also the rest of Africa, in industries like coastal safety, forestry, town and infrastructure planning.

Dragonfly Aerospace has a state of

the art 3,000m2 manufacturing facility and a roster of international clients, including EnduroSat, Loft Orbital and Pixxel.

Some of our employees have been involved with South Africa’s aerospace industry in 1999, which saw the launch of the country’s first Earth observation satellite. This experience and knowledge are what enables us to be a leading authority in earth observation data and showcase South Africa’s capabilities in the global space industry.

Like anyone in the space industry, I am passionate about space and pushing the boundaries of what we know. But I strongly believe that we need to explore Earth first and develop a deeper understanding of how our planet works.

Earth observation and imaging will give us answers on how to tackle pressing issues such as food insecurity and climate change. By embracing new technology and using it to enhance our agricultural systems, we can make the world a more sustainable place to live in.

ABOUT THE EXPERT

Bryan Dean is the CEO of South Africa’s Dragonfly Aerospace, one of the world’s leading providers of Earth observation data. Dragonfly Aerospace provided one of the two imagers that were installed in the satellite used in NASA’s DART mission, and most recently on the world’s first agri-satellite, the first micro satellite to be manufactured in South Africa for nearly 15 years, that will support global sustainability in agriculture.

EDITORS’ CHOICE:

100 ISSUES of Africa Outlook

Members of our in-house editorial team round up some of their favourite corporate stories throughout the magazine’s history

Writer: Phoebe Harper

NAME: Phoebe Harper

ROLE: Editorial Director

TOP THREE

CATEGORY: Mining

COMPANY: Lucara Botswana

ISSUE: 93

HEADLINE: Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend

“I am passionate about amplifying female voices in business, particularly within traditionally male-dominated industries such as mining. So, when I heard about Naseem Lahri’s appointment as Managing Director of the iconic diamond mine, Lucara Botswana, I was thrilled when she agreed to an interview for the magazine. As the first woman, and first Motswanan female citizen to assume the role at an African diamond mining company, Lahri’s feature is an inspirational story of tenacity and perseverance.”

CATEGORY: Technology

COMPANY: DNI Group

ISSUE: 90

HEADLINE: Empowering Social Innovation

“As my very first interview for Africa Outlook, it was a daunting prospect to try and succinctly convey the varied operations behind the diversified investment company DNI Group. However, what captured me from the outset of speaking with CEO Andrew Dunn was the people-centric concern for driving societal change that unites the whole group. An illuminating conversation foregrounding topical issues such as financial literacy, poverty tax and unemployment rates, this was a fantastic introduction to the nuances and level of understanding that we must consider when working with businesses across certain areas of the African continent.”

CATEGORY: Food & Beverage

COMPANY: Victory Farms

ISSUE: 97

HEADLINE: The Aquaculture Answer

“This feature struck me in highlighting the diet dilemma facing Africa’s escalating population and the alarming threat that it poses to accelerating climate change. With the continent heavily reliant on the unsustainable consumption of hoofed animals, Victory Farms is providing a future-facing ‘protein platform’ centred on aquaculture and the production of tilapia fish – delivering essential nourishment for the masses in an affordable, accessible, and sustainable, way.”

NAME: Marcus Kääpä

ROLE: Senior Editor

TOP THREE

CATEGORY: Mining

COMPANY: Kansanshi Mining Plc

ISSUE: 95

HEADLINE: Copper Leading the Way

“The largest project that has arrived at my desk to date, Kansanshi Mining Plc was a pleasure to put together. Covering the experience and expertise of three executive members of the renowned company, I was given the chance to dive into one of the leading copper operations on the African continent. It was also a great opportunity to add some educational insight by delving into the history of copper, its value over the past millennia in art, commerce and war, and its critical applications in the present day as a malleable, conductive and bacteriostatic material.”

CATEGORY: Agriculture

COMPANY: Marginpar Group

ISSUE: 92

HEADLINE: Stemming from the Mountain

“What made this feature truly special was the revelation of the importance of altitude in the growing and harvesting of summer flowers all year round. Kenya is one of Marginpar Group’s primary countries of operation and it shares its unique combination of perfect altitude and placement on the equator with Ethiopia (another country of operation), and Ecuador and Colombia across the Atlantic. Working alongside CEO Richard ‘Kiki’ Fernandes and the Marginpar team, I was given a great insight into how this key location helps the company’s sustainable and people-centric mission to bring more colour to the world.”

CATEGORY: Food & Beverage

COMPANY: AB InBev Namibia

ISSUE: 96

HEADLINE: Beer for the People

“A beer-lover myself, it was fantastic to work with AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer. Country Manager Herman Franken talked me through the group’s Namibian operations, and how integral beer is to the nation and its culture. The project showed me how AB InBev Namibia is working with the government, customers, and consumers in its quest to deliver help and happiness through its Smart Drinking initiative and greener practices, benefitting the community and the planet without compromise.”

NAME: Jack Salter

ROLE: Editor

TOP THREE

CATEGORY: Manufacturing

COMPANY: BURN Manufacturing

ISSUE: 97

HEADLINE: Clean Cooking

“I was instantly captivated by the background of BURN Manufacturing’s CEO, Peter Scott. He told me about how his life is wholeheartedly dedicated to saving forests in Africa, where fuel-efficient cookstoves are a critical climate solution. BURN Manufacturing is proof that cooking appliances can have a tangible socio-economic and environmental impact, from saving significant time and money to reducing indoor air pollution, which makes this an eye-opening read. It was also exciting to learn that the company is poised to bring its revolutionary range of cookstoves to sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.”

CATEGORY: Technology

COMPANY: FirstNet Technology Services

ISSUE: 99

HEADLINE: Connectivity Comes

First

“As an avid gamer, it was fascinating to learn about one of South Africa’s first dedicated gaming ISPs, UrbanX, powered by FirstNet Technology Services (FirstNet). In this feature, I enjoyed going beyond the console and controller to find out about the lightning-fast, stable fibre connections offered by UrbanX for a superior, differentiated online gaming experience. It’s an interesting article that also covers FirstNet’s significant investment in new technologies and support for e-sports.”

CATEGORY: Finance

COMPANY: Consolidated Bank Ghana

ISSUE: 96

HEADLINE: Bank to the Future

“It was extremely insightful to discuss the future of banking with the Deputy Managing Director of Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG), Thairu Ndungu. What I enjoyed writing about in this feature was the rise of mobile money in Ghana and how the Ghanaian population has become more tech savvy, an encouraging development in an increasingly digitalised world. As CBG was only founded as recently as 2018, I was also impressed with how the bank’s suite of digital services, e-bundles, cards, and other solutions have made such an instant impact, built to ensure all financial and banking needs are just a tap, swipe or click away.”

A BRIGHT OUTLOOK FOR DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR

For the past 10 years Outlook Publishing has been publishing the success stories of companies from around the world in its B2B magazines, including Africa Outlook. Today, the international media company is its own success story as CEO Ben Weaver wins Director of the Year at the Norfolk Business Awards

Writer: Rachel Carr

Outlook Publishing CEO Ben Weaver has won the Director of the Year award, sponsored by FRP Advisory, at the Norfolk Business Awards 2022. The blacktie event takes place every year to recognise the accomplishments and achievements of the Norfolk business community. The theme of the awards ceremony was growth, and Outlook Publishing has experienced significant expansion in recent years.

“Winning Director of the Year felt like the hard work myself and my team have been putting in over the past 10 years – and especially since the COVID19 pandemic – was finally recognised and rewarded,” Weaver discloses.

“It was a surprise victory, but

nonetheless we feel it was deserved and the whole team were happy to receive the award,” he reveals. Once the surprise wore off, Ben and the team decided to enjoy the event, drinking and dancing until the end of the night. “Initially, we were in shock at the win –but once settled, we let our hair down.”

The glamourous ceremony, which was sponsored by Barclays in association with the Eastern Daily Press (EDP) and marketing agency LOCALiQ, bestowed the honour on the publishing CEO in November last year.

10 YEARS OF SUCCESS

Since its inception in 2013, Outlook Publishing has launched six magazines. It all began with this very publication, which is now celebrating its 100th edition, followed by other regional business-to-business (B2B) magazines, including APAC Outlook, EME Outlook, and North America Outlook. Just before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the company introduced the consumer brand Outlook Travel, and has since launched its first sector-specific publication, Mining Outlook.

“We are looking to launch new products and revenue streams,” states Weaver. “Naturally, in line with this, the team will grow.”

The team in question has grown from nine individuals, when Outlook Publishing first opened its doors, to the 60-strong team it is today.

“I can see us increasing our workforce by another 10 to 15 this year alone,” he adds.

the lay of the land and feel the pulse of the operation. I spend time walking the floor and doing my rounds, which involves speaking to individuals and departments daily.”

THE CANDIDATE STANDARD

The Director of the Year title was awarded after two rounds of judging, succeeding three other nominees. The judges commended Weaver as

it represents much, much more than that,” says Weaver. “We are one big team pulling in the same direction and we base our whole approach on being one of the best places to work in Norwich.

“Some people don’t use the word ‘family’ when describing how a business operates, but everyone who works here would agree that Outlook Publishing is one big, successful and happy family. Having that togetherness helps us ride the ups and downs which all businesses inevitably face.”

THE OUTLOOK IS BRIGHT

As a business leader and entrepreneur, Weaver has implemented more plans to accelerate the company’s growth, including pioneering a multi-channel digital approach. Over the past 10 years, the in-house design and editorial team have adapted as production has evolved, and now with its own social media team, Outlook Publishing has a solid online presence.

Weaver began his career on the sales floor, however, has had to take a strategic and organised approach as CEO and has stressed the importance of those attributes.

“In uncertain times such as these, I believe business owners need to have a calm and measured approach to their operations,” he reinforces. “Being proactive and getting ahead of any possible negative situations is key.

“Being in the trenches every so often gives me the opportunity to get

a “driven leader who understands his market” and recognised his clear passion for the business and the team, praising Outlook’s internal promotion structure.

There were a few other requirements to win the coveted award: contribution to strategy and growth, defined value and mission, evidenced financial growth and investment, clear and demonstrated leadership, and finally, proven resilience through challenges.

“Despite it being an individual award,

“Outlook Publishing has gone from strength to strength over the 10 years we have been in business, and we are confident the next 10 years will be equally as successful,” Weaver proudly says. “It hasn’t all been a bed of roses, but how we’ve dealt with struggles or unavoidable circumstances has stood us apart – and will continue to do so,” he concludes.

The award was certainly an inspirational boost for the whole team as they continue to create original and engaging content, and to quote Ben, “At Outlook, our mindset is to never settle.”

“IT WAS A SURPRISE VICTORY, BUT NONETHELESS WE FEEL IT WAS DESERVED AND THE WHOLE TEAM WERE HAPPY TO RECEIVE THE AWARD”

– BEN WEAVER, CEO, OUTLOOK PUBLISHING

Ben Weaver celebrates his award with members of the Outlook Publishing team

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF AFRICA OUTLOOK

Outlook Publishing’s original brand, the founding members of Africa Outlook reflect on the magazine’s journey as we celebrate our 100th issue

Writer: Phoebe Harper

From publishing the first print magazine to launching our 100th issue as a digital-only brand, Africa Outlook has evolved significantly over the past decade. The magazine’s founding team recount the history, successes, and future aspirations of the go-to industry publication entrusted with telling Africa’s most exciting corporate stories.

Outlook Publishing (OP): Firstly, tell us about the brand’s history –when was Africa Outlook launched and why did you decide to focus on this region?

Ben Weaver, CEO (BW): Africa Outlook was launched the day we opened our doors for the first time 10 years ago in Norwich, UK. We chose Africa as a publication to kick

off operations as the result of our extensive experience in the region and the fact Africa was emerging as a major global player in the business world.

Nick Norris, Sales Director (NN): We already had established expertise across the region, existing business relationships, and the knowledge that Africa was very much an emerging market for investors. The fact that

James Mitchell, Managing Director, Ben Weaver, CEO, Nick Norris, Sales Director,

Africa had fantastic stories of successful businesses that we would be able to share with the world helped shape our decision making. I am happy to look back on that choice and know that it was the right decision.

OP: How has the magazine evolved since its inception?

BW: The magazine has evolved massively over the past 10 years. Various rebrands and new websites have led us to where we are today and we’re now the leading business to business (B2B) magazine in the region providing the best content to our audience. We’ve also launched new coverage in the shape of industry spotlights which has ensured all businesses, whatever their size or shape, can share and enjoy the exposure we offer.

NN: There has also been a mixture of subtle adjustments with regards to our design and content, alongside wide-scale changes throughout the years for both the magazine and our platform. We pride ourselves on continuously pushing the envelope of the content we produce; Is it engaging enough? Is it varied and serving the needs of our clients and our readers? Happily, with the team that we have behind Africa Outlook, we never stand still and are always looking at improving and refining the content we produce across the magazine and website which has led us to our current format. As a result, I can happily say that we are one of the best-looking magazines and websites of its kind in the market.

OP: What have been some highlights in the magazine’s journey so far? Are there any major brands you were particularly excited to collaborate with?

BW: Highlights from the past decade have been plentiful. These have included covering some massive

brands such as Microsoft, Virgin, Barclays, Oracle, and Airtel to name but a few. In addition, I have enjoyed publishing some really exciting Expert Eye features giving a real insight into specific sectors and industries.

100th ISSUE OF AFRICA OUTLOOK

a leading platform for business success across the region. We’re 10 years into our journey and it’s been a massive success, and the next 10 years promise more of the same.

James Mitchell, Managing Director (JM): In terms of our audience, it’s always a highlight to be able to curate and share the stories that we believe educate, inspire and empower. Providing insight into the operations, experiences and values of the world’s leading businesses and leaders allows us to help push the boundaries of what our readers believe is possible and achievable. If we’ve helped a single person believe in their own ability to change the world, and then helped them better understand how to do so, then we’ve made that difference.

NN: This issue is a highlight for sure. I would not have thought 10 years ago that we would be sitting here with 100 issues behind us, having featured some of the biggest brands across the region from a whole host of leading sectors. It has been fantastic to share their stories and gain an insight into how businesses and their leaders operate.

OP: Looking ahead, what is your vision for Africa Outlook?

BW: Africa Outlook will continue to develop and evolve at pace and the vision for the magazine is to become

JM: We intend to continue innovating in everything we do. Casting the net ever wider to find the best stories in new countries, sectors and environments is key to remaining at the cutting edge of African business. Alongside this, staying at the forefront of digital platforms to ensure that we reach our audience efficiently and at their convenience is vital to remaining the continent’s premier source of business content.

NN: I have three main aims for the future of Africa Outlook. Firstly, to continue to elevate businesses and provide the platform to share their successes with our readers. Secondly, to continue to engage with our readership to meet their needs with the content we write. And finally, to continue to push the envelope in how we provide content to our dedicated readership in an engaging way. We want Africa Outlook to be a leading brand in bringing a spotlight to organisations from across the region, to provide a platform for them to share in their successes and to be used as an invaluable marketing tool for businesses to use for years to come.

Tell us your story and we’ll tell the world

AFRICA OUTLOOK is a digital product aimed at boardroom and hands-on decision-makers across a wide range of industries on the continent.

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IT’S ABOUT TIME

Our core competency is expert project management, which is then applied to every single aspect of our business.”

For more than three and a half decades, Time Projects (Time) has employed this self-declared competency in delivering worldclass construction projects to enable the company to both flourish and simultaneously enhance Botswana’s infrastructure, across areas of project management, property management, property development and asset management.

Now synonymous with quality home, industrial, and commercial development, Time has catered for an impressive swathe of residential, office and commercial properties over its highly experienced tenure. The company has meticulously added to a portfolio of projects that are now widely regarded as the pinnacle of what Botswana can offer within the construction space.

Established in 1986, Time’s everexpanding team now boasts some of the top project managers, property developers and asset managers from both Botswana and Zambia, a country in which the company has also undertaken countless impressive projects.

“Now that we’ve got business across Zambia and in Botswana, we just seem to be getting more and more jobs coming our way,” opens Brett Marlin, Managing Director of Time.

Some of these “jobs” include completed projects ranging from lowcost housing to executive residential complexes, multi-million-pula commercial office blocks, restoration and enhancement of golf courses, shopping centres and assorted industrial developments.

Writer:

Project Manager:

All buildings that Time develops and oversees are noted for the added value they subsequently create for the overall surrounding environment by virtue of the immaculate architectural

Time Projects has been developing Botswana for the last 37 years, becoming a household name in property development. We explore its transformative journey with Managing Director, Brett Marlin

Ed Budds |

Taylor Green

styling, attractive aesthetics, highquality standards and excellent investment value.

“These standards of excellence are especially prominent at Time’s premium grade offices, where we have all the bells and whistles, the green star environmental rating, and all of the other beneficial eco-friendly practices,” acclaims Marlin.

TIME PROJECTS ASSET MANAGEMENT

The property and asset management department manages both Time Projects and PrimeTime’s properties. Overall, this involves the management of 34 buildings and 480 tenants.

Key areas of asset management include:

• Strategic planning and budgeting

• Financial control

• Governance and shareholder affairs

• Property management

• Acquisitions, disposals and renovations

• Leasing and tenant management

• Investment and development

COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT

Time has carved out a reputation across Botswana for overseeing and delivering quality, affordable commercial developments which include offices, retail hubs, industrial factories, warehouses and speciality projects such as hotels, banks, hospitals and educational facilities.

This is in addition to providing its expert development and project management services to clients who do not require turnkey development.

“Over the last 20 years, we’ve become more and more involved in the commercial, retail and industrial development space, but there is also still such a huge demand for residential projects,” Marlin explains.

With vast experience in the development of residential suburbs and estates from raw land to completion, Time’s service offering includes the installation of utilities such as water, power, sewers and road networks and the subsequent implementation of housing on the fully serviced residential stands.

These houses are then usually sold on the open market to institutions, investors and owner occupiers with the different types of offerings being market driven. Alongside this, Time also provides construction and project management services to other

Zhengtai Group Botswana

Zhengtai Group Botswana (Pty) Ltd, formally established in 1998, with Red East Construction (Pty) Ltd as its subsidiaries, mainly undertakes contracts in commercial, industrial and government building works and infrastructure development.

We have employed more than 1,000 local citizens, including over 50 professionals of higher level and over 30 senior administrative staff. We have successfully delivered many projects, such as UB Academic Hospital, DPP head office in Gaborone, BIUST student hostels at Palapye, Broadhurst Magistrate Court, Mahupu CJSS at Takatokwane, Sidilega Private Hospital, 150Nos. Units of Flats at Palapye for BHC, Mmamashia-Kanye pipelines, and more.

The projects under construction currently include Gaborone Water Supply Scheme, Design Supply and Build of water distribution networks, sanitation reticulation, SCADA, telemetry and associated works at Maun, New Primary Hospital at Moshupa, New Headquarters for Okavango Diamond Company at BIH, Gamonoyane-Molepolole NSC Connection at an approximate amount of 3 billion Botswana Pula.

As a strategic partner of Time Projects since 2010 a lot of commercial buildings have been completed both in Botswana and Zambia such as Sebele shopping centre, Mongala Mall at Kanye, Prime Plaza one phase 1-4, Wiki Phase 1, 2, Central Square, Teemane Shopping Centre at Letlhakane, Chirundu Shopping Complex, Kabwata Shopping Mall, G4S Cash Centre, Kabulonga Shopping Mall Sewage Treatment HQ Building, and more.

We have regularly held trainings and local artisan competitions in line with local policies on economic stimulus and skill transfer. We have been fulfilling our social responsibilities by positively and initially participating in charity activities.

www.ztjt.com.cn

entities wanting to build residential developments.

Each bespoke project that Time undertakes is unique in terms of location, funding, deal structure and design. The company remains highly flexible, which has allowed Time to react effectively to industry trends and developments.

“The work that we’re doing in the commercial office space and building shopping centres displays how we’ve tried to adapt to the times, and that is probably the main reason why Time has succeeded because we saw the development of low-rise, low-density office buildings as the route to go rather than trying to do several 20storey offices with large corporate tenants.”

Details are vital in this form of management, even down to the size of an office parking lot.

“Too little parking is catastrophic for a new project and securing enough space is critical to the success

of an office building and any other development, so that is one of the first principles that you need to secure, with no detail being too small or insignificant in this business,” Marlin reiterates.

Subsequently, as a direct consequence of having to maintain and ensure tenancy and rental collection of its own properties, Time established a property management division.

The company offers this service as value-added when developing a property for a client, especially for its customers who are investing in property and don’t want the day-today responsibility of managing the buildings.

Currently, in addition to managing its own buildings, Time is now the property manager for PrimeTime Property Holdings Ltd, a BSE-listed company with a portfolio of over 25 properties throughout Botswana and Zambia.

Sharps Construction

Sharps Construction (Pty) Ltd mainly executes building construction works, civil and infrastructure works, electrical and telemetry works.

The company prides itself in developing projects over the years with a good reputation for quality, performance, delivery within time allowable and budgets for the government and private construction. There are quite a number of professional and experienced engineers and skilled workers in our company. We are confident of managing any project with the abovementioned qualities.

If you have any project that requires the attributes mentioned above, please contact us.

“HONESTLY, OUR BIGGEST PROBLEM IS THAT NOBODY WANTS TO LEAVE US AS WE HAVE A REALLY GOOD FAMILY CULTURE HERE”

– BRETT MARLIN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, TIME PROJECTS

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Sharps Construction (Pty) Ltd is a 100 percent Botswana Citizen owned Building, Civil and Electrical Engineering Company incorporated in 1988. Since its inception the company has undertaken a large number of projects throughout Botswana at competitive prices and with very good quality. The Projects undertaken by Sharps Construction include Building Works projects, Infrastructure Works projects and Electrical Works projects.

BOTSWANA • MALAWI • MAURITIUS • MOZAMBIQUE • ZAMBIA • ZIMBABWE

BENEFITTING BOTSWANA

Enhancing Botswana as a nation and helping its people remains paramount to the overarching company mission.

Time has committed to supporting several of Botswana’s top athletes over the last few decades, most memorably Tiyapo Maso, who previously led the Olympic marathon for more than half the race at the Sydney Olympics.

Time has for the last six years held a corporate relay event called the Time Challenge, which is held in the Mokolodi Nature reserve and is a four-man relay event with two running legs and two cycling legs. All proceeds from the event are used for charity. The funds from the last three events have been used to construct outdoor exercise facilities within the residential areas in Gaborone. In the past, they have constructed a disabled basketball court and a Futsal pitch.

WHY TIME PROJECTS?

• Effective and efficient decisionmaking minimises the amount of redesign work required by the consultants and removes any conflict between the consultants and the client.

• Promotion of client involvement.

• Strict transparency in dealings with all contracting parties.

• Complete transparency for all tender procedures.

• Critical evaluation of the construction programme and continuous project evaluation to ensure projects are completed on time.

• Emphasis on protecting clients’ investments in terms of time and cost.

• Quality is of paramount importance and has been attained on all projects.

“WE’VE SEEN A FAVOURABLE UPTURN RECENTLY AND SIGNS THAT THE ZAMBIAN ECONOMY IS GRADUALLY RETURNING TO FULL STRENGTH”

– BRETT MARLIN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, TIME PROJECTS

SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR THE FUTURE

Bergstan (Pty) Ltd is a leading international consulting and development engineering company, with over 30 years of experience in the provision of professional engineering services in developing countries.

OUR EXPERTISE - ENVIROMENTAL ENGINEERING - TRANSPORTATION - WATER

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Akheel Jinabhai & Associates (in association with McKee Commercial Law) is a full-service law firm based in Gaborone Botswana. The firm has developed an excellent reputation for providing responsive, pragmatic, and cost-effective legal solutions to clients undertaking business in Botswana.

Our legal services cover a wide range of disciplines and are provided to a client base, that incudes international mining houses, large local corporations, foreign investors, regional and local governments, parastatals, and most of the property developers in Botswana.

As a firm, we pride ourselves on our ability to evolve to meet the challenges of doing business in a complex and constantly changing commercial world and strive to be at the cutting edge of legal developments both internationally and locally.

Elsewhere, internally, Time aims to fill as many of its positions as possible with Botswanan citizens.

“Since the early 1990s when the company became firmly established, we have consistently employed between 500 and 1,000 Botswanans on our projects,” Marlin adds.

Time is also wholly owned by its senior management, all of whom live in Botswana. This senior management group is therefore exceptionally stable as is shown by their years of service.

Large quantities of small and medium-sized citizen contractors, subcontractors and suppliers have been nurtured and developed under Time’s guidance and training, many of whom have gone on to greater levels within the industry. The company’s policy is to support any member of staff in further education.

“Honestly, our biggest problem is that nobody wants to leave us as we have a really good family culture here. As a company, we often have a Friday afternoon off where one of our staff members hosts a BBQ or dinner for everyone and we just all sit together outside the office, have some drinks and enjoy a good time.”

This perfectly illustrates the immense level of family-oriented team spirit and collective connection that bonds Time together as a company.

OVERCOMING ECONOMIC EXERTION

Despite the company’s ongoing prosperity, the construction industry continues to consistently throw up challenges for all companies to contend with, and Time has encountered some difficult obstacles and turbulent times to navigate like all others.

“Our office in Zambia has been a challenge over the last few years where the national currency, the Kwacha, has devalued so badly against the dollar that at one stage a few years ago there was almost daily load shedding, where the nation would only have power for four to six hours a day,” recalls Marlin.

“That was really difficult to deal with and certainly put a lot of pressure on the company and the nation as a whole, but we’ve seen a favourable upturn recently and signs that the Zambian economy is gradually returning to full strength as the banks

are showing more confidence in giving funding, whereas the previous five years were a real battle,” he continues.

The Botswana office helps support the Zambian arm of the business, with Marlin himself travelling between offices every six weeks to provide support to what is more of a small skeleton office and team at present.

Having mastered the ability to reinvent itself and consistently add strings to its bow, Time continues to secure new development work across Botswana and Zambia, placing it in an optimal position to continue thriving and providing premium infrastructural development and elite management services.

“Every year we say surely there’s got to be a downturn and yet it just doesn’t seem to come,” Marlin proudly finishes.

LAYING THE TRACKS

OF THE CARGO CORRIDOR

Abhay Mishra, CEO of Nacala Logistics, introduces the logistical mega-enterprise connecting almost 1,000 kilometres of railway across Southern Africa

Writer: Phoebe Harper | Project Manager: Cameron Lawrence

In the landlocked nation of Malawi a lifeline of connectivity is being forged, creating a vital link between the northern regions of Mozambique, the coastal gateway of the Nacala-àVelha Port, and onward to Zambia.

The ongoing development of the Nacala Corridor represents a megaenterprise that is set to revolutionise the efficient transportation of coal,

general cargo, passenger services and port management through integrated logistics solutions across Southeast Africa.

Combining the powerful trifecta of the Nacala-à-Velha Port, the Northern Railway, and the Malawian Railway System, the corridor will channel the synchronicity of major forces of transport working in unison to

provide unrivalled safety, quality, and efficiency with rail as its backbone.

Today, the best interests of all logistics companies operating along the corridor – namely Northern Development Corridor (CDN), Integrated Logistics Corridor of Nacala (CLN), Africa Logistics Company (CLA), and Central East African Railways (CEAR) - are consolidated

and represented under one enterprise and trading name - Nacala Logistics (NL).

“This is undoubtedly one of the largest logistics infrastructure projects built in Southern Africa.”

The opening words of Abhay Mishra, CEO of NL, encapsulate the sheer magnitude of this colossus of logistical solutions. Indeed, encompassing the multi-user terminal port of Nacala-àVelha, 1,600 kilometres (km) of railway system between the port and Cuamba (Mozambique), with two branches at Cuamba-Entre-Lagos and CuambaLichinga, plus the 912km stretch of rail from Nacala- à-Velha to Moatize (Mozambique) via Malawi, NL’s remit is vast.

As a logistics partner of the major

coal exporter Vulcan Mozambique, NL specialises in coal logistics, general cargo, and passenger transport in addition to port operations.

Its coal logistics are expedited by trains made up of four locomotives and over 120 wagons that carry coal from Moatize to Nacala-à-Velha, which has an annual capacity of 18 million tonnes and three coal yards of one million tonnes each.

In terms of general cargo transport, NL has a capacity of four million tonnes a year for transporting containerised, bagged, bulk and liquid cargo – primarily fuel – alongside a variety of products including fertilisers, wheat, tobacco, cotton, soybeans, peas, tea, sugar, clinker, salt, gypsum, soap, and containers.

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Hollard Mozambique’s agriculture solutions include named-peril crop insurance, index-based livestock insurance, and agriculture assets and liabilities. These policies protect against natural disasters, disease outbreaks, market fluctuations, and other risks uniquely identifiable within Mozambique’s geo-economy. In the energy sector, Hollard Mozambique leads the way in Mozambique’s insurance coverage of integral assets such as power plants, pipelines, and offshore rigs, while specialized coverage reinforces the foundational reliability of renewable energy projects, including wind and solar farms, hydroelectric infrastructure, and bioenergy manufacturing.

Hollard Mozambique takes pride in collaborating with businesses in essential industries to attain their maximum in-market potential with focused, tailored insurance solutions, ensuring a better future for Mozambique.

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“NACALA LOGISTICS IS 100 PERCENT COMMITTED TO BEING AN ECO-FRIENDLY SOLUTION AND PROVIDING THE BEST TRANSPORT ALTERNATIVE WITHIN THE NORTH CORRIDOR”

– ABHAY MISHRA, CEO, NACALA LOGISTICS

ANNUAL LOGISTICS CAPACITY 18

MILLION TONNES OF COAL TRANSPORTED 18

MILLION TONNES OF COAL SHIPPED FOUR MILLION TONNES OF GENERAL CARGO TRANSPORTED

480,000 TRANSPORTED PASSENGERS

“We generate a value chain for more than 500 suppliers that serve an entire structure of 912km of railway, from maintenance services, works and infrastructure, food, accommodation and various consumables,” Mishra outlines.

“Our mission is to provide integrated logistics solutions with safety, quality and efficiency, and our vision is to be a reference in the supply of logistics solutions in Southern Africa, adding value to our clients and customers, through engaged people and sustainable processes.”

ADDING VALUE

As Mishra suggests, the concept of ‘adding value’ is central to NL and this is seen across the board – whether in reference to its customers and clients, its staff, or by contributing to the socio-economic upliftment of the countries in which it operates. It was this foundational purpose – to add value – that initially drew Mishra himself to the role.

“After the recent change in management, I saw this position as

a great opportunity to lead a multicultural international team and add value,” he recalls. Since that takeover, significant improvements have ensued, with NL overcoming major operational and maintenance issues within a short space of time.

“I am happy to share that the NL team has broken all previous operation records of the railways and port within the first four months after being taken over by the present company,” Mishra states proudly.

As a railway network with worldclass assets, NL offers undeniable value to its clients through the facilitation of an indispensable transport link for goods and services. Serving a diverse roster of clients from around the world, approximately 70 percent of NL’s market is based in Asia as the majority share. Meanwhile, Africa represents the company’s second largest market at five percent.

Despite this international outlook, NL maintains an explicit emphasis on adding value to its countries of operation – primarily Malawi

Leading INNOVATION in Healthcare & Consulting

Overview

We have a staff of more than 100 dedicated professionals, including specialist doctors, senior paramedics, experienced nurses, pharmacy and laboratory technicians, aided by a solid logistics and management team. Our health professionals have further certified training on the critical areas of emergency, prevention of infections and occupational health.

Our quality

SEPRI is ready to provide a service of excellency, following international health standards, to our current and future customers. The recognized quality of our processes is currently certified under the ISO 9001:2015 standard.

Our Services

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Emergency Medical Service and Air Evacuation

Medical services at remotes sites

First aid training

Assembly of modular clinics

Medical consultancy

Operation of the first (and only!)

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NACALA LOGISTICS IN THE COMMUNITY

SUPPORTING LOCAL FISHERMEN

In the district of Nacala, where NL’s port infrastructure is located, the majority of local communities practice fishing for their livelihood. To guarantee food security, NL has a fishing programme that currently directly benefits around 600 fishermen and indirectly 3,000 members of the families of the beneficiaries. This support for fishermen includes training, infrastructure, providing motorboats and the funding of income generation projects.

This programme has helped beneficiaries to increase their ability to capture different species, but also to practice more environmentally sustainable fishing, abandoning artisanal fishing practiced along the coast, which captures developing species to use semi-industrial techniques.

SCHOOL LUNCH SUPPORT

NL supports a school lunch programme across three districts where it operates, which consists of distributing meals to local children enrolled in schools. This programme benefits around 32,000 children, with meals served in 26 schools in the districts of Nacala-a-Velha, Ribaue and Malema.

Generally, in low-income communities, many children have dropped out or missed school because of hunger or to help their parents produce family income, selling in the streets or practicing agriculture. The school meal distribution programme has helped to keep children in school, reducing the rate of school dropouts and school absenteeism, thus simultaneously contributing to children’s education and food security.

and Mozambique - through its contribution to the local economy. This is primarily in the form of paying taxes directly to the government.

“To give you an idea, from 2019 to the end of the third quarter of 2022, NL paid approximately USD$540 million in taxes, including corporate taxes, concession fees, and others,” Mishra tells us.

Equally important, however, is the means of connection that NL’s rail system provides for local agricultural producers throughout Mozambique, who rely on the transport of their produce across provinces for commerce and financial income.

“Agricultural products from Niassa, for example, travel more than 500km using NL trains, to be marketed in the northern province of Nampula. This has a very positive impact on the local economy, helping small family producers to market their production in a country where there are still major infrastructure challenges,” he explains.

“In other words, if it weren’t for the NL trains, much agricultural production could rot due to lack of a market.”

LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

For Mishra, the ultimate culmination of the company’s emphasis on adding value and positively contributing to its local surroundings, is the myriad employment opportunities that NL creates.

“We believe that our biggest contribution to the economy of Mozambique is through job creation,” he says. “By employing 2,000 people, NL is helping an equal number of households and around 12,000 people, since an average household here has five members.”

In addition, providing jobs for workers from subcontracted companies has the multiplier effect of generating income for thousands of households.

“Across our human resources structure, almost 100 percent of our

Providing maintenance and construction services and solutions throughout the country.

MCC — Manutenção e Construção

Civil Lda., based in the province of Maputo, Matola Rio, brings more than 10 years of experience working in the maintenance and civil construction field, with a reputation for executing projects on time, always maintaining quality, health and safety and the best environmental management practices certified in ISO 9001, 45001 and 14001 by Bureau Veritas.

Investing recently in dust management in exploration mines, MCC is and ambitious company with young and talented staff all over Mozambique.

employees are local labour, with over 80 percent local leadership. We are a reference company in terms of the dream of employability of several professionals in the country and aspiring Mozambican students from the northern region,” Mishra shares.

Throughout its history, NL has maintained a strong support programme for local development throughout its regions of operation. Several initiatives are key in this regard, reflecting the positive impact that NL hopes to have on its surrounding communities.

Through its sustainability programmes, NL effectively supports 14,000 households and approximately 4,000 people in agriculture, as the cornerstone of regional economic

activity. By distributing 4,000 tonnes of crop seeds to local communities, NL helps households to improve the production and productivity of the main crops produced locally, including peanuts, rice, maize, sesame, beans and vegetables.

“The impact of this programme has been very positive, with the beneficiary family producers adopting new environmentally friendly production techniques and increasing productivity above the local average,” Mishra observes.

Efforts such as this, pertaining to food security, are becoming increasingly important in the face of climate change, as Southern Africa is one of the many regions across the world to be severely impacted by extreme weather events as a result of climate change. In recent years, this

has included cyclones, strong winds, severe rains and flooding. As such, NL’s support for local families is a welcome contribution to guarantee a vital food supply.

Elsewhere, NL participates in supporting local fishermen in the Nacala district and providing school lunch support to further food security across the region.

“All our actions are based on the values that guide us and one of them is undoubtedly respect for the communities and our environment,” Mishra states.

GOING GREEN

In terms of how NL demonstrates its commitment to the environment as a responsible corporate citizen, by its very nature, rail is one of the greenest solutions for transport at scale. As

“All our actions are based on the values that guide us and one of them is undoubtedly respect for the communities and our environment” – Abhay Mishra, CEO, Nacala Logistics

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• Removal of weeds

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values:

Integrity Commitment Excellence Growth Diligence Teamwork

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MISSION

Sell products and services that transmit a professional image of our customers, always acting in a sustainable and cost effective manner.

VISION

Innovate, promoting the best solutions for customers and become a reference throughout the region in professional clothing and PPE.

VALUES

• Integrity - Inspiring trust and confidence through ethical and professional standards.

• Focus on results - Striving to fulfil our commitments taking into account our customers’ needs, within the estimated time frame, and in highest quality standard.

• Openness - Favouring a collaborative working environment, sharing information, actively listening, and allowing constructive challenges.

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‘Things Become Hard in own Hands’

such, the company can be considered an advocate for green logistical solutions.

“In a nutshell, Nacala Logistics is 100 percent committed to being an eco-friendly solution and providing the best transport alternative within the North Corridor,” surmises Mishra.

The company’s efforts towards becoming an increasingly environmentally friendly solution are best embodied by the NL ‘Go Green’ initiative. The demand for the scheme was identified within the NL customer base, and the company was quick to respond.

“This has pushed our actions in a way to improve our services in order to position the railway as the best alternative for moving cargo. Major companies (shipping lines, fertiliser

and cement suppliers, etc.) are evolving their strategies to engage with “Go Green” as a flagship for enhancing their businesses,” he shares.

Several initiatives are currently in motion as NL continually strives to mitigate its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This includes a reduction in the number of locomotives to pull while trains are manoeuvring in

the yard and loading coal to reduce diesel consumption and the carbon monoxide (CO) emissions caused by burning that fuel.

In addition, NL has reduced the number of locomotives used during the unloading of coal in the port from two to just one engine. Throughout these coal yards, NL has begun sprinkling the piles of coal during the unloading process in order to avoid the emission of harmful particulates.

To further reduce diesel consumption across both the port and railway operations, NL now reverts to using its power generator system exclusively in emergency situations. Simultaneously, the company is now in the process of exploring transitioning its air conditioners from chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) gases

to less polluting, environmentally friendly 410 A Gas.

Finally, NL is championing a greener environment in the most literal sense through the revegetation of degraded areas along its railway and port systems and improving the development of mangrove forests at the Nacala-à-Velha Port.

THE TRACKS AHEAD

With his eyes on the future, Mishra endeavours to ensure that the Nacala Corridor reaches its fullest level of potential.

“Looking at our commercial footprint, the natural vocation for the corridor is to reach its full extension. In the short-term, this will entail taking the railways to operate up to the border of Zambia,” he details.

In order to attain this, NL may look to diversify into other transport modes and will explore the possibility of integrating with a road model in order to optimise flows whilst supporting the growth of the corridor in its full capacity.

Despite these major ambitions, the number one focus for the immediate future is to get NL back on track in the wake of turbulence.

“The key priority for NL is to stabilise its operations. After the transition from our shareholding restructure and the huge effects that have come from two cyclones passing through Mozambique and Malawi, we have had to practically recover from scratch,” says Mishra.

Although a significant setback for NL’s progress, such natural

events are a poignant reminder of why the company’s continued efforts in contributing to the local community through economic uplift, implementing food security, and sustainable initiatives, are so vital.

Resolutely committed to adding value, with engaged people behind operations centred on sustainable processes, NL will continue to lay the tracks of Southern Africa’s largest infrastructural advantage.

NACALA LOGISTICS

Tel: +258 84 321 5880

https://nacalalogistics.com

FLYING HIGH

IN ANGOLA AND ABROAD

In the post-COVID-19 aviation space, TAAG

Angola Airlines is taking the opportunity to spread its wings and soar. We speak to CEO, Eduardo Fairen Soria about the company’s latest digital developments and fleet expansion

Writer: Marcus Kääpä

Project Manager: Cameron Lawrence

TAAG ANGOLA AIRLINES SUPPLY CHAIN

Though the global aviation industry was hit hard by the impact of the COVID19 pandemic, it is now on the rise once more, presenting a breadth of opportunities and challenges for airlines.

Standing as a key player in the African aviation space, TAAG Angola Airlines (TAAG) has experienced exactly that within the post-pandemic period. TAAG is a flagship airline and a leading company in Angola, promoting the country’s image all around the world.

Founded in 1938 and based in Luanda, the capital of Angola, TAAG has connected Angolans with its key domestic and international markets for more than 80 years. TAAG is the leading airline in the country, recognised worldwide for its strong

ABOUT THE CEO

Eduardo Fairen Soria is an engineering graduate from the Spanish Air Force Academy and holds an MBA from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM).

Employed as the CEO of TAAG since October 2021, Soria was previously CEO of Viva Air Peru (2017-2019), Chief Operations Officer (COO) and Senior Vice President of Maintenance at Viva Air Colombia (2014-2017), and has over 40 years of experience in the world of aviation, including a position as co-Founder of Vueling Airlines, part of International Airlines Group (IAG) in 2004.

Soria was Assistant Professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) for the Aeronautical Management Degree and the International Master of Aeronautical Management (2006-2009). On top of this, it is Soria’s personal experience that clearly displays his

high-yield market, having grown its current network to 14 domestic and 13 international destinations. In addition to passenger transport, TAAG’s cargo services play a major role connecting import/export hubs.

“TAAG is a company that prides itself on a strong track record of service and performance excellence,” begins Eduardo Fairen Soria, CEO of TAAG.

“We were built on the foundations of operational safety, quality, national and international collaboration, commitment, reliability, and a passion for professional service excellence, values that we still hold today.”

POST-COVID-19 PREPARATION

Following the COVID-19 pandemic period, airlines have faced the doubleedged sword that is the “return to

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“We design and develop a comprehensive suite of software that offers fully integrated scheduling, slot management and submission, flightwatch operations, crew management, mobile and financial modelling tools.

In addition to our modules’ functionality, we have extensive IATA messaging and integration capabilities with other systems including DCS and MRO, making it easy for them to fit into your overall systems architecture.

We began our technology migration to a digital platform in 2019, and shortly after we released our first version of CrewVacation – an add-on to our core crewing module (CrewLogic) which is designed to manage crew holidays in browser technology. After CrewVacation’s release, we launched our new MobileApp for crew - CrewConnectin August 2021.

We are now pleased to report that over 5,000 crew members use our CrewApp so they can get the information on their rosters, training and details wherever they are, immediately, on their smart phone or tablet. We continue to expand the app’s scope to help both crew and crew planners.

If you want to be supplied with software that is modern, fast, dynamic and does what you need it to do, contact APM. We combine outstanding service delivered by a highly experienced and friendly team with our ever-improving software. These two factors have enabled us to proudly maintain our supply to TAAG for over 15 years and we look forward to supporting them in the next part of their strategy.”

passion and dedication to aviation; he has more than 17,000 hours logged as both a pilot and instructor, flying and working in different senior positions across four continents for companies like Iberia, Lufthansa, DHL, Air Arabia and CamairCo.

www.apmtechnologies.com

Reaching new heights with future-focused aviation technology

APM is delighted to be celebrating 20 years in business and is very proud to have supplied TAAG with our aircraft scheduling, flight watch and crewing software since 2007. At the centre of everything we do is the creation of software that is easy-to use while providing the peace of mind and the competitive edge you need to run a successful airline.

normality”. As such, opportunity and challenge are rife within the sector, and for TAAG, there is more to come in the years ahead.

In 2024, Angola is set to join the Open Sky Agreement in Africa which will bring fierce competition from abroad. The agreement commits to the deregulation of air services across the countries involved and promotes regional air markets to transnational competition.

“In light of this, TAAG will have to prepare itself for such a challenge, which includes not only expansion but also the adaptation of the entire mindset of the company within the Angolan aviation ecosystem,” Soria explains. “We are working with

stakeholders to adapt the features of our services to suit the needs of our passengers, staff and partners.”

Part of this adaptation is the company’s attention to its cargo division. TAAG currently transports cargo to in-country destinations as well as internationally across South America, Europe, Asia and Africa, and is well known in the industry for its swift and safe transportation.

“We have very strong traffic in the cargo space, and we had a window of opportunity during the pandemic to show what we can do in this area,” Soria elaborates. “We are still seeing the need for regular cargo operations when it comes to China, South America, and Africa, and we

are one operator that facilitates cargo transport between these regions.

“We want to develop this service with larger aircraft, and on top of this, we are looking to source some freighters that can operate for us until we have our own fleet of such aircraft.”

SERVING INTERCONTINENTAL CUSTOMERS

Outside of its many African destinations, which include Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa, TAAG offers transatlantic flights to Cuba and Brazil, as well as Portugal and Spain, and a rich variety of locations in Europe via the codeshare/interline agreement with

“WE WERE BUILT ON THE FOUNDATIONS OF OPERATIONAL SAFETY, QUALITY, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION, COMMITMENT, RELIABILITY, AND A PASSION FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICE EXCELLENCE –VALUES THAT WE STILL HOLD TODAY”

– EDUARDO FAIREN SORIA, CEO, TAAG ANGOLA AIRLINES

TAAG offers transatlantic flights to Cuba and Brazil, as well as Portugal, Spain and a rich variety of other European locations

Iberia. Since the international airline industry was pushed back into gear after the COVID-19 pandemic, TAAG has set its eyes on strengthening its existing network.

“2022 was the year that we tried to record our operations and restate the routes that, historically, had been the most profitable and held a greater market demand pre-COVID-19,” Soria tells us. “Among these, routes to Portugal, Johannesburg and Brazil stood out.”

TAAG used this post-pandemic opportunity to tactically reopen and sell services to new destinations, increasing the airline’s route connectivity and industry partnerships that it was previously unable to. TAAG is not only connecting Angola to Portugal and Spain, but also key cities in Europe operating through the Madrid hubwith connection flights powered by Iberia to London, Milan, Rome, Geneva, Zurich, or Brussels.

“We want to expand this so that we can connect more people, not only from Angola but also the different destinations that we operate on the southern side of Africa, as part of our plan for the intercontinental market,” Soria adds.

As for the regional and domestic markets, TAAG has been met by challenges. According to Soria, regionally speaking, some of the markets have recently taken a downturn that has impacted TAAG’s regional services. Domestically, TAAG introduced two Dash-8 aircraft last year – growing from four to six – and increased the frequencies of such flights to domestic destinations by approximately 40 percent, making use of its new fleet to help grow in the market.

strengthen our intercontinental destinations rather than open up many new destinations in the segment,” Soria states. “In the regional and domestic markets, our intention is to grow by around 10 percent with regard to new destinations, which will consist of probably two or three new locations, but we will also be consolidating and strengthening the regional and domestic networks – the latter is the main goal for this year.”

CONNECTING THE GLOBE

In January, TAAG exhibited its services at the international tourism trade fair, FITUR, a global meeting point for tourism professionals that took place in Madrid. FITUR allowed TAAG to raise awareness about the strategic Luanda-Madrid-Luanda route operated by TAAG since July 2022, and highlighted Angola and TAAG destinations to a global audience.

TAAG offers customers three weekly flights, departing from Luanda on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Typically, the route is operated by

Boeing 777-300 aircraft with a total capacity of 289 passengers, eight in first class, 53 in business class, and 228 in economy class. Overall, the company has registered more than 19,500 passengers since the beginning of the Luanda-Madrid operation. The perspectives for 2023 are quite optimistic as a result of fewer restrictions related to the pandemic and the pace of travel recovery, not to mention the strong diplomatic and business relationship between Angola and Spain.

According to the Embassy of Spain in Angola, there are more than 60 companies operating in-country from multiple business segments, such as energy, banking, construction, industry, health, education, agriculture, and geology. It’s fair to conclude that Angola has become a key country for Spain’s growth strategy in Africa. The codeshare and interline partnership signed between TAAG and the Spanish airline Iberia in May 2022 is benefiting passengers,

who can acquire a single ticket in local currency suitable for both airlines’ itineraries, accessing TAAG/ Iberia destinations combined. Iberia passengers in transit or departing from Madrid have Luanda as a key gateway to the African continent, meaning entrepreneurs, tourists, and traffic overall are redirected to Angola

and TAAG destinations in Africa and South America.

TAAG passengers in transit or departing from Luanda may have Madrid as a destination or connection to other European cities such as London (United Kingdom), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Rome and Milan (Italy), Geneva and Zurich, (Switzerland), Brussels (Belgium) and Porto (Portugal) as well as domestic destinations in Spain. Developing the Luanda-Madrid route is part of TAAG’s vision which aims to transform

TAAG Angola Airlines has registered more than 19,500 passengers since the beginning of the Luanda-Madrid operation

Luanda into a strategic hub in Africa, considering the country’s geographic competitive advantage and ability to facilitate connections between east-west (Asia-Africa-America) and north-south (Europe-Africa).

DEPLOYING DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT

Moving forward into 2023, TAAG is driving its own internal developments. On the digital side, the company is changing its IT infrastructure as well as moving its headquarters to a new building, the latter underpinning this

IT development.

“This transition is not only to cover our day-to-day needs, but also to help with the incorporation of new aircraft such as the Airbus 220s, and hopefully next year, a new set of wide-body planes that we are negotiating with Airbus and Boeing,” Soria explains. “If all goes well, these aircraft require a very high band of data in order to be operated and we will have to deploy and build all this IT infrastructure to be in place before any of these aircraft can join us.

“This may be very time-consuming

today, but it is a necessary step on the path to securing the full digital transformation for TAAG’s future.”

Alongside aircraft, a more visible example of TAAG’s digital transformation includes the deployment of its new website that is currently under development, which will include upgraded elements such as an easier and fluid booking process for customers.

“Our goal for 2023 is to strengthen our network, make it more efficient and introduce new services alongside our new website,” Soria tells us. “We also want to open two or three new regional destinations this year while we expect to receive the Airbus 220s in 2024.”

According to Soria, the Airbus 220s are known for their quality, comfort, fuel economy and sustainability, and so this is a point of excitement for the company. For TAAG, 2023 represents a stepping stone and a year of transition from which the company will soar into the future of aviation as a key player in the competitive airline space.

TAAG ANGOLA AIRLINES

Tel: Tel: +244 923 190 000

www.taag.com

“TAAG IS A COMPANY THAT PRIDES ITSELF ON A STRONG TRACK RECORD OF SERVICE AND PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE”

– EDUARDO FAIREN SORIA, CEO, TAAG ANGOLA AIRLINES

OF CHOICE THE PARTNER

Carried on a tide of continual evolution, M24 Logistics is the go-to partner for accessible and affordable e-commerce solutions. General Manager, Rika Swart, unpacks the company’s growth and customer-centric outlook

Writer: Phoebe Harper | Project Manager: Cameron Lawrence

As an enabler of e-commerce logistics across Africa, the name of the game is growth for M24 Logistics (M24L) – both in facilitating the growth of its customers, and in pursuing its own expansion.

The company sits within a dynamic market, as an industry

segment defined by significant growth potential in line with everincreasing customer demand and the heightened expectations of consumers for ever-evolving solutions and service types. Indeed, as researched by World Wide Work, e-commerce jumped in 2021 from 2.8 percent of total retail sales to four

percent, reaching 4.7 percent of the expected R1.16 trillion retail sales in 2022.

To accommodate this burgeoning market, M24L has developed an expansive reach from its base in Johannesburg with a distribution network encompassing over 30 countries across Africa. Despite this vast geographical footprint, M24L is proud to maintain a delivery lead time of 1.79 days from order placement from its Johannesburg facilities for South Africa deliveries.

“We are one of the leading one-stop solution providers for B2B and B2C e-commerce clients in South Africa,” opens Rika Swart, General Manager of M24L.

“In our previous 12-month cycle, we shipped more than 11 million units and 1.6 million parcels with a fulfilment rate above 99 percent,” she shares.

M24L’s e-commerce solutions span four different pillars, namely imports and exports, B2B, last mile solutions, and e-commerce fulfilment. The latter is operated from the two facilities in Johannesburg, which boast a combined fine-picking storage capacity of 43,000 square metres.

“From the moment of receiving stock, each stock keeping unit (SKU) is tracked individually, enabling us to maintain real-time inventory levels for our roughly two million units stored,” Swart elaborates.

“Over the past decade of growing our business, we have gained valuable experience in handling diverse product ranges with the number of current unique SKUs handled averaging 250,000 monthly.”

THE M24L FAMILY

Throughout the significant growth and evolution that M24L has undergone in the past 10 years, the company has successfully retained a loyal base of customers. “Our long-time customers will remember our early beginnings more than a decade ago as On The Dot, a

AFRICA OUTLOOK: COULD YOU EXPAND ON YOUR ONGOING WAREHOUSE EXPANSION STRATEGY?

RIKA SWART, GENERAL MANAGER: “We launched our second warehouse in Johannesburg in Eastport in October 2022. This world-class e-commerce fulfilment centre was the first of a significant investment by the group in gearing us for the future growth of our existing customers as well as further enabling e-commerce growth. Next on our list is the Cape Town warehouse, which will be opening during our FY24 financial year.”

business associated mainly with book distribution and one of South Africa’s e-commerce fulfilment pioneers,” shares Swart.

It was during this time that On The Dot was incorporated into Media24’s media distribution operations. Assuming the new brand name of On the Dot (OtD) Contract Logistics and working closely alongside On the Dot Media Distribution, the operation began to evolve towards specialised e-commerce logistics and supply chain solutions. As such, a split from

GMS Systems

10 years ago, GMS Systems partnered with M24 Logistics, formerly ‘On The Dot Contract Logistics’, and they never looked back. At the time, GMS was asked to propose a storage and materials handling solution at the Epping DC in Cape Town. In addition, M24 Logistics was looking for a company to partner with them in their challenging growth projection.

The project started small but grew rapidly into a 3,000m2 storage facility on three levels. During this same period, M24 Logistics established another facility in Olifantsfontein. GMS extended the facility first to 5,000m2 over three levels, then to 9,000m2 over four levels.

GMS was then asked to develop a more comprehensive range of storage equipment to improve the density, accessibility, and protection of the products. After installing a variety of innovative prototypes for testing and evaluation, a range of bespoke storage products was selected by M24 Logistics. This substantially improved their ability to meet their clients’ demands.

At the end of 2021, GMS Systems was honoured to win the tender to provide a 7,500m2 3-level storage and picking system at M24 Logistics’ newly acquired Eastport facility, implementing the improved offering. This project provided the opportunity to further strengthen the partnership by delivering another inventive, quality solution under budget and within a demanding schedule.

GMS Systems congratulates M24 Logistics on their bold investment, phenomenal growth and achievement in helping retailers become e-commerce successes.

www.gms-systems.com

Innovative e-Commerce Storage Solutions

GMS Systems is a trusted market leader that has been providing specialised materials handling equipment and integrated warehouse solutions for over 40 years. We offer innovative solutions to help retailers, manufacturers and logistics providers in South Africa, India, Europe, the UK, the Middle East and the United States store, move and distribute goods faster and more efficiently than before.

• Mezzanines

• Storage Systems

• Pick & Pack Systems

• Overhead Monorail Conveyer Systems

• Robotics & Automation

• Goods Lifts

the brand and a new name ensued. M24L was chosen to reflect the business’ relationship with Media24, with a new slogan to match‘enabling e-commerce growth’.

“Our slogan reflects our passion for enabling e-commerce growth through diversified solutions, delivering service levels that meet our customers’ expectations at competitive rates,” she says.

Today, Swart credits M24L’s ongoing affiliation with its parent company as a crucial differentiator.

“Being part of the Media24 family gives us access to the latest technology and system support, ideally positioning us to unlock technology driven solutions,” she outlines. “It also presents the unique opportunity to coordinate interactions with our print, digital, television and events teams to grow e-commerce and to offer a larger range of services.”

CUSTOMER FIRST

It is this range of services that makes M24L stand out from its competitors, whether within fulfilment, customer service, or last mile solutions. Its storage and distribution ecosystem enables clients to increase reach and margins without having to outlay capital on infrastructure or back-end system development.

Meanwhile, up-to-the-minute realtime tracking is smoothly integrated with the M24L customer service portal, which is backed up further by order tracking via the website or call centre. Complementing this is the in-house expertise in import and export capacity to enable international fulfilment, unlocking new markets for all M24L customers.

“Our role in enabling e-commerce growth is twofold. Firstly, we provide facilities and platform solutions that facilitate and enhance e-commerce for various business models. Secondly,

we execute the fulfilment of the order and manage the last mile to deliver on the promise made to the customer,” Swart shares.

In acting as a dark store for the retailer and providing various last mile solutions, M24L maintains a customercentric outlook. Indeed, the customer

“WE ARE ONE OF THE LEADING ONE-STOP SOLUTION PROVIDERS FOR B2B AND B2C E-COMMERCE CLIENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA”

– RIKA SWART, GENERAL MANAGER, M24 LOGISTICS

acts as a polestar to guide M24L’s evolution, on the understanding that this perspective is vital to be a true partner for growth.

“We pride ourselves on our customer obsession and living the values that are deeply embedded in our culture,” she continues. “It may sound like a cliché, but for us, being a true partner that focuses at all times on supporting our customers’ efforts to grow their e-commerce is what energises us.”

LOOKING TO THE LAST MILE

Channelling this customer-first philosophy into future endeavours, M24L is currently further developing its last mile solutions. By so doing, the company leverages its extensive geographic footprint to offer competitive pricing on what is typically the biggest expense in e-commerce for its customers. As a result, they can benefit from the scale of M24L’s pricing and its robust

Sambro Civil & Construction

What we offer:

Pre-construction-Architectural & Engineering Drawings

General Contracting & Turnkey Projects

Steel Fabrication

Warehouse Extensions

Building Maintenance

Why choose us?

Sambro Civil & Construction (Pty) Ltd aims to provide world class turnkey services in civil engineering and construction. The company is committed to honest and trustworthy relationships in its growth path. Providing long-term solutions with the highest quality and standards the construction industry has to offer.

072 745 8937 / 010 012 6013 avinesh@sambrocc.co.za www.sambrocc.co.za

relationships with courier partners for competitive delivery costs while capitalising on its imports and exports capability.

“Last mile solutions are a major focus area for us to enable e-commerce for those in the wider e-commerce market that don’t necessarily want to be in our warehouse but still need to get their product to their consumer,” explains Swart.

“We are excited about this new chapter that will see us launch advanced integrated omnichannel e-commerce fulfilment solutions, including on-demand delivery from store with optimised last mile solutions. It is all part of our commitment to enable our customers’ e-commerce growth.”

Staying true to this core mandate, M24L will continue to enable growth by supporting D2C, B2C and B2B with customised solutions through its four service pillars.

This is no simple feat, especially as the current economic climate has put a damper on growth in the sector as pressure on the disposable income of customers appears to be slowing e-commerce’s expansion. Nevertheless, as a reliable partner of choice, M24L remains steadfast in its commitment.

“My key priority this year is staying close to our teams as we navigate this ever-developing landscape and continue evolving our services to anticipate and respond to the needs of our customers,” concludes Swart.

M24 LOGISTICS

Tel: +27 21 406 2121

info@M24logistics.com

www.M24logistics.com

SUPPLY CHAIN EXCELLENCE IN EAST AFRICA

Enhanced by technology and real time reporting, Fargo Group’s full end-to-end supply chain solutions now cover every corner of Kenya and the Ugandan capital of Kampala, with a focus on the greater East Africa region. The senior team tells us more Writer: Jack Salter | Project Manager: Cameron Lawrence

To meet current and future shipping needs, transport and logistics are continuously bridging the gap between people, processes and technology.

In Kenya, as the latter changes the way people shop and many businesses embrace digitalisation and e-commerce, the number of courier service providers in the country is subsequently growing.

“E-commerce and the courier industry as a whole has grown tremendously in Kenya, which is very impressive, and with that we’ve also

WHY FARGO COURIER?

TWO decades of experience in Kenya and a trusted partner in the provision of customised courier solutions.

COUNTRYWIDE network with adequate resources, delivering to every corner of Kenya.

STRONG management structures and controls.

EFFECTIVE and customised training for all staff from an inhouse training school.

PARTNERED with three airlines for same day services to major cities.

PROOF of delivery services upon request.

HIGH levels of staff discipline and intelligence.

COMPLIANCE with the law including labour regulations.

HIGH levels of customer relationship management and a 24-hour contact centre.

PROFESSIONAL DOOR-TO-DOOR service with a timely focus.

seen ourselves grow,” opens Barrack Oyugi, Client Relations Manager at Fargo Group (Fargo).

It’s a stark contrast to 15 years ago when Gray Cullen, Group Operations Director of Fargo, first joined the company in May 2008 having identified exciting opportunities in the Kenyan courier services space from abroad.

“After studying at Loughborough University in the UK, and working in Australia and Northern Ireland, I realised that home has always been Kenya,” he recalls.

“It’s the place that I understood the most, and I quickly saw the opportunities and total lack of competition there at the time. A lot of the solutions that you find in the first world are lacking in Africa.”

The group’s courier division, Fargo Courier, was established in 2003 as a sister company to the leading corporate security and protection service provider, Wells Fargo, which

has been operating since 1977.

In the two decades since, Fargo Courier has become Kenya’s foremost independent national courier with a fleet of 600 vehicles in operation.

“A significant proportion of our transportation business is made up by Fargo Courier. I think most people know of us as a courier company that will distribute anywhere across Kenya; there are no bounds,” Cullen acknowledges.

TRANSFORMATIONAL PROJECT

Focused on implementing technology, Fargo took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to roll out a brand new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system across its courier division.

SAP’s S/4HANA ERP software was at the core of this landmark business transformation project, which has unlocked greater integration, improved controls, and established a strong platform for Fargo’s ambitious

Fargo Courier is proud to have a number of ladies in the team as truck drivers

Fargo’s friendly retail team serving walk in clients all over its countrywide network

growth and expansion plans.

The initial need for an advanced warehouse management solution quickly morphed into a complete business solution with real time reporting across the entire group and a system that could be easily adopted in other countries, allowing the business to realise its expansion goals and scale much quicker than the competition.

“Fargo has built a huge dependency on SAP, and we’ve invested a huge amount of money into their latest offering. It’s real time reporting, so at any point in time we can look at reports internally within the company, whether they’re financial or operational, and instantly see exactly what’s going on in the business,” Cullen informs us.

The senior management at Fargo required access to real time reports to enable improved forecasting, KPI tracking, and other metrics to drive better business performance through

the courier side of the business.

Fully integrated with client systems, SAP S/4HANA has been implemented across Fargo Courier to tighten and improve controls in warehousing, clearing, and forwarding operations while bringing immediate improvements to critical financial processes.

“To give you an example, Stihl, a German manufacturer of chainsaws and other handheld power equipment, has recently started operations in East Africa and is fully integrated with our SAP S/4HANA system,” shares Cullen.

“As orders get pushed out of Stihl for anything to do with East Africa, that automatically creates a pick list in our SAP S/4HANA in Kenya. Stihl gets real time updates so they can see exactly what’s happening in our warehouses from Germany, which hugely cuts down communication because there is no need for manual follow-ups and so on.

“Everything is real time and remote, so you can be anywhere in the world and see your operations in Kenya or East Africa through Fargo,” he continues.

NEW SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES

More than 30,000 transactions are processed every day by Fargo Courier, a number that is growing year-on-year.

However, newly implemented requirements in Kenya for businesses to create a real time link between their electronic tax invoice system and the revenue authorities have created a need for new systems and processes.

As such, Fargo is leveraging SAP S/4HANA to develop a real time interface between each transaction, the relevant tax management system, and ultimately the local revenue authority.

“Kenya is upgrading its iTax and VAT requirements to the point of

Our platform provides seamless integrations internally in your business or connects with multiple external solutions – providing a single point of visibility and Track and Trace across your supply chain.

Gray Cullen, Fargo Group Operations Director

instant communication with the Kenya Revenue Authority’s (KRA) servers, which was never the case in the past,” details Cullen.

“We’ve had to create our own application that integrates with SAP, M-Pesa, and KRA software systems so that we can process thousands of transactions a day across the country. I don’t think any competitor anywhere in the East African market has a solution like that.

“As far as what’s involved in that mobile application to make it work, what’s great is the ability to add modules internally to talk to SAP and the team of developers that we have at A-SofTech, with whom we have a very close partnership.”

There is a huge focus towards mobile phone technology in East Africa, where around 80 percent of the world’s volume of mobile transactions occurs.

The Kenyan economy is “run off

smartphones” according to Cullen, who notes that Fargo’s transport and warehouse management solutions are based around mobile technology that circumnavigates infrastructure challenges in the country.

“If you have a branch in the middle of nowhere, power outages can last for days at a time, let alone hours,” he tells us.

“We are very dependent on mobile and use solar technology to charge the devices; it’s a combination of what works given the infrastructure, and that’s why I think we’re one of

the leaders in rolling out mobile technology to run a lot of our internal operations.”

COVERING KENYA

Fargo, whose retail footprint of 120 office locations is currently the biggest in Kenya, is today the only supply chain company that provides end-to-end solutions to every corner of the East African country, a one stop shop that envelops everything from clearing and forwarding to warehousing and last mile distribution.

“

E-COMMERCE AND THE COURIER INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE HAS GROWN TREMENDOUSLY IN KENYA”

– BARRACK OYUGI, CLIENT RELATIONS MANAGER, FARGO GROUP

Inward sorting at the Fargo Courier Hub

“We’ve covered the entirety of Kenya, which is important for a courier entity such as Fargo in that it enables us to deliver to all locations and brings us closer to our market and clients, especially those who are retail based and want to penetrate remote locations they otherwise wouldn’t be present in,” Oyugi explains.

A focused approach to how Fargo interacts with each of its clients allows the company to develop closer and more personal engagement, to ensure quicker turnaround times and resolve issues as they arise.

More than 1,000 corporate accounts are signed up with Fargo, each of which is allocated a dedicated account manager.

“We are proactive on the client side and able to design and tailor solutions that fit them,” outlines Oyugi.

“That has enabled us to deliver a unique customer experience, better understand the expectations of our clients, and go above and beyond to meet and deliver on those expectations.”

With more and more courier service providers entering the space, it is this tailored service and customer experience that stands Fargo out

from a growing and increasingly competitive crowd.

“Our board members are also directly involved in our operations, so decisions are made very quickly in terms of the opportunities that we see and how fast we move to take advantage of them,” Oyugi adds.

WELL-ESTABLISHED WORKFORCE

Around 3,800 members of staff are employed by Fargo, who tries to be one of the top employers in Kenya when it comes to wages, conditions, and recruitment.

There is unfortunately still a very high level of unemployment in East Africa, where a huge amount of talented, well educated people are without work.

“For the last five years, Fargo has been employing a lot of people that have IT diplomas and understand business systems and management, supply chain services and logistics,” Cullen reveals.

“The majority of our senior management today started out as junior employees and have grown with Fargo, which we very much try and encourage. We’re quite proud of

that and want to maintain that sort of mentality.”

With a well-established workforce in Kenya, Fargo is now also expanding into Uganda and considering growth opportunities in the rest of East and Central Africa.

Indeed, there is promising growth in the logistics and supply chain space, and even some interesting new security projects in cash management.

“More short term, there are still some optimisations and improvements to the made on the digital side, which will give us a huge competitive advantage and take our services well beyond what you can find in the market,” Cullen concludes.

Ready to Ride; Fargo Courier riders all set for the morning deliveries

Africa Outlook, APAC Outlook, EME Outlook and North America Outlook are digital publications aimed at boardroom and hands-on decision-makers, reaching an audience of more than 800,000 people around the world; spanning the full range of industrial sectors.

With original and exclusive content compiled by our experienced editorial team, we look to promote the latest in engaging news, industry trends and success stories from across the globe.

Your company can join the leading industry heavyweights enjoying the free exposure we provide across our platforms with a free marketing brochure, extensive social media saturation, enhanced B2B networking opportunities, and a readymade forum to attract new investment and to help you grow your business. Visit www.outlookpublishing.com/get-involved for details on how your company can feature for free in one of our upcoming editions.

www.outlookpublishing.com/get-involved

MINING OUTLOOK LIVE

Building on the global success of our regional titles – Africa Outlook, APAC Outlook, EME Outlook, and North America Outlook – Outlook Publishing is proud to introduce a platform dedicated to the mining and resources sector.

As mining organisations worldwide confront unprecedented change, embracing technological innovations and incorporating critical environmental sustainability agendas, now more than ever is the time to showcase the strides being taken in this dynamic sector. A multi-channel brand, Mining Outlook brings you the positive developments driven by organisations across the global mining industry through our various platforms. Discover exclusive content distributed through our website, online magazine, social media channels, and dispatches delivered straight to your inbox with a bi-weekly newsletter.

Through this compelling new venture, we foreground the movers and shakers of the industry. To participate as a featured company and join us in this exciting endeavour, contact one of our Project Managers today.

www.mining-outlook.com

P INKS AMID THE PEAKS

Owned and operated by Storm Mountain Diamonds, the Kao mine is renowned for the production of rare, precious pink diamonds.

Mohale Ralikariki, CEO, highlights the exceptional prospects of the deposit

Writer: Jack Salter | Project Manager: Joshua Mann

Irrespective of location, mining remains one of the key drivers of national economies and the backbone of industrialisation.

In Lesotho, the mining industry is predominated by diamond mining, with the landlocked mountain kingdom considered one of the most important diamond-producing countries in Africa.

A continent blessed with abundant resources, Africa remains a key destination for investment, but the geopolitical risk needs to be well understood.

Lesotho, for instance, has one of the highest number of kimberlite bodies per square kilometre in the world, meaning the full mineral prospectivity of the country has not yet been determined.

“It is up to the African governments to create a conducive environment for attracting investment by developing a consistent, predictable and enabling legal framework,” outlines Mohale Ralikariki, CEO of Storm Mountain Diamonds (SMD).

Ralikariki grew up in a small village in Lesotho, where for decades labourers have been migrating to neighbouring South Africa to work in the mines. Lesotho has thus been heavily reliant on remittances from migrant mine workers.

Mining, although in its infancy stage, is a popular sector in Lesotho for this reason, and there has been a shift in government policy direction since the beginning of the 21st century to unlock the country’s mineral wealth potential. New diamond mines continue to open up, with the latest two new mines at the development stage.

By intensifying efforts to promote and attract investment into the domestic mining industry, the Lesotho government has successfully translated its sheer comparative advantage inherited from mineral resources endowment to a national competitive advantage, which marked the beginning of large scale commercial mining operations in Lesotho.

“I was then awarded a scholarship by the government to pursue a degree in mining engineering, as part

of the initiative to create a sustainable pool of talent to support the emerging mining sector,” Ralikariki elaborates.

“That is where my illustrious career in mining started. It has been quite an exciting and challenging journey, which I continue to cherish to this day.”

PRECIOUS PINKS

Despite the increasing global challenges, the mining industry remains a dynamic and exciting environment to work in.

Africa, like other continents across the world, is shifting to align and respond to internal and external shocks, with mining companies such as SMD generally flexible enough to adapt to the changing environment in order to remain competitive and profitable.

Jointly owned by Namakwa Diamonds Limited and the Lesotho

MS Fabrications and Engineering

“We are leaders in Mechanical Engineering”

Based in Lesotho and entirely Basotho-owned, MS Fabrications and Engineering Pty Ltd (MSFE) is a mechanical engineering company defined by its people-centric professionalism and commitment to its customers.

With operations starting up in 2016, MSFE has always strived to provide the professional machining and welding services that Lesotho’s economy needs. The company’s original aim was to provide such services to the local agricultural industry, earth-moving equipment and logistics companies. Yet with time, MSFE recognised that there were four revenue streams that it services in its drive towards “moving the industry forward”, namely; mining, construction and logistics, and lastly, individual customers in the agricultural industry.

Today, MSFE’s central mission is to provide maintenance, fabrication, construction and manufacturing services within an acceptable quality standard in the interest of all stakeholders through transparency and consistency, employing a professional, committed and wellmotivated workforce.

Other MSFE Services:

• Coded welding compliant to ISO 3834-2

• Parent material identification-PMI

• Non Destructive Testing - NDT

• Mechanical Engineering design and consultancy

Every company is motivated by their vision for the future. For MSFE, the aim is to become a leader in the provision of mechanical fabrications and maintenance solutions and services in sub-Saharan Africa, a goal backed by its professionalism.

www.msfabrications.co.ls

“WE PRODUCE GEM QUALITY DIAMONDS, AND WE ARE FAMOUSLY KNOWN FOR THE PRODUCTION OF TOP QUALITY PINK DIAMONDS”

– MOHALE RALIKARIKI, CEO, STORM MOUNTAIN DIAMONDS

MovingAfricaForward

Who are we?

MS Fabrications and Engineering Pty LTD (MSFE) is a mechanical engineering company registered in Lesotho over half a decade ago and is owned entirely by Basotho.

Our Services

• Coded welding services (SMAW, TIG, MIG)

• Automated oxy-acetylene cutting

• Fitting and Machining (employing conventional machines: Turning, Milling, Drilling, Line boring)

• Repairs on pumps and pumping systems

• Fabrications and erections of steel structures

• Supply and Installations of wear plates and hard facing materials

• Condition monitoring

It started operations to provide maintenance, fabrication, construction and manufacturing services within an acceptable quality in the interest of all stakeholders. Simultaneously, MSFE co-creates value with stakeholders through transparency and consistency, while employing a professional, committed and well-motivated workforce. The company is aware of the interconnectedness of the global economy and it intends to become the major player as it realises its growth. Hence, there is an aggressive drive to acquire certification for International standards such as ISO 3834, ISO 45001, ISO 14001 and ISO 9001.

government, SMD owns and operates the Kao diamond mine, the fourth biggest kimberlite in Southern Africa and the largest in Lesotho.

With a remaining resource base of approximately 6.6 million carats, it has been explored to a depth of 500 metres and is located in the kingdom’s picturesque Botha Bothe district.

“The mine is situated in the heart of Lesotho’s mountain range, a spectacular landscape with

breathtaking views,” smiles Ralikariki. As well as the typical shades of yellow, pale brown and white, Kao yields diamonds in a glittering array of rare colours such as blue, purple and pink, the latter of which it has become a primary producer across the globe. Indeed, over the last couple of years, some remarkable pink stones have been recovered from the mine, including the Pink Storm, the Rose of Kao and the Pink Palesa. What’s more,

AFRICA OUTLOOK: WHAT IS THE MANAGEMENT CULTURE AT SMD LIKE?

MOHALE RALIKARIKI, CEO: “The management culture at SMD is to recognise its people for innovation, a job well done, and going the extra mile.

“It is prudent as a business that we recognise our employees’ efforts and celebrate milestones as a means of appreciating and valuing their contributions.

“The guiding principle to management is the SMD recognition framework, which was developed to ensure consistency. We believe that our corporate culture is empowering and improves employee morale.”

Cobar Manufacturing

Buhrig Southern Africa is proudly associated with Storm Mountain Diamonds through our roller mounted scrubber that provides 24/7/365 robust dependability.

Installed over 10 years ago, we appreciate the long-term loyalty of the mine and hope to provide the best possible levels of support for the next decade.

Our scrubbers have been sold throughout Africa and into North America over the past 40+ years.

Located in Benrose, Johannesburg, South Africa.

+27-11-614-6674

www.buhrig.co.za

The Ultimate Find

The Mendi Group of companies focuses on the transport and energy sectors.

The group was founded on the appreciation of the extractive nature of the African economy, with minerals being mined in Africa, transported by road and rail to the nearest port, stockpiled and shipped to customers at the port of destination.

Whilst historically, each of these functions have been performed by independent role players in each sector, Mendi has an appreciation for the holistic and consolidated approach that future supply chains are geared towards. Accordingly, Mendi companies have been structured to provide each of these services holistically and in an integrated manner under the Mendi banner.

Superb scubbing performance and reliability for diamond, copper, tantalum, gold, rutile and all other mines.

KAO MINE – A BRIEF TIMELINE

1956 – 2005 – The Kao kimberlite was discovered by Colonel Scott and his exploration team in the mid to late 1950s. After this discovery, Kao was mined by artisanals and organised co-operatives. Various commercial mining enterprises dabbled with the prospects of developing the mine, however, their exploration results showed that while the kimberlite body was diamondiferous, the grade and value of the diamonds were too low to make the development of the mine economically viable.

2006 – 2009 – Despite this, Kao Diamond Mines (KDM), a subsidiary of Global Resources Inc. acquired the mining lease for Kao from the Lesotho government in 2006. However, KDM struggled with poor production, failed to pay royalties during the period that it held the mining lease, and was eventually in debt to creditors without the cash flow or funding to service these debts.

2010 – SMD took over the mining lease at Kao in 2010 following the liquidation of KDM, and has been instrumental in redeveloping the mine to create an attractive financial environment for investors as well as employment opportunities and local development. SMD’s success is one of the unique memoirs in the history of diamond mining in Lesotho.

most of the Kao pinks do not have secondary colours, and those that do are dominated by purple.

With the closure in 2020 of the Argyle diamond mine, the world’s number one pink diamond mine situated in the remote north of Western Australia, Kao is well poised to become a major player in the world of rare pink diamonds.

Further confirmation of Kao’s role as a leading producer of pink diamonds came in October 2022 when SMD announced the recovery and sale of the Pink Eternity, an exceptional 47.8 carat pink diamond, the largest recovered at Kao to date.

“We produce gem quality diamonds, and we are famously

known for the production of top quality pink diamonds and other fancy colours,” Ralikariki tells us.

KEY OPERATIONAL ASSET

Unique in the market, SMD’s pink diamonds are of the highest quality and come in a range of sizes, giving buyers unrivalled access to premium goods that no other mine produces.

Products are sold through an international trading platform in Antwerp, Belgium, with buyers coming from across the globe.

“We pride ourselves on the quality of our diamonds and the resilient nature of our 800 employees, who are the key asset to our operations,” notes Ralikariki.

Although competition is high for specialised technical and engineering expertise, due to a scarcity of skills in Lesotho, SMD remains an employer of choice in the country and has extensive skills development programmes in place.

Equally, employee retention schemes keep the Kao mine ahead of its competitors, whilst SMD’s low turnover of staff is symptomatic of the management’s efforts to implement a people-focused human resources (HR) Strategy.

“SMD currently has an employee turnover of less than 0.5 percent, which is significantly lower than the industry norm of around 3.5 percent,” Ralikariki informs us.

Employee engagement, increased business communication, and continuous improvement of employee morale are benchmarks of the company’s HR Strategy, which is informed by the outcome of engagement surveys periodically

conducted across the business.

The HR Strategy therefore represents the voices of staff members, aims to mitigate turnover risks, and ensures a conducive working environment within the business.

A vibrant Community Investment Strategy, meanwhile, drives all of SMD’s projects, aimed at improving the livelihoods of the surrounding communities.

“We have done a lot for communities, such as building health posts, schools, supporting agricultural projects and local businesses through localised procurement, and developing skills by providing sponsorships and internships to host communities,” explains Ralikariki.

“All of these efforts have played a pivotal role in creating a positive image for the company, to remain attractive to the buyers of the product as well as the employees.”

PROCESSING UPGRADES

SMD has managed to increase its processing capacity by an impressive 40 percent over the past five years, as a result of the additional processing capacity created by a plant expansion project in 2017, and will continue to look for opportunities to expand.

Following the expansion of SMD’s processing plant, the company undertook various initiatives to stabilise production at the upgraded capacity.

“I believe that the key for us to maintain such impressive production figures lies in the motivation and dedication of our people, along with very sound maintenance practices,” affirms Ralikariki.

Since 2017, the company has also continued to invest in Kao through projects that both improve the safety of its people and increase the efficiency of the mine.

For example, SMD has recently invested in stormwater management

due to increased rainfall over the years in Lesotho, as well as installed efficient crushers at the existing plant to improve diamonds liberation.

“We are currently assessing the viability of adding even better technology to our crushing circuits that could decrease the risk of breakages, with the added benefit of better liberation,” Ralikariki reveals.

Approximately, the Kao mine has more than 18 years of operation left, which has positively influenced the facility’s operational processes.

“Having the benefit of a large resource in Lesotho (compared to other mines) definitely has a positive influence on both the mine and the people.

“Kao is, nonetheless, a low-grade primary kimberlite pipe and thus will remain marginal, hence we are constantly looking at our cost structures, especially with the high inflation that we are currently experiencing. More importantly,

however, we have to look for continuous improvement in our efficiencies on the production side, whether through higher throughput or better extraction and quality or a combination of both,” concludes Ralikariki.

By pursuing its own aggressive production targets for the year ahead, SMD hopes to convince all stakeholders to continue to invest in a rosy future for this great resource.

CLEANING UP COAL

HCI Coal is the responsible mining company pursuing growth and diversification across South Africa. We dig deep into operations behind the Palesa mine with co-CEO, Pieter Terblanche

Writer: Phoebe Harper

Project Manager: Joshua Mann

The demand for commodities is changing as technology evolves worldwide and we need to be able to take advantage of this shift in demand.”

Like the tectonic plates that shape our Earth’s continents and oceans, the demand for the extractive resources that power our world is shifting.

In the advent of the clean energy economy, fossil fuels continue to fulfil a vital role in keeping the lights on, but the future lies in alternate resources. Adapting to this transition is a major prospect in a heavily coal-dependent

ENGINEERING SUCCESS

Radian Engineering is a high-precision engineering firm with over 25-years’ experience in the mining and bulk material handling sectors. Our depth of experience means that we can provide our clients with specific and specialised solutions which require a high level of engineering expertise.

Our pursuit of excellence is driven by three core values: integrity, reliability and precision. These values govern our approach to engineering, fabrication, client and supplier relationships and our employees. We are mindful of the importance of being a responsible corporate citizen and strive to achieve this through living our values.

Contact us

country that produces over 250 million tons of coal every year, and accounts for 90 percent of the coal consumed across the entire African continent.

As a junior mining company based in South Africa (SA), HCI Coal is all too aware of this paradigm shift and is channelling the spirit of agility and diversity to maintain both relevance and competitiveness in this evolving field.

For co-CEO Pieter Terblanche, the need for HCI Coal to look and invest beyond the commodity from which the company takes its name, is a pressing challenge that it intends to meet head-on. This is particularly pertinent in a country where funding for coal projects is simply no longer available, despite SA ranking among the world’s most coal-dependent nations.

“We need to be cognisant of the fact that coal will not be the commodity of choice in the long-term due to the environmental impacts,” he says.

Consequently, HCI Coal is pursuing diversification into other, future-relevant commodities, while

preserving its proud status as a responsible mining company.

INSIDE HCI COAL

HCI Coal is 100 percent owned by Hosken Consolidated Investment (HCI), a Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed and Level 2 Black Empowerment investment holding company. A key benefit in driving the company’s need for diversification, HCI Coal benefits as a subsidiary and contributing part of the wider holding company, which comprises a varied portfolio. The HCI Group counts a diverse array of investments across sectors, from hotel and leisure to transport, mining, clothing and properties, amongst others.

Indeed, Terblanche credits this structure as a key advantage during the recent turbulence of the COVID-19 pandemic, as HCI’s various investments reinforced the overall group against volatile and unpredictable market conditions.

“It was evident during COVID-19 that the holding company had to rely on its subsidiaries to keep it going,” he says. “It is in tough times such as this that it helps to have a diversified portfolio.”

HCI COAL AND SUSTAINABILITY

SAFETY – Zero harm remains HCI Coal’s key safety objective at Palesa.

HEALTH – HCI Coal is committed to addressing the challenges of access to quality and affordable healthcare for its people. The health and wellness of its employees and contractors are of the utmost importance.

CLIMATE CHANGE – HCI Coal believes that the impact of climate change presents a serious challenge to society, its mining communities, and operations. It understands that urgent action is required to mitigate the local and global effects of climate change. The company remains focused on lowering its carbon footprint.

THE ENVIRONMENT – As a responsible corporate citizen, HCI Coal plays an active role in protecting and preserving the environment through initiatives aimed at reducing its carbon footprint.

COMMUNITIES – HCI Coal is committed to the empowerment of its people through investment in education, local employment, and the economic development of its host communities. The company’s Social and Labour Plan has a life cycle of 2020-2024, in which it has committed to construct low-cost houses in Region 7 and Thembisile Hani Local Municipality. Other community initiatives are supported through its Corporate Social Investment fund.

Championing a holistic vision, HCI Coal’s plans for growth fall into the wider picture of contributing to the progress of the HCI Group as a whole and to the benefit of its shareholders. Currently, HCI’s majority shareholder is the South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union – a trade union encompassing over 10,000 members.

ENGINEERING SUCCESS

Radian Engineering is a key partner to numerous Africa companies and processing operations throughout the South African Africa industry. HCI Coal is one of our longstanding Africa and beneficiation partners. We have been a proud provider of mechanical and civil services including structural audits, vibrating screening equipment, structural plant, environmental and pollution control solutions, across all their plants and operations.

Radian Engineering is extensively involved in the Africa operations of our broad range of clients, based on our in-depth knowledge and understanding of plant operations and the challenges faced by our mineral processing customers. Our aim is to ensure more than 95 percent production availability of the operations by providing optimally designed, manufactured, and tested equipment.

Having this level of operational experience, Radian Screens are precisely designed for our clients’ specific plant requirement. The vibrating screens are easy to operate and maintain due to the efficient design and the availability of spares and accessories.

As the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) a full range of spares and accessories are manufactured, to original specification and held in stock in our facilities throughout Southern Africa.

Due to our experience and breadth of understanding in metallurgical processing, Radian Engineering is a crucial partner to our customers in the design and construction of a new process plant. A regular service we offer is plant improvements and optimising expansions to deliver process efficiencies and increased production output.

The Africa industry is a demanding sector in which Radian Engineering is renowned for integrity, reliability, and precision. In March 2022 a major Africa client had an

urgent requirement for a large desliming banana screen as part of a vital plant expansion project. The standard lead time of a machine of this magnitude is 1000 weeks. Due to the critical nature of this machine the client needed the screen designed, fabricated, tested, and installed within four weeks. Radian delivered exactly on time and the machine was successfully commissioned.

Radian Engineering is not only a specialist in vibrating equipment but in the entire bulk material supply chain.

Our approach to delivering turnkey projects is to provide customised complete material handling solutions which include conveying systems, crushing equipment and mobile link conveyors.

Radian Engineering’s involvement in manganese loading at the harbours has led to us becoming an industry standard in rail to port transportation with our RadianSkip for bulk loading.

We have recently embarked on a Tippler refurbishment project and 2023 will see the installation of a newly fabricated Tippler at a major export hub in South Africa.

We make use of the latest parametric 3D design software to ensure functionality, longevity and to determine the maintenance requirements of our machines. Extensive analysis of our designs is performed. These include Discrete Element Modelling (DEM), Material Flow Simulations, Finite Element Analysis (FEA), Fatigue Analysis, and Kinematic and Dynamic Simulations.

All Radian Engineering designs are managed through a product lifecycle process ensuring configuration control, traceability of the product, lifecycle maintenance which allows for accurate planning and enables cost effective management of the plant and machinery.

Radian Engineering is driven by our values of integrity, reliability and precision in all our business endeavours, and we look forward to discussing your requirements with you.

HCI Coal’s primary operations are centred on its sole operating mine –Palesa – which is located 37 kilometres (km) north of Bronkhorstspruit, and forms part of the Thembisile Hani Local Municipality, bordering the Nkangala Township within the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality.

The company was originally formed in 2006, born as a joint venture with a consortium to mine coal at the Palesa site which is then sold to both local and export markets. As of financial year 2021 – 2022, the mine resumed the supply of coal to export markets on a medium-term basis.

A PARTNER OF QUALITY

As reported in 2022, coal accounts for a staggering 85 percent of SA’s electricity. Reflecting this dynamic, Palesa produced an initial supply of 4,653 tons of coal in the first month to Eskom – SA’s largest electricity public utility, when the mine became operational in 2009. Shortly after, in March 2010, Palesa signed an eightyear contract to supply 160,000 tons per month of coal to Eskom and in April, an additional 40,000 tons were negotiated.

“When Palesa went operational, the run-of-mine (ROM) qualities

restricted us to the energy market and we therefore entered into a longterm offtake agreement with Eskom,” Terblanche explains. A second offtake agreement followed in 2018 to supply 240,000 tons per month.

“Eskom is our majority market, and we intend to keep it that way,” he shares.

The original ROM quality that restricted HCI Coal to the energy market remains a point of focus and improvement. At present, the company is engaged in efforts to improve the quality of its product in terms of ash and sulphur content. The culmination of this endeavour is HCI Coal’s recent major investment into an FX Air Separation Plant to facilitate the continued partnership with Eskom, but with a higher quality product.

“The reason behind this investment is to secure offtake in the medium- to long-term, but also to support the principle of cleaner coal since this will reduce the level of harmful emissions at the power stations,” Terblanche elaborates. HCI Coal’s recent interest in a new solar farm facility to be built on the land surrounding the Palesa mine will also further support these efforts.

AFRICA OUTLOOK: COULD YOU EXPAND ON YOUR RECENT INVESTMENT IN A NEW SOLAR FARM FACILITY?

PIETER TERBLANCHE, CO-CEO: “As a responsible mining company taking into consideration the environmental impacts as well as the risk associated with power supply in the country, we made a decision to investigate the option of investing in a solar project. Palesa is situated in a rural area with a significantly high rate of unemployment, and although a solar farm would only create a limited number of jobs, it would still contribute to the local economy.

“We are in the process of securing the required environmental approvals and we expect to be in a position to begin construction in the latter part of 2023 or first quarter of 2024, depending on that process.”

TFD Capital Investments

A special thanks to Palesa Mine (HCI) for choosing to trust us with moving their products to various destinations. This has subsequently paved the way for other strategic partnerships like Scania SA and Afrit, where TFD has formed relations with these organisations to ensure timeously and safe delivery of Palesa’s products. We look forward to maintaining relationships we have and establishing new partnerships by learning more about the logistics industry in order to improve efficiency, reliability and being timeous.

For any enquiries

Contact: Tumelo Doone

Contact number:

072 413 0878 or 079 931 6224

Address: 378C Simunye Street, Kwa-Mhlanga 1022

Email Address: Tumelodoone@yahoo.com

Tumelodoone@yahoo.com

Fanaye Business Enterprise

Fanaye Business Enterprise is a professional service provider in the transportation and plant hire business. Established in 2002, Fanaye Business Enterprise has vast experience in the relevant fields.

Our mission is to provide high quality and excellent services at a reasonably lower cost to broad based clients and to uphold the competitive standards.

Our core services include:

• Transportation of coal by road, using 34 tonne side tippers

• Supply of earth moving machinery, namely ADTs, front end loaders, graders, water bowsers, excavators and dozers

One of Fanaye’s most important aspects is putting safety first. We ensure that our employees are well orientated and educated with the useful equipment and machines to be utilised. Our monitoring systems are of high standards to make sure the safety aspects are adhered to.

For more info contact: 0822607616 / 0828961383

fanaye.online@gmail.com

The visionary behind TFD Capital Investments Pty Ltd is a young, vibrant man who defines himself as an entrepreneur and explorer. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant (CA (SA)) he embarked on a journey of exploring the logistics industry, which was then the genesis of TFD Capital Investments Pty Ltd in South Africa. The company’s mission is striving to provide world class services to the clients by providing the highest standard of efficiency and reliability, and ensuring that all safety measures are applied. The company aims at addressing poverty and unemployment issues by employing local community members. TFD is currently based and operates in the Mpumalanga Province and employs 11 dedicated and hard-working individuals.

TFD is currently solely transporting coal from Palesa Mine to a number of Eskom Power stations, and we are operating seven trucks with the aim of growing the fleet and moving other commodities. We aim to grow the business by being active in other types of logistics like transportation of food, beverages and textiles to various destinations within and outside Mpumalanga.

Contact us

072

413 0878

A professional service provider in the Transportation and Plant Hire Business

Fanaye Business Enterprise has vast experience in the relevant fields.

Our mission is to provide high quality and excellent services at a reasonably lower cost to broad based clients and to uphold the competitive standards.

Our core services include:

• Transportation of coal by road, using 34 tonne side tippers

• Supply of earth moving machinery, namely: ADTs, front end loaders, graders, water bowsers, excavators and dozers

One of Fanaye’s most important aspects is putting safety first. We ensure that our employees are well orientated and educated with the useful equipment and machines to be utilised. Our monitoring systems are of high standards to make sure the safety aspects are adhered to.

Contact us 0822607616

Both undertakings will play an integral part in driving HCI Coal’s involvement in SA’s Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), as announced at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland. Pledging net zero carbon emissions by 2050, the JETP seeks to address SA’s problematic status as the world’s 13th–biggest emitter of carbon by leveraging the finances of countries including the US, Germany, France and the UK, to help expedite its energy transition.

PROUDLY LOCAL

As a responsible corporate citizen, HCI Coal’s demonstrated concern for improving its environmental impact is complimented by a company-wide emphasis on social upliftment.

“It makes sense that people within the area where our business operates should benefit,” Terblanche states. “This is not just for those who are directly employed, but also their families and the communities as a whole.”

Mindset Mining Consultants

Mindset Mining Consultants is delighted with its involvement in the erection and commissioning of the air plant at HCI Coal’s Palesa mine. Having previously provided Palesa with project management services, Mindset is proud of its continued good relationship with the mine.

Mindset assisted Palesa in the daily management of the site, troubleshooting issues as they arose and keeping track of the project budget. Mindset assisted and managed the various contractors involved in bringing the air plant online and quality management of the final deliverables.

Mindset is excited to see the mine reap the benefits of this impressive technology.

www.mindsetmining.co.za

HCI Coal comprises 154 employees and 510 contractors at present, with a relatively young management team taking the helm. Across the board, there is an explicit focus on employing locally to contribute to the economic wellbeing of communities surrounding the Palesa mine.

Committed to Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), this is set in stone by the company’s social and labour plan (SLP) and reflected by HCI Coal’s tender processes, which reinforce its stance on ensuring that local black entrepreneurs are aware and benefit from the opportunities generated by its mining activities.

Mining operations

Plant operations

Palesa coal mine

“When you initially start a project, you are not sure whether you are going to be able to recruit employees locally with the necessary skills and experience,” says Terblanche, which is a particular issue in a remote rural location such as Palesa.

“However, I am proud to say that more than 80 percent of our employees are from the local communities, including our contractors.”

In addition, HCI Coal uses the services of almost 50 local transport companies who are contracted to transport the coal directly to the company’s customers.

“It really is an injection for the local economy. This makes our employees proud and in turn means that the community then supports our

• Full-service mining consulting firm

• Proven experience in providing technical advice & engineering solutions

• We provide on-site project management services to keep projects on track & in budget

• We can take your prospect from concept-level to an operating mine

• We conduct evaluations that include all aspects associated with the investigation, design, economic analysis & resulting investment decision-making for a mine – both greenfields and brownfields

success,” he surmises. Furthering this community support is HCI Coal’s emphasis on creating a sustainable pipeline of talent through myriad opportunities for training and development. From learnerships for artisans at its mines to internships for top performing graduates, the company is committed to developing and nurturing local talent found within its immediate vicinity.

CREATING A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS

Moving into the years ahead, HCI Coal’s priorities are centred on continuing to create a sustainable business that looks beyond coal and works to reduce its environmental footprint.

“Our first key priority is to successfully commission and operate the FX plant in order to negotiate an extension of our current offtake agreement with Eskom or enter into a new agreement,” outlines Terblanche. “We also want to get some traction on our solar project over the course of the next 12 months.”

Simultaneously, HCI Coal will be keeping its eye on new ventures, evaluating upcoming mining projects whilst continuing to deliver to export markets and exploring other alternative markets domestically.

Regardless of these new pursuits and the changing face of global resources, HCI Coal remains steadfast in its commitments to prospecting for commodities while creating opportunities and investing in local communities.

“TO CREATE A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS, WE NEED TO DIVERSIFY”

– PIETER TERBLANCHE, CO-CEO, HCI COAL

PLANT HIRE

PROWESS

Reliable heavy duty plant equipment is supplied in South Africa by Sandton Plant Hire Pty Ltd. Petrus Roets, Director, tells us about the company’s diverse services and reputation for excellence

Writer: Jack Salter | Project Manager: Joshua Mann

There is currently an increased demand for contract mining work in South Africa.

This is resulting from higher commodity prices, and the lack of supply in Europe due to the RussiaUkraine war. This increased demand bodes well for the mining industry in the country over the next few years.

Policy issues are still to be resolved by the South African government, however, in order to expedite new mining projects and attract investment in the industry.

“Ideally, politics should not dictate the growth of the mining industry in South Africa. It is facing many challenges, however, mining still presents companies like ours with many opportunities,” opens Petrus Roets, Director of Sandton Plant Hire Pty Ltd. and its associated companies (Sandton).

“If all interested parties, i.e. customers, contractors, employees and communities work together, there are a lot of opportunities that can be created which in turn will contribute to the South African economy and state coffers.”

Sandton was incorporated in 1982, and in the 40 years since has established itself as one of the leading plant hire businesses in South Africa.

Today, the company offers bulk and hot material handling, crushing and screening, drilling and blasting services, as well as plant hire and earthmoving equipment to opencast mining customers.

Specialising in the supply and operational management of a wide range of plant equipment, diversity of service is extremely important to Sandton.

“Diversity is crucial as the oper ating cycles of mines, smelters and plant hire tend to be different, thus one industry subsidises the other when there is a downturn in one of the operating sectors,” Roets explains.

“We supply equipment to drill and blast, mine, crush and screen, and handle materials in the coal, chrome, iron ore, and manganese commodity markets.”

OPTIMISING PROFITABILITY

Sandton has a reputation for service excellence and combined with its associated companies, employs more than 2,200 members of staff.

Sandton is well known for its bulk buying power and solid customer relations, as well as its commitment to service delivery in a safe environment.

SANDTON ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

SANDTON PLANT HIRE –Specialising in the supply and operational management of earthmoving and mining equipment.

ALMAR INVESTMENTS – A preferred supplier and contractual custodian of earthmoving and plant hire equipment, bulk material handling, hot slag handling, shortdistance transport, and crushing and screening plants.

MPUKUNYONI MINING – Engaged in opencast mining operations of anthracite and related activities, with the largest anthracite mine in South Africa.

SANDTON MINING – Opencast mining operations of anthracite and related activities, as well as civil and earthworks.

SOMKHELE PLANT – Plant hire company operating in the opencast mining area in the anthracite market.

“We assist our customers by providing world class products and services, to ensure timely and effective production that results in customers optimising their profitability,” outlines Roets.

“We trust that we will retain all contracts where we are currently delivering services of the highest quality.”

Sandton is nevertheless targeting further new mining and smelting contracts, and Roets buoyantly informs us that, “there are always enquiries for opencast mining and plant hire work.”

As the opportunities arise, any new contracts will be tendered and assessed on a one-on-one basis by Sandton, who equally continues to invest in modernising its fleet.

This is by no means a new process, as making sure the fleet remains well maintained is part of the company’s daily processes. This strict maintenance plan is followed to ensure the maximum productivity of all equipment, and it is company policy to only use vehicles that are maintained to a high level.

Magna Tyres South Africa

Magna Tyres South Africa is a proud supplier of OTR tyres to Sandton Plant Hire Pty Ltd. This relationship has thrived for almost 10 years so far, and varies from tyres needed for graders to ADTs and RDTs. Most of the tyres are used for the SPH sizeable fleet of ADTs in SA, which are operating in various underfoot conditions like coal, manganese, platinum and others. In addition, Magna also supplies tyres for smelter applications.

Sandton Plant Hire Pty Ltd. is known for controlling the cost of ownership of their tyres. In comparison to other brands, Magna Tyres’ products have proven to be very favourable and consistent. The other main added values that Sandton Plant Hire Pty Ltd. requires are the availability of the tyres needed and short communication lines. Sandton Plant Hire Pty Ltd. and Magna Tyres share a customer focussed orientation, which has resulted in a strong professional and personal relationship.

Thanks to the good reputation of Sandton Plant Hire Pty Ltd., Magna Tyres SA was able to use them as a reference for the SA market and beyond which helped Magna Tyres SA to grow in the sub-Saharan market as well as further reinforcing the relationship.

Magna Tyres SA is grateful for the fruitful cooperation with Sandton Plant Hire Pty Ltd. in recent years and looks forward to further extending the mutual relationship.

Robert-Jan Geurink Managing Director Magna Tyres South Africa (PTY)

LTD

magnatyres.com

We keep companies on the move with the best tyre solutions.

No matter where in the world, our customers can count on our superior service and knowledge. Magna Tyres is the fastest growing brand in the earthmoving segment in Africa.

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SAFETY AT SANDTON

Safety is a determining factor in every facet of Sandton’s operational philosophy, with a specific pertinence to productivity, reputation, employee relations and financial results.

Sandton’s management is committed to maintaining a healthy and safe working environment for all employees. Together, the company strives to remain within the framework provided by relevant health and safety acts.

The machinery used by Sandton represents a number of internationally renowned manufacturers, whose products are designed to meet the strict emission and safety control regulations that apply to industrialised first-world countries.

As South Africa closely follows global standards, customers can rest assured that the plant supplied by Sandton meets local safety standards. The benefits derived from such high safety standards include enhanced ergonomics, improved productivity, conformance to quality standards, reduced operating costs, and ultimately client satisfaction.

“On an ongoing basis, we are replacing equipment to make sure our fleet is reliable to ensure maximum utilisation by our customers,” assures Roets.

“There is currently a major shortage of equipment amongst suppliers. This is obviously not an ideal position to be in, but with proper long-term planning and negotiations with equipment suppliers we are managing to invest in the fleet with new machines on a regular basis.”

Engineering support provided by Sandton includes a dedicated engineering department, support from all major original equipment manufacturer (OEM) suppliers, network support infrastructure, fully equipped rebuilding and paint shop facilities, and a 24-hour support crew.

FOUNDATION FOR 40 YEARS

Maintaining strong, professional, and ethical relationships with both suppliers and customers is of the utmost importance to Sandton.

Indeed, the mission of the company is to establish long-term partnerships with customers, by providing them with world-class products and services to ensure timely and effective production throughout Southern Africa whilst achieving maximum profitability.

Spare Power Switch to SRP and Save

Reducing costs without compromising on quality is something that Sandton Plant and other fleet owners of mining equipment continually strive to achieve.

In 2014, Spare Power, under the leadership of the late Fred Sprenzel, identified an opportunity to introduce a range of aftermarket Volvo parts suitable for Volvo Construction Equipment. Spare Power, through its exclusive distributorship of the SRP brand, provides a quality, costeffective and reliable alternative to the OEM, giving customers the ability to realise significant cost savings without impacting machine downtime.

Over the past 20 years, SRP has been manufacturing parts suitable for Volvo Construction Equipment and currently supplies more than 25,000 parts, a number which continues to grow as the range expands to meet customer needs. Within the last eight years Spare Power has established SRP in Southern Africa, as a credible, reliable, quality brand and has earned the right to service some of the largest contract mining companies in Southern Africa. It is not surprising that Sandton Plant, who is well known for sourcing quality suppliers, along with Spare Power’s existing customer base, are realising significant cost savings through the procurement of SRP parts.

Spare Power has taken this customer centric focus further, by adopting technology that has revolutionised our ability to service and engage in real-time with our customers. Spare Power has developed in-house, an industry first pricing and inventory platform which has enabled Sandton Plant and other customers to receive instant pricing and stock on hand direct to their phone, resulting in faster quote turnaround and parts supply. Enhancing efficiencies of the customers’ supply chain remains the core focus of Spare Power.

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To uphold this ethos that Sandton has now been built on for 40 years, the company employs staff that are highly competent, loyal, dedicated, trustworthy and hardworking.

“Without employees that adhere to our company ethics and values, achieving success would be a lot more challenging,” Roets acknowledges.

The forward thinking of founder, Peter Fourie, combined with the experience of the management team have likewise contributed to the success of Sandton over the course of four decades.

It also gives customers peace of mind that the service delivery will be of the highest standard, and that Sandton will always be there to support them.

With strong, committed management, Sandton ensures clients are given the very best professional and personal service.

At all times, senior management also ensures the importance of an

ethical environment, with an emphasis on ethics communicated to all employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders.

“We partake in many social activities, from supporting schools and charities to assisting skills development through training programmes and learnerships, as well as giving students potential bursaries to complete their schooling and tertiary studies,” reveals Roets.

RELIABLE SUPPLIER

Sandton’s key focus for 2023 will be to ensure an even higher standard of service delivery, health and safety compliance, and customer satisfaction.

This focus will continue to hasten on Sandton’s vision to be the best and most reliable supplier of heavy duty plant equipment in South Africa.

“Coupled with this, we want to optimise the efficiencies on each site where we work. We want to improve

our employee relationships and concentrate more on community projects around the various mining and smelter sites,” Roets shares.

Sandton pledges to achieve its vision with integrity and honesty intact, hard work, and adherence to standards set and agreed upon between the company and its customers with excellent service, reliable machinery, and efficient operators.

Sandton will continue to establish and communicate its vision for the organisation, and exemplify its core values to guide the behaviour of all.

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ORE INSPIRING PROCUREMENT

Changing the game for responsible, socially beneficial mining is Gold Fields West Africa. We discover the company’s aims to enhance communities whilst simultaneously growing the African economy

Writer: Ed Budds | Project Manager: Thomas Arnold

As an incredibly resource-rich continent, Africa requires a major shift and restructuring to be able to adequately create and share value with stakeholders, especially local communities where mining companies operate. The vast continent boasts a variety of minerals and resources with world-class companies operating mines across Africa.

“It is a widely known fact that Africa should be more advanced in development than it is today and all stakeholders in the industry have a role to play to ensure that mining benefits people, communities and countries,” opens Joshua Mortoti, Executive Vice President of Gold Fields West Africa (Gold Fields).

Therefore, it is important for countries to review and reform minerals and mining policies and enforce them strictly to ensure that proceeds from these complex operations support development and benefit host communities across Africa.

“As the President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, I know that producing member companies make significant contributions to the state in terms of corporate income taxes, mineral royalties, employee pay-asyou-earn, as well as corporate social investment,” he continues.

If these contributions are put to good use, there should be noticeable transformation in community development across Africa.

Modernisation and smart mining will ultimately prove to be vital if Africa is to transform into a competitive mining hub. Globally, the industry is increasingly adopting smart ways of mining, through innovation and technology, to boost production and improve safety.

Parallel to this, as the industry continues to grow in Africa, it presents vast opportunities to create and share value with all stakeholders, including investors, communities, employees,

suppliers, as well as other sectors dependent on mining.

Therefore, it is important for countries to review and reform minerals and mining policies and enforce them strictly to ensure that proceeds from these complex operations support development and benefit host communities across Africa.

Most importantly, the business environment must be market-friendly and well-regulated so it can be conducive to attract more investment in Africa’s mining sector.

Mortoti defines the constantly growing mining sector as both challenging and fascinating in equal measure - one of the key reasons he first became interested in the industry.

“Apart from the economic value the industry offers, there are daily challenges that need to be resolved to ensure safe production and you get a sense of relief when you have achieved your targets. It makes you aim high and become confident in your ability to overcome adversity.”

DELIVERING THE GOLD STANDARD

Sitting comfortably within the top tier of the African mining sector is Gold Fields, one of the largest private sector companies in Ghana which

currently controls 90 percent of the Tarkwa and Damang gold mines. The Ghanaian government owns the remaining 10 percent through a freecarry interest.

Gold Fields took over total control of the Tarkwa mine from the State Gold Mining Company (SGMC) in 1993 and acquired full ownership of the Damang mine in 2011. Fast forward to 2018, and the company bought 45 percent of the Asanko mine, a joint venture (JV) managed by Galiano Gold, which controls the other 45 percent of the mine, with the government holding the remaining 10 percent.

“Our Tarkwa and Damang mines are in the western region of the nation, whilst the Asanko mine is in the Ashanti region of Ghana,” introduces Mortoti.

The Tarkwa and Damang mines now employ a total workforce of almost 7,000 employees and contractors, with about 70 percent hailing from the company’s stakeholder communities. These communities are either directly or indirectly impacted by the operations of the two mines.

In a wider context, Gold Fields forms part of Gold Fields Limited, a globally diversified gold producer with mines and projects in Australia, Chile, Ghana, Peru and South Africa.

STRATEGISING FOR A BRIGHT FUTURE

Gold Fields is currently leveraging a focus on innovation and technology to improve safety, optimise assets, increase gold production, reduce costs and lower its carbon footprint.

As an industry leader, Gold Fields’ strategic intent in Ghana is to increase gold production to one million ounces annually without any injuries sustained.

“To achieve our production and safety targets, we have begun a modernisation journey through the adoption of technologies for mining, processing and power generation,” acclaims Mortoti.

One project that the company expects to greatly contribute towards this success is the installation of a fatigue management system in haul trucks to improve operator alertness and prevent accidents, injuries and fatalities.

“We are currently piloting battery electric vehicles (EVs) at the Tarkwa mine to understand their suitability for mining operations. Once we determine that EVs are robust enough for the mining environment, we intend to gradually replace all diesel light vehicles with electric ones,” he adds.

Last year, Gold Fields converted diesel-powered elusion heaters to

“WE ARE COMMITTED THAT IF WE CANNOT MINE SAFELY, WE WILL NOT MINE AT ALL AND WE ARE AGGRESSIVELY WORKING TOWARDS SAFE PRODUCTION EVERY DAY”

– JOSHUA MORTOTI, EVP, GOLD FIELDS WEST AFRICA

Joshua Mortoti, EVP

natural gas at the carbon-in-leach plant at the Tarkwa mine and now expects to expand the project this year by converting diesel-powered kilns to natural gas. These projects are part of a strategy to cut diesel usage to enable Gold Fields to reduce carbon emissions and save costs.

Elsewhere, a transformation project is also underway to extend the life of the mine at the Tarkwa facility beyond its projected 14 years. Gold Fields continues to conduct various pre-feasibility studies to determine an economically viable option to expand the resource and reserve base of its valuable Tarkwa asset.

“This project is key to the sustainability of Gold Fields’ operations in Ghana, as it will enable us to increase gold production annually and extend Tarkwa’s life-ofmine,” Mortoti tells us.

ENHANCING SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Gold Fields’ unrelenting purpose is

to ‘create enduring value beyond mining’.

This purpose statement – the company’s first - was launched in December 2021 and continues to guide its strategies and actions.

“It means we create value which is sustainable and lasts beyond our mining activities to benefit our stakeholders, including our host communities, through developmental and shared value programmes and projects,” Mortoti describes.

The Gold Fields Ghana Foundation funds these socio-economic development programmes and projects, focusing on health, education, agriculture, water and sanitation, as well as infrastructure. The Foundation’s activities range from scholarships, apprenticeships and graduate traineeships to farmer support through the Youth in Horticulture Production, mushroom, cocoa and oil palm programmes, as well as the construction of roads, schools and clinics.

TWO KEY DIFFERENTIATORS OF GOLD FIELDS

GOLD FIELDS focuses on achieving excellence in production, safety, environmental stewardship, host community and national development, local procurement and employment, as well as employee training and development. The unwavering commitment to responsible mining is at the heart of its mining business in Ghana.

IN 2022, Gold Fields’ total contribution to the government was USD$252.2 million, through payments of corporate income taxes and royalties, employee pay-as-youearn, as well as dividends. This makes it one of Ghana’s top taxpayers, which contributes to the economic wellbeing of the country.

Huni Valley Senior High School Girls’ Dormitory

A flagship project, the 360-bed girls’ dormitory for the Huni Valley Senior High School, has recently been officially handed over to the school. The facility includes four apartments for teachers and cost USD$980,000. The new dormitory will help to ease congestion in the boarding school, where about 65 percent of the student population is female.

Another flagship project, the Tarkwa & Abosso sports stadium, is also set to be handed over in the first half of this year.

The 10,400-capacity international standard stadium costs USD$16.2 million. The stadium will hopefully help to unearth sports talent in the surrounding communities and boost the local economy through ancillary businesses linked to sports events.

“The Foundation’s overarching aim is to ensure that the communities benefit from the value we create and has so far invested over USD$92.3 million in community development since it was established in 2004.”

TAKING CARE OF THE ENVIRONMENT

A critical component of sustainability in mining is environmental stewardship, which is the responsible use and protection of the environment

through the implementation of best conservation practices.

“In line with our overarching vision, we strictly adhere to regulatory requirements, best practices and international standards in environmental management,” details Mortoti.

When visiting Gold Fields’ mines, it’s impossible to miss the evidence of the company’s proactiveness to restore land that is no longer being mined, conserving biodiversity and protecting water bodies around mining areas.

The rehabilitated South Tailings Storage Facility at its Damang mine, for instance, now has cash crops, including oil palm, cocoa, coconut, citrus, leguminous trees, maize, cocoyam, plantain and vegetables, all of which are accessible to people from the surrounding communities.

“We organise regular open days to showcase our rehabilitation projects to our communities, regulators and other stakeholders, and also address concerns they might have,” he continues.

DEVELOPING LOCAL BUSINESS

Gold Fields has worked tirelessly to put in place robust local content and host community procurement and

Tarkwa mine

Damang mine

employment strategies to support the development of local businesses and the hiring of community members to work at the company.

“In 2022, 94 percent of our total procurement spend went to Ghanaian suppliers, 42 percent of which went to host community suppliers,” Mortoti elaborates.

Through these partnerships with local suppliers, Ghanaian-owned businesses, such as GASO and ZEN Petroleum, have been able to expand their fuel supply enterprises, while GENSER Energy, which supplies us with electricity, has grown exponentially since we started using

them. Likewise, Western Transport Services (WTS), a local company which offers transportation services to Gold Fields’ mines, has been able to grow and expand its services, giving free rides to children over the years as a result of this fruitful partnership.

“We help to train their staff on safety, emergency response,

inclusion programme, Gold Fields is empowering its female colleagues and providing them with access to all occupations. Female employees who demonstrate excellent leadership potential are then coached, mentored and supported to take up future leadership roles.

This is one of the company’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments, where Gold Fields has a target to increase women’s representation in its workforce to 30 percent by 2030.

“Although we are not there yet, we have consistently improved in this area over the years, reaching 11 percent in 2022. We have put in place structures and programmes to enable us to confidently achieve this target by 2030,” Mortoti says.

maintenance and business development to ensure sustainability,” he adds.

The reason for Gold Fields providing this is not just to comply with local regulations, but because it believes that when local businesses are supported and empowered to expand their operations, more jobs will be created in its host communities and the wider country at large. This creates economic wellbeing in neighbouring communities and strengthens Gold Fields’ social licence to operate.

THE POWER OF A TEAM

Gold Fields’ employees are its most valuable asset, and the company regularly invests in improving their capabilities and developing their potential through structured technical skills training, as well as tailored professional and leadership development programmes.

“Our learning and development department ensures that we have a fully functional, competent and safety-conscious workforce to help us achieve our strategic objectives,” Mortoti tells us.

Through its diversity and

A GOLDEN FUTURE

Gold Fields has identified several business objectives to target in 2023, such as optimising its existing assets, sustaining its operations and taking its current business to the next level.

“As such, we are undergoing a major restructuring to design a new operating model in the country. In addition, we have been exploring other value accretive opportunities to expand and improve the quality of our portfolio,” details Mortoti.

Vitally, this strategic goal will be underpinned by safe production –which means the company aims to achieve its production targets without endangering the safety and wellbeing of its employees and contractors.

“We are committed that if we cannot mine safely, we will not mine at all and we are aggressively working towards safe production every day,” he finishes optimistically.

Rehabilitated 33km Tarkwa-Damang road funded by the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation at a cost of USD$27 million

THE BE(A)ST OF AFRICAN MINING

We speak to Managing Director, Klaus Fischer, about Rhino Africa Mining Group’s trio of companies delivering quality contract and supply services to clients in Southern Africa

Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Joshua Mann

Africa is a mining mega-hub; copper, gold, diamond, and platinum deposits are only four of the vast swathe of key resources the continent boasts.

Across the pan-African mining sector, there are entities that play a critical role in facilitating mining services, from machinery provision and haulage to ore crushing and surface drilling.

Rhino Africa Mining Group (Rhino) is a mining specialist group of companies conducting operations in various areas of the industry, specifically in the contracting and supply services arena in Southern Africa. The group’s major operations arm is Newrak Mining (Pty) Ltd (Newrak), and its specialist operator arm is P2 Mining (Pty) Ltd (P2 Mining).

“We undertake small manganese mining operations in Zambia and maintain a consulting division in

– KLAUS FISCHER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, RHINO AFRICA MINING GROUP

Mozambique,” introduces Klaus Fischer, Managing Director of Rhino. “We are dedicated to providing the mining industry in Southern Africa with professional, skilled services and products; our mission is to exceed the expectations of our clients and provide mining services that are safe and effective in exploiting their mineral resources.”

Rhino is the result of an amalgamation of businesses. The original founding company, RAK Mining and Construction CC (RAK),

was formed in 1995 and has grown into a well-established mining contracting company. Since the introduction of the mining charter in 2002, RAK had sought various ways to help transform the business into one that ensured the full involvement and support of historically disadvantaged South Africans (HDSA).

The original aim of the company was to find a suitable Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) partner who could add value to RAK’s operations

“WE ARE DEDICATED TO PROVIDING THE MINING INDUSTRY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA WITH PROFESSIONAL, SKILLED SERVICES AND PRODUCTS”

YOUR SAFETY IS OUR PRIORITY

TIMAMOLLO TRADING & PROJECTS

not merely by shareholding, but also by participating in the active management and growth of the new BEE company. RAK, now Newrak, has been and is operating as a volume contractor, mainly operating in and between the mine’s production sections under “evergreen”, working cost budget-based contract conditions.

“In 2004, Newrak was established through the assistance of the ABSA Group incubator fund, and is now operating as a 51 percent BEE and level four compliant mining contracting company,” Fischer tells us. “During its long period of existence, Newrak has operated in many areas and locations, applying its vast experience in various commodities and mining techniques around the country, including gold, platinum and chrome mines.”

RAK’s sister company P2 Mining, a subsidiary of Rhino, was established in 2009 for the mining of old and written-off reserve shafts and boasts a proven track record of operating full shafts. Today, P2 Mining has secured the management and operation of a chrome mine in the Eastern Limb of the Bushveld complex in South Africa. P2 Mining operates under its subsidiary P2 Mining BRL Special Purpose Vehicle (Pty) Ltd.

DTH DRILLING

For Rhino, there are two main focus areas that the group is confident will provide sustainability for its line of work. The first of these is its turnkey mining solutions; Rhino took over the management and operations of two marginal shafts in the Western Limb of the Bushveld complex from 2010 to 2019, until the remaining marginal reserves were completely extracted.

“This provided us with the knowledge, skills and expertise to roll out this business model to a chrome operation in the Eastern Limb, but in the opposite fashion,” explains Fischer. “After lockdown in 2020, we

took over the management and operations of a chrome mine, where the surface reserves had been mined out and where the underground section was started up by a competitor.

“We took over the mining and further development and construction of underground and surface infrastructure, including surface workshops and underground declines, on an all-inclusive basis, including management, human resources, stores and materials, and engineering and maintenance.”

The second point of focus for Rhino is the establishment of a drilling division, albeit one that is relatively small compared to the larger specialised drilling competitors. Despite this, Rhino’s drilling operations take care of a niche gap in the market.

“Where the position, circumference and/or length of an ore pass, bunker, settler or ventilation hole is of such a nature that it is not feasible for conventional drop raising methods, or too expensive for blind hole boring, we utilise special down-the-hole (DTH) drilling equipment of a size which can be deployed in confined spaces, or which can be rapidly set up for drilling drop raise holes on surface,” Fischer says.

AFRICA OUTLOOK: COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR CAREER BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION TO THE MINING INDUSTRY?

KLAUS FISCHER, MANAGING DIRECTOR: “My father worked in the German coal mines after the Second World War to save money to emigrate to South Africa, so that sensitised my interest in mining. I also grew up on a farm near the Cullinan Diamond Mine, east of Pretoria. When I finished school in the 1980s, mining was a growing industry in the country and bursaries for mining engineers were easy to get.

“I received a bursary from Gold Fields South Africa and started my mining career in the deep-level gold mines. When I was sent for three months to Germany on a postgraduate exchange programme, I was seconded to Thyssen Schachtbau, a contracting company performing shaft sinking and underground contract mining.

“After my return to South Africa, I spent three years in underground coal mining, then one year in chrome mining and back to deep-level gold mining, from where I resigned in 1995 and joined up with a colleague to form, what is today Newrak, a subsidiary of holding company Rhino.”

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Examples of excavations successfully completed are 4.5-metre to seven-metre diameter underground bunkers and three-metre diameter settlers, surface ventilation holes for shallower chrome, platinum and coal mines, and intermediate lengths of ore passes too long for conventional drilling equipment, which also intersect geological features.

Rhino is currently in the process of setting up a DTH machine in an ultra-deep gold mine to drill and blast ore passes of 70-metre depth, which will shorten the time and reduce the cost for the development of such excavations considerably.

THE KEY ASSET

As a next step in the evolution of the business, Rhino is planning to potentially acquire any marginal or mothballed mining asset, which can be brought back into production quickly and with limited resources.

“In this regard, we have been part of the bidding process for a few assets in the past, albeit unsuccessfully,” Fischer tells us. “We are presently also part of a consortium of parties looking at various other assets in the coal, gold and chrome space and have conducted due diligence for a number of potential projects.”

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On top of Rhino’s sights for acquisition, the company’s people remain at the core of its business. Rhino views its employees as the most valuable asset of the company and regards them as a team of experts. The team is empowered by their involvement within the business, through the supervision of their management, and collective production targets that keep them collaborating as a team.

All of Rhino’s employees participate in bonus schemes; exceptional performance is rewarded with recognition tokens and, where the skill set allows it, promotion.

“Where regulatory qualifications for future advancement are required, we encourage and assist potential candidates to pass the required exams,

as we strongly believe that promotion should come from within. This ensures that our heads of department (HODs) and supervisors have a different mindset,” Fischer says.

“To assist management to ensure that all labour issues are handled in accordance with best labour practices, we have a very passionate and professional human resources (HR) department at everyone’s disposal.”

Whilst emerging from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic some 18 months ago, with the accompanying financial strain of guiding a workforce of over 2,000 through it, Rhino’s key priority is to recover some of the financial losses incurred over the period by instilling a culture of continuous improvement in all facets of the business.

Taking the above into account, projects requiring a high labour component with relatively low margins will be reduced, and increased focus will be given to projects with a higher degree of mechanisation, as well as growing the drilling division.

Lastly, acquiring a resource asset, or even a possible merger with a resource owner who needs a company to operate the asset, will be pursued.

RHINO

admin@newrak.co.za

www.rhinoafricamining.co.za

GREEN WITH GRAPHITE

We discuss the responsible and sustainable transformation of mining with Jacob Deysel, Managing Director and CEO of Mineral Commodities

Writer: Jack Salter | Project Manager: Thomas Arnold

The mining industry today has enormous potential to transform and be part of a more sustainable future.

Historically, mining has had a less than desirable reputation, but what is often neglected is the fact that the industry is the raw material source of the majority of everyday products, materials and technologies that make modern living possible.

Mining has come a long way in rectifying its reputation, but what excites Jacob Deysel, Managing Director and CEO of Mineral Commodities (MRC), is being part of the responsible and sustainable transformation of the industry.

“The driving force for me now is about creating a legacy, and the mining industry is well-positioned to make a difference not just today, but for generations to come,” he shares.

“There is no other industry that has the potential to drive economic development, uplift host communities, or the ability to make such massive changes to ensure sustainability and responsibility, not to mention the importance of mining to sustainably source the materials required for energy systems and a low-carbon future.”

To fuel this transition, there is an urgent need to ramp up the production of critical minerals and metals.

This is one of Deysel’s biggest daily motivations, knowing that MRC can make a lasting difference where it operates, both in the communities and more broadly through supplying materials to build a sustainable future.

“I am proud to be leading MRC, as we have taken exactly this approach,” he affirms.

MRC’s mission proudly states its intent in this regard: to be a leader in the transformation of mining towards ensuring a positive contribution to a sustainable world.

“We need young leaders with progressive and outside-the-box thinking to drive the industry to support a responsible approach, and become a player towards a sustainable world.

Graphite ore

No other industry has this much potential, and it’s extremely exciting to be part of this transition,” continues Deysel.

HIGH-GRADE DEPOSITS

As a mining engineer, Deysel is extremely fortunate to have worked in several roles across a number of exciting commodities and companies in the mining industry over the past 20 years.

But MRC is unique, with established operations in both heavy minerals as well as the critical battery minerals space.

“We have excellent, world-class assets with our two operational mines, the Tormin mineral sands operation on the west coast of South Africa, and Skaland, our graphite mine in Norway,” Deysel informs us.

“We also have an additional graphite development project in Munglinup, Western Australia (WA), and exciting exploration upside at both our existing heavy minerals and battery minerals operations,” he adds.

Tormin consists of a number of high-grade placer beach and strandline mineral sands deposits, hosting some of the richest grades of naturally occurring zircon, ilmenite, rutile, magnetite, and garnet.

The high-grade placer beach deposits at Tormin are unique due to the rate that mining areas are naturally refurbished, and the speed at which the minerals actively replenish.

Heavy minerals are regularly replenished by new sediments from deeper waters, which occurs as a result of the naturally high dynamic nature of sediment transport

processes on beaches in this area.

“Tormin has grown to include just over 300 employees, and last year alone we contributed over ZAR400 million in local procurement expenditure in South Africa,” shares Deysel.

MRC is set apart from many of its peers in the industry by Tormin, as it has been a cashflow generative heavy mineral sands operation ever since its inception in 2015.

There is excitement around the recently announced, fully funded growth projects at Tormin, targeting both increased scale and profitability which will further strengthen performance.

DEMAND FOR BATTERY MINERALS

Skaland, meanwhile, is the only graphite mine in Scandinavia, the biggest crystalline graphite producer in Europe,

“BEING PART OF THE GREEN TRANSITION AND KNOWING WE CONTRIBUTE TO MAKING THE WORLD MORE SUSTAINABLE IS CLOSE TO MY HEART”

– JACOB DEYSEL, MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CEO, MINERAL COMMODITIES

Tormin consists of a number of high-grade placer beach and strandline mineral sands deposits

and the fourth-largest producer globally outside of China.

MRC acquired Skaland Graphite AS, the owner and operator of the Skaland mine, in 2019, and the development of the Munglinup graphite project builds on this acquisition.

Just over 40 people are employed at MRC’s Skaland operations, which is a significant economic driver in the host community.

“It is a further step towards an integrated, downstream value-adding strategy, which aims to capitalise on the fast-growing demand for sustainably manufactured lithium-ion

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

MRC is committed to being a responsible corporate citizen, implementing strategies that focus on key aspects such as health, education, and infrastructure.

Substantial initiatives are made in local communities and various programmes in order to provide practical and collaborative support, and encouragement for further growth.

“These are all initiatives that invest in our future and leave a lasting and positive impact,” Deysel says.

MRC’s engagement with communities enables people to generate and maintain sustainable livelihoods.

batteries,” Deysel says.

Decarbonisation is certainly one of the largest current megatrends when it comes to the battery minerals sector.

Europe, for instance, is seeing unprecedented increases in planned lithium-ion battery production capacity, driving the demand for increase graphitic anode manufacturing capacity on the continent.

Not only is MRC one of very few companies with a fully permitted graphite mining operation, but Skaland is also one of the highestgrade flake graphite operations in the world, accounting for around two percent of global annual production.

“We have proven environmentally friendly anode production technology, established key partnerships, and are in the process of qualifying anode samples with customers.

“We are therefore extremely well positioned to become one of the most sustainable graphitic anode producers in Europe, to take advantage of the green transition, and to responsibly contribute to global demand for battery minerals. We will combine our world-class graphite assets in Europe and Australia to achieve economies of scale,” adds Deysel.

The existing European graphite operation at Skaland shouldn’t be underestimated, as MRC believes it can be expanded from 16 kilotons per annum (ktpa) to 25ktpa.

Equally, a definitive feasibility study completed in 2020 for the Munglinup graphite project, with an estimated production target of 52ktpa, presents a significant production upside.

“Both these deposits have significant expansion potential. We completed an anode production pre-feasibility study in 2010 with targeted commercial production late in 2024, ramping up conservatively to between 40 and 70ktpa of anode material production,” Deysel outlines.

“Given that Europe requires between 800 and 1,000ktpa of anode material, our production will be less than 10 percent of demand, leaving significant room for growth.”

FUNDING TO SUPPORT GROWTH

For both MRC’s heavy minerals and battery minerals divisions, funding support has recently been announced for the company’s growth strategy.

MRC’s priority is on near-term cashflow generative and future growth strategies within the heavy minerals division, ahead of mediumterm future growth strategic projects in battery minerals.

“Regarding our heavy minerals division, we are in the process of finalising the extension of our operations beyond the existing beaches to target our Tormin Inland Strand deposits,” Deysel details.

“This will greatly improve our flexibility, enhance our production profile, and is due to be commissioned in Q4 2022.”

The new funds will be applied to a third primary concentration plant (PCP), increasing overall plant capacity and targeting an increase in concentrate production.

Downstream integration will also transition into higher value finished products that target enhanced profitability, whilst studies for a future bulk mining unit will target a significant increase in production profile to ensure all available minerals are mined.

The funding will also enable resource and reserve development, to support a larger production footprint.

“As far as the battery minerals division is concerned, funding will enable the development of a battery anode pilot plant, utilising Skaland and Munglinup graphite feed,” reveals Deysel.

“It de-risks our commercial-scale development of battery anodes, delivers larger qualification samples that will support and secure battery anode offtake agreements, and

accelerates the development and financial investment decision of our Munglinup graphite project.”

DIVERSIFICATION STRATEGY

MRC’s heavy minerals division has been instrumental in the company’s battery minerals development.

This was not by chance either, but part of a carefully considered diversification strategy, having recognised early on that there are enormous opportunities being brought about by the decarbonisation of transport.

“Graphite specifically is being overlooked by the market. Everyone is aware of lithium and the excitement around it, however graphite makes up more than 50 percent of the active ingredients in lithium-ion batteries,” Deysel says.

“It is important to understand MRC is not simply another graphite project company. The advantage we have is the fact that we have an established operation in Europe.”

Indeed, whilst many of MRC’s competitors have permits or prospect rights in Europe, merely having a deposit or permit does not translate into a mine.

Further, not all graphite is suitable for producing anode material, there are significant barriers to entry, and Europe is relatively new to the mining space.

“There is a strong sentiment towards “not in my backyard”, so when we developed our strategy, we looked at our competitive advantages,” explains Deysel.

Aside from having an established, strategically positioned operating mine, MRC looked at scale, technology, operational capacity, and marketing.

MRC’s Munglinup project complements its diversification strategy as it gives the company further scale, whilst developing an anode strategy moves MRC from mining into technology.

“This is where our collaboration with the Australian national science agency, CSIRO, allowed us to develop a proven, environmentally friendly anode production technology, which is now at its pilot stage.

“We are also collaborating with Mitsubishi, an established market leader in the production and supply of anode materials with extensive expertise in anode material qualification, marketing and sales,” Deysel says.

REAL INTENT

Another aspect that MRC considers is its carbon footprint. Norway has been identified as the location of its downstream anode production facilities, giving the company access to renewable energy and supporting its strong environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals.

There are also security and supply concentration considerations, with close to 100 percent of all anode material being produced and/or supplied by China.

“With both our Skaland graphite operation in Norway and Munglinup development project in WA, located in what we consider Tier 1 locations, MRC is extremely well positioned to take advantage of the lithium-ion battery opportunity in Europe,” states Deysel.

Mining companies in the future will not be able to exist if leaders do not start to take the importance of ESG to heart.

“I am talking about real intent, not simply greenwashing the business. Our vision for MRC is to pivot the business with a strong ESG focus, engrained as part of the MRC fabric.

“This is an enormous task, but it is exciting, and I see this as a crucial part of the new era of mining,” Deysel beams.

Collaboration with the Australian national science agency, CSIRO, allowed MRC to develop an anode production technology

MRC’s commitment to the sustainable and responsible production of critical and industrial minerals and products represent a clear intent for mining and industrial practices.

This will require strong leadership to drive a cultural shift towards accountability, a deep understanding of the environmental and socio-economic impact of the company’s operations on stakeholders, and a move towards collaboration and cooperation.

Highly focused on good corporate citizenship, whilst maintaining its focus on long-term sustainable returns for all stakeholders, MRC’s

core values of zero harm, respect, integrity, innovation, and inclusion as the foundation for all its actions are unwavering.

“Repositioning the company as a diversified, sustainable and responsible producer of critical and industrial minerals lowers investment risk and is intended to attract a larger potential investor target market,” Deysel tells us.

“I do not think investors currently understand or fully appreciate MRC’s value proposition. We are a diversified mining company with established operations in both heavy and battery minerals. As we see it, we offer

investors an immediate cashflow opportunity with significant mediumterm growth potential.”

MRC’s strong focus on ESG is one of four key objectives to revive the company, unlock its potential, and make it a stronger, sustainable, consistent, and responsible company.

As well as continuing to improve its social license, empathetic of its impact on communities and achieving best practice compliance with sustainability frameworks and good corporate citizenship, MRC seeks consistently superior operational performance, and profitable growth opportunities.

“Throughout our portfolio, we will seek vertical integration, from mining and associated processing to valueadded downstream products and to profitably grow our footprint.

“This is an exciting journey we have embarked on, and I have a firm belief that MRC is a company that sets itself apart from its competitors,” Deysel concludes.

“THE DRIVING FORCE FOR ME NOW IS ABOUT CREATING A LEGACY, AND THE MINING INDUSTRY IS WELL-POSITIONED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE NOT JUST TODAY, BUT FOR GENERATIONS TO COME”

– JACOB DEYSEL, MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CEO, MINERAL COMMODITIES

REVITALISING THE RED METAL

As Zambia seeks to increase domestic copper production, we look at what fresh funding and infrastructure investments mean for Mopani Copper Mines Plc and the nation

Writer: Jack Salter | Project Manager: Joshua Mann

One of the most versatile materials on the planet, copper dates back more than 10,000 years.

Humanity’s oldest metal continues to be the go-to choice for a variety of domestic, industrial, and high-tech applications today, owing to its high ductility, malleability, thermal and electrical conductivity as well as its resistance to corrosion.

Copper is thus an essential element of everyday life, a proven plumbing and construction material that is used throughout homes, hospitals, public transport, office spaces, and even renewable energy sources such as solar panels and wind turbines.

In Zambia, Africa’s second-largest producer of copper and a country highly dependent on mining, President Hakainde Hichilema has set ambitious copper production targets

since he came to power in August 2021, efforts that are expected to have a positive impact on the country’s overall economic growth. Seeking to boost copper production to three million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) by 2032, up significantly from the current levels of around 850,000 Mtpa, his government has now sourced the funds to increase output at one of Zambia’s largest mining firms, Mopani Copper Mines Plc (Mopani). A multi-faceted mining investment with operations in the Kitwe and Mufulira districts, Mopani is considered a critical asset for the Zambian copperbelt. The company’s operations encompass the entire chain of copper production, from extracting the ore underground to concentrating, smelting, refining and packaging the red metal for export.

The funding sourced for Mopani is one of the steps being taken by the Zambian government to address the challenges facing the industry, such as declining copper prices, high production costs and labour disputes.

It represents a positive development for the mining sector and the country’s economy, with Mopani one of the region’s largest employers whose success is critical to the livelihoods of thousands in the area.

DEEP SHAFT UPGRADES

In the same year that Hichilema became the seventh President of Zambia, ZCCM Investment Holdings Plc (ZCCM-IH), a diversified mining investments and operations company, assumed 100 percent ownership of Mopani.

With a rich history in mining and

WE ARE MARKET LEADERS

Limestone Resources Limited is Zambia’s leading lime producer. Located in Ndola, its product lines include quicklime, hydrated lime, and aggregates.

MINING EQUIPMENT SUPPLIERS, SERVICERS & PROSPECTING MINING DEVELOPERS

Lornbase Mining and Construction Limited is a company specialized in the supply and service of tools and equipment in the mining and construction industry.

Lornbase Mining and Construction Limited have immense responsibilities in developing and distribution of high quality equipment, tools and accessories for well-known and high profile brands both in the mining and construction industry.

Lornbase Mining and Construction limited was registered in August 2000 at PACRA Registrar in Lusaka. Wholly owned by Local Zambians.

Lornbase is a Business partner with Mopani Copper Mines Plc A ZCCM –IH Subsidiary since 2001 to date.

WHAT WE OFFER:

• Skilled Labour Hire – Maintenance and Repair of Underground Loaders, Dump Trucks, Utility Vehicles

• Supply of parts of Underground Loaders , Dump Trucks, Utility Vehicles and Other

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• Equipment Hire both surface and Underground

• Reclamation works underground

(Loaders and Dump Truck: Loaders ST3.5 - 3.1m3 x 02 Internal Tip, Loaders ACY-3L - 3.1m3 x 02 Main Tip, Dump truck TH320 x 01)

• Load and Haul of Copper ore underground. (Loader and Dump truck Hire of New Machines: Toro LH410 x 02, TH330 x 03) by December 2022

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UNLOCKING POTENTIAL, POWERING DEVELOPMENT

Copperbelt Energy Corporation Plc (CEC) is a Zambian power generation, transmission, distribution and supply company, operating in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia and the Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the region’s major supplier of power to the mining industry. CEC operates in the DRC market through its subsidiary, CEC-DRC Sarl. The privately-owned power utility is a member of the Southern African Power Pool, a pioneering international power trader in Southern Africa and publicly traded on the Lusaka Securities Exchange with more than 5,000 investors.

Tel: +260 212 244556 | +260 212 244956

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processing that dates back to the 1930s, Mopani’s assets in Kitwe and Mufulira include underground mines, concentrators, a smelter and a refinery.

People are Mopani’s most important asset and the founding pillar of the company’s future success, without whom it cannot achieve its vision of becoming a world class mining operation delivering superior value to all stakeholders.

In keeping with this bold vision, Mopani’s infrastructure continues to be upgraded through investment in new technologies to increase production and improve efficiencies.

The new infrastructure includes three deep shafts – Synclinorium, Mindola and Henderson – which were sunk and equipped between 2014 and 2021 to replace the aging infrastructure at both the Nkana and Mufulira mine sites.

By replacing the existing shafts, Mopani will be able to access ore

reserves at a greater depth, increase hoist production capacity, and reduce the cost of production.

As a result, the Synclinorium and Mindola deep shafts at the Nkana mine, and the Henderson shaft at the Mufulira mine, are expected to extend the life of the mine by over 25 years, improve production efficiencies and safeguard existing jobs, while guaranteeing Mopani’s continued contribution to growing the Zambian economy.

CONCENTRATOR INVESTMENT

Mopani also operates three concentrators, two at the Nkana mine in Kitwe and one at the Mufulira mine.

Ahead of the fresh funding secured this year for Mopani, the new USD$220 million Nkana Synclinorium concentrator in Kitwe was commissioned in March 2022 along with further new equipment, and is expected to improve both recoveries and production efficiencies.

More specifically, the state of the art automated concentrating facility will improve concentrate grades from 23 percent to 28 percent, copper recoveries from 89 percent to 94 percent, and concentrator capacity to 4.2 Mtpa of ore milled to support new shafts production.

It features a plethora of technologies, including concentrate regrind to improve final concentrate grades, two Jameson cleaners, Larox pressure filtration, sampler design to facilitate full metal accounting, and an on-stream analyser system.

The old concentrator, operational since the 1930s, needed upgrading to a new and modern uprated facility to handle the increased production volume from the newly commissioned Synclinorium shaft and has since been placed under care and maintenance.

Copper concentrates from the new Nkana Synclinorium concentrator are trucked to Mufulira, and together with

those from the Mufulira concentrator, are fed into the smelter at the mine site for smelting and processing to produce copper anodes.

IMPROVING PRODUCTION

The future of Mopani lies in expansion projects such as the Synclinorium concentrator and three new deep shafts, which the company has been undertaking since 2013 with a view to extending the lifespan of the mine.

Mopani’s desire is to continue investing in infrastructure development, to cement itself as a world class and proudly Zambian mining operation.

The outlook for 2023 and beyond remains positive for Mopani, with copper prices projected to hold in the short to medium term mainly due to expected high demand for the metal in the solar and electric vehicle (EV) industries.

Mopani’s ore reserves also

remain very attractive, even before considering further exploration, and once the three key shaft sinking projects at Synclinorium, Mindola and Mufulira are complete and operating at full production capacity, the company’s full potential will be unlocked whilst its production and financial performance will be completely transformed.

Now these projects have been fully commissioned, the company is confident that its production levels, efficiencies, safety, and the life of the mine will see significant improvements upon completion in line with the government’s explicit determination to increase copper output.

Bolstered by fresh investment, Mopani is optimistically looking forward to the fruition of the three new shafts, as well as the newly completed Synclinorium concentrator, to improve copper production in Zambia.

METH ENG. LIMITED, as of August 2006, incorporated as a company limited by shares. The principle business of the company is general contracting, supplying and trading.

METH ENG. LIMITED offers engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and maintenance services and operations in the open pit and underground mining environment as well as civil engineering.

INGRAINED

IN THE NATION

Beer is at the heart of Mozambique. Leading the beverage market across the country, Cervejas de Moçambique seeks to build its business alongside the nation’s communities and smallholder farmers. We speak to Country Director, Sandro Assis to learn more

Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Kyle Livingstone

Mozambique is a nation in love with beer.

At the heart of the country’s beverage industry, Cervejas de Moçambique (CDM) stands as a brewer and lead player in the beverage market that seeks to not only expand its business, but help grow and develop communities across Mozambique.

CDM is part of the wider AB InBev group of beverage companies that span the African continent, and its portfolio includes iconic brands such as 2M, Laurentina, Manica, and Impala, as well as regional brands like Castle Lite, Flying Fish and Black Label, and global names such as Corona, Stella Artois and Budweiser. The company’s suite of beverage products is available to around 50,000 customers across Mozambique, and CDM owns four breweries. One is located in the capital city, Maputo, and the rest are located in Marracuene, Beira and Nampula, employing over 1,200 members of staff.

“Mozambique is always a very exciting place to work in. There is a clear opportunity to increase the per capita consumption in the years to come mainly in the central and northern regions,” begins Sandro Assis, Country Director of CDM.

“Our history has included more than 20 years of achievement and struggle for a better Mozambique. We are building a profitable and lasting company, operating with excellence and efficiency in everything we do, always with our consumers and employees in mind – they are at the centre of our values.”

The name of the company has always been among the most prominent in Mozambique, and CDM works daily to maintain this position of relevance in the country’s business ecosystem, from both a quantitative and qualitative point of view as it increasingly becomes a leading actor in terms of social responsibility.

CERVEJAS DE MOÇAMBIQUE FOOD & BEVERAGE

ABOUT AB INBEV – THE WORLD’S LARGEST BREWER

AB InBev, CDM’s largest shareholder and the world’s largest brewer, is a Belgian-Brazilian beverage and beer multinational company created in 2004 by the merger of Belgian Interbrew and Brazilian Ambev.

The company is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, with a global office in New York, regional headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil, and locations in other major world capitals.

AB InBev is the world market leader holding a considerable percentage of the beer market. It is the dominant brewer in Europe, Asia and the Americas and more recently in Africa, following the purchase of the Anglo-South African SABMiller.

AB InBev has more than 400 beverage brands, among which Corona, Stella Artois, and Budweiser stand out. Overall, it employs more than 200,000 people.

A COMMUNITY-CENTRIC CAREER

Assis’ own experience in the beverage industry is a lifelong story. In 1997, he worked for a company called Cervejaria Antarctica, based in Brazil, drawn in by the unique dynamism of the business and industry. He was certain that there was a place he wanted to build both his career, and a better world, not only for himself, but also for communities.

“Since then, I have been part of this amazing industry; from the creation of Ambev, a merger of Cervejaria Brahma and Cervejaria Antarctica becoming the largest beverage company in Central and South America, to AB InBev today as the largest in the world,” Assis tells us fondly.

“I have always worked in dynamic environments that have an energising effect on me, and I love working at the front of the industry where our brands perform and where we

receive real-time feedback from our consumers’ experiences.”

After starting his career in Brazil, where Assis worked across five different cities, his journey was further enriched through exposure to AB InBev’s business in different locations around the world, such as Ecuador, Guatemala, Nigeria, and Mozambique at present.

“These humbling experiences were unique opportunities to unlearn and relearn processes that I have been exposed to my entire life that, due to cultural, economic and geographic differences, needed to be reinvented,” Assis reflects.

“Currently, working with such an excellent and passionate team in Mozambique, I have the exhilarating opportunity of managing the number one beer company in the country – CDM. Our high-quality and differentiated brands are market leaders, with 2M heading the family as one of the biggest power brands

in the world. It is historically and culturally strongly connected to this beautiful country that I am blessed to live in. To be part of this amazing transformation is, indeed, a dream made true!”

AN OPPORTUNE INDUSTRY

Beer is central to Mozambican life and tied to its culture, yet despite this, challenges prevail in the country’s beverage space.

According to Assis, the industry in Mozambique is partially suffering like all others due to the global economic crisis. Inflation is above expectation, however, CDM believes that the country has very strong plans to reactivate the economy in 2023.

“When looking at other AB InBev countries in Africa and even around the world, Mozambique is standing out as a country with great opportunities to grow at all levels,” Assis states. “CDM’s history as part of this country for so many years will

Matola Cargo Terminal, SARL is a Mozambican company operating in the market for more than 26 years, providing a tailor made Logistics supply chain solution in warehousing, cargo handling and industrial equipment sales, rental and maintenance

Confidence and competency in services provision are basic premises to ensure a good partnership relashionship with our clients We built and earned the trust every day, with commitment and dedication in response to the demand of the mozambican market

MCT is a proud partner of Cervejas de Moçambique (CDM) for the past 25 years, providing a fleet of 60 forklifts, parts sales, rental and maintenance Our dedicated, experienced and well trained team of professionals available on site providing quick response time with excellency and effectiveness

We are present in the main regions of the country: Maputo, Beira, Chimoio, Nampula and Tete

We are exclusive representatives of Toyota cargo handling equipment for Mozambique, promoting world-renowned brands, namely: Toyota Forklift, BT, Konecranes, Flexi & Raymond

We also provide solutions in the Energy & Industrial Cleaning (HST) sector, exclusively representing the following equipment:

Energy: NEW WAY and GRUPEL Generators

Industrial cleaning : HAKO

make sure that we keep supporting economic and social growth.”

With its sights set on the growth of the nation’s economy in line with the beverage business, CDM is expanding its reach into the central and northern regions of Mozambique, as the areas with the lowest per capita consumption of beer.

CDM sees these regions as markets with clear opportunities to increase its offerings to consumers at the right price to grow its customer base across the country and spread joy while doing so.

“We believe that investments from the oil and gas industry will bring growth and activate the beverage industry in these regions in the years to come,” Assis adds. “We are very aware of this and the need to be ready to be able to capture such an opportunity.”

SYMBOL OF THE NATION

Agriculture is one of Mozambique’s

core sectors ingrained into the lives of its people. According to the World Bank, 2020 saw over 69 percent of the population work in agriculture, and it is one sector represented on the national flag in the form of a hoe. Farming is also one of the major sectors that supports the beverage industry, and by consequence CDM, across many markets in Africa.

When considering the makeup of beverages and different brands, agricultural products comprise a significant portion of the input materials. Main ingredients include malted barley, maize, cassava and sugar, all of which stem from agricultural efforts. Without malt and adjuncts (un-malted or grain products used to supplement the primary mash ingredient in brewing), CDM would not be able to produce the high-quality products that it offers to its customers. Therefore, it follows that the company must prioritise agriculture.

“Due to climate conditions in Mozambique, we are unable to source barley locally, but maize and sugar are 100 percent locally sourced through several stakeholders we have partnered with in the industry,” Assis explains. “For maize specifically, our stakeholders run local smallholder farmer programmes where farmers get support for their need to grow great quality maize that meets our specifications to brew beer.”

These farmers across different communities operate on small pieces of land. The type of support they receive from CDM’s partners includes sourcing good quality seed for the upcoming planting seasons, accessing agrochemicals to control pests, having access to new developments in the agricultural industries such as new techniques to improve crop quality, efficient harvesting machinery and mechanisms to minimise losses and finally, a market to buy their products.

“CDM provides a guaranteed market for these farmers and as a result ensures that farmers can plant maize every season with a guarantee that their product will be bought for as long as it meets the specifications we have shared with the market,” Assis adds.

Community and environment lie at the heart of CDM. The company is in the process of reviving local cassava starch production in a sustainable way and this will involve the formation of a cassava small-scale farmer programme, similar to efforts CDM has implemented in other countries where it has enjoyed a lot of success. The programme will entail providing farmers with specific seedling cuttings of approved varieties that have high yields to extract for the benefit of both the farmer and the end customer.

“Similar to the maize programmes run by our partners in the industry, we

will also provide farmers with support throughout the growing process of the crop and guarantee a market at the end,” Assis elaborates.

“Our cassava beer, Impala Mandioca, is one of the growing brands and this has prioritised the need for us to establish a sustainable supply chain for cassava and ensure that the local communities benefit from the existence of CDM in Mozambique. The cassava programme will have a workstream that will focus on getting the local farmers to be skilled, connected and financially empowered.”

EMPOWERMENT EFFORTS

Communication, knowledge, and the best farming practices are key to furthering agricultural growth and betterment in Mozambique, and CDM acknowledges this. The company will involve smallholder farmer participation in an SMS/

“ MOZAMBIQUE IS STANDING OUT AS A COUNTRY WITH GREAT OPPORTUNITIES TO GROW AT ALL LEVELS”

– SANDRO ASSIS, COUNTRY DIRECTOR, CERVEJAS DE MOÇAMBIQUE

voice-messaging programme with the aim to ensure that farmers have access to information about the industry and are able to receive instant communication on critical matters that concern them.

“Through this service, farmers can receive information about weather forecasts to help decide when and how to apply their crop management practices and also know about the pricing of their commodities in the market so that at any time they can know how much the commodities are worth and sell them at competitive pricing to aggregators,” Assis details.

While communication focuses on keeping farmers in the loop with industry updates, CDM’s financial

empowerment efforts will address farmer training on basic business and financial skills. In this way, farmers will be given an opportunity to subscribe to appropriate financial and risk mitigation products such as bank accounts, mobile money accounts and crop insurance.

“We will keep investing in what is working and delivering amazing results,” Assis concludes. “Our main brand 2M is performing above expectation and leading our company countrywide. Our high-end brands such as Stella Artois, Budweiser and Corona are growing exponentially.

“Lastly, the Impalas will keep growing in the central and northern regions through the expansion of our

route to market to rural areas.

“All the while, CDM will continue to support its agricultural communities with the tools, skills, knowledge and practices they need to grow and succeed in the industry for a better future.”

FRESH, FRICTIONLESS, AND FUTURE-FACING

Writer: Phoebe Harper | Project Manager: Bex Middleton

Informal retail accounts for approximately 80 percent of the entire retail industry across Africa. Yet despite this overwhelming majority, it is an industry segment that is ripe for improvement and a heightened degree of efficiency, particularly in connecting the myriad small retailers that form a significant portion of that overall network.

With a specific emphasis on the food and drink retail space, this is exactly what technology-led enterprise, Twiga Foods (Twiga), aims to do, enhancing Africa’s food security by optimising supply chains and connecting consumers, vendors, and suppliers in the most efficient way possible.

As CEO and co-Founder of this

visionary enterprise, Peter Njonjo oversees a standout operation in pursuit of cross-continental industry change.

“We are the only player on the continent that’s delivering fresh produce at scale. Our trucks cover about 12,000 kilometres a day. For context, that’s like going around the world every three days,” he states.

Since its inception in 2014, Twiga has grown to encompass over 20 operations in both Kenya and Uganda, counting over 140,000 customers across both geographies and supplying over 12,000 of those customers on a daily basis. Supporting this gargantuan enterprise is a workforce of 3,000 people spread across those two

A tech-led enterprise with expansion on the menu, Twiga Foods is the distributor breathing new life into supply chains for fresh produce at scale. CEO and co-Founder, Peter Njonjo, discusses shaking up an inefficient segment of African industry

markets and delivering last-mile operations to Twiga’s ever-growing base of B2B customers.

“On a daily basis, we ship close to about one million kilos to our customers, and we also receive roughly the same, so we’re basically handling about two million kilos a day,” outlines Njonjo.

Combining this sheer scale with the implementation of sophisticated infrastructure and technological innovation, Twiga continues to build an entire ecosystem that transforms traditional African retail to the benefit of customers and vendors alike.

“This is an industry segment that’s extremely informal and inefficient, so

A FULL SUITE OF SERVICES

by bringing in technology and a blend of infrastructure, both mobilised and owned, we are building an ecosystem centred on efficiency,” he continues.

FOOD DELIVERED FAIRLY

The ecosystem that Twiga envisions brings many advantages for suppliers and vendors, which ultimately translate to fairer prices for the consumer.

“Through Twiga’s model, we can start to lower the price of basic goods and services for consumers, which in turn reduces the amount of disposable income they’re spending on basic necessities,” Njonjo explains. This is where Twiga’s second greatest differentiator comes into

SOKO YETU – Twiga’s Super app brings a diverse assortment of products and services directly to vendors with 24-hour access via their smartphone or tablet.

SOKOLOAN – Twiga has partnered with financial institutions to provide much needed working capital for African retailers through a ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ programme embedded in its app.

SOKO WALLET – An e-wallet solution that gives vendors a convenient and secure way to store funds through the app.

SOKO CALL – A toll-free call centre solution, providing all the capabilities of the Soko Yetu mobile app for vendors who prefer to place orders over the phone.

TWIGGY - With many vendors using WhatsApp, Twiga created SokoBot, affectionately known as Twiggy, to provide 24/7 customer support.

TWIGA FRESH – Twiga’s commercial farming ensures consistent, high-quality produce is delivered directly to retail vendors.

TWIGA PRIVATE LABEL - Private label products increase availability and deliver the best prices to Twiga’s vendors on important staples.

LOGISTICS MARKET PLACE - The Logistics Market Place seeks to optimise logistics operations and develop a competitive edge in last-mile distribution.

TWIGA AGENT – An innovative open bidding system gives fresh produce suppliers in Africa direct access to a market of interested vendors.

SOKO YETU AGENT - An Independent Agent model that allows anyone to register and start recruiting duka and kiosk owners in their neighbourhoods to join the Twiga supply chain.

SOKOLYTICS - Real-time product performance metrics from Twiga’s analytics platform help suppliers make timely, data-driven decisions to grow their business.

Grain Industries

Grain Industries Limited: Makers of the popular and loved household name “Ajab” is located in the Shimanzi Area of Mombasa.

It is one of the leading millers in Kenya today, specialising in production of a diverse product range consisting of both wheat and corn-based products anchored primarily on quality and food safety.

Five years later, while the brand portfolio grows, GIL continues to deliver on its promise of exceptional premium quality and safeness (toxin safe).

AJAB... THE FLOUR THAT DOES MORE!

www.grainindustries.com

play in keeping prices low, as a company that works with specific manufacturers to create its own branded goods. Through its private label strategy, specialising in staple products from baby diapers to cooking oil, Twiga guarantees availability and ensures that vendors are getting the best price.

“Within both our private label strategy and our fresh produce line, we have done a lot of work in engineering the value chains to make them more efficient,” he continues. “We have figured out ways to backwards integrate that help us deliver high-quality produce at a lower price through brand ownership.”

In addition to fair prices for the consumer, Twiga’s various offerings also enable financial convenience for the vendor and supplier. When purchasing through the Twiga app – Soko Yetu – buyers that may not have sufficient working capital at

AFRICA OUTLOOK: COULD YOU EXPAND ON THE ADVANTAGES OF YOUR COMMERCIAL FARMING BRANCH, TWIGA FRESH?

PETER NJONJO, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER: “One of the challenges that we faced previously was around the consistent access to high-quality produce. Twiga Fresh has allowed us to solve this challenge, and we have seen our fresh business grow leaps and bounds over the last four months since its launch. “It was a timely investment and has allowed us to get better control of some of the products that we’re not able to source consistently from smaller farms. Smallholder farmers continue to be an integral part of Twiga’s supply chain, but the key thing is that where we find gaps - which is not every day for all products - we then look at ways to close them by making our own investment.”

the time can order products at the touch of their fingertips with access to ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ options under ‘Sokoloan’ for either three or nine days, with a three day interest free period.

STREAMLINING SUPPLY

At Twiga, the incorporation of key technologies such as the app are instrumental in optimising supply chain management, where data drives the company forwards in harmony with the physical fleet of transport delivering the products themselves.

“When you look at how the industry operates today, there’s an asymmetry of information across different pockets,” observes Njonjo. “That impairs the quality of decisions that are made from a supply chain standpoint, resulting in the wrong products in the right areas or the right products in the wrong areas.”

Consequently, Twiga uses

Peter Njonjo, CEO and co-Founder

technology to reduce information asymmetry across the market, paving the way for better planning and decision-making.

“When we talk about planning, for example, we are thinking about a retailer who might be sitting in a remote village. They are now able to pick up their phone, place an order through our app, and have it delivered within 24 hours,” he elaborates.

“This never would have happened before – instead they would have had to stock up on a lot of products that might not even have sold.”

In terms of Twiga’s own internal planning, the company may not know which exact customers might need an order delivered for the following day, but it does know that trucks will have to be dispatched and routed.

“When you think about it from that perspective, that starts building a case for how we’re leveraging

optimising routes and the complexity of logistics.”

In this regard, Twiga benefits from vast backlogs of data that it can leverage to build further efficiency. As Njonjo affirms, “technologies are the heart of what we do because we generate so much data on a monthly basis.”

AN APPETITE FOR EXPANSION

With the potential for Twiga’s business model to make waves across the entire continent, expansion is firmly on the agenda for the years ahead. Indeed, our conversation with Njonjo takes place from Twiga’s latest

instalment – a new distribution centre in Kiambu County by Tatu City bordering the capital city Nairobi, which consolidates the company’s warehousing needs.

In terms of entering new territories, Twiga will be following a strategic hub approach to expansion, with a further 10 countries across three regions on the horizon for the near future.

“We will continue to establish our East Africa cluster with Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania as the leads. Then, we will work on the Central Africa cluster with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and

“ WE ARE THE ONLY PLAYER ON THE CONTINENT THAT’S DELIVERING FRESH PRODUCE AT SCALE”

– PETER NJONJO, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, TWIGA FOODS

the Republic of the Congo, and our West Africa cluster which will include countries such as Ghana, Mali and Burkina Faso,” elaborates Njonjo.

Simultaneous to developing its physical footprint, Twiga will continue to evolve in the digital realm with technology at the heart of its every move.

“The key thing for us is that we’re making a transition from a technology-enabled business to a

technology-led business,” he shares.

This in turn opens a new window for Twiga to venture beyond retail distribution, to explore rolling out to market its own digital products and IT services that are already proving so effective in optimising its own service model.

“We want to get into the phase where we start commercialising our own technology capabilities, improving on levels of service and

eliminating the friction that exists in the market.”

FOOD THAT REIGNS SUPREME

A jewel in the South African food industry, we unearth Crown Food Group’s superior products and solutions, impressive recent growth and heavy sponsorship involvement

Writer: Jack Salter | Project Manager: Bex Middleton

For over a century, Crown Food Group (CFG) has enjoyed a long history of supplying quality products and solutions to the food industry.

The South Africa-based company has gone through several changes and expansions in that time, having started out as a small business in 1912 serving the exploding gold mining community in Johannesburg, however one thing that has remained the same is CFG’s passion for innovation and excellence.

Today, CFG commands a global presence as one of three divisions within Bidcorp Food Africa (BFA), a subsidiary of international broad-line foodservice group Bidcorp, along

with Chipkins Puratos and Bidfood South Africa.

While Bidcorp has grown into a substantial international business, it remains true to its South African heritage and therefore represents the ideal fit for CFG.

Africa has been identified as one of several emerging markets by Bidcorp, with South Africa’s performance noted as particularly positive in recent years. Indeed, in the second half of 2021, Bidcorp’s South African operations reached an all-time high through its triad of BFA divisions.

As part of BFA, CFG is responsible for manufacturing and distributing meat, poultry, dairy and general food ingredients and equipment. There are

CROWN NATIONAL KEY BRANDS

• SIX GUN GRILL

• OUMA’S

• CHIEF’S CHOICE

• SIZZLER

• JIMMY’S SAUCES

• SO GOOD

• SAFARI

• STETSON

• MEISTERCLUB

• SOMETHING CHUNKY

• GOLD CROWN NATURAL CASINGS

• OKTO

• GRAMA’S

currently nine CFG branches in South Africa, as well as a branch a piece in Zambia and Kenya.

CFG itself, similar to BFA, also comprises three of its own operating companies: Crown National, Crown Ingredient Solutions (CIS), and Griffith Crown Foods (GCF).

Although operating autonomously from each other, they are bound by adherence to CFG’s group policy of supplying superior quality products and solutions.

Thus, CFG ensures that customers enjoy complete commitment to quality and service, backed by a total of 1,200 motivated and committed members of staff across the three companies.

MAJOR SUPPLIERS

Crown National is a leading supplier of spices in South Africa, including spice mixes to the South African multinational restaurant chain Nando’s, and takes great pride in

delivering the finest level of quality available to customers as one of the country’s major food ingredient suppliers.

Utilising the best technologies to provide a unique vision of its markets, Crown National is at the forefront of technological advancement, innovative thinking, and new-tomarket products that keep up with the latest industry trends.

With a long-standing history and strong reputation based on credibility, quality products and service excellence, Crown National ensures customers are provided with high levels of service and technical expertise.

From tasty seasonings and spices to tantalising sauces, marvellous marinades and plenty of other innovative products, Crown National offers the most comprehensive, diverse and innovative range of products to satisfy all the needs of the meat and food industries.

GLOBAL LEADERS IN NATURAL SAUSAGE CASINGS, SERVING CUSTOMERS IN OVER 40 COUNTRIES FOR THREE GENERATIONS

World Casing Corp has over 70 years of casings experience and is the largest family-owned producer and distributor in North America. We are an SQF certified company and incredibly proud to continue the family tradition of delivering high-quality products, along with outstanding customer service while we continue to grow our customer base worldwide.

With a multitude of different sizes and specifications, we possess the expertise to create custom sizes to meet our customer’s production needs. Whether filling orders by the pail, barrel or trailer load, we have the inventory, distribution and logistical resources that allow us to promptly deliver any quantity of casings to our customers worldwide.

Steven Feinstein

stevenf@worldcasing.com | +1 718 628 3800

CIS, meanwhile, provides advanced solutions and innovative ingredients to the dairy and culinary sectors. A streamlined solution for customers is offered by CIS to harness outstanding technical support and access an extensive range of ingredients from international and local associates such as Cargill, BK Guilini, Red Arrow and more.

Elsewhere, GCF supplies ingredients and services to the quick service restaurant (QSR) sectors of the industry in sub-Saharan Africa. GCF has a wide range of product offerings, including culinary-inspired

custom-made sauces and marinades, coating systems, bakery and dough dry blends, protein seasonings, snack and side dish seasonings, and portion packs.

Crown National, CIS, and GCF all share CFG’s supply chain resources, such as product development, sourcing, manufacturing, warehousing and distribution.

Maintaining long-term relationships with the supply chain, CFG’s key spends are on raw materials and exports, complemented by an internal supply chain team.

POSITIVE RESULTS

CFG’s greatest strength lies in its diversity, exemplified by the company’s comprehensive selection of products, range development, logistical capability, market penetration and technology.

Thanks to a strong entrepreneurial spirit, competitive edge, and ability to adapt to the changing needs of the market, CFG’s overarching philosophy is designed to foster

performance, accountability and results.

CFG achieved positive results in the second half of 2021, despite the ongoing challenge of supply chain constraints on imported raw materials. These constraints impacted CFG’s ability to supply timeously, as it resulted in delayed shipments.

Last year, meanwhile, most of BFA’s business segments impressively gained market share in the face of such pressures, with CFG experiencing growth in all channels driven largely by its own brands and other ingredients used in food manufacturing.

The tangible result of this growth is CFG’s move into the retail space through small shops at each factory, and the introduction of further standalone stores.

Going forwards, capital expenditure investments into additional manufacturing and distribution facilities, as well as additional vehicles, will further position CFG for yet more growth.

CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE

Striving to continually provide customers with the very best level of quality and service, CFG’s food manufacturing centres place the company ahead of the competition.

Exceptional peace of mind is enjoyed in all food industry segments by CFG’s customers, who know that they are receiving the finest products available, manufactured in accordance with international food safety specifications and backed by unrivalled technical expertise.

There are currently two centres of excellence located in Johannesburg and Cape Town, already offering customers the very best in product design, research and development. It is CFG’s vision to transform these centres into modern and superior facilities, making it the leading ingredients company in africa.

For instance, BFA’s construction project in the South African city of Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape was completed in 2022 and includes new premises for CFG, whilst the development of other facilities for the company continue.

Meanwhile, as per Bidcorp’s annual integrated report for 2022, CFG’s building facilities are undergoing a full review with a focus on energy-saving design improvements.

SPONSORSHIP DRIVE

What also continues to drive manufactured product growth for CFG are focused campaigns and sponsorships.

CFG is heavily involved in sports sponsorship, and in 2022 the company was thrilled to announce the Crown National brand Six Gun Grill as the title sponsor of the annual Trans

Agulhas inflatable boat challenge, which took place at the end of December.

Six Gun Grill and Crown National were also proud to be associated with the touch rugby beach tour, Hot Summer of Touch. The event has established itself over the years up and down the Western and Southern Cape coasts, and CFG was thrilled to bring rugby’s favourite spice brand to the various holiday towns and beaches in December.

In cricket, meanwhile, CFG launched Six Gun Grill’s naming right sponsorship of the Western Province Blitz cricket team, as well as the iconic Newlands Stadium, in 2020.

Sponsorships provide great brand value and exposure for Six Gun Grill and the Crown National brand, as CFG continues to make a name for itself in the food industry.

INSIDE AN INDUSTRY IN BLOOM

From a budding family flower farm to the leading producer of floriculture in Kenya, Executive Director, Chris Kulei, walks us through the operations of Sian Flowers

Writer: Rachel Carr

Project Manager: Bex Middleton

Among the vast plains and volcanic mountains of equatorial Kenya, lies its capital, Nairobi – home to the four floriculture farms of Sian Flowers.

Kenya’s proximity to the Indian Ocean plus Nairobi’s high altitude equals a subtropical highland climate which makes it an ideal location for the floriculture industry. This is evidenced by a significant proportion of the UK’s flowers originating from Kenya.

When Sian Flowers began with a single rose farm in 1989, it comprised around 20 hectares (ha) of land. It has since blossomed to over 170 ha spread across multiple farms.

“We own three of the farms, started by my father, and one is owned by my uncle, so we are the ultimate definition of a family business,” opens Chris Kulei, Executive Director of Sian Flowers.

Kulei grew up around the farms and would return at every opportunity when studying in the UK, so it was an easy choice to work in the family business after he graduated.

“The floriculture industry is a huge employer and one of the biggest foreign exchange market income earners for the Kenyan economy. It has been a tough year because of the cost of input and freight, and the costof-living crises here and in Europe, but the Kenyan floriculture industry is in a great place,” he shares.

“A lot of flower-growing areas

around the rest of the world are not able to produce on the same scale or with the consistent quality that we are able to.”

SUSTAINABLE STEMS

Kenyan products have been under scrutiny from the early stages, whether for their environmental and

“A LOT OF FLOWERGROWING AREAS AROUND THE REST OF THE WORLD ARE NOT ABLE TO PRODUCE ON THE SAME SCALE OR WITH THE CONSISTENT QUALITY THAT WE ARE ABLE TO”

– CHRIS KULEI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SIAN FLOWERS

For 60 years, Interplant Roses has been at the forefront of the rose breeding industry. Four generations of the Ilsink family have dedicated their lives to creating the world’s most beautiful roses, earning them a reputation as one of the most prominent rose breeders in the world. But Interplant Roses is not just proud of its rich history, it is also always looking towards the future, seeking the answer to the question of which rose varieties will shine in the years to come. The answer, they believe, lies in their vision.

Interplant Roses’ vision stems from the shared knowledge and close relationship they have with their partners in the value chain. They understand that innovation is at the heart of their business and that it is their daily mission to bring new and beautiful roses to the world. This is why they have worked with Sian Flowers for over 20 years, growing the popularity of spray roses and expanding their range of single rose varieties.

Sian Flowers, a dedicated partner in the rose breeding industry, shares Interplant Roses’ passion for creating beauty. Together, they started with a standard assortment of spray roses, but over the years, they have continued to innovate and expand their offerings.

Today, Sian Flowers boasts an extensive range of spray roses and single rose varieties, each one more stunning than the last.

The Interplant Roses and Sian Flowers partnership is a testament to their shared belief in the beauty and importance of roses. They understand that roses are more than just flowers, they are symbols of love, hope, and happiness.

They are committed to using sustainable and environmentally friendly practices, so that future generations can enjoy the beauty of their roses for years to come.

The next time you see a beautiful rose, remember the passion and dedication of Interplant Roses and Sian Flowers, two companies dedicated to making the world a more beautiful place.

In conclusion, Interplant Roses and Sian Flowers’ partnership is a story of passion, dedication, and a shared love for roses. With their unwavering dedication, Interplant Roses and Sian Flowers will continue to bring joy and beauty to the world for many years to come.

www.interplantroses.nl

community impact, or the standard of working conditions. However, Sian Flowers approached these issues by joining the Kenya Flower Council, where Kulei is a director, upon its inception in 1996.

“It was a way to certify, ensure, and inspect members. Customers can also

CREATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS

have confidence that the products do not have a negative impact on the environment or communities, and the workers are given a fair liveable wage,” affirms Kulei.

Sian Flowers engages in programmes to enrich the communities where the farms are

Sian Flowers’ 2,700 employees are as important an element on the farms as the floral crops. As some team members have been with the company longer than Kulei, he appreciates their input. The open-door policy for ideas ensures that the team will always have their contributions heard.

“We grow hundreds of varieties of products, but the directors and chairmen, who are all family members, are not always involved in the selection process. We have a team of production managers and packhouse supervisors who spend a huge amount of time managing the planting products,” he shares.

The team are able to go to a breeder’s location and tell within minutes if the flowers will be a success. Kulei acknowledges, “they are the secret sauce that makes Sian Flowers what it is.”

The floriculture business in Kenya has an impact on employment in the local communities, with Kulei revealing that his employees typically have three to four dependents per household. As Sian Flowers’ workforce continues to grow, he enjoys the role the farms play in the lives of the people working on the farms.

located, and all four sites are Fairtrade farms. Therefore, the company ensures it holds itself to a high standard.

The farms use integrated pest management (IPM) in a sustainable approach, minimising health and environmental risks.

“We only use chemicals that are kept on pre-approved lists, so they have no or very low risk of harmful residue levels. All the farms have wetlands and any water leaving the farms passes through these wetlands, and the water that now goes back into the water table is clean,” Kulei says proudly.

In terms of sustainability, one key project is already underway as Sian Flowers has begun carbon footprint mapping by engaging its partners to help it become a certified carbon neutral business.

However, the first step is solar panels. As Kulei details, “we have invested in solar power generation on all our farms; 40 percent of our energy is from these solar panels. Kenya is already powered by 80 – 85 percent renewable energy through the grid.”

STALK TALL

Sian Flowers’ two farms in Eldoret are situated at above 2,000 metres, which is a relatively high altitude. It is there that the premium longer-length varieties of flowers are produced, in a climate that is better for growing summer flowers outdoors.

“In the location where we first started with roses, altitude, night-time temperatures, and soil were not as much of a factor because we used hydroponics. At two of our locations, we use hydroponics and soil,” Kulei reveals.

One of the farms is a low altitude farm which produces high quality and high quantity smaller head flowers. To escape the competition, however, the company diversified into other varieties.

“Our fourth farm is a non-rose farm; it was added in 2019 when we rebranded from our original name –Sian Roses,” recalls Kulei.

As Kenya is a particularly important source of roses, it has myriad farms to accommodate the demand. Indeed, the country supplies one third of all roses sold in Europe; to distinguish Sian Flowers from the competition, Kulei’s father and uncle therefore made the bold decision to invest in spray roses.

“They were a niche but high value product, and now we are one of the biggest growers of spray roses in the world.”

Sian Flowers was born out of a demand for choice, with the company’s evolution meeting the needs of customers who want a full bouquet in their homes rather than just roses.

“The supermarkets offer a mixed bunch of roses as well as bouquets that are put together at considerable cost by companies in Europe, so we thought, why can’t we do it?”

Customers have more options which include carnations, chrysanthemums, and greenery, along with other products.

“We thought we would save a lot of time and expense by sending them ready made in a box. We can do a range of bouquets throughout the year,” Kulei adds.

Not only have the company’s products changed, but its international trade has also altered. Cut flowers are now Kenya’s second largest export after tea, and one of the largest sources of employment.

“We originally supplied to auction in the Netherlands. We were 100 percent auction for the first 10 – 15 years, now we are 30 percent auction in Holland and 70 percent direct business to our clients across the world,” he informs us.

EVERYTHING IS COMING UP ROSES

The future of Sian Flowers includes expansion to a fifth farm to join the two Eldoret ventures, the site in Kitengela, and the Agriflora farm in Nakuru.

Meanwhile, Kulei himself has joined the board of a marketing brand called World of Sprayroses®. It is a collective of global partners, including other farms from Kenya and parts of East Africa.

“In reality, we are rival farms, but it is exciting to see a group of farmers all sitting together and contributing equally every few months to build up a brand,” Kulei says enthusiastically.

“We are trying to take spray roses and make them less of a niche product, which they were 10 – 12 years ago. We want to make them more mainstream because they are a beautiful product. They have a great vase life, great lengths, and a wide range of colours,” he adds.

All these qualities offer customers value, and because they are so aesthetically pleasing, Kulei

encourages people to visit the World of Sprayroses® social media pages to see the beautiful bouquets for themselves.

“We have invested in mood boards for inspiration and there is a florist that we engage and create with to introduce people to the product.”

Despite the efforts to make spray roses more commercial, niche markets are still just as important as the existing lines at Sian Flowers.

“The way global logistics is these days, whether it is a single box of 300 stems, or bigger, the world is getting smaller, so niche markets are crucial because they are the trend setters and makers,” Kulei observes.

2023 is set to become another exciting year for Kulei and the family flower farms, with projects and investments to ensure Kenyan floriculture continues to blossom.

SIAN FLOWERS

Tel: +254 20 2170540

info@sianflowers.co.ke

sianflowers.co.ke

THE PIGGER THE BETTER

A burgeoning titan of the pork and dairy industry, Number Two Piggeries has become a leading producer across South Africa and Namibia. We learn more from Theo Feuth, Deputy Chief Executive Officer

Writer: Ed Budds | Project Manager: Bex Middleton

The vast agriculture industry has encountered some tough and turbulent times throughout the last few years, with severe weather conditions such as droughts and floods, various outbreaks of diseases, restrictions on livestock movements, closure of export borders and the unforgiving consequences dealt out by the COVID-19 pandemic. Economic conditions also remain troubling for the industry at present, with rising inflation, interest rates and energy costs piling on the pressure.

“Despite these challenges, Africa is always an exciting space to work in and agriculture across the continent even more so. I believe there are countless opportunities available and that we as commercial farmers have an incredibly important role to play in food security on the continent,” opens Theo Feuth, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Number Two Piggeries (N2P).

Growing up on a farm, Feuth was exposed to the business side of agriculture from a young age. After finishing high school, his intention was to pursue a career as an accountant, but after obtaining the relevant qualifications, he was drawn back into the world of farming and took the opportunity to apply his qualifications in the agriculture business.

“I always remember the slogan of the agricultural department of the university where I studied - a country that looks after its agriculture looks after its future - and I believe that it got stuck in my subconscious somewhere,” recalls Feuth.

BECOMING A TITAN OF THE INDUSTRY

N2P was formed in the mid-1970s in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, when David Miles, a wellrespected farmer and businessman, and David Osborne established a pig farming partnership.

Osborne arrived in South Africa from the UK in 1970 and apart from being an incredibly skilled entrepreneur, brought with him a wealth of pig farming knowledge. This expertise contributed greatly to the success of the business and laid the foundation for a bright future.

Today, N2P is a diversified agricultural holding company focusing on primary production and processing within the pork and dairy industry. As a significant primary agricultural producer in Southern Africa, the company is proud to be a market leader in pork production for

the region.

N2P mainly supplies fresh meat, such as pork, beef and mutton, through its own abattoirs, to various wholesalers and retailers. In addition to this, the company also sells a portion of its livestock to externally owned abattoirs.

“On the dairy side of the business, we sell fresh milk to large dairy processing companies and also process some of our own milk into cheese and butter,” adds Feuth.

“Elsewhere, our maize and soya harvests are either sold to local offtakers or used internally for our own livestock feed purposes.”

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Having completed a tremendous slate of projects, N2P has experienced exceptional growth in the last five years. Some of the recent worldclass projects undertaken include the completion of the Cookhouse Creamery in the Eastern Cape, which marks the first step for the company towards adding value in the dairy division.

2021 saw the fruition of several pivotal projects for N2P, such as the Mountain View Dairy - a 1,500-cow, pasture-based dairy with a 66-point rotary milking parlour. Similarly, at the Meat Traders Abattoir, N2P carried out a successful expansion of its slaughter capacity and upgraded the facilities to handle increased volumes from new piggeries.

Elsewhere, Fairfield Piggeries is one of N2P’s latest developments. The piggery is situated in the North Eastern Cape, between the towns of Indwe and Elliot. Once complete, the facility will consist of a Breeder unit, Weaner unit and the Grower and Finisher unit. All the units will be set out situated far enough from one another to ensure that all bio-security measures are met.

Steynsburg Piggery is another new development for the company and is situated off the R74, Bergville,

AFGRI

AFGRI Animal Feeds is a leader in animal feed manufacturing, which includes not only dairy and pig feed, but poultry feed as well as licks and finishing products for beef cattle and sheep.

In the most intensive agricultural businesses, such as N2P, feed is one of the major input costs and therefore AFGRI Animal Feeds is honoured that N2P entrusts us to supply them with feed for their dairies and piggeries. AFGRI Animal Feed products are manufactured with care and based on innovative technology, research, and processes. We strive to ensure that not only the quality of the raw materials, but also the effectiveness of the processing thereof is at high standards to ensure optimal utilisation of the feed by the animals.

www.afgri.co.za

in KwaZulu-Natal. It is a Farrow to Finish unit that will have an average sow herd of 4,800 and an average of 60,000 pigs on the farm.

To support this growth, N2P has simultaneously commissioned numerous renewable energy projects at its farms and processing sites to supplement the company’s energy requirements and lessen the overall environmental impact.

Regarding the constant development of its pork production, N2P subscribes to the Pork 360 Programme that was developed by SAPPO (South African Pig Producers’ Organisation). This initiative was designed to address consumer concerns around food safety and welfare, including environmental stewardship, biosecurity and traceability. The membership requirements include environmental stewardship, adherence to animal welfare standards and residue control.

N2P also believes that adhering to

Piggery design & construction I Slurry handling equipment

Grain handling & cleaning I Feed mills

PEOPLE, PARTNERSHIP AND PERSEVERANCE

THE TRIFECTA OF KEY DIFFERENTIATORS ENSURING SUCCESS FOR N2P:

PEOPLE – N2P believes it has some of the best leaders, farmers and operators in the world within its group and that their passion and dedication are the largest drivers of success for the company. Qatar Express aims to deliver letters and parcels to their destinations the next working day.

PARTNERSHIP – A business the size of N2P cannot be successful without the right partners and their dedication to the company cause – be it capital, feed procurement and manufacturing, genetics, animal health or off-takers.

PERSEVERANCE – Dedication and determination are essential to see a vision through, no matter what challenges the company are faced with.

a good quality assurance programme creates optimal internal discipline in the group for creating the best farming and business practices.

PEOPLE ARE KEY

On top of this swathe of projects completed, the company’s growth over the past few years has created numerous opportunities for many

“

WE ARE PARTNERED WITH WORLD-CLASS SUPPLIERS ON ALL FRONTS OF THE BUSINESS”

– THEO FEUTH, DEPUTY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NUMBER TWO PIGGERIES

positions within N2P’s new units.

“As a business, we have tried to resource new units with existing employees, firstly to provide growth opportunities for those individuals but also to ensure our company culture and standards of excellence are transferred and embedded in these new units,” Feuth tells us.

To do this, continuous in-house training and upskilling are required to ensure N2P’s existing teams are performing at their optimum and ready to take on new opportunities if they present themselves.

While N2P’s people are critically important to the overall operation, the company would not be in existence without its animals. Quality assurance through biosecurity, system controls, and standard operating procedures is fundamental for the business to ensure animal welfare.

N2P’s supply partners represent a major part of its ongoing recipe for success.

“Our relationships with these partners are of extreme importance

to the business. We are partnered with world-class suppliers on all fronts of the business that, apart from providing exceptional service, add tremendous value to it as well,” shares Feuth.

Some of these supply partnerships have been thriving alongside the business since the original inception of N2P and have grown with and supported its vision and mission like it was their own.

Equally crucial to the company’s prosperity are its people. In total, N2P now employs about 1,800 staff through its various divisions.

“Our staff are the most important and valuable asset that we have. Some of our staff have been with

the business for a very long time and I believe that’s a testament to our ability to create good working environments that allow people to grow and share in its success.”

With the assistance of N2P’s recently added professional HR Department, led by Donné Roberts, the company has increased its focus on growing future leaders from within the business. This is achieved with professional student training programmes and constant input from senior managers and division heads to ensure the transfer of necessary skills coupled with the continuous development of all key performance areas.

Given the size of the group, there are always internal growth

“

COMMERCIAL FARMERS HAVE AN INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT ROLE TO PLAY IN FOOD SECURITY ON THE CONTINENT”

–

THEO FEUTH, DEPUTY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NUMBER TWO PIGGERIES

opportunities for people to be promoted to units with higher responsibility levels. Staff are also rewarded with good incentive programmes that recognise their contributions to farm and business performance.

FORECASTING FURTHER SUCCESS

Moving forward, N2P further believes that it must continually strive to be the best corporate citizen it can be with an increased focus on ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and how the company can make a difference in the

environments in which it operates.

The expansion of N2P’s vertical integration strategy will also continue to be a major immediate focus, with the aim of getting closer to its inputs and consumers.

“Given the recent industry turbulence, I believe it must be our first priority to maximise the efficiency of all our units and make sure every farm and abattoir operates to its maximum potential at the least possible cost,” outlines Feuth.

The path to continuing prosperity for N2P, according to Feuth, will also depend on always staying humble, striving for excellence in everything

that the company does, and most crucially, leaving the world a better place for the next generation.

NUMBER TWO PIGGERIES

Tel: +27 87 5511 649

info@n2p.co.za

www.n2p.co.za

NURTURE FROM NATURE

Dendairy is a Zimbabwean national brand seeking to deliver dairy nutrition and tasty milk alternatives to a growing population. Managing Director Darren Coetzee tells us about the company’s work with smallholder farmers, communities, and the development of national dairy farming

Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Bex Middleton

Dairy has been a focal point in the Zimbabwean agricultural space for over 20 years. It was a land reform policy enacted in the early 2000s that began downsizing alternative agricultural ventures, but as one door shut, another opened, and it drew focus to dairy as a key industry for business and the benefit of Zimbabweans.

In 2004, Dendairy was established as a dairy producer redefining milk with a range of proudly Zimbabwean products for the people.

From humble beginnings, with big

ambitions, and a keen eye for detail, Dendairy has gradually evolved into a national brand. This generational history and experience has given Dendairy a foundation and sound knowledge of how to handle dairy raw milk, and the importance of both hygiene practices and the coldstorage supply chain. At the centre of Dendairy’s operation is its ethical standing reinforced by its leadership.

“We are a proudly Zimbabwean company which was established almost two decades ago. We are passionate about filling the country with affordable, good quality products,” opens Darren Coetzee, Managing Director of Dendairy. “We see the need for empowering everybody, from local farmers to nourishing the growing bodies of our country’s youth.”

UPLIFTING THOSE IN NEED

Based in the city of Kwekwe, located in the heart of Zimbabwe, Dendairy is able to supply the whole country with a consistent price via its six independent regionally operational distributors.

During its early years, Dendairy began with dairy processing of Maas (fermented milk), fresh milk, and yoghurt, at a time of national economic inflation and difficulty. The company came through the other side, and despite the issues faced, took on its first dairy farmers to supply the company in 2006. This was a critical period in which Dendairy recognised the importance of longlife products as a result of national supply chain challenges and power cuts that caused havoc with fresh milk products.

“In 2010, we purchased our first Elecster UHT steriliser and packing machine. From this point, our volumes grew quickly, and we were soon at full capacity on this line,” Coetzee tells us proudly.

“Then in 2012, we decided to purchase the country’s first Tetra Pak one-litre boxing line. To accommodate

this line, we had to build a totally new facility, and it allowed us to venture into a number of new lines which included 100 percent fruit juice as well as dairy blends. Thanks to our 31 partners and dairy farmers who supply us, we have grown significantly to be the number one brand in boxed and fermented milk, the top two forms of consuming milk in Zimbabwe.”

Dendairy currently has 512 employees between the factory and sales teams, and 380 employees at its dairy farm. All the while, the company focuses on replacing imports with local produce to create much-needed employment in rural areas of Zimbabwe, helping bolster the economy and health of the population.

“We wouldn’t be where we are without our local farmers and our loyal customers. We try our best to ensure that they constantly feel as valued as they are every chance we get,” Coetzee assures us. “We are also hugely invested in the welfare of our fellow Zimbabweans, donating to local foundations, sponsorships and in-house brand which exists solely to uplift those in need.”

Darren Coetzee, Managing Director

AFRICA OUTLOOK: HOW DID YOU COME TO WORK IN THE DAIRY INDUSTRY?

DARREN COETZEE, MANAGING DIRECTOR: “We are fourth-generation dairy and cropping farmers, having started in the 1950’s. I studied aircraft engineering after leaving school as there was a lot of uncertainty in agriculture at that stage in Zimbabwe. In 1988 I joined the family business - this was definitely a shock to the system as I was not used to waking up at 1:30am and doing a 16-hour workday!

“At the time of joining the business, we had a milking herd of about 600 cattle and were carrying out approximately 300ha of irrigation. Over the coming years, the farm grew to 1,200ha of irrigation and 1,000 cattle in the milking herd. We also developed a 10,000ha game farm and a 1000-bird ostrich facility.”

NURTURING YOUTH

This investment in the Zimbabwean people can be seen in Dendairy’s introduction of multiple products that focus on longevity, health and nutrition.

Maizly is an affordable, regionally sourced and tasty option for people who suffer indigestion from dairy milk, that is a great alternative product to pair with cereal or use in a milkshake.

“One-third of Zimbabweans suffer indigestion from milk, and many don’t even know it. This product allows you to enjoy your favourite cereals and dishes without having to use traditional dairy milk,” Coetzee says. “Dendairy also launched Victoria Fruit Company in 2017 as a standalone business where we focus on selecting the best fruit raw materials to create Zimbabwe’s only locally manufactured 100 percent fruit juice. Over time more products will be added to this basket.”

Further to the people-centric mission that lies at the centre of the company, Dendairy ran a selffunded school milk programme from 2016 to 2019, the only one of its kind in Zimbabwe that provided 100 millilitres (ml) of milk affordably (US9c) per sachet to school children

for daily consumption.

The United Nations (UN) recommends significant consumption of dairy for under 12 years olds to ensure the best mental development and the World Food Programme (WFP) has identified regions in Zimbabwe that are malnourished.

“Dendairy stands ready to restart and expand this project to reach the most vulnerable across the nation, and would ask anyone interested in partnering with us to contact us,” Coetzee tells us. “We want to be able to reach every junior school across the country and provide daily nutrition to the young and growing Zimbabwean population.

“To be able to supply every child with a sachet a day would be a phenomenal achievement and help develop the minds and bodies of the country’s future generations.”

FUTURE-PROOFING THE COMMUNITY

According to Coetzee, Zimbabwe’s milk currently attracts a price of Z60c per litre and is nearly double the price of Dendairy’s regional peers in South Africa and Zambia; for this reason, Zimbabwe’s dairy industry competes regionally and requires a lower-cost model to stay competitive.

AECI Food & Beverage

Through our engaged people, innovative product solutions and sustainable business practices, AECI Food & Beverage supplies a range of technology driven and consumer-led additives, ingredients and processing aids. Our focused product portfolio includes products/solutions into the following industries: Beverage, Dairy, Health & Nutrition and Commodities. Recipes are bespoke and developed to the specific requirements of individual customers.

- The teams are furnished with hightech chemical and microbiological analytical laboratories.

- Testing is done at every stage of production.

- The microbiological status of aseptically packed product is verified internally with microbiological compliance confirmed before release.

www.aecifoodandbeverage.com

For the first time in 20 years, Dendairy has started developing farms by increasing the current irrigation levels to cover a substantial 1,000 hectares (ha). The reasoning behind such a development was to increase the production of lucerne, one of the most nutritious forages available for cattle, and maize silage to supply the company’s producers. Lucerne drops the total unit cost of the total mixed ration (TMR) that feeds cattle from USD$350 a tonne to USD$170 a tonne.

“This is a game changer and makes us regionally competitive as a country. So, the investment in lucerne production is critical for ensuring milk is produced in Zimbabwe long term,” Coetzee explains. “Lucerne allows the growth of small and medium farms as the product is dried and transported to the farmer in compressed bails that can last for up to 12 months.

“This means that dairy farmers across the country who don’t have access to land for fodder production,

AECI Food & Beverage is a leading South African supplier of a wide range of customized industrial fruit-juice products to major brand owners in South Africa, and to a further 16 countries in Africa and the Middle East. We consistently source top quality raw materials through a worldwide network of fruit processors.

Abbiamo Trading (Pvt) Ltd

Unit 2A, No 2 Barrow Road, Southerton, Harare, Zimbabwe

+263 242 755 491 – 6

Unit 2, No 5 Luton Street, Belmont , Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

+263 29 22787 33 - 4

or whose climate is not suitable, can remain in business and focus on what they want - having happy, healthy, highly productive cows and growing their herds. Our job is to provide affordable food for the farmer so that they are productive and profitable.”

Unfortunately, Dendairy cannot yet grow enough to supply the whole dairy industry with its current facility. In light of this, the company has engaged the community in the Chilonga and Masivamele wards of the Chiredzi area to develop a 10,000ha irrigation scheme.

DENDAIRY - FOOD SAFETY AND QUALITY

Dendairy strives to produce high quality, safe and good value food products that meet customers’ expectations. In order to consistently meet this obligation, the company has developed and implemented an integrate management system (IMS) based on ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 22000:2018 and shall use it to achieve the following:

• Ensure products consistently meet mutually agreed customer requirements.

• Abide by local and international statutory and regulatory requirements.

• Continually review and improve the IMS and its processes.

• Ensure all employees are trained and motivated to continually deliver safe and quality food products.

• Ensure suppliers and contractors have the same food safety and quality commitment as ours in order to maintain integrity in the food chain system.

• To achieve the above two obligations, this policy shall be communicated to all employees and to relevant interested parties.

• This policy will be supported by objectives that are set and reviewed through the company’s performance management system.

Dendairy employees at all levels have the responsibility to ensure the success of this policy and the IMS program as a whole.

This is planned to be a 50/50 joint venture (JV) with the people of those areas and will be in line with the government’s policy of uplifting the community.

“With this development we would be able to supply the country’s needs and develop a fodder bank - plantings of fodder plant species - which would be available in case of, and to bridge, potential future drought,” Coetzee adds. “This would reduce losses to farmers’ herds, which has happened many times in the past.”

The Chiredzi area was identified due to its extremely low rainfall, which is ideal for lucerne production but has abundant water from the Tugwi Mukosi dam. Another positive is that the area identified for the irrigation is sparsely populated. Therefore, nobody will need to be relocated in order to undertake this development. Feed lots will also be erected to subside the people’s livestock in the area, thus increasing the quality and value of their animals for a higher productivity level throughout Zimbabwe.

DENDAIRY

Tel: 077 369 9969

info@dendairy.com

www.dendairy.com

HOLISTIC AGRIBUSINESS

We take a look at Amiran Kenya Ltd, the community-centred company bringing agricultural solutions, methods and expertise to small- and large-scale farmers across the country

Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Bex Middleton

The latest and best agricultural methods are key to African prosperity.

Based in Kenya, Amiran Kenya Ltd (Amiran) is a people-centric company bringing agricultural solutions, methods and expertise to small- and large-scale farmers across the country. A part of the Balton CP group of companies headquartered in the UK and spread throughout Africa and Israel, Amiran provides complete solutions in all of its fields of expertise, with its business split into two key areas: agribusiness and export farm.

Amiran’s holistic agribusiness techniques bring together highquality inputs, knowledge and know-how, and are sourced from world leaders in the agricultural field before being tailor-made especially for African farmers by Amiran. In this way, Amiran is bridging the gap by ensuring farmers in Africa have access to world-class innovations, the company’s agricultural basket of products, including chemicals, fertilisers, seeds, modern irrigation systems, greenhouse kits, plastics and covers, in addition to services such as training, agro-support, on call support assistance and growing guides.

Regarding the industry climate, changing weather patterns and the emergence of new pests and diseases in the agricultural field has challenged Amiran to continuously research and introduce a range of products to cater to these ever-changing needs and various challenges. Amiran ensures its products and services are reachable to the end user through partnerships with local agro-dealers and agro-shops at all levels – a service designed by people, for people. Complementing all of these services and products is Amiran’s team of professional agronomists, who offer the best technical advice aimed at helping Kenya’s farming community

to achieve the best possible yields.

As Amiran continues to supply and support Kenya’s growers in the floriculture industry, the company has placed a large emphasis on the dayto-day activities of horticulture and cereal growers. The company hopes that through these efforts it can play its role in helping to further position its clients in the local and world markets as trustworthy and reliable suppliers through exceptional produce.

One such offer that Amiran provides small- and large-scale farmers is the Amiran Farmer’s Kit (AFK). The AFK was created with the aim of allowing small-scale farmers affordable access to modern agricultural technologies, methods and inputs of the highest standard. Designed by Amiran, the AFK is a tailor-made kit designed to meet the needs of the specific farmer or group of farmers by adapting the components of the kit to suit the climate, terrain, and agricultural experience of the farmer.

The AFK incorporates innovative agricultural technologies including the family drip system (FDS), an easy-to-use gravity-fed drip irrigation system, a farmer’s greenhouse and top-quality agro-inputs such as seeds, bio-organic plant protection and bio-organic nutrients. The AFK comes

AMIRAN WORKS TO BUILD LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS FOUNDED UPON THE FOLLOWING PRINCIPLES:

HIGH-PERFORMANCE standards

DELIVERING on its promises

OPENNESS and flexibility

LEARNING from others

MUTUAL interdependence

SHARING success

Greenoy

Greenoy offers innovative solutions for the cut flower and fruit industries. Our goal is to provide products that will allow you to bring to market better and fresher products.

Primary products include a method enabling the transportation of cut flowers by sea, including the most sensitive of varieties. Additionally, we offer products for disease mitigation and fresh keeping of cut flowers and fruit.

We are proud to include products with a significantly low chemical footprint in our offering.

Contact Yair Golan for more information at yair@greenoy.net.

www.greenoy.net

complete with installation, training and an agro-support package that allows Amiran to teach the “Amiran farmer” how to grow and then stay with the farmer throughout the season to ensure the best results.

The AFK is custom-made by Amiran for individuals and specific groups of farmers and includes all the necessary ingredients required for one season’s successful harvest of a selected crop.

EXPORT FARMING

Since its inception in 1963, Amiran has been providing farmers with field proven, top-quality agricultural inputs to help reduce farming risks through crop protection, crop improvement and crop enhancement to ensure they reach their full potential.

As Amiran aims to make farming productive, and most importantly, sustainable, the company is geared towards creating a profitable and enjoyable experience. Amiran’s

ROSES BY SEA

THE GREENOY ALTERNATIVE

Greenoy offers a set of solutions that ensure the safe passage of your roses from farm to market:

Hydration

Conditioning for Sea Freight

Modified Atmosphere Packaging

Ethylene adsorption

For more information:

Agro-Division Department provides its farmers with top-quality agricultural inputs that have been tried, tested and proven in the field, quite literally. These include herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, nematicides, adjuvants and a wide array of fertilisers and bio-stimulants, all helping to reduce farming risks through crop protection.

Sourced from trusted world-class leaders in the industry, Amiran’s Agro-Division products are based on Amiran’s three pillars towards successful agribusiness projects; technologies, knowledge and highquality inputs, and are packaged for both small- and large-scale growers.

With more than 50 years of working with farmers, Amiran has grown from single-line operations to a pioneering one-stop shop, allowing the company to develop depth in terms of experience, knowledge, professional agronomists, tools and products in

high-tech irrigation systems, Amiran’s seeds, and greenhouse solutions. It is the vision of the company to further position its clients in the world markets as trustworthy and reliable suppliers with exceptional produce.

Exemplifying this vision is Amiran’s Agro Projects Division, which prides itself on creating ‘complete solutions’ based on a turn-key project approach, supported by the highest quality inputs available on the market.

With a ‘hands-on’ approach, the division has helped to build the first flower farms in Kenya complete with greenhouses and advanced irrigation systems, and has since erected and maintained 90 percent of the greenhouses in Kenya.

Amiran also focuses on the allimportant aspect of irrigation in the agricultural sector, with a reliable water supply integral to its success. Amiran enables farmers to irrigate their land more effectively, using

technologies that give precise water coverage, even with low volumes of water. The company offers water treatment, filtration and pumping equipment, and high-quality durable pipes to help secure farmer’s water supplies.

The Amiran team can guide and implement all irrigation and water supply projects, whether it is for irrigation, potable water for towns and communities, municipal services, or pumping and control systems, as well as the removal and treatment of wastewater.

Amiran is a well-known and trusted brand throughout many of Africa’s farming communities, respected for its vast range of innovative irrigation methods that fit the growing needs of water-saving and modern products for agriculture and gardening. The company installs and maintains drip lines, sprinklers, micro-sprinklers, micro-jets, rain guns and centre

pivots, and offers irrigation solutions used for various crops such as fruits, vegetables, flowers and trees, combining the advantage of low water volume and precision coverage.

A HISTORY OF HELPING GROWTH

Since its establishment, Amiran has been a driving force behind the horticulture and floriculture industries in Kenya and throughout East Africa. Over the years, Amiran has expanded its activities and is today a leader in telecommunications, water purification, solar energy, generators and more.

From products and services to training and capacity building, the Amiran brand has become synonymous with the highest international standards of excellence. Through decades of partnership

with Kenya’s large- and small-scale growers, Amiran has become a “one-stop shop” for all of Kenya’s agricultural needs. While playing a significant role in bringing the Kenyan floriculture industry to its place as a global leader, Amiran has also remained focused on the needs of horticulture and cereal growers.

Amiran’s commitment is to create a mutual advantage in all its relationships so that others will always prefer to do business with the company. Amiran achieves this by understanding the needs and aspirations of individuals, customers, contractors, suppliers, partners, communities, governments and nongovernment organisations (NGOs) conducting its activities in ways that bring benefits to all those with whom Amiran has relationships. On top of this, Amiran fulfils its obligations as a

responsible member of the societies in which it operates, demonstrating respect for human dignity and the rights of individuals every step of the way.

Recently, as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR), Amiran has explored ways to partner with Kenya’s donor and NGO community with the goal of utilising Amiran’s unique abilities for the betterment of the people of Kenya. A unique line of products, among them the FDS, have been identified in a genuine effort to help Kenya and related partners achieve domestic food security and other development goals.

As a major player in the Kenyan economy, Amiran continues to stand by its age-old commitment to the Kenyan people and works together with its partners for a better future for Kenya.

EXPANSION I N THE FACE OF CHALLENGE

A medium-sized water board with maximum impact, Sandile Psychology Mkhize, CEO of Magalies Water, explores the state-owned enterprise’s ambitious expansion plans

Writer: Phoebe Harper

Project Manager: Jordan Levey

As one of South Africa’s (SA) eight water boards constituted under the Water Services Act (WSA), the mandate of Magalies Water is clear - to provide bulk water and sanitation services to municipalities, mines, commercial customers and other private consumers throughout the country’s North West province and in areas of Limpopo and Gauteng.

Since 1969, Magalies Water has operated as a state-owned entity classified as a government business enterprise. As such, the board is entirely responsible for generating its own revenue to cover its operations and investment for future infrastructure development needs, since it is excluded from budget allocation by the National Fiscus.

This highlights a major challenge for the company, particularly when working in a sector that must confront major hurdles across the country. Such obstacles primarily entail networks of inadequate bulk infrastructure that are overburdened with soaring water demand.

With a career background spanning significant experience in SA’s water and environment spaceincluding various roles at the former Department of Water Affairs and the Development Bank of Southern Africa before eventually joining Magalies Water in 2014 – first as General Manager of Water Services and thereafter as CEO, Sandile Psychology Mkhize is all too familiar with these sector-specific challenges.

“The vast majority of the communities where we operate have had to bear the brunt of lack of access to clean drinking water and decent sanitation services for a number of years,” he opens.

“When you look at the kind of work we have done in the past, one would be mistaken to believe that Magalies Water by design was established to

deal with difficult challenges which sought to provide solutions to the “water services question” in the rural areas of the country.”

Indeed, taking adversity in its stride, Magalies Water’s pursuit to overcome such hurdles in fulfilling its mandate is an unrelenting mission.

“Magalies Water is relentless in its endeavour to respond to the current bulk water challenges, particularly where consumption patterns are high and will become unsustainable in the future,” Mkhize surmises.

FROM VAALKOP ONWARDS

The board of Magalies Water was

originally established to primarily supply the needs of platinum mines located in Rustenburg and Thabazimbi. During this time, the company operated as the ‘Vaalkop Water Board’. However, the board’s remit soon expanded dramatically in the seminal year of 1994, as SA’s entire socio-economic landscape underwent a seismic transformation.

Magalies Water’s mandate was subsequently extended to also include the supply of bulk potable water services beyond the mines to communities and private customers within the region. Located 70 kilometres (km) from Rustenburg,

Walmansthaal Water Treatment Plant

Vaalkop Water Treatment Plant

SWT Travel was established in 2014 by Safi Ullah Sami. It started in a small office in Germiston with as little as five staff. Today we have established new offices across South Africa and within our neighbouring countries. SWT Travel is one of the upcoming leading travel management suppliers who are both IATA and ASATA accredited offering quick, efficient, and reliable services to both leisure and corporate markets. SWT Head Office based in Bedfordview deals with corporate clients such as the South African Government and is a consolidator for travel agencies.

SWT Travel offers an array of travel services as below and much more!

FLIGHTS - With our tailored deals we give you the opportunity to get the lowest rates with just a phone call. We provide international flights that offer the most sophisticated airlines and the choice of low-cost carriers on domestic flights.

BUSES - Our buses offer extensive networking throughout southern Africa; this comprehensive intercity network covers all major cities in SA as well as Harare, Bulawayo in Zimbabwe, and Maputo in Mozambique.

ACCOMMODATION - SWT Travel provides thousands of travel trade customers with a choice of over 200,000 hotels and apartments in nearly 10,000 destinations worldwide, from city-centre international chain hotels, boutique hotels and resort apartments to independent hotels and beach properties.

CAR HIRE – SWT Travel works with approximately 20,000 car rental locations in 180 countries. In addition to traditional self-drive rentals, we book economy, luxury and sport vehicles as well as private chauffer services.

TRANSFERS - We use the latest and finest vehicles on the market. We select our vehicles very carefully, against a strict set of criteria, in full knowledge of what our clientele needs and wants. All vehicles are exceptionally comfortable and spacious, with full airconditioning throughout. With headrests, and ample leg and head room, transfers are comfortable, cool and professional.

TRAVEL INSURANCE – Benefit from top quality cover, affordable rates, professional service, and fair claims handling. Get quick affordable quotes from reliable and trustworthy partners that offer travel protection against baggage loss, flight cancellations and other travel related losses.

SAFARIS – We take you to vast continents to engage with cultures in countries that are filled with landscapes that will imprint themselves on your memory with their beauty and amazing contrasts.

VISAS – We offer various types of visas such as work visa, student visa, working holiday visa, travel/tourist visa, business visa and even transit visa. Single or multiple entry visas are provided as well.

Our team’s mission is to build and re-purpose for a new age of travel, so that together we ensure amazing business journeys, and a wiser, more mindful and seamless travel experience.

SWT Travel was established in 2014 by Safi Ullah Sami and has grown in less than nine years from a small office in Germiston to more than 15 offices across South Africa (SA) and surrounding countries, including its Head Office in Bedfordview and newest addition in East Rand.

SWT Travel is considered as one of the leading suppliers of Travel Management Services in both corporate and leisure in SA and beyond. We are the supplier for the South African Government and a consolidator for other Travel Agencies, assisting with all their unique travel requirements.

OUR MISSION AND VALUES

To be known as an increasingly reputable travel management company by establishing our global values as a brand, both locally and internationally. To be driven and passionate in providing travel products and services to our clients through commitment, excellence in quality and dedication of our friendly staff and business partners.

OUR VISION

To provide quality service to our clients and to always be the first choice. To meet a wide range of travel requirements, ensuring our customer satisfaction guarantee.

SWT Travel Office

BUSINESS CLIENTS

SWT Travel offers assistance to its corporate clients for all their travel needs when attending conferences or events, supplying discounted rates on local and international bookings. We compare quotes with different suppliers to ensure we pass on the best prices, delivering maximum flexibility, offering choice and value for money.

LEISURE CLIENTS

Our doors are always open and welcoming to walk-in clients, assisted by our expert staff in a friendly and relaxing environment. We take the utmost care to spend time with each customer, providing them with the best offers available, making sure that their every need is met within budget and ensuring that each and every one is fully prepared and ready to take off on their exciting adventure.

OUR GOALS

• To render the best quality service.

• To meet every client’s needs and wants.

• To render a quick and stressfree service to inspire clients of timings.

• To provide cost-effective pricing.

• To be a reliable travel agency in South Africa.

Friendly staff at SWT Travel

Vaalkop WTW underwent significant upgrades, resulting in the 18 megalitres (Ml)/day plant increasing to its current capacity of 270 Ml/day.

With an ever-expanding footprint of households, serviced municipalities, industries and retail operations relying on Magalies Water, the company now owns and operates a total of four water treatment plants alongside its original, and largest, Vaalkop facility. These include Cullinan, Klipdrift, and Wallmannsthall with a combined portable water treatment capacity of 340 Ml/day.

Despite covering challenging geographies that are primarily peri-urban or rural, Magalies Water’s consistently proven performance in the provision of quality, clean water is an ongoing testament to its capabilities.

“The water utility has obtained a clean audit for the financial years 2019/20, 2020/21 and more

recently 2021/22, with a consistent performance of 90 percent and above,” Mkhize shares proudly. Furthermore, the water sold was on average compliant with all five parameters of SANS 241:2015 Water Quality Standards.

MEDIUM SIZED, MAXIMUM IMPACT

In relation to other national water boards, Magalies Water’s size is relatively small, yet this does not inhibit the company from competing with other major players in the space. As Mkhize affirms, “over the years we have consistently been able to compete with the biggest water boards in the country, despite the nature of our geographical area of operation compared to our competitors, who are operating in large economic centres that are highly urbanised.”

KSB Pumps

Optimised products from a specialist for the entire water cycle

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One thing is crystal clear: you’re on the safe side with KSB’s products for water distribution. Water is a precious resource – and an expensive one. Providing fresh, clean water every day is a challenge for water technology applications. Today’s water management systems have to meet complex requirements. Failure is not an option, yet systems are expected to work as cost-effectively and energyefficiently as possible – for decades at a time. This means that consultants, engineering contractors and operators need an experienced partner who knows every detail of the application and is thus able to select the right products. These are pumps and valves that ensure low operating costs and reliable operation.

Whether water extraction, water treatment or water transport, KSB offers pumps and valves for the entire water cycle. As a market leader for these applications, KSB offers a wide range of high-quality water pumps and valves that are particularly efficient and reliable. These enable KSB to ensure that water technology systems can be operated reliably and economically.

To ensure optimum operation, KSB products are expertly designed for the fluid handled and the specific application. Learning from decades of experience and keeping one step ahead in research and development helps us to ensure the high quality of our products and services. This enables you to operate your system reliably, smoothly and with low life cycle costs. Comprehensive advice and a high level of service expertise provide you with additional support.

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Head Office

“WATER IS LIFE, AND AS SUCH THE NEED FOR A WELL-GOVERNED WATER BOARD WHICH OWNS WORLD CLASS INFRASTRUCTURE WILL ALWAYS BE THERE”

– SANDILE PSYCHOLOGY MKHIZE, CEO, MAGALIES WATER

KSB Pumps – Proudly

Supplying Pumps to Magalies Water

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Although Magalies Water may be smaller in terms of the staff complement as well as its revenue and asset base, this has not hindered the company in reaching its full potential – something that it is continually striving towards.

All three areas recently increased dramatically as a result of the disestablishment of the Sedibeng Water Board by the Ministry of Water and Sanitation.

An affirming validation of Magalies Water’s own capabilities, the Ministry of Water and Sanitation has entrusted the company with extending its service to cover municipalities not previously within its remit.

“This for us is a vote of confidence

in our combined skills, experience and expertise as a medium size water board,” Mkhize shares.

As a result of this integration, Magalies Water practically doubled in size to 720 employees, while its operational footprint grew to cover the entire North West province, along with attaining new assets and liabilities. While this addition has undoubtedly strengthened Magalies Water’s capabilities, it has also introduced more familiar challenges.

Indeed, the Sedibeng Water Board was left in a sorry state of affairs, with no ownership of bulk water and sanitation infrastructure assets in the area.

“Where work was done with regards to infrastructure development, the network had been left to deteriorate to the point where the infrastructure is not usable or economically viable to recommission,” recalls Mkhize.

As such, Magalies Water has its hands full with handling this newly acquired operation, and the massive infrastructure expansion necessary to serve the area well.

“The socio-economic conditions in our area of operation and the challenges that have beset us in the past, and continue to do so, have made Magalies Water a resilient water board. Our performance is testament to that fact,” states Mkhize confidently.

Cullinan Water Treatment Plant

EXPEDITING INFRASTRUCTURE

In a bid to address growing water demand in such areas where challenges abound – such as plants prone to power outages, overburdened water systems, or even illegal activity redirecting the supplyMagalies Water began the Bulk Water Infrastructure Master Plan in 2014.

“The North West province has had water challenges for years, especially in the areas where we have been directed to expand our services to, hence the plan to implement aggressive bulk water infrastructure development in the Ngaka Modiri Molema, Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati, and Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipalities,” outlines Mkhize.

The plan’s progress is subject to the availability of funds either from internal or government conditional infrastructure grants, however since its commencement, the value of Magalies Water’s asset base has grown from under R0.9 billion as of 30th June 2014, to over R4.1 billion by 30th June 2022.

Improving the supply versus demand dilemma in the area recently re-allocated to Magalies Water from the disestablished Sedibeng Water presents a daunting financial setback. However, the company’s executives are dedicated to the pursuit of viable options to result in a quick and sustainable turnaround.

“The due diligence that we conducted before taking over the former Sedibeng Water operations paints a bleak picture, which in essence suggests that we may have to build the infrastructure from the bottom up, if we are to see tangible results in terms of increased bulk water provision as well as reducing non-revenue water due to leaks and illegal connections,” he explains.

“As a result, we have started working on the bulk water and sanitation master plan for the newly acquired area. We will also be approaching the National Treasury

RECENT PROJECTS - AT A GLANCE

• CONSTRUCTION of a 16.5km long bulk supply pipeline with a booster pump station from the Tuschenkomst terminal reservoir to the existing bulk supply pipeline in Ruighoek. This has ultimately increased water supply to the Mabeskraal cluster.

• CONSTRUCTION of a booster pump station to increase the pumping capacity from the Klipdrift Wastewater Treatment Works towards the northern areas of the Bela-Bela and Modimolle-Mokgopoong municipalities in Limpopo.

• MECHANICAL and electrical upgrade of the Wallmannsthal high-lift pump station, whose impact has seen an increased pumping capacity and efficiency, thus reducing downtime in the City of Tshwane.

• IN 2021, Magalies was appointed as the implementing agent for the operation and maintenance of water and wastewater treatment plants in the Kgetlengrivier Local Municipality.

for funding of the non-economic component of the infrastructure development, and the Development Funding institutions for the loan funding of the economic component of this infrastructure development.”

Aside from the North West province, this approach to improving bulk water infrastructure is evidenced by myriad ongoing projects across Magalies Water’s areas of operation.

“In addition, we are currently implementing a number of multiyear regional bulk water schemes, which we hope to finalise before 31st December 2025,” he tells us.

NAVIGATING ROUGH WATERS

In recent years, Magalies Water has either undertaken or committed to over R2.8 billion worth of new projects. Such initiatives include the Klipvoor Bulk Water Scheme, which has just been successfully allocated budget by The Infrastructure Fund and has subsequently entered the implementation stage. This major greenfield project entails the construction of a 60 Ml/day water treatment plant plus over 100km of bulk water distribution pipeline. Elsewhere, the Pilanesberg Phase 3

Project is currently in design stage, whilst the Pilanesberg Phase 2 project, which is aimed to supply 70 Ml/d to Rustenburg municipality and areas under Royal Bafokeng Administration, is currently under construction.

“All of our envisaged and/or projected capital projects arise from our observation and our ability to provide water while being aware of the external factors such as water demand patterns in a particular area

AFRICA OUTLOOK: COULD YOU OUTLINE THE PROGRESS OF YOUR ONGOING PILANESBERG BULK SUPPLY SCHEME?

SANDILE PSYCHOLOGY MKHIZE, CEO: “The Pilanesberg Bulk Supply Scheme started in 2014 after the completion of the Bulk Infrastructure Master Plan. The project is implemented in three phases due to its size and financial constraints.

“Phase 1 – to upgrade the Vaalkop Water Treatment Plant production capacity from 210 Ml/day to 270 Ml/day – was completed in 2019. Phase 2, which entails construction of the requisite distribution network capacity, only started with the construction phase in July 2022.

“Phase 2 of the Pilanesberg Bulk Water Supply System (PBWSS), which will cost about R900 million, will be approached in three stages that will be funded through a multi-year contribution by the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) of the Department of Water and Sanitation, the Infrastructure Fund of the National Treasury, and Magalies Water capital funding allocations.”

of operation which may warrant expansion of our infrastructure in order to respond more effectively and efficiently to the service offering,” Mkhize outlines.

Meanwhile, Magalies Water’s Moretele South Bulk Project will deliver the construction of a new 30km pipeline and two surge tanks intended to minimise water hammer caused by the flow of 25.7 Ml of water per day to Moretele communities. Reflecting Magalies Water’s commitment to benefitting local communities and enriching their economies, this particular project created 88 employment opportunities for local people, and benefitted almost 50 local Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs).

For Mkhize, the development of Magalies Water’s beneficial position in the upliftment of its doorstep communities throughout Limpopo, Gauteng and the North West province, will remain a key focus going forwards.

“It is common course that South Africa’s history before 1994 created serious socio-economic inequalities, particularly among black communities who are described as previously disadvantaged,” he says.

Board member - Mr. Itumeleng Mosala

“This has propelled us to adopt a socio-economic stance which seeks to address the imbalances of the past.”

Fulfilling its core mandate of producing high-quality potable water while maximising revenue from water sales and with Mkhize at the helm, Magalies Water will continue

to navigate rough waters with sound investments and ambitious projects into the future.

“While the road ahead will have its challenges, as CEO I am confident of the ability of our executive committee to go above and beyond what is required of Magalies Water in order to change the narrative.”

Board members

INNOVATION AND COMMUNICATION

Writer: Rachel Carr | Project Manager: Josh Hyland

The information and communication technology (ICT) sector plays a crucial role in growth, nurturing young innovators, and enabling the advancement of all other sectors. It is now clear that industries can only realise their full potential by adopting technological tools and systems.

“Africa’s ICT access is on the rise, driven by the government’s digital transformation agenda. It has been recognised that you cannot achieve digital transformation without reliable ICT infrastructure,” explains Evans Silavwe, Acting CEO of INFRATEL.

As the premium ICT and telecommunications infrastructure provider in Zambia, INFRATEL oversees and operates three state of the art data centres along with 1,253 communication towers spanning the 10 provinces of Zambia for wireless communications infrastructure.

INFRATEL’s data centres were built under the Smart Zambia projects, and the production data centre in the capital city of Lusaka has been

Tier 3 design certified by the Uptime Institute.

The company is locked in engagements to access the backbone of the national fibre optic network. As Zambia’s premium ICT and telecommunications infrastructure company,

owned by an investment arm of the government of the Republic of Zambia, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), access to the national fibre network ties in with INFRATEL’s vision of making ICT services accessible everywhere.

As access to digital services is on the rise across Africa, Evans Silavwe, Acting CEO of INFRATEL, discusses digitally connecting Zambia’s urban and rural communities with reliable infrastructure

INVESTING IN INFRASTUCTURE

African countries have invested in data centres for cloud computing and a whole range of associated services are provided to shorten the go-tomarket time for operators. This allows start-ups and entrepreneurs to have minimal capital expenditure (CapEx) required in server infrastructure and software.

“The proliferation of FinTech has contributed to the adoption of digital channels for service delivery. It is a sector with an exciting future as digital services take root and the adoption of online transactions becomes normalised,” states Silavwe.

The INFRATEL agenda is for ICT to be accessible to all Zambians, and Silavwe is fully onboard with continuing to progress in that direction as Acting CEO.

Many countries have invested heavily in the building of reliable connectivity through the interconnection of cities and towns using optic fibre, installation of telecommunication towers, and investment in literacy programmes that take ICT to every corner of the region.

“Some countries have additionally adopted universal access programmes, which are meant to enhance ICT penetration in unserved

and underserved regions. This has enabled the construction of key telecommunications infrastructure in places where otherwise the private sector would be hesitant to invest due to low commercial activity,” he acknowledges.

To support this, INFRATEL’s data centres offer web hosting, software development, payment solutions, and cyber security as a service, while the INFRATEL wireless communications infrastructure hosts all three mobile network operators, internet service providers, some TV and radio stations, and other wireless equipment vendors.

Evans Silavwe, Acting CEO

ON CLOUD NINE

INFRATEL provides and operates Zambia’s first cloud platform that offers clients the option of flexible storage in multiple gigabytes with scalable storage that can support changing business requirements.

As a hybrid, the cloud platform allows INFRATEL to offer a subset of the Microsoft Public Cloud services from its Tier 3 data centres. Extensive services on offer include Office 365, virtual machines and storage, web hosting, and software as a service (SaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) solutions.

Recently, INFRATEL enhanced its cloud offerings with Microsoft Azure Stack, therefore, for the first time, customers in Zambia will be able to provision services in the cloud without human intervention through the selfservice portal that comes with the platform.

Microsoft Azure Stack creates an opportunity for young developers to innovate and generate solutions with its broad spectrum of services, along with opportunities for businesses to digitally transform and reduce CapEx.

The plans for a second cloud platform are well underway, and it

is scheduled to launch in Q2 of this year. The platform will deliver the three main types of cloud computing options: infrastructure as a service (IaaS), PaaS, and SaaS.

“These services will allow customers to leverage improved automation and built-in security to mitigate threats – ultimately supporting superior migration and economics,” Silavwe informs us.

“The cloud platform includes industry-leading scalability and availability, integrated governance and control along with reliability backed by end-to-end service level

“AFRICA’S ICT ACCESS IS ON THE RISE, DRIVEN BY THE GOVERNMENT’S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AGENDA. IT HAS BEEN RECOGNISED THAT YOU CANNOT ACHIEVE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION WITHOUT RELIABLE ICT INFRASTRUCTURE”

– EVANS SILAVWE, ACTING CEO, INFRATEL

Microsoft Azure Stack creates an opportunity for young developers

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agreements (SLAs),” he continues. The cloud mission extends to emerging technologies, for example, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, and human interfaces.

INFRATEL INNOVATION

To limit theft at its tower sites, INFRATEL launched an electronic security system, which was implemented in conjunction with its security innovation partner Corvus Solutions.

“With armed rapid response teams positioned in Lusaka and Copperbelt, the solution uses on-site cameras supported by an AI engine that reports suspicious activity to the relevant officers. The response teams stationed in strategic places are able to respond in less than 10 minutes, thus eliminating theft in the major provinces,” Silavwe shares.

Looking ahead, it is clear why antitheft measures are necessary and more important than ever: INFRATEL is targeting a 40 percent growth in revenue in 2023, and this will be

CCTV Tower sight monitoring by security team

achieved through the expansion of its communications tower count and tenancy alongside the introduction of more services in the data centre.

As the company continues its expansion, the focus will be on tower densification in urban towns while the rural towns will benefit from the bolstered greenfield tower sites as well as the activation of already covered regions.

In addition to taking communications and ICT infrastructure services to rural areas, there will be a minimum of two new cloud platforms launched this year.

“All these efforts will spur growth as they address the identified gaps. Along with growth, INFRATEL’s central strategic effort is aimed at improving communications infrastructure,” he adds.

A project to build around 80 telecommunication towers will meet the demand for reliable connectivity in urban areas with a growing population. The towers will also prepare for the introduction of new technologies such as 5G that need closer cell spacing.

STAFF AND SERVICES

Alongside the services offered by the company, INFRATEL is improving life for the Zambian people in other

INFRATEL collaborates with ZICTA and ZAMTEL in the launch of Universal Access Communication Towers for improved communication

AFRICA OUTLOOK: HOW IMPORTANT IS THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS?

EVANS SILAVWE, ACTING CEO: “As the business sector is fast paced, the turnaround time for procurements is critical. All procurements have an emphasis on quality, cost efficiency and time delivery. Being owned by the government means the Public Procurement Act is followed to the letter.”

ways; it has invested in hybrid power solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions evidenced by 60 percent of the sites being solarpowered. Additionally, INFRATEL has invested in a variety of corporate activities aimed at cultivating a highly motivated and engaged workforce.

“INFRATEL recognises its staff as its most valuable assets and treats them as such. Staff are kept engaged throughout the year and informed of all company undertakings through regular updates. Staff morale and appreciation go a long way, so we ensure that the team is kept motivated,” Silavwe emphasises.

Staff recognition and reward are paramount, with the company keen to acknowledge contributions from its workforce. Team building events are regularly implemented and feedback is valued and encouraged, alongside celebrating wins for individual efforts. In addition, staff are constantly trained to keep up with developing technological trends.

As a reflection of how the company prioritises the people behind the operation, INFRATEL understands the importance of community, and uses its position to improve services with an initiative for schools and the rural population “as a way of giving back”.

In 2022, INFRATEL commenced with the programme of renovating classes in schools which host some of

its tower sites. Equally, rural communities that are struggling with clean water benefit from the boreholes drilled by the company near its tower sites. Here, the communities take full ownership of the telecommunications infrastructure and protect it from theft and vandalism.

Silavwe understands that it is through the company’s people that INFRATEL unlocks the innovation that will guide it into the future.

“INFRATEL puts innovation at the centre of its operation. To specifically address this, dedicated staff have been recruited with a particular emphasis on software development skills. This team has already delivered many key solutions to the Zambian market,” he shares.

To ensure growth, an innovation hub will be launched in 2023 that will work as an ideation centre to help young innovators explore their creativity.

“Our massive infrastructure makes INFRATEL a one-stop shop for digital transformation, ICT solutions, and an enabler for wireless communications. This makes us the obvious choice for our customers,” Silavwe concludes.

Tel: +260 211 427 200 info@infratel.co.zm

https://www.infratel.co.zm

INFRATEL awarded Best in Cyber Security Governance at the ICTAZ General Conference 2022

INFRATEL awarded Best ICT Infrastructure Company at the Techtrends awards 2021

A LEGACY OF VISION

We speak to David Phume, business founder, artist, technologist and roboticist, and discuss his entrepreneurial spirit and portfolio of companies changing the face of the African media and technology space

Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Thomas Arnold

For many in the South African media and technology sectors, the name David Phume is front and centre.

Embodying his innate entrepreneurial spirit, Phume’s story marks him out as a self-made businessman, artist, technologist and roboticist, utilising his knowledge and skills in animation and technical systems in today’s international film, advertising and TV stage, as well as working alongside South Africa’s government and businesses across the continent.

It was in 2005 at the age of 23 that Phume combined his creative mind, education and passion to establish Penthouse Media (Penthouse), a company that has grown to be at the centre of the South African and media space, specialising in content creation, visual effects and animation, supported by technologyheavy expertise. But Phume did not stop there; today, his portfolio of businesses extends beyond just Penthouse, of which he is both Founder and Executive Creative

Director, with two other companies focusing on different aspects of the industry, both in long- and short-form media.

“Penthouse was the springboard from which all else has been launched,” Phume begins. “Cake Media is another company that stemmed from the success of Penthouse. Where Penthouse deals with short-form media, from commercials and idents to marketing and motion graphics, Cake Media deals with long-form, including Advertiser Funded Programming and content distribution.

“As an entrepreneur in the media space it was important for me to make a clear distinction, having separate businesses for long- and short-form.”

One such show that exemplifies Cake Media’s success in the longform media space is The Braai Show, the much-loved and SAFTA (South African Film & Television Awards) award-winning hybrid cookingtalk-lifestyle programme featuring different South African personalities in each episode.

Phume’s companies have won numerous awards to date, including 15 Promax Awards for Penthouse, and the company has participated in the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the global creative event relating to communications, advertising and other related fields.

AN ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT

Phume has spent his life focusing on his passion and strengths, building top-tier businesses that stand at the head of South Africa’s technology and media industry, backed by personal study and experience in global tech hubs such as Silicon Valley in the US.

“That is where my interest in technology began; San Francisco and Silicon Valley are synonymous with tech. I visited Pixar and Lucasfilm during an animation school tour and was inspired by the programming side of the industry as well, and this really opened my eyes and helped guide me to what I wanted to achieve,” he tells us.

Throughout Phume’s life, the combination of family orientation, entrepreneurial spirit, a keen mind, and lifelong interest coalesced to form the bedrock of the trial, error and drive that led to the success of companies such as Penthouse, Cake Media, and the most technology-focused of his businesses, Afrobotics. At the root of it all, Phume is a tech entrepreneur.

“My father has been a big influence on my life - we are almost identical. I have always thought that had we

been born at the same time as peers in the industry he would have been my greatest competitor,” Phume muses. “Not only has he been my greatest influence, and drive to succeed, my father has also been my greatest supporter, who became my first angel investor. Investing over R1million during my difficult tech start-up years in Silicon Valley.”

Coming from a family of businessminded people, it is no surprise that Phume’s path was shaped by industrious purpose. Penthouse’s establishment had been a trial-anderror process that saw five initial fledgling businesses come and go before Phume accepted a broad truth regarding investment opportunities for media companies in South Africait was not like Silicon Valley.

“When starting Penthouse, I was

pretty much one of the first young Black stars that had entered the motion graphics and animation space in South Africa. I would be the go-to person for special or visual effects or anything that relates to animation, and that is how I built my reputation in the industry,” Phume reveals.

“But at the time, the landscape was not suitable for one to run a successful company that just specialised in a specific field such as animation or motion graphics. Elsewhere in the world – in France, Europe, and the US – you would find animation studios that served the media industry, but in South Africa, the demand simply was not there, and was not sustainable enough to support a business. Considering this, I had to pivot the company and develop it into a fullyfledged production company.”

AFRICA OUTLOOK: CAN YOU TELL

US HOW YOUR OWN PAST HAS IMPACTED DAVID’S DRIVE AND ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT?

DR VICTOR TUWANI PHUME, FOUNDER OF ZALLYWOOD NETWORKS, GAUTV, AND TSHWANE TV: “I have started many businesses from bakeries in Soweto, to radio and TV stations across the continent. That journey has been the core of David’s evolution and source of inspiration.

As a businessman and a father, I have always found fulfilment in teaching what I have learnt; imparting knowledge and instilling the importance of skill acquisition to all my children always came first.

I started grooming David from an early age and I walked the journey with him when he became a seasoned animator.

“In the 1990’s, we would stay up all night tinkering with computers and 3D animation software until he became a professional and started his first company.

David likes to get his hands dirty making things - that’s another trait he gets from me and his grandfather alongside his entrepreneurship. His relentless move into tech was expected as we have both been sci-fi fanatics and always eager to take on new challenges.”

This was the turning point for Penthouse, a company that still specialised in motion graphics and animation, but turned its hand to producing commercials, channel brand imaging, brand campaigns, digital marketing and publishing in order to become a sustainable company in the sector.

FACILITATING TECHNOLOGY

As one motivated by technological advancement and the latest in the digital space, following the founding of Penthouse, Phume’s directive soon shifted towards artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. As such, he established Afrobotics. Its primary market offering is providing customers with 360-degree customised technology tools and solutions for businesses.

“Trying to establish a technology company like those in Silicon Valley was simply not going to work due to a low investment pool, so I decided to head in a different direction,” he explains. “Afrobotics came into being off the back of this endeavour. The company works with official agencies, providing solutions in cloud computing, cyber security and business architecture to help build the nation alongside its government.”

Afrobotics specialises in multiple solutions, including the creation of successful cloud strategy and infrastructure giving businesses the ability to tackle modern cloud necessities, with broad coverage in Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud and more. On top of this, the company offers administration in data analytics, engineering and science, including big data, cloud, mobile and Internet of Things (IoT), Data analysis with R, SQL Server, Tableau and others.

“Afrobotics is a 100 percent Black-owned technology company, based in South Africa,” Phume tells us. “With over 15 years of experience in the tech space, we offer end-toend technology solutions to small,

medium and large organisations. We are highly inspired by the idea of Afrofuturism, a philosophy of science and history depicting Africans within the realm of advanced science and technology.”

Afrobotics understands the importance of cyber and data protection, implementing penetration testing, digital forensics, and malware analysis, as well as facilitating enterprise resource planning and management in SAP S/4HANA, Oracle ERP Cloud, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Workday and Deltek. At the heart of the advanced solutions Afrobotics provides, AI and machine learning (ML) applications and assessments on Python, TensorFlow, Neural Networks, and Microsoft Cognitive Services among others are available to create more engaging experiences.

THE TECHNICAL SOLUTION

Afrobotics stands as a promising facilitator of Phume’s vision of a technologically enabled South Africa and the wider continent, focusing on using technology to solve African problems.

Data science has been steadily gaining a foothold in the corporate sector over the past decade and is now an integral part of business strategy for some of the world’s most successful companies. But as the scope of enterprise data science changes, so too have the tools data scientists are using to solve complex problems, from building models to identify and retain high-value customers to creating highly effective

product recommendation engines.

“Technology is the grease on the wheels that will bring growth to businesses. With a growth mindset, we can help bring about the positive evolution of businesses through our solutions,” Phume says.

Afrobotics provides enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems for companies of all sizes and industries. Large and multinational companies (MNCs) have distinct and unique needs that can lead to different degrees of technology fit and complexity.

“Our experience has taught us that not all ERP systems are capable of adequately addressing complexities that come with scalability and hence we continue investing our efforts in our research and development (R&D) programmes, enabling us to integrate propriety software to solve unique problems facing most enterprises of our era.

“On top of bettering businesses, Afrobotics aims to also empower aspiring African innovators in technology, as well as promoting the “maker movement” - the entrepreneurial tech development subculture - in the African continent. This will help to further grow new generations of African tech experts to lead the future of the industry in the years to come.”

“WE ARE HIGHLY INSPIRED BY THE IDEA OF AFROFUTURISM, A PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE AND HISTORY DEPICTING AFRICANS WITHIN THE REALM OF ADVANCED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY”

– DAVID PHUME, FOUNDER, AND TECH AND MEDIA ENTREPRENEUR, AFROBOTICS

What legacy does your company hope to leave?

Pieter Terblancher Co-CEO, HCI Coal

“We would want to leave a legacy of a company who has contributed significantly in terms of value not only to our shareholders but also to the local economy where we operate.”

Gray Cullen Group Operations Director, Fargo Group

“Fargo has always strived to do things in the correct, proper and precise way. There are a lot of shortcuts taken in Africa, and Fargo does not believe in that. We want to provide better services than you would get anywhere else in the world. We want to be the backbone of the supply chain throughout East and Central Africa and the go-to partner for anything related to the supply chain. Whether it's your clearing and forwarding, warehousing, assembly lines, manufacturing or end distribution, we would want to be that partner.”

Rika Swart General Manager, M24 Logistics

“Finding the right balance between building a sustainable e-commerce enabling solution that is passionate about our customers’ success, with a culture where our teams are engaged, energised and feel respected and safe is the ultimate goal. Like our beloved Nelson Mandela once said – It always seems impossible until it is done.”

Chris Kulei Executive Director, Sian Flowers

“A legacy that we want to keep is sustainable production. As long as there is a market we need to grow, but not to the detriment of the

environment. Kenya has high rainfall, great sunlight, and great natural resources, but those resources have to be protected. Sustainable development is a legacy that we want to promote. Our teams are doing indigenous tree planting programmes across the regions where we are based, so that we can increase tree cover.”

Sandro Assis Country Director, Cervejas De Mozambique

“As Country Director, my main legacy objective is to lead a company that produces the best

beers in the world with the best quality and is recognised with international awards. We strive to be seen as the best company to work for in Mozambique, a company that really helps our communities, supports our customers and suppliers, and one that drives responsible drinking on every occasion. We believe that by doing so we will have a future with more cheers!”

To round off each issue, we ask our contributing business leaders for their views on the same question

Now, why not tell yours? Our bi-monthly magazine Africa Outlook is essential reading for business executives wanting to keep up with the latest in global news and trends affecting African businesses across all industries.

Reaching an audience of over 185,000 readers, your company can take advantage of exposure in Africa Outlook with a FREE article and FREE digital brochure, as well as access to further digital and print-based marketing tools that could transform your business.

To share in this unrivalled opportunity, contact one of our project managers today!

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DESIGN:

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EDITORIAL:

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