Africa Outlook - Issue 32

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Maersk’s

Shipping

Promise Creating a better experience for customers in Sierra Leone through improved cargo efficiencies

VODACOM LESOTHO 48 Diversifying its revenue stream by embracing technology change

IPSOS AFRICA 62 Passionate market researchers of Africa’s people, brands and society

VIJAY CONSTRUCTION 82 Family-owned construction business capitalises on growth in Seychelles’ tourism sector

REDPATH MINING (PTY) LTD 124

Facing industry challenges head-on to emerge even stronger

AFRICA OUTLOOK ISSUE 32 A L S O F E A T U R I N G : A F R A A | M I C R O E N S U R E | S A M A N I C O N S T R U C T I O N

Thanks to the wonders of modern aviation, we’ve conquered distance – more or less. Our Q400 – the world’s most technologically advanced turboprop – is doing more to connect bustling metropolises and far-flung communities than any other aircraft in the skies. Able to handle both urban approaches and rugged landscapes, and to shuttle varied passenger loads with greater frequency, it’s bridging the gap between town and country, toughness and comfort, with more speed and less cost.

Bombardier, Q Series, and the Evolution of Mobility are trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries. ©2015 Bombardier Inc. All rights reserved.

W E L C O M E Enrichment through Technology The theme of emerging and advanced technologies has long been one of the hottest topics in Africa, with Companies, governments, NGOs and indeed the population as a whole striving to bridge what still remains a large digital divide between the most and least developed areas of the continent.

In this month’s Africa Outlook, we are featuring progress being made at both ends of the scale as we highlight the most renowned industry leaders who are still driving continuous improvement through technology, all the way down to the corporate social responsibility initiatives being implemented to aid the most rural and impoverished communities in the sub-Saharan region.

Parting the waves is Maersk Sierra Leone who, after improving its cargo efficiencies in recent years, is now earmarking a series of technological investments as the key to its future growth. Managing Director, Lee Brough discusses this strive towards reducing the infrastructure gap and streamlining the shipping Company’s IT systems.

Telecom giants, Vodacom Lesotho, MTN Rwanda and Sudatel Group - along with research specialist, Ipsos Africa - complement this delve into tech, and are supported further by the CSR theme that runs throughout this month’s assortment.

Facebook’s internet.org initiative is one such concept bringing previously inaccessible opportunities to less developed areas of Africa, while one of the social media heavyweight’s partners in this strategy - Samsung Electronics - is busy building its own bridge across the digital divide via its Digital Villages; the eighth, ninth and 10th having been unveiled over the course of 2015.

Elsewhere in this month’s showcasing section, construction once again features heavily as Vijay Construction in Seychelles, Laurus Development Partners in Ghana and Samani Construction in Kenya all share their success stories.

Meanwhile, the remaining sectors of finance, mining, oil & gas, healthcare and food & drink are also catered for by some of the most innovative and aspirational players in their respective markets, via their own, exclusive views on said industries.

Finally, and with an eye firmly turning towards the final two editions of 2015, we preview the African Airline Association (AFRAA)’s Annual General Assembly as a prelude to what promises to be a concerted focus on some of the continent’s leading airlines over the coming months.

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Maersk’s

Shipping

Promise Creating a better experience for customers in Sierra Leone through improved cargo efficiencies

VODACOM LESOTHO 48 Diversifying its revenue stream by embracing technology change

IPSOS AFRICA 62 Passionate market researchers of Africa’s people, brands and society

VIJAY CONSTRUCTION 82 Family-owned construction business capitalises on growth in Seychelles’ tourism sector

REDPATH MINING (PTY) LTD 124

Facing industry challenges head-on to emerge even stronger

AFRICA OUTLOOK ISSUE 32 A L S O F E A T U R I N G : A F R A A | M I C R O E N S U R E | S A M A N I C O N S T R U C T I O N

Matthew Staff Editorial Director, Outlook Publishing

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Enjoy the issue!

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In this issue of Africa Outlook...

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SHIPPING&LOGISTICS

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MAERSK SIERRA LEONE Delivering on its Shipping Promise

Overcoming industry challenges through investments in technology

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EQSTRA FLEET MANAGEMENT A Single Point of Access to the Full Range of Solutions Integrated solutions kickstart the quest for market prominence

T E C H N O L O G Y

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NEWS

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ZUCKERBERG’S INTERNET MASTERPLAN The Great Digital Divide

VODACOM LESOTHO Beyond Telephony

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IPSOS AFRICA Game-Changing New Services

All the latest top stories across the month from Africa

Can Free Basics by Facebook repair the digital divide?

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AFRAA Creating Growth through Competition and Collaboration

Passionate market researchers of Africa’s people, brands and society

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SUDATEL TELECOM GROUP 20-Year Telecom Triumph Connecting Africa through its period of IT transformation

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Serving an increasingly complex and demanding aviation market

S E C T O R

Diversifying its revenue stream by embracing technology change

MTN RWANDA All Smiles at MTN Rwanda Roadmapping the future of technology, ‘everywhere you go’

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TECHNOLOGY It Takes a Village

Samsung celebrates two years of digital enrichment

C O N S T R U C T I O N

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VIJAY CONSTRUCTION Working Together to Deliver Quality

Family-owned construction business capitalises on growth in Seychelles’ tourism sector

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SHOWCASING LEADING COMPANIES Tell us your story and we’ll tell the world

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SAMANI CONSTRUCTION Quality and Ethical Workmanship

A family-run business taking pride in its successes

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LAURUS DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS West Africa’s Sustainable Pioneer

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Aesthetically, socially, and functionally-relevant development

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Africa’s fastest growing insurance organisation

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EY NAMIBIA Responding to the Needs of the Market Investing in a best practice approach to ‘build a better world’

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Land O’Lakes’ new partnership unlocks numerous synergy opportunities

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MICROENSURE Unprecedented Insurance

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VILLA CROP PROTECTION Firmly Rooted in African Soil

Keeping up with the changing healthcare needs of Kenya’s growing population

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M CUBED GROUP Retirement Supported by Tomorrow’s Technology

GERTRUDE’S CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL Continued Devotion to East African Healthcare

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DUKES PETROLEUM COMPANY Setting the Pace in Ghanaian Oil Marketing

Leaving a legacy through valueenhancing retirement products

Fuelling customer satisfaction to stay ahead of the competition

MINING&RESOURCES

MANUFACTURING

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REDPATH MINING (PTY) LTD Committed to Mechanical Efficiency

Facing industry challenges headon to emerge even stronger

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CASTROL SOUTH AFRICA Second to None

Providing much more for much less

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ICECOLD BODIES (PTY) LTD Best-in-Class manufacturer

Responding to customer needs “between the road and the load”

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HYSPEC MINING SERVICES Seizing Opportunity in Africa

Best-in-class hydraulic parts and service equipment

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JUMIA Africa’s Leading Ecommerce Platform

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10TH ANNUAL NORTH AFRICA OIL & GAS SUMMIT/3RD ANNUAL NORTH AFRICA DOWNSTREAM SUMMIT Looking at ways to increase exploration and production in the region

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WEST AFRICA PROPERTY INVESTMENT SUMMIT Taking a closer look at the region’s real estate markets

Capitalising on the lucrative and increasingly competitive ecommerce platform

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ECONOMY

Aliko Dangote Flies the Flag for Nigerian Austerity at FT Africa Summit 2015 Held in early October, the second FT Africa Summit outlined all the key challenges facing the African continent, with Dangote’s CEO, Aliko Dangote, flying the flag for Nigerian austerity and consolidation At the opening of the FT Africa Summit, Mr Aliko Dangote, CEO of Dangote Group said he remained optimistic in the face of falling oil prices, stating Nigeria’s GDP “will not stagnate” any time soon.

He proposed that the low oil price will encourage economic growth in other significant industry sectors that will continue to see healthy growth regardless of the oil price drop, a challenge which is being felt across the world.

“We will have a short-term shock

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but people should remember that the Nigerian economy is resilient and huge,” Mr Dangote said yesterday, alluding to better management of not only supply and demand, but cracking down on corruption.

“It is zero tolerance when it comes to corruption,” he added.

If the new government continues its robust plan to end corruption, this will help to mitigate the near-50 percent oil price collapse felt over the past year.

“The government organisations have suffered a lot of leakages, so

when oil was $100 a barrel we weren’t seeing all that revenue collected.

“I am confident that the new government will be able to block loopholes because the President is very serious about it...And Nigeria is a place where most of the people misbehaving are well known,” Mr Dangote said.

Delving further into his discussion with Lionel Barber, Editor for the Financial Times, Dangote cited that costly West African intra-trade was also hindering business growth for indigenous companies, with expensive charges at West Africa’s ports that “do not allow Nigerian businesses to thrive”.

He also highlighted that PPPs are a crucial element to Nigeria’s success, with the Dangote Group demonstrating its commitment through significant investments in the country, including a $12 billion injection into the construction of an oil and petrol chemical refinery located just outside Lagos, to be completed by 2018.

Delivering perhaps the boldest statement of the day, Mr Dangote reinforced his belief in the Nigerian economy with the statement: “If you are a business in Africa but not in Nigeria, then you are not serious about being on the continent.”

It is visionary and bold statements such as this that resulted in Mr Dangote being named among the world’s 50 most influential personalities by Bloomberg, coming in at number 41 on the list. He aptly concluded his interview at the Summit stating he wanted the Dangote name to be as “big as possible”.

“All of us want to be challenged, and we have a succession plan in place to make sure we remain in Africa for the long-term,” he concluded.

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T E C H N O L O G Y

leading the industry in product, service and digital innovation that clearly differentiates us from the competition and positions Airtel as the network of choice for the Ghanaian public.

These latest results from the NCA validate our position as the most loved brand in the daily lives of Ghanaians.”

Airtel Ghana’s growth on data was unmatched with additions of more than 330,000 translating to 13.3 percent growth over the six month period, and the highest percentage growth in the industry.

Airtel Ghana has been a trailblazer since its entry into the telecommunication industry, as the first to launch a 3G network in 2008, before upgrading to 3.75G in 2012 to give customers a remarkable experience on their network.

This milestone is one of two achievements for the Company in October with Managing Director, Lucy Quist crowned Marketing Woman of the year at the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG) Marketing Performance Awards.

bandwidth with high availability, high reliability and low latency.

SOOC will enable better operational efficiency and optimise operational costs and will also bring significant benefits to the Angolan economy, as a high-speed connection will be

established between the Luanda area and Cabinda to fulfil national telecom needs. The development phase is under way and construction work is scheduled to start in the second half of 2016.

Yohann Bénard, Oil & Gas General Manager of Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks, said: “After connecting Angola to the global network through several undersea cables, ASN is pleased to further contribute to the development of the Angolan fibre optical infrastructure. This award is a prime illustration that submarine fibre optic technology is becoming the standard telecommunication medium for offshore assets. It further demonstrates our leadership in the platform connectivity market, which is one of the priorities of ASN’s industrial plan to diversify into the oil and gas sector.”

Airtel Ghana Reaches Four Million Subscribers

Airtel Ghana has recorded more than four million subscribers in the latest telecom voice and data subscription trend report, released by the National Communications Authority (NCA).

The report shows a consistent growth in the subscriber base of the Company over the first six months of the year, moving from a voice subscriber base of 3.75 million in January, to 4.11 million as of June this year; adding more than 360,000 new subscribers to the network, making it the fastest growing network over the six month period.

Commenting on the growth, Lucy Quist, Managing Director of Airtel Ghana said: “We have been

Lucy Quist, Managing Director of Airtel Ghana

TECHNOLOGY

Alcatel-Lucent to Deliver Critical Fibre Infrastructure Project in Angola Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks, the undersea cables subsidiary of Alcatel-Lucent, has been awarded the development of the Sonangol Offshore Optical Cable (SOOC), a critical infrastructure project which will dramatically reduce the cost-perbit associated with the delivery of data traffic to Angola, including its offshore oil & gas production facilities.

Spanning 1,900 kilometres, the SOOC undersea network will connect to landing points at four locations along the Angolan coast and will allow the country’s oil & gas industry to benefit from very large offshore data

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Technology Could Change the Natural Resources Game

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Corruption Remains a Major Cost for Honest Companies

In 2015, 34 percent of African businesses reported losing out on deals to corrupt competitors, according to a survey conducted

by Control Risks among more than 800 senior legal and compliance professionals worldwide.

The majority of respondents did agree however, that international anticorruption laws are “improving the business environment for everyone”, signalling an increasing honest compliance from governments and financial institutions around the globe.

Commenting on the survey’s findings, Daniel Heal, Control Risks’ Senior Managing Director for East Africa said: “Too many businesses are still losing out on good opportunities to corrupt competitors, or choosing not to take a risk on an investment or entering a new market in the first place for fear of encountering corrupt practices.

“Companies need to find a balance and do more due diligence early on in any negotiation or market entry planning, to spot the points of light in countries that may otherwise appear as no-go areas.”

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By choosing to adopt a specialist data solution, mining businesses can benefit from improved efficiencies and productivity which ultimately improves the bottom line, according to Pedro Guerreiro, SAP Africa.

He says that mining is a challenging and forever evolving business, one tied to numerous internal and external forces.

Although this could be said for many business sectors, mining’s particular financial girth makes it stand out. It’s an industry that generates capital so large it can determine the health of country GDPs. “Mining has a lot of useful chaos - the means to shape what resides in big data and the Internet

of Things. The bedrock of this approach is how mining firms are able to establish real-time and day-to-day insights to their operations, discover efficiencies through automation, respond proactively to challenges on the ground, and manage value chains in new ways. Above all, it opens the door towards building new business methodologies for the mining operations of tomorrow,” he commented.

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More International Renewable Energy Developers Invest in SSA According to Frost & Sullivan, international renewable energy power developers are looking to invest in Africa as a result of the continued success of REIPPPP and the global decline in renewable technology costs. Suppliers are more specifically looking to explore opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa due to the surplus of renewable stocks and services globally, the acute power supply deficit in almost every country of sub-Saharan Africa, and abundant renewable resources on the continent.

New analysis finds that opportunities for the development of grid-connected

solar, wind, and geothermal power projects exist in South Africa, Tanzania, Namibia, Kenya, Zambia, Nigeria and Ethiopia. The Ivory Coast and Ghana, despite not appearing in the top-five, have also been identified as important countries for their large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) potential. Solar PV is by far the most popular technology in development, followed by wind, geothermal and concentrated solar power.

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LOGISTICS

DHL Express Triumphs as an African Top Employer

the launch reflects its strategic expansion plans on the continent to enhance communication services and bring East Africans closer together.

Through an initial investment of US$739 million, Viettel’s service covers 81 percent of Tanzania’s population; providing first-time connectivity to Viettel has completed expansion into 1,500 villages. its tenth African market via the launch The Company’s latest investment in of mobile and internet services in Africa follows the rollout of services in Tanzania, the second biggest economy Burundi and Cameroon through Lumitel in East Africa. and Nexttel earlier this year, and in Under the brand name of Halotel, Mozambique through Movitel in 2014.

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Viettel Closes in on Vision to Provide Every Tanzanian with a Mobile Phone

DHL Express has been certified as a Top Employer in 12 African markets at the prestigious Top Employer 2016 ceremony in Johannesburg.

This is the second consecutive year that the company was certified as a Top Employer in Africa by the Top Employers Institute.

Hennie Heymans, Managing Director of DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) reaffirmed: “Our vision is to be ‘The Logistics Company for the World’.

We aim to be the logistics provider that people turn to first – not only for all their shipping needs, but also as an employee or investor.”

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H E A LT H C A R E

SA’s Mining Industry Sees Steep Decline

Kenya Becomes the First Country to Launch Novartis Access Novartis has announced the launch of Novartis Access in Kenya, the first country to benefit from a portfolio of 15 affordable medicines to treat cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, respiratory illnesses, and breast cancer. The Novartis portfolio is being offered to the Kenyan government, non-governmental organisations and other publicsector healthcare providers for US$1 per treatment, per month.

“Novartis and Kenya have a relationship of more than 40 years...

The successful implementation of

the programme in Kenya will be essential to guide the expansion of Novartis Access to other countries in the future,” said Joerg Reinhardt, Chairman of the Board of Novartis.

The 2015 financial year has proved to be extremely challenging for South Africa’s mining industry. Local cost pressures, labour action, and a continuing downswing in commodity prices have resulted in shrinking margins and impairment provisions.

PwC reports that mining companies are grappling to improve productivity in order to address the demanding global and local mining environment.

Michal Kotze, PwC African Mining Industry Leader, said: “The message to miners is clear: Continue to focus on costs, refocus on your core business and carefully evaluate growth opportunities. It certainly will make for some interesting planning and forecasting discussions in the coming year.”

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TELL US YOUR STORY

AND WE’LL TELL THE WORLD AFRICA OUTLOOK is a digital and print product aimed at boardroom and hands-on decision-makers across a wide range of industries on the continent.

With content compiled by our experienced editorial team, complemented by an in-house design and production team ensuring delivery to the highest standards, we look to promote the latest in engaging news, industry trends and success stories from the length and breadth of Africa.

We reach an audience of 165,000 people across the continent, bridging the full range of industrial sectors: mining; oil & gas; logistics; resources; manufacturing; construction; engineering; technology; food & drink; retail; finance; and healthcare.

In joining the leading industry heavyweights already enjoying the exposure we can provide, you can benefit from FREE coverage across both digital and print platforms, a FREE marketing brochure, extensive social media saturation, enhanced B2B networking opportunities, and a readymade forum to attract new investment and to grow your business.

To get involved, please contact Outlook Publishing’s Managing Director, Ben Weaver, who can provide further details on how to feature your company, for free, in one of our upcoming editions.

W W W. A F R I C A O U T LO O K M A G . C O M Tel: +44 (0) 1603 959 650 Email: ben.weaver@outlookpublishing.com

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The Great Digital Divide Facebook’s Free Basics by Internet.org initiative has promised the world’s four billion unconnected people a chance to access the internet. However, there are still many roadblocks that harbour its growth Writer: Emily Jarvis acebook’s bold initiative to bring free internet access to the world’s four billion people who do not have it, and to increase connectivity among those with limited access, has received a somewhat controversial reception; with polar opposite opinions on its feasibility – marred by issues of net neutrality - reliability and sustainability.

Nunu Ntshingila, Facebook’s new Head of Africa

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Of course, these are just some of the debates being considered by people around the world since the site’s Founder, Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement of the US$1 billion project two years ago. In this time, Facebook’s Internet.org – recently renamed Free Basics by Facebook to distinguish the service from its wider technology-orientated corporate social responsibility goals - has been launched in 19 countries across Asia, Latin America and Africa; teaming up with mobile carriers and technology giants along the way to “remove barriers and give the unconnected majority of the world the power to connect”.

Users with data-enabled phones can access a free website through their mobile browser, and those with a smartphone can download an app from the Google Play store. Designed to bring a low-data version of Facebook, its Messenger service and a selection of local websites, the platform makes it possible to provide not just access to the web, but improved access to healthcare, the job market, sports updates and drive financial inclusion

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services forward.

July, 2015 marked the one-year anniversary of Free Basics in Africa.

Working closely with more than a dozen mobile operators across Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Senegal, Zambia, Ghana, Angola and Malawi, the Company has been gradually increasing the rollout of this service.

Marking its continued desire to bring its own service to a bigger audience, the social media giant also opened its first office on the African continent a month prior to this in Johannesburg;

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appointing Nunu Ntshingila as the new Head of Africa.

Free Basics by Facebook is simultaneously increasing the number of businesses and people using its own social media platform – generating more profit for them - and growing the number of people active online, growing the revenue of partnering network companies. Of course, all businesses need to look after number one, but the initiative is raising eyebrows as the public search for the catch.

Chris Daniels, Vice President of Internet.org

Net neutrality

Free Basics has come under fire as an initiative with an underlying motive; not only bringing more of the population online, but increasing the Facebook user base. In some cases, this will naturally encourage target users living below the poverty line to use what little money they have to pay for a data service to access the site.

It is also said to be creating a false perception of the internet, with the number of websites currently available restricted to 50. There are two main issues with this. Firstly, it shelters the first-time user and does not provide the required education in internet basics, such as taking the right security measures and understanding the importance of privacy. Secondly, while Free Basics provides limited internet access to those who would not normally have any, many argue that it cuts them off from a major part of the actual internet, creating a ‘digital divide’.

It is this second point which many experts are picking up on, claiming that the restrictions create a “walled garden” of internet services, shutting the rest of the market out to suffer a loss. This, in itself could kick-off a very unhealthy business trend as more companies look to create similarly restrictive platforms. Letting service providers decide which internet services will be privileged over others interferes with the free flow of information and people’s

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rights; it therefore endangers freedom of expression and equality of opportunity, also known to many as ‘net neutrality’.

“The biggest loophole in this initiative is that it will eventually kill competition.

Companies which have been in the market for a while will end up joining the league. They will pay the telecom companies to allow users to utilise their services for free. Naturally, the user base of these companies will increase.

These companies will start making more profits. They will use this money for extensive branding and marketing.

More users will start switching to them. The competitor company, who hasn’t joined the Free Basics by Facebook league will face a plummet in its user base,” an article published on Quora.com explained.

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Universal connectivity

“The competitor company, who hasn’t joined the Free Basics

by Facebook league will face a plummet in its user base”

In one respect, creating a monopolised market seems like a calculated move, however for Facebook, perhaps the need to tackle affordable internet outweighed the consequences.

Despite having held similar motives towards affordability, an indigenous and entrepreneurial company that has not yet joined the initiative risks closing its doors on the market it has been trying so desperately hard to provide for, for years.

While experts question the plausibility of the platform’s motives, Zuckerberg has been extremely vocal about Free Basics, stating that it is primarily driven by an intrinsic desire to see the world connected, not by a for-profit motivation.

Earlier this year, he published the

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following on his Facebook page in response to the backlash: “Universal connectivity and net neutrality can and must coexist. To give more people access to the internet, it is useful to offer some service for free. If someone can’t afford to pay for connectivity, it is always better to have some access than none at all. Internet.org doesn’t block or throttle any other services or create fast lanes -- and it never will.

We’re open for all mobile operators and we’re not stopping anyone from joining. We want as many internet providers to join so as many people as possible can be connected. “...Every person in the world deserves access to the opportunities the internet provides. And we can all benefit from the perspectives, creativity and talent of the people not yet connected.”

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‘Facebook is planning to launch a satellite that will support its Free Basics project by providing internet access to even the most remote parts of Africa in the second half of 2016’

Sustainability

There is no doubt that something needs to be done to bridge the digital divide and leverage the African economic boom and technology revolution to bring connectivity to the substantial portion of the 1.1 billion people on the continent who still cannot access the internet. However, the Free Basics model - giving users a taste of connectivity before prompting them to purchase pricey data plans - fails to acknowledge the economic reality for millions of people who cannot afford those plans, or even a smartphone in the first place; which ultimately means this initiative falls flat at the first hurdle.

Those who can access the service risk getting stuck on a separate and unequal path to internet connectivity, which will serve to widen and not narrow the digital divide.

Ultimately, this leads to the question of whether something is better than nothing. However, the main sticking point is this: how is someone living in complete poverty – Free Basics’ target audience – going to raise the money to buy a mobile device in the

first place to access the internet, even if it is free? This seems to suggest that the target audience is actually those with a mobile device already, who may already pay for data access, thus the prospect of getting the service

they have already minus the cost, albeit limited, must appeal greatly; and changing mobile operator to gain access to the free service to save what money users have, is also something to be considered.

In Africa, this won’t be the picture for long though, as Facebook is planning to launch a satellite that will support its Free Basics project by providing internet access to even the most remote parts of Africa in the second half of 2016. In partnership with French firm Eutelsat, Spacecom’s Amos-6 satellite is set to substantially reduce the cost of mobile internet over time to support the overall growth of the communications industry in Africa.

As more and more people in emerging economies turn to Free Basics to gain a small taster of what the internet has to offer, one thing’s for certain; Zuckerberg will continue to be seen as a game-changing auteur who is striving to make his service a catalyst for internet adoption around the world. And this approach is largely working; bringing people online faster than ever before in line with Facebook’s goals to connect two-thirds of people globally who are currently offline, reducing the cost of mobile internet by 99 percent in the next 10 years.

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AFRAA: Creating Growth through Competition and Collaboration More than 400 senior decision-makers are to attend the 47th AFRAA Annual General Assembly, with this year’s hosts – ECAir – focused on ways to sustainably grow airline traffic for the benefit of all Writter: Emily Jarvis

Left: Fatima Beyina-Moussa, Director General of ECAir

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he aviation market in Africa is on its way to becoming one of the most important in the world with more than a billion travellers, a third of whom belonging to the middle-class, all utilising the industry for business and pleasure purposes. Air traffic in Africa is growing by 5.2 percent a year in line with its economic growth prospects, while the weakest growth was recorded in North America and Europe, with 2.3 percent and 3.8 percent recorded traffic growth respectively.

This figure presents challenging yet very exciting times for the airline industry in Africa, with untapped opportunities just waiting to be discovered to meet its full potential.

For nearly five decades, the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) has hosted its Annual General Assembly (AGA) to bring together likeminded experts to discuss the most prominent industry trends and topics.

This year, the 47th edition of the annual Assembly will take place from 8-10 November at the Kintele International Sports Complex in Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is a unique business event and is attended by an average of 400 participants. This includes airline Directors, Chief Executive Officers and decisionmakers on a global scale.

Hosted by Equatorial Congo Airlines (ECAir) and the patronage of the President of the DRC, H.E. Denis Sassou Nguesso, the Assembly promises presentations and panel discussions converging on the theme of ‘Open skies: Growth through competition and collaboration’.

Getting its name from the recent World Bank study entitled ‘Open skies for Africa: implementing the

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Yamoussoukro decision, the event is designed to encourage further African countries to commit towards its implementation and the establishment of a single African air transport market by 2017. “Open skies in the continent will undoubtedly allow African airlines to operate to any combination of cities on the continent, with the great economic potential this presents,” says Fatima Beyina-Moussa, President of AFRAA and CEO of ECAir in her welcome message on the Assembly website.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which brings together 250 carriers accounting for 84 percent of traffic worldwide, is also aligned with both the Yamoussoukro Decision and the themes set out by AFRAA. In Nairobi, on IATA Aviation Day last June, Director, Tony Tyler,

What is the Yamoussoukro decision?

Stemming back to the late 1980s, the Yamoussoukro decision aims for the full-liberalisation of the intra-African air transport market, free exercise of first, second, third, fourth and fifth freedom rights for passenger and freight air services by eligible airlines; to ensure fair competition on a nondiscriminatory basis and comply with international safety standards.

occasion to discuss growth potentials through positive synergies and legitimate competition, in servicing our increasingly complex and demanding market,” Beyina-Moussa adds.

Initiating dialogues

At the Assembly, participants will share and explore the challenges faced in Africa’s aeronautical industry, and debate on which measures to implement in order to improve air transport growth across the continent.

Beyina-Moussa will also participate in a roundtable with Managing Director’s (MD) from some of Africa’s largest airlines including; Mbuvi Ngunze, Kenya Airways, Tewolde Gebremariam, Ethiopian Airlines, Sherif Fathi, EgyptAir, Abderahmane Berthe, Air Burkina, Sanjeev Gahdia, Astral Aviation and Khellil Faical, Tassili Airlines.

The AFRAA General Assembly will put the spotlight on the host country, closely analysing the DRC’s own aims and challenges with regard to air transport. In the past 10 years, eight airports have either been restored or built here, with August, 2014 marking a huge milestone for the national airline, ECAir, who surpassed the one million passenger mark since the airline was created four years ago.

The Assembly’s Brazzaville location is designed to attract

urged people to implement the Yamoussoukro decision, a declaration of common intent by African countries in favour of the liberalisation of the skies adopted 15 years ago.

“The upcoming assembly therefore offers an excellent

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Bombardier Commercial Aircraft in Africa:

A Product for Every Market T

he fleet of Bombardier-manufactured commercial aircraft in Africa has been growing steadily as airlines, other operators and lessors utilise them as bestin-class solutions to handle the continent’s widely divergent geography, environment and climate; mountains and lowlands, damp tropical forests and dry, scorching deserts.

About 45 operators in 23 countries in Africa operate, or have ordered, approximately 170 Bombardier Dash 8/Q Series turboprops, and CRJ Series regional jets.

The Q400 turboprop has become dominant on the continent. This year, two new Q400 operators joined the Bombardier family.

Jambojet of Nairobi, Kenya chartered a Q400 airliner from DAC Aviation and is serving three new coastal destinations from Nairobi; Lamu, Malindi and Ukunda with the 78-seat aircraft. In Accra, Ghana, Starbow expanded its regional route network with a Q400 airliner that was wet-leased from Falcon Aviation Services of Abu Dhabi.

diversified use of our Q400 turboprops, CRJ regional jets and the all-new C Series aircraft.

“With seating capacity ranging from 60 to 150 passengers, operators can match the capacity of the aircraft to meet passenger demand, thereby increasing load factors, yields and profitability. Yields and profitability also benefit from the low operating costs of our aircraft.

“Bombardier is the only manufacturer offering such a wide range of seating options encompassing both turboprop and jet aircraft.”

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft has been expanding its customer support operations to bring the Company geographically closer to customers

Existing Bombardier customers, Air Côte d’Ivoire and RwandAir also took steps to increase their fleets of Q400 aircraft. Air Côte d’Ivoire converted options on two Q400 aircraft to firm orders that will increase its fleet to four of the dual-class turboprop regional airliner, and RwandAir took delivery of a dual-class, 67-seat Q400 leased from Middle East-based Palma Holding Limited.

In Nigeria, Arik Air introduced the world’s first dual-class CRJ1000 jetliner configured with three-abreast businessclass seating into service in West Africa. The aircraft has 10 premier, three-abreast seats and 81 four-abreast economy class seats. Arik Air is utilising the aircraft on its most popular business routes in West Africa.

“All of these airlines have noted operational flexibility and performance, operating economics, excellent passenger amenities and strong environmental credentials as key factors in their selection of our commercial aircraft,” said John Kassis, Regional Vice President, Sales, the Middle East and Africa, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft.

“Africa provides many opportunities for the

Bombardier has been steadily increasing the flexibility of its products to make them even more of an asset to their operators. The Q400 aircraft is now available in an optional passenger-cargo configuration and also in an optional extra capacity configuration that seats up to 86 passengers. Enhancements to the CRJ900 regional jet have resulted in a 5.5 percent reduction in fuel consumption.

“These refinements have made Q400, CRJ and C Series aircraft the best, and certainly most flexible, products in their seat segment for operators in Africa,” said Kassis.

Bombardier’s Commercial Aircraft Market Forecast for the 2015-2034 period predicts

deliveries to African operators of 550 aircraft with 60 to 150 seats. As many as 200 of these aircraft will be mainline aircraft with 100 to 150 seats, while 300 will be regional airliners with 60 to 100 seats; equating to 4.3 percent of the anticipated worldwide deliveries of 12,700 aircraft during the 20-year forecast period, valued at around $28 billion.

Bombardier’s all-new C Series jetliner is aimed at the 100 to 150-seat market segment. The CS100 aircraft, the smaller of the two C Series airliners, had successfully completed more than 90 percent of its certification programme by mid-October, 2015 and is on track for certification by the end of 2015 and entry into service - with SWISS as the first operator - in the first half of 2016. Certification of the CS300 is scheduled to follow about six months later.

The flight test programme has shown that the CS100 and CS300 aircraft are exceeding their original targets for fuel burn, payload, range and airfield performance. The C Series aircraft’s maximum range is confirmed to be up to 3,300 NM (6,112 kilometres), some 350 NM (648 kilometres) more than originally targeted, and the aircraft is delivering more than a 20 percent fuel burn advantage compared to in-production aircraft, and a greater than 10 percent advantage compared to re-engined aircraft.

Bombardier has also announced that it has completed all noise performance testing and data confirms that the CS100 aircraft is the quietest in-production commercial jet in its class. The aircraft’s noise performance and its outstanding short-field capability makes it ideal for varied types of operations.

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft has been expanding its customer support operations to bring the Company geographically closer to customers. A Regional Support Office (RSO) and spare parts depot are co-located in Johannesburg, with Authorised Service Facilities in Johannesburg and Addis Ababa.

Operating from the Company’s regional office located in the United Arab Emirates, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft’s sales and marketing team is well positioned to provide industry-leading solutions to its current and prospective customers in the region.

Progress mostly happens in inches, in tweaks, and in increments. But sometimes there’s a shift that changes everything. Those leaps require vision, intelligence, and effort. They require the kind of courage that made flight possible in the first place. It’s this boldness that drives Bombardier’s relentless pursuit of excellence, and has seen us create the cleanest, quietest and most profitable aircraft in the skies.

Bombardier, CRJ Series, and the Evolution of Mobility are trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries. ©2015 Bombardier Inc. All rights reserved.

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the attention of the world aviation industry toward the Congolese capital’s extraordinary opportunities, particularly with regard to the MayaMaya Airport; an airport that continues to grow in size. Furthermore, the Assembly provides the opportunity to strengthen commercial and tourism ties throughout the continent and with new and traditional markets outside of Africa, including Dubai, China and Europe.

Beyina-Moussa added: “To get from one African country to another, it’s sometimes easier to fly out of the continent and take a connection in Dubai or Paris, and then come back into Africa. This is something we want to avoid at all costs. Making

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The AGA will bring together likeminded experts to discuss the most prominent industry trends

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Who are AFRAA? Formed in 1964, AFRAA comprises 45 African airline members and around a hundred industrial partners, including aircraft and engine manufacturers, consultants, and high technology service providers, as well as representatives from governments, airports and international organisations.

The Association’s mission is to encourage and support African companies as they develop their air transport services. It also aims to facilitate cooperation between African companies in order to develop interconnectivity and establish a significant number of intraAfrican relationships.

travel within Africa easier can only be beneficial for airlines, and above all for passengers. Passengers will enjoy a much better journey than they do today. Not only are connections between African countries insufficient, but they don’t have enough round trips, either, so passengers can’t get where they want in Africa. This is the battle AFRAA has to fight, and has to win.”

End of an era

November, 2015 marks the end of Beyina-Moussa’s term in office as President of AFRAA. Starting as a member of the Executive Committee in 2012, she became the organisation’s President last year, bringing her passion and entrepreneurial aviation expertise to find ways to grow the industry to the satisfaction of all regional – and international – players.

Beyina-Moussa recently took stock of her time at the head of the association: “It has been my great honour to be the spokesperson of my peers and directors of African airlines.

I have been able to meet the leading

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AFRAA General Assembly at a glance More than 400 participants to attend Theme: ‘Open skies: Growth through competition and collaboration’ Roundtable with senior members of some of Africa’s largest airlines Finding ways to sustainably grow airline traffic for the benefit of all

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figures in African and international aviation, such as Tony Tyler, Director General and CEO of the International Air Transport Association, and political decision-makers like Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union, and to speak of the importance of cooperation and the liberalisation of African skies.

“I feel that things are moving forwards, that we are being heard.

AFRAA does a lot for the development of the air sector in Africa. The Secretary General of AFRAA, Dr Elijah Chingoshoet, and his team do remarkable work and it’s been a pleasure to be at their side and make my own contribution.”

With so many inspiring aviation leaders present in Africa’s aviation scene, it is clear that Beyina-Moussa will be succeeded by someone equally

as impactful and who will bring yet another new perspective to what it means to take flight across the continent; by shining a light on the changes and challenges yet to come in the industry.

EVENT DETAILS WHEN: 8-10 November, 2015 WHERE: Kintele International Sports, Complex, Brazzaville, DRC WEBSITE: http://aga47.afraa.org

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IT TAKES A

Village

Samsung’s mission to raise awareness and use ICT to overcome region-specific problems across Africa is evident through a series of enriching initiatives, and none more so than its now 10-strong Digital Village concept Writer: Matthew Staff

Harnessing solar power for CSR projects

Solar-powered internet school

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amsung Electronics Africa is celebrating the two-year anniversary of arguably its most significant corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative to date, with its Digital Village concept having aided the energy, educational, infrastructural and technological challenges still all too evident on the continent.

Ultimately though, it was electrification in Africa that sparked the focus and, in October, 2013 in Midrand, South Africa, the first Digital Village was set up as a range of solutions designed to sustainably improve the lives of the local population through renewable and environmentally-friendly resources; an event which has set the tone for a concerted drive into even less developed regions of the continent ever since.

“Everyone speaks of the need to bridge the digital divide but we can only really achieve this if we focus on the core objective of changing lives for the better,” said Pitso Kekana, head of Public Affairs and Corporate Citizenship, Samsung Africa RHQ at Samsung Electronics Africa at the time. “Like many businesses, our challenge was to look at what was

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needed versus what was available and devise a plan that connected the two.

“The critical need for alternatives to the current electricity shortage problem has prompted us to develop products - under our Built for Africa umbrella - that capitalise on the sun’s energy, and today we once again demonstrate how we are using our core business strengths as an enabler to positively impact lives.”

The core concept of the Samsung Digital Village comprised solar powered internet schools, a solar powered generator, a solar powered health centre, a telemedical centre and the implementation of LED lighting to extend the lifecycles of all facilities within the Village.

As a consequence, Samsung was directly addressing a statistic that grimly highlighted only 25 percent of rural areas benefiting from electricity; which, in turn, directly impacted levels of education, healthcare and connectivity in these locations.

“The initiative is an example of Samsung’s investment in CSR on the continent; a keen focus on education, healthcare and access, and harnessing the company’s legacy of innovation to respond to the felt needs of people on the continent,” Kekana added.

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In the following two years, Samsung has replicated the success of its Midrand Digital Village across subSaharan Africa, penetrating as many countries as possible with the same core driver of enriching lives on the continent by leveraging a technological prowess all too synonymous with the Samsung brand.

This year has been among the most productive 12 months so far for the initiative, with four carefully chosen areas identified in West Africa; all of whom subsequently thriving with the new, sustainable features to pull upon.

February saw the first of these introductions in Libreville, Gabon - its seventh instalment overall handing over the Digital Village to the Gabonese government; epitomising its

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“Gabon’s vision for socio-economic development through ICT made this the ideal site for a pilot Digital Village in the region”

significance to the nation as a whole.

“Gabon’s vision for socio-economic development through ICT made this the ideal site for a pilot Digital Village in the region,” said Kekana at the unveiling. “Enabling the community’s access to internet connectivity will have an immediate transformative impact.”

For Gabon, it is indeed the technological facets of the Village which the country most stands to benefit from, and the concept is geared up to offset different shortfalls in each individual case.

For the DRC - Samsung’s 10th and most recent foray announced in September - the Digital Village unveiled to the community of Kasenga will not only act as this bridge across the digital divide once again, but it will

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An innovative approach to investing in young people

also facilitate vital, much-needed SME and business development, as well as government service delivery.

Bill Kim, Managing Director of the DRC branch for Samsung Electronics East Africa said: “The Digital Village demonstrates our innovative approach to investing in people and their communities. This initiative offers a complete educational infrastructure, comprehensive healthcare solution and power generation capabilities that will spur the growth of small businesses and harness the energy of the sun to minimise running costs, among others.

“We understand that success in Africa requires commitment to creating the market and infrastructure around it, not just entering it. That’s why we are putting resources into a variety of initiatives across the continent that are designed to address the unique needs and conditions of the continent.”

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“The Digital Village demonstrates our innovative approach to investing in people and their communities”

Education and healthcare

Enveloped between these two introductions were the eighth and ninth Villages, which not only fulfilled the same objectives of all that had

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gone before or since, but also added a new dimension to the overall provision having been designed in partnership with UNESCO. The United Nations’ specialist agency is based in Paris with the aim of contributing “to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development, and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information”.

A natural fit then for Samsung Electronics Africa’s ongoing CSR activities which were brought to Ghana and Nigeria in 2015.

For the former in April, it was the Volta Region positioned at the heart of communities like Volo in

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the North Tongu District Assembly which benefitted; UNESCO becoming involved in response to an internal report that found that 58 million children around the world were missing out on an education, and healthcare provision in rural compared to urban areas veering towards the non-existent in some cases.

For the latter, it was once again education and health that formed the crux of the advantages targeted through the Village’s implementation.

The Oban community located in the Akamkpa Local Government Area consequently received the most advanced information and communication technologies to offset challenges that have engulfed the region for decades.

Built for Africa

All told, the two-year and 10 Village milestones have affirmed Samsung Electronics as one of the most reputable and enriching brands on the continent, but the work doesn’t stop there.

In July this year, the Company honoured Mandela Day, and the passion that Nelson Mandela had for progressive transformation, by installing a new Smart School in the Alexandra Township in Gauteng, South Africa.

Installed under its Employee Volunteer Programme, more than 60 local staff members participated in the community cleanup and school refurbishment, while the new Smart School was installed to enable access to a broader range of educational materials on mobile devices than had ever been enjoyed in the township before.

“Nelson Mandela famously said that education is the most powerful weapon that can be used to change the world, which is why we are passionate about enabling education and improving people’s lives,” Pitso Kekana, Corporate Citizenship Director

Enhancing healthcare provision in rural areas

for Samsung South Africa said. “As a Company, we are developing solutions that are Built for Africa, with education and healthcare taking centre stage.

“We are rolling out advanced internet schools in shipping containers to the most isolated parts on the continent, alongside our installing of Digital Villages, and we support these initiatives because we believe investment in the health and education of our youth is the best investment we can make for the future of this country.”

‘What if I can?’

As many as 1,000 volunteers from partner organisations and the community helped install the Smart School in Alexandra, once again emphasising the influence that a major global organisation like Samsung can have on isolated local levels.

With larger multinational partners, as well as consumers in more developed

regions having benefited from the Company’s range of electronics for years, the digital capabilities are there for all to see, but not there for all to use.

It is this divide that Samsung continues to successfully bridge, embracing its all-encompassing ‘What if I can?’ ethos at its core.

“Samsung Electronics Africa took a bold step forward in March, 2015, with the launch of the new brand campaign called ‘What If I Can?’. The initiative is an attempt at shifting the mindsets of normal people to believing they can contribute towards the greater good because they have the power in their everyday routine to change people’s lives and circumstances,” the Company explained towards the beginning of the year.

The ‘What if I can?’ initiative not only complements its Digital Village, Built for Africa and Employee Volunteer Programmes, but also encourages the wider communities to adopt similar mindsets so that the willingness to transform less developed areas becomes the norm rather than a specialised set of ideas driven by large enterprises and NGOs. “We feel that a consumer-facing campaign such as ‘What If I Can?’ is complimentary and even gives credit to our innovate solutions such as solar-powered internet schools and solar-powered Digital Villages that work to empower people by delivering revolutionary solutions designed to overcome local challenges and take communities into the future,” Kekana said.

The Company added: “Samsung is on a mission to raise awareness and use innovation and technology to overcome region-specific problems.

“This time, we are not only empowering communities to become healthier, better educated and effectively connected, we are also empowering ordinary people to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate around them.”

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is a leading business-to-business publication promoting and showcasing the leading companies across an array of sectors on the continent.

Appearing in both digital and print, the publication is aimed at boardroom members and hands-on decision makers, reaching more than 165,000 business executives.

Each month we feature leading companies and business executives by profiling their operations and success stories. Covering areas of best practice, capital investments, the supply chain, innovation and continuous improvement, we aim to promote all that is good about the industry and the region, with your company taking centre stage throughout it all.

Producing business profiles across the full range of sectors and every corner of the continent, Africa Outlook is the platform to promote your business success.

Read on for this month’s profiles.

Emily Jarvis, Deputy Editor emily.jarvis@outlookpublishing.com

If you want to enjoy the exposure and coverage we can offer, please feel free to contact us to discuss the opportunity further.

Tell us your story and we’ll tell the world.

Matthew Staff, Editorial Director Tel: +44 (0) 1603 959 655 matthew.staff@outlookpublishing.com

ame M A E R S K

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DELIVERING ON ITS

SHIPPING Promise Aligning with the wider Group strategy to standardise its technology processes, Maersk Sierra Leone has benefitted from improved cargo efficiencies to create an even better experience for its customers Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Tom Cullum

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or almost two decades, Maersk Sierra Leone (SL) has been a crucial part of Maersk Group’s African operations, overseeing the carriage of cargo to and from Sierra Leone. In order to continue aligning its service offering with the high level demands and needs of the country, the Company has focused its recent investments on improving customer experience, while moving towards a standardised use of technology throughout its essential processes to align with the wider Group.

Despite the apparent 20 percent contraction in the Sierra Leonean economy in 2015 (according to the World Bank), Maersk SL has registered volume growth above five percent for the past few years, with 10 percent recorded in 2015, due in part to the growth of capital goods and fuel imports into the country. Managing Director (MD), Lee Brough recalls: “This is a far cry from where we were when we first moved into the country; initially managed by a third party agent, Star Marine in 1996 and eventually establishing our own local office here in 2003 in line with the growth of the country’s economy; becoming more accessible to the growing number of customers in the market.”

Sierra Leone has limited finished goods production, which makes the country and its industries heavily reliant on the importation of goods. Maersk SL plays a leading role in the provision of international sea transportation of containerised cargo, where it carries at least three out of five containers to and from the country; including cargo ranging from basic foodstuffs and construction materials, to higher value commodity goods such as appliances and clothing. “This year, it is estimated that we will carry 14,000 40-foot equivalent containers (FFE), which is an impressive feat given the economic and infrastructural challenges that Sierra Leone is facing,” he adds.

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䘀爀漀稀攀渀 䘀漀漀搀猀 䐀愀椀爀礀 ☀ 䔀最最猀 䈀攀瘀攀爀愀最攀猀 䔀搀椀戀氀攀 伀椀氀猀

䌀漀渀搀椀洀攀渀琀猀 䌀漀渀昀攀挀琀椀漀渀愀爀礀

㄀ 匀愀渀椀 䄀戀愀挀栀愀 匀琀爀攀攀琀Ⰰ 䘀爀攀攀琀漀眀渀Ⰰ 匀椀攀爀爀愀 䰀攀漀渀攀 簀 吀攀氀㨀 ⬀㈀㌀㈀ 㜀㘀㘀 ㌀㔀㐀㈀ 簀 䔀洀愀椀氀㨀 漀昀昀椀挀攀䀀瀀攀攀挀攀攀愀渀搀猀漀渀猀⸀挀漀洀 眀眀眀⸀瀀攀攀挀攀攀愀渀搀猀漀渀猀⸀挀漀洀

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Infrastructure gap

Africa’s market brings many other big challenges, but with challenge comes opportunity. The continent has witnessed relatively high growth rates in recent years when compared to more developed markets, and Brough says that with each year comes “comparatively greater progress”.

He highlights: “Opportunities are constantly opening up across various industries, all of which are in some way impacting the movement of goods.

There is a backlog of infrastructure requirements that are in various stages of being addressed and it is encouraging to see progress being made.

“Of course, there is still some way to go towards improving access to water and a stable electricity supply, as well as bolstering communication mediums to make them more reliable and bring down the cost of data access. Decision-making for parastatals can also sometimes be perceived as complex and time consuming leading to inefficiencies, however it is very rewarding to be part of the changes in the market overall.”

Maersk’s high reliance on cargo flows to and from Sierra Leone as a prominent industry leader in the country means that it has been highly impacted – both positively and negatively – by a contraction in the export market, while simultaneously experiencing a 10 percent growth in the import market. “Sierra Leone is seeing a slowing of timber exports and reduction in scrap metal exports, while also seeing growth in imports driven by the increase in demand for construction and foodstuffs. Despite the decline on the one hand, the market has remained buoyant as there will always be demand for our services,” Brough adds.

With a multitude of projects in the pipeline that look to improve the

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Lee Brough, Managing Director Brough began his career with Maersk after undertaking the Group’s graduate programme. After holding many different roles across three different regions, Brough was given the opportunity to lead the Sierra Leone arm of business; working in an exciting, dynamic and challenging environment

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A port vessel tour during the Ebola crisis revealed the strict measures being taken to be able to handle cargo as usual

shipping environment, Maersk SL has placed a concerted focus on improving efficiencies in order to reduce communication bottlenecks that ultimately impact the customer and their overall cargo experience. “One of the top challenges we face in Sierra Leone is with regards to the technological capability of the local market. With communication costs high and unreliable at times, we are looking closely at what we can do to create the best solution in the environment we operate in,” he explains.

PCS Group of Companies

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ounded 50 years ago, PCS Group is organized into two divisions. First is Pee Cee and Sons, a distribution company for food and beverage products that cater to retail, wholesale and food service sectors.

The company holds distributorships for many FMCG brands in various product categories such as frozen foods, condiments, dairy/ egg products, edible oils, beverages and confectionery.

“We place importance on brand value and customer loyalty. Our ability to position brands that meet consumers’ daily needs and lifestyle has put us in good stead,” says CEO of Pee Cee and Sons and Milla Group, Mahesh Nandwani.

“We work carefully with ISO approved suppliers to source top-quality produce and raw materials, ensuring we deliver nothing but the best for our customers.”

Second is Milla Group (SL) Ltd, a plastics manufacturer producing a number of items to suit the following purposes:

Mahesh C. Nandwani

CEO, PCS Group of Companies

• Water tanks for the storage of clean water • Garbage disposal solutions to reduce waste pollution • Household plastics for everyday local use • Packaging solutions for food, water, grains and liquids • Agricultural bags for plantations • Concrete plastic and PVC pipes for construction and building material companies Milla Group is rated as a pioneering local industry striving to promote the “Made in Sierra Leone” image. Milla Group also engages in CSR activities to empower communities that suffer socio-economic challenges.

The group has an integrated set up with factories, warehousing facilities and delivery

vans with and without temperature control.

There are wholesale branches in five regions: Freetown, Waterloo, Bo, Makeni and Kenema.

These combined allow for a wide distribution outreach for food and plastic items nationwide.

The whole management structure strives to ensure products are affordably priced and readily available. Transporting perishable items and plastics have their different challenges and special attention is taken to handle the supply chain to guarantee the products are in the best condition for the end consumer. All the vehicles are fitted with state-of-the-art tracking devices that feed live time updates and help monitor fuel consumption. This effort helps to maximize the utilization of the vehicles with every effort taken to be environmentally considerate.

PCS Group employs a combination of skilled expatriate workers and indigenous staff and is committed to their skills training and development. PCS Group is well known for its low employee turnover rate and the company emphasizes on meriting and promoting employees within the company throughout their tenure.

In the last 10 years, operations have expanded in Liberia with the opening of Pee Cee and Sons Inc for food distribution, the Payless supermarket chain and Milla Group Inc. The management at PCS Group aims to keep growing sustainably from strength to strength with the commitment to always delivering quality and value to its customers.

T +232 76 603542 E office@peeceeandsons.com officesl@milla-group.com www.peeceeandsons.com www.milla-group.com

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Case management software

L E O N E

For the past six years, Maersk has been looking closely at its global IT systems in order to streamline its processes across all its operations in order to address any inconsistencies in service levels. “This cleanup reduced the number of applications by more than 2,000 as we move towards a more standardised use of technology across the Group, but this is of course naturally impacted by if and how that technology can be accommodated at each location,” Brough notes.

“Technology is a crucial differentiator for the Maersk Group;

after spending more than a century in the global market we have invested a significant amount of time and money into ensuring our internal and external processes benefit from state-of-theart software and delivering on our shipping promise in the most efficient way possible.”

The recent implementation of Maersk’s case management software in Sierra Leone has been a key enabler that delivers multiple benefits to both customers and the Company itself.

From backend systems that enable direct communication via EDI batch transfer messages to customers and

BOLLORÉ AFRICA LOGISTICS

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n Wednesday 16th September, under the patronage of His Excellency the President of the Republic, the Hon. Ernest Bai Koroma, an Official Ceremony will be held for the signature, by Bolloré Africa Logistics and the Port Authorities, of the Port of Freetown container terminal extension project.

After six month of engineering and design study, Bolloré Africa Logistics will expand the capacity of Freetown Terminal by building up a new 270 m quay with a draught of 13m, backed by 3.5 hectares of storage yard, taking the total capacity of the container terminal to 750,000 TEUs. Brand new state-ofthe-art equipment, including two shipto-shore gantries and four gantry cranes will be set up at Freetown Terminal, with the goal of doubling productivity at the container terminal within four years.

The new quay will be operational within three years with modern equipment.

The whole of the investment, including infrastructure and equipment, amounting to $120 million, will be funded by Bolloré Group.

US$5.2

billion In 2014, Maersk Group reported profits of US$5.2 billion

Philippe Labonne, CEO of Bolloré Africa Logistics explains: “this is a great opportunity for the Bolloré Group and our Sierra Leoneans partners to develop the Port of Freetown into the gateway to Sierra Leone and its hinterland, and a transhipment port”.

The project will enable the creation of 500 jobs, as well as generating indirect employment for hundreds of people. The Bolloré Group will also build capacity through high level skills transfer.

www.bollore-africa-logistics.com

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suppliers, to remote monitoring of vessel bunker consumption, the right technologies form an integral part of the Company’s value proposition.

The case management software creates a reference number that tracks a customer query – provided the query cannot be immediately concluded – and this reference is then available to every colleague around the world to action in the most effective way.

Brough says: “The software creates a standardised platform which enables further efficiencies in communication; for example, a customer does not need to repeat a query if they want an update on an issue, they merely quote the reference number.”

The Group is now working to stabilise the software to ensure that it will deliver the expected benefits when promoted to the wider Sierra Leone market.

Separately, Maersk has recently formed a strategic partnership with AT&T in order to have greater

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control over cargo quality, and ultimately, ensure a better customer experience. The partnership will allow the Company to initiate live communication with Maersk’s reefer (refrigerated) containers. “Our containers have been kitted with various communication devices so that

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we can remotely track and monitor the real-time condition of refrigerated containers,” he confirms.

Developing market

Leveraging the wider Group expertise and investments, Maersk SL has spent a significant amount of its time hiring

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local Sierra Leoneans and putting them through various training schemes in order to upskill the available workforce in the country. These resourceintensive activities are designed so that employees gain a clear insight into the liner shipping business, and on-thejob training allows them to build an understanding of the Maersk company culture.

Brough says: “We tend to have a local approach to securing talent in all the markets we operate in, as the Group as a whole believes this leads to the greatest synergies. A key challenge for us remains in identifying the right calibre person to begin with, as a shipping course is not typically offered by mainstream training institutes in

30,000

people Maersk Line employs more than 30,000 people globally

Award-Winning Crisis Support In 2014, the Maersk Group reaffirmed its long-term commitment to Ebola-hit countries through a US$1 million donation to the UN humanitarian relief efforts, a feat that was nominated at the 2015 Lloyd’s List Global Awards. In order to avoid massive disruptions to trade with the three worst affected countries - Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone - Maersk Line ensured continued services to the continent, providing extra equipment to enable trade and ensure a regular flow of food and relief supplies. This was achieved via the continued movement of four vessels in one specific loop among other careful strategies to continue cargo flow.

Within Sierra Leone, Maersk is known for its donation of containers, computers and other essential materials to the local community. “Our corporate social responsibility is designed to create additional value and lead to a tangible social impact that really makes a difference on the ground.

We have been in West Africa for decades and will continue to be, and this is our way of demonstrating our commitment to the region,” emphasises Brough.

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Africa, with the closest match being a course in logistics.”

Through extensive in-house training both online and instructor-led – Maersk SL is able to tailor its training to the individual, based on their role and needs. Due to the substantial number of employees that the Group hire globally, there are also often specialist positions that need to be filled that require the movement of employees between countries so as to take on various assignments when required.

“However, raising the level of our local competency is also important and in line with this, personnel from Sierra Leone recently attended, and subsequently completed, international training for the global sales organisation, despite the ongoing Ebola crisis at the time,” he highlights.

Ease of business

With the ongoing improvements being made to Sierra Leone’s basic infrastructure needs, such as power, water and telecommunications, Brough is hopeful that with time, there will be greater ease of business in the country. “We ourselves are also making ongoing improvements to our efficiency and technology infrastructure in order to improve our supply chain and reduce transportation costs; but our investments will also have a wider impact on the import and export efficiencies in Sierra Leone,” he summarises.

Led by the Group’s five core values – “constant care, humbleness, uprightness, our employees, our name” – Maersk will continue to be an integral asset to the global cargo shipping and oil & gas industries. These values are representative of its past, the present and its future direction, driven by continuous innovation and re-evaluation of its processes within a changing economy such as Sierra Leone, to better deliver on its shipping promise.

KPMG is the largest firm of chartered accountants and business advisers in Sierra Leone

KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing audit, tax and advisory services. We operate in 144 countries and have more than 137,000 professionals working in member firms around the world with significant professional strength and experience. The firm is dedicated to the concept of providing a full scope of services to meet the diverse needs of our clients. What differentiates KPMG is its multidisciplinary team approach and industry experience.

KPMG offers customised, industry-focused strategies across three main functions: Audit, Tax and Advisory.

KPMG, a partnership established under Sierra Leonean law, is a member of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity

www.kpmg.com/sl 37 Siaka Stevens Street Email: kpmg@kpmg-sl.com Tel: 232 76 601 595

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A Single Point of Access to the Full Range of

SOLUTIONS Eqstra Fleet Management’s now-established integrated solutions and soon-to-be unveiled ERP system is set to join forces and take the industry player’s unique solutions to a wider international audience than ever before Writer: Matthew Staff Project Manager: Eddie Clinton

ollowing a comprehensive, complex and challenging six years of diversification, Eqstra Fleet Management (EFM) is on the verge of seeing the fruits of its hard labours across Africa.

Initially beginning operations back in 1984 in South Africa’s prime car leasing space, the global economic crisis of 2008 presented the Company with both an unprecedented challenge to stay afloat, and adversely, an opportunity - through necessity - to reinvent itself.

The subsequent overhaul of its previous business model and structure has been a long, and sometimes painstaking, process but with the balance of the organisation now more evenly distributed across the full plethora of car fleet management services than ever before, and with a new automated system set to swing the market in Eqstra’s favour even further, the business is now basking in the light at the end of the tunnel.

“In 2008, through the global financial crisis, there was a lot of pressure on us and how we were going to be a sustainable Company, so we sat down and changed our business model in response to it,” recalls Eqstra Fleet Management’s Managing Director (MD), Murray Price. “Since then we’ve grown from being primarily a leasing Company with only a bit of background services and managed maintenance included, to pretty much a 50-50 split between leasing and service divisions.

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EFM’s new model will give its customers a unique market proposition

“We’ve done very well to get that balance in six years, following the example of partners we saw elsewhere in the world who walked the financial crisis as a result of their own flexible service offering.”

Turning adversity into opportunity is a rose-tinted view on the hard work and challenges encountered by the Company during this period, but is nevertheless applicable now that the

new model is in place; a model which gives its customers - both old and new a unique market proposition as a result of its turnkey, integrated solutions.

Price continues: “A lot of the past six years has been about following our gut - which can be dangerous - but it was always a sense of knowing our own pain, and therefore the pains that our customers would be experiencing also.

“People were used to the old way but can now see exactly where they are in the process because the visibility is there. This is where the integrated solutions came in, and where the new system will also help, in comprising all data together in one place.

“This is what we believe will produce future value and is our unique differentiator in the market; providing the full range of services in a single platform.”

Integrated solutions

Eqstra Fleet Management is proud of the comprehensive service it offers its customers

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This consequential single point of access to the full range of fleet solutions is the end result of a strategy which was put in place to not only find new revenue streams, but to

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alleviate the similar industry struggles of customers and suppliers in the process.

Complementing its bread and butter leasing arm now is an array of fleet solutions, risk solutions, tracking solutions and remarketing services which cater for all administrative, licensing, fuel management, driver management, vehicle efficiency and maintenance requirements; engraining the very latest global trends, technologies and solutions into the portfolio in each case.

Price explains: “In a way, we were lucky that 2008 forced us into a position where we had to change, and a lot of the change has been achieved through acquisition.

“For aspects like tracking and insurance, which are challenging, we’ve been able to bring in the required expertise and resources, knowing that if we don’t have the answer to a particular problem, then somebody else will.”

The integrated solutions model that has ultimately manifested incorporates all areas - both acquired

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AXLE & TRANSMISSION centre

Tel: +27 (33) 345 3334 or 033 345 3346

Fax: 033 345 3246

Axle and Transmission Center CC is a black owned South African company that specializes in gearbox, differential, automatic transmission and prop-shaft rebuilding, repairs and fitment and development.

Email: denzil@axleandtrans.co.za

www.axleandtransmission.co.za

EFM has an array of fleet solutions that mirror the very latest global trends and technologies available

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and established internally - to address customers’ needs in areas of finance, maintenance, insurance, accident management, fuel and tracking; not only as separate data reports, but under one analytical report designed to help said customers gauge their own costs and statistics more effectively.

“We do a lot of front-end consulting too, which helps us begin relationships that we hope to build upon in the future through our integrated solutions,” Price adds. “What we end up with is a model where customers get everything from us, with the benefit of visibility and, most importantly, consistency.”

Quest

The principle behind the concept of offering integrated solutions is to take away the challenges of dealing with multiple suppliers before applying the data attained from each to their fleets.

However, in taking on the onestop shop tag instead, Eqstra has similarly taken on the strains of all facets, storing them in what was understandably an unprepared system.

The new ERP system worked on over the years has therefore been an eagerly-awaited and highly necessary addition to the Company’s repertoire, and is symbolically - if not literally the final string to the Eqstra Fleet Management bow following the past six years’ efforts.

“Our new system, Quest is built on Microsoft AX 2012 and addresses the challenge of handling all the new services that we’ve added over the past six years,” Price says. “It has been a significant investment of between US$15 million and US$20 million but we believe, once it has landed, it will be a complete game-changer.

“We’re not even live with it yet, but we’ve had customers in Europe and the US already telling us that

We do a lot of front-end consulting too, which helps us begin relationships that we hope to build upon in the future through our integrated solutions

Murray Price, Managing Director

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ADVANCED COMMERCIAL TRUCK REPAIRS

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ounded in 2008, Advanced Commercial Truck Repairs began with humble beginnings with a husband and wife team.

As a South African based mechanical service provider, we are fully equipped, specialising in all makes of cars and trucks, and put our focus on top class and guaranteed quality parts.

Committing to applying the highest standards of ethical workmanship and conducting our business with professional integrity, we invest in the development of our staff, infrastructure and technology to enhance our business.

T +27 11 024 9280 E olivia@actr.co.za

www.actr.co.za they’ve never seen anything like it. It’s an amazing concept and completely different from the approach taken in the past.”

The system will facilitate each customer having its own profile kept on record, where all master agreements, transactions and service histories are kept and stored in an easy-to-use database, ensuring unrivalled automation, consistency and security throughout the management of each and every partnership.

“Ultimately, we will have more control of providing the service we have committed to,” Price emphasises.

New products

An additional benefit of having a centralised operating system comes in the form of enhancing efficiencies; something which Eqstra Fleet Management has been a firm champion for during an evolution which has recently seen it go entirely paperless.

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24 HOUR

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ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE MOBILE BREAKDOWN TOWING

JUMPSTART, WHEELSTUDS, ELECTRICAL REPAIRS, LOCKSMITH, MECHANICAL REPAIRS, TYRES, LIGHT & HEAVY DUTY DIAGNOSTICS & FAULT FINDING

FULLY EQUIPPED COMMERCIAL WORKSHOP WITH LATEST TRUCK DIAGNOSTIC EQUIPMENT

WE PROVIDE: • FLEET MANAGEMENT • GENERAL AND REGULAR SERVICES AND REPAIRS • ON-SITE GENERAL OVERHAULS TO ENGINES, GEARBOXES, DIFFERENTIALS AND OTHER MAJOR COMPONENTS WE REPAIR VEHICLES ON SITE OR ON THE ROAD IF POSSIBLE, THUS ALLEVIATING THE COST OF WORKSHOP REPAIRS AND DOWNTIME.

100% Black Woman Owned

Level 1 BBEE

RIF STREET 43- 2092 JOHANNESBURG PAALSHOOP GAUTENG - SOUTH AFRICA

www.actr.co.za

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E Q S T R A

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EFM relies on advanced technologies to improve its own efficiencies

With the aid of a document management system, everything is generated, stored and updated digitally, once again emphasising the reliance on advanced technologies that the Company is dedicated to.

“From the new system perspective, it came about after taking a long hard look at what cost us money in the business, before investing significantly into how we could improve our own efficiencies,” Price notes. “This has also been the case through investments in a customer portal, supplier portal and smartphone apps which encourage the customers to actually do a lot of their own work.”

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Not to be misconstrued as a hardship, the majority of customers and suppliers are more than happy to skip the middle man and input information safely and directly - knowing that the risks attached are reduced greatly - but have never truly been given a platform to do so in the past.

They similarly then have their own easy access to update and change facets of their offering in real time, with EFM’s app geared towards service scheduling, driver management, vehicle inspections and technical repair inspections, amongst other things.

“An allowance user is also one of the most exciting of the new products, optimising that side of the process for customers and suppliers; acting as a virtual dealership where they can log in and find all the necessary specifications and prices for their fleet,” Price continues. “It also opens

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up the opportunity to do the same for all of our risk products, like our fleet tracking for example.

“We give customers their own customisable service and maintenance plans, and tax them at source, rather than them going to a dealer to get someone else to source it.

“We see this as an exciting opportunity and the feedback on allowances so far has been amazing.

Customers get better deals, the service is there, and we’re now making money in an area we weren’t previously involved in.”

Geographic expansion

Despite being present across much of the SADC region for the best part of two decades, further international growth and influence is one factor expected to manifest as a result of EFM’s technological unveilings and

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that to be working smoothly before we drove into Africa, but with the new system allowing us to work with a completely new methodology, we will be able to quickly take our learnings into new countries.”

Complementing the business’s traditional footprint of South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zambia will be re-established offices in Kenya and Tanzania, as well as already earmarking clients in Mozambique, Nigeria and, in the longer-term, Ghana.

We see this as an exciting opportunity and the feedback on allowances so far has been amazing.

Customers get better deals, the service is there, and we’re now making money in an area we weren’t previously involved in

structural evolution.

Leveraging international partnerships, the Company has been able to fastforward to what it perceives as the optimum solutions most sought-after in the market, and this strategy is already paying off, with customers willing to go through their own transitions to find more effective ways of managing their fleets.

“There is always pain in change but we have a much better, more transparent model now, and our plan is to now expand geographically alongside the new system when it comes in,” Price says. “We wanted

By leveraging international partnerships, the Company has been able to fast-forward to what it perceives as the most sought-after optimum solutions

Establishing a full branch and country manager in each operating country, Africa is by no means the limit either, with the quality and extent of service also more than prepared to tackle international markets via existing business partnerships and inevitable market demand.

“Customers are finding various operators but no one-stop shop for managed services in places like Europe and also in Brazil, South America or Mexico, where there would be opportunities to take our services,” Price concludes. “There will also be opportunities in the Middle East, China and India due to the services and systems we now have in our repertoire that allow us to work at very sophisticated levels.

“The world has completely changed over the past six years, but with the right technology and the right focus, there are so many more opportunities than there were in the past.”

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ince launching in 1996 with just one telecom tower, Vodacom Lesotho has emerged 19 years later as the market leader in mobile communication services, with an 80 percent market share.

As the wider Vodacom Group’s first business venture outside of South

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Africa, Vodacom Lesotho has spent two decades deeply rooting itself into the country, initially inviting the Government of Lesotho to become a shareholder prior to its privatisation in 1999, followed by a 12 percent local shareholding - which later grew to 20 percent- awarded to Sekha-Metsi Consortium after this date.

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Early investment in a solid distribution network has enabled the Company to reach 94 percent of the population, which also helped to drive mobile penetration in Lesotho to more than 84 percent in 2015.

Diversifying its revenue stream to better focus on the customer’s changing needs and embrace the data

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Telephony Vodacom Lesotho is keen to build a reputation as a fully-fledged services Company with solutions that leverage the evolution of data and the Internet of Things (IoT) in order to cater for changing customer needs Writer: Emily Jarvis • Project Manager: Donovan Smith

revolution has resulted in the Company securing an impressive 1.3 million subscribers across a population of more than two million people.

Vodacom Lesotho is majorityowned by Vodacom Group Limited (80 percent), and Sekhametsi consortium owns the remaining 20 percent of the Company.

Infrastructure backbone

The need for services beyond voice and SMS on the African continent - and indeed the world - are being dictated by the increased consumption of data services and the additional inclusive applications that internet access brings. Therefore, in the past two years, Vodacom Lesotho has been

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investing in ways to differentiate itself in order to diversify its data offering and place customers at the heart of its investments as part of a long-term strategic focus; starting with the relevant investments in the network’s infrastructure backbone.

In 2013, the Company reinvested more than M150 million into its network infrastructure, representing just under half of its operating profit at the time; which was followed by a further M170 million in 2014. “These investments resulted in Lesotho becoming the first in the Vodacom Group to have 3G available at all sites where 2G is available, and the first within the Group to launch LTE services. This huge investment drive formed part of our core strategy and was designed to ensure that we can deliver on the promise we have made to our customers, putting the power of the internet in their hands and making communication services available to them at much lower cost,” says Vodacom Lesotho’s Acting Managing Director, Johnny Dos Santos.

Now equipped with more than 250 2G and 3G-enabled towers – with a growing number of LTE enabled sites in all districts – the Company

STATS Approximately 202 permanent employees, including the 75 added over the past two years 150 contractors in the outsourced call centre and retail environment 5,700 appointed airtime resellers 3,378 M-Pesa agents and merchants

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About the Group Vodacom Group Limited (Vodacom) is an African mobile communications company providing voice, messaging, data and converged services to more than 61 million customers.

From its roots in South Africa, Vodacom has grown its operations to include networks in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, and Lesotho and provides business services to customers in more than 40 African countries

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Due to the uptake of data services and our investments in an improved network, Lesotho has seen the price of communication drop by 60 percent in past two years...

has invested a total of R1.2 billion into the entire network, including investments in microwave and transmission backhaul, towers and the network, and a world-class Tier 1 data centre which has just received a crucial upgrade. These network upgrades were completed with the assistance of local suppliers where possible, or through Group partner channels in neighbouring South Africa.

“Due to the uptake of data services and our investments in an improved network, Lesotho has seen the price of communication drop by 60 percent in the past two years, extending the reach of mobile

Our product suite: AIRTIME ADVANCE

Airvantage is the pre-eminent innovator of value added services to the telecommunication industry in emerging markets.

We are dedicated to developing and delivering the best, most innovative solutions that will grow our clients’ businesses, enhance their brands, and positively contribute to the total customer experience and increase in revenue per user.

MOBILE MONEY LENDING MOBILE MARKETING SPORTS BETTING & LOTTERY PROMOTIONS

We offer a suite of products that add value and change subscriber’s lives including: airtime, data, content and mobile money lending, mobile marketing solutions, sports betting and lottery, content and mega promotions.

Our flagship product is prepaid airtime and mobile money lending solutions to telecom operators. It gives telcos the ability to advance airtime, content, data and mobile money to subscribers on credit. Through our many years’ experience in the telecommunications and credit industries, we have developed a proprietary profiling and dynamic rules engine that allows for flexible lending, avoids revenue losses and ensures on going customer loyalty while increasing revenues.

We have a deep understanding of customer behaviour and can offer a tailor made credit solution to meet the requirements of any customer base.

As a service provider to Vodacom Lesotho for many years, we have developed innovative solutions to add value to Vodacom Lesotho by increasing revenue per user, decreasing churn and enhancing the overall customer experience.

Please contact us for more information: Website: www.airvantage.co.za | Email: info@airvantage.co.za

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telephony services to a wider portion of the population through the creation of even better value,� he details.

Further continuing its improvement of the network and introducing world-class and innovative services to Lesotho, this year, Vodacom is undertaking a key development partnership with the Lesotho Electricity Corporation that will greatly help transmission capacity, helping the organisation to get closer to customers via the deployment of fibre to the business, while also removing other potential challenges or stresses that the predicted increased data usage could put on the network.

Customer engagement

As well as investing in a strong infrastructure and value proposition, Vodacom Lesotho also launched the M-Pesa service in 2013, which has seen one of the fastest uptakes of the five African markets where the product has been launched. He explains: “11 percent of our active user base is currently using this service, which is a huge achievement considering that less than half (38 percent) of the adult population has some form of a bank account, compared to some African nations where financial inclusion is much higher.�

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We are also looking at products and solutions in the insurance and healthcare sectors to further enhance our mobile money offering

Vodacom Lesotho implements the Business Logic Systems blueprint for effective Customer Value Management Vodacom Lesotho chose Business Logic Systems (BLS) as its Customer Value Management (CVM) partner in a 2-year Technology and Services Programme in 2012.

The project was split into a set of phased, prioritised deliverables for both the technology and the services components. This ensured a pragmatic approach in which key revenue-generating software and components were delivered in the early phases of the programme.

Vodacom Lesotho recognised early on that technology was only part of the solution. A data-driven marketing strategy also requires new skills to complement the technology, as well as a fundamental rethink on how to plan, shape and drive the communication with the subscriber base to drive incremental value.

BLS was requested to provide these skills under a Managed Services Programme.

Once the core platform was up and running, a short diagnostic project revealed the underlying dynamics of the subscriber base from which areas of opportunity were identified for targeted campaigns. The led into the

Managed Services Programme which involved a mixture of onsite and remote resources to work closely with the Vodacom team to plan and deliver the portfolio of campaigns.

Under the commercial objective of driving incremental revenue as early in the project as possible, we focused our activity on Up-selling and Cross-selling campaigns using the existing Vodacom Lesotho product portfolio. A governance framework was also implemented with the local team. An essential component was weekly cycles of activity – designing and testing new ideas that could be targeted to micro segments of the subscriber base. All the campaigns were also evaluated for their true incremental value by comparing the results to both universal and campaign level control groups. As part of our governance framework, results were independently verified by the Vodacom Lesotho commercial and finance teams.

According to Motlalepula Ramaisa, Executive Head of the Consumer division at Vodacom Lesotho, by using the BLS software and service, “Vodacom Lesotho generated significant net incremental revenue and could demonstrate sustained increases in subscriber activity levels to reduce prepaid churn”

T E C H N O LO GY Phase 1 CMS installation on virtualised H/W

Phase 2 CMS Installation on procured production H/W

Phase 3 System (Loyalty points scheme) installed

24 MONTH PROGRAMME

CVM Diagnostic Customer base, opportunity and risk analysis

Full CVM Managed Service Weekly campaign refresh cycle based on KPI Analysis, products portfolio, market opportunities and campaign test performance

C O N S U LTAN CY

A PORTFOLIO OF CAMPAIGNS FOCUSED ON THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE SUBSCRIBER LIFECYCLE

GET • Recommend a friend • Trgeted acquisition prospect lists

WELCOME • Introduction to key products & services • Introduction to selfservice

WIN BACK • Reactivation campaigns for dormant prepay • Targeted win back for ports out

RETAIN • Churn management • Retention optimisation

www.businesslogicsystems.com Tel: +44 (0) 1635 887 963 Email: info@businesslogic.co.uk

UP-SELL • Targeted stretch offers • Service bundles

LOYALTY • Continious opt-in permission based push & pull market

CROSS-SELL • Trials for new products & services

ADVOCASY • Social influencers • Product champoins

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TVS TELECOM

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VS Telecom is an engineering and technology company with over 15 years of operational experience in many African countries. The company’s strategic business units include telecommunications, fuel management, construction and marine engineering.

We currently service various industries including, ISPs, carriers, mobile operators, mining, transportation, power utilities, oil & gas and others.

In addition to this, Vodacom Lesotho is to explore other converged services opportunities by looking closely at opportunities in the TV, localised online content and streaming services in order to remain relevant to the customer and adapt to market demands.

“We are also looking at products and solutions in the insurance and healthcare sectors to further enhance our mobile money offering. We believe that M-Pesa is an extremely powerful and life transforming product, and we are committed to working with our

clients and partners to ensure that our technology continues to change people’s lives for the better,” he adds.

Key to building the perfect product portfolio is brand engagement in the relevant market segment, which is something Vodacom Lesotho is passionate about, understanding and catering to customers’ needs.

Dos Santos details: “This year marks the fourth edition of Vodacom Superstars, a musical talent recognition platform that we provide to identify and nurture musical talent

Johnny Dos Dantos, Acting MD Johnny Dos Santos took on the role of Acting Managing Director of Vodacom Lesotho in August, 2015; having previously been with the Company for two and a half years and held several key roles including looking after the mobile money side of the business, enterprise operation, finally moving into consumer and commercial roles

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...we are committed to working with our clients and partners to ensure that our technology continues to change people’s lives for the better

TVS is a preferred supplier for Vodacom Lesotho, and has been providing them with an array of different solutions over the past few years, including the following: • Point to multipoint wireless, using best effort and QoS capabilities • Multi point to point broadband high capacity wireless with dedicated bandwidth • Aggregation of voice and data services over multiple platforms • Integration between legacy and next generation equipment • Sophisticated lightning protection systems, using certified ESE technology Our telecommunication products and services portfolio includes a variety of connectivity methods from cabled to wireless, telecom access equipment including fibre optic multiplexers, and management and monitoring solutions among others.

We provide vendor independent demarcation and management devices capable of fault finding and network optimisation, with built in firewall, security, IP encryption, IT QoE, router, VOIP/PABX, accounting packages and SBC capabilities at the CPE. We supply ruggedised routers with integrated 3G/4G modems with built in security mechanisms specifically designed for ATMs and smart grid applications and used for intelligent transportation, water and gas utilities.

Our monitoring and management systems are capable of remotely monitoring fuel tank levels, CCTV, alarms, battery levels and others.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY AND SECURIT Y SOLUTIONS ESE LIGHTNING PROTECTION OIL & GAS PRODUCTS AND SERVICES CONSTRUCTION SERVICES MARINE ENGINEERING PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING SERVICES

We provide professional engineering products and services to the telecommunications, oil & gas and transportation industries as well as to others. Our international team is truly versatile and focused on ensuring the delivery of outstanding results to our clients. www.tvstelecom.com

SOUTH AFRICA 37 Mopedi Road,Sebenza

+ 27 11 452 5009

Edenglen, 1601

info@tvstelecom.com

REACHING NEW HEIGHTS

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CAMP-IT

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AMP-IT was employed in August, 2013 to provide project management and consultancy services at a time when Vodacom Lesotho was implementing a turnaround strategy in the company.

The EXCO team was re-structured resulting in many new members joining the team. As the Executive Head of Networks, I immediately identified the need for project management and consultancy services as VCL never had a dedicated function performing this responsibility which resulted in projects not being executed on time and with very little planning. VCL Capex Intensity for FY14 was also increased due to the lack of investment in previous years which placed even more pressure on this function.

T +27 823717176 E marius@camp-it.co.za

Vodacom Superstars identifies and nurtures musical talent in Lesotho

in Lesotho; this is just one of the many ways that we engage our customers with the brand, as we continue to deliver to their needs and improve their livelihood at the same time.

“We can then take this brand engagement exercise and build our products and services into this in a way that allows us to monetise an artist’s music through ringback tones, streaming music services and so on. So it is not just recognising and creating a platform for talent, it is giving us a business platform to bring these stars under the Vodacom Lesotho brand to help build their music careers.”

One such partner who works closely with Vodacom Group to drive loyalty management and capitilise on engagement is Business Logic Systems, who provide an automated two-way communication channel to monetise subscriber data through notifications, offers and rewards that benefit and enhance the customer’s experience of the network.

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BRAND FUSION GROUP

...it is not just recognising and creating a platform for talent, it is giving us a business platform to bring these stars under the Vodacom Lesotho brand...

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perating in Africa since 2004, the BrandFusion Group has a wellestablished, extensive footprint in 19 countries across the African continent, with 11 years experience in providing Channel Development services to various industries including Telecommunications, FMCG, Financial Services (Mobile Money) and NGO’s.

Channel Development services includes market research/surveys, channel audits, strategy development, trade marketing and promotional activations.

Our Sales Force Automation technology and data collection, management and reporting capabilities, enables customers to manage the efficiency of their sales force and institutionalise data collection to support route-to-market decisions and strategy. Experienced local staff ensures an unparalleled ability to execute on strategy.

www.brandfusion-africa.com

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MAKE IT HAPPEN, DO IT RIGHT, FIRST TIME • • • • • • • • • •

Site Build Cost Saving Up To 25% Planning and Process Optimization Driving Business Efficiency Local Skills Development (Within 12 Months) Specifications (Definition, Design, Implementation, Measuring & Change Management) Capacity Dimensioning & Forecasting (RAN, TX & Power) Budgeting (Facilitation, Planning, Execution & Tracking) Project Management (End to End, Technological Methods) Coordinated Sourcing Spares Management Performance Based Remuneration

16 years of deep Africa market & telecommunications experience.

GET IN TOUCH

Marius van den Bergh Email: marius@camp-it.co.za Mobile: +27823717176

Vodacom Business Partner of the Year Internationa l

We’ve been present

in Africa for over

10 years

with footprint in

19 African Countries

R P M S S Y S T E M

R E P O R T I N G , A N A LY T I C S , M O B I L E

• Channel Development Services • Trade / Field Marketing • Experiential and Promotional Activities • Retail Strategy Design and Auditing • Sales Force Automation and Management Solutions • Specialising in Below the Line Mobile Money Services • Market Research and Surveys www.brandfusion-africa.com Tel: +27 12 345 1082 Email: roux@brandfusion-africa.com / charl@brandfusion-africa.com

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Beyond this, the Company is an official sponsor of Lesotho’s top soccer division, the Vodacom Premier League. Vodacom is very supportive of the individual teams, which have a large following in Lesotho. Directly supporting clubs by providing starter packs, airtime and M-Pesa startup packs, the Company is helping them to monetise their operations and create an alternative revenue stream to support the clubs.

“Our activities ensure that we create an emotional connection with the community and this is just one way in which we have become the leader and go-to partner in youth-focused CSR activities,” he further adds.

Healthcare, education, entrepreneurship

Over the past few years, Vodacom has been working on three big projects in a corporate social responsibility (CSR) drive that has proved crucial to addressing the real social issues that

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Lesotho is facing; all made possible through its standalone organisation, Vodacom Lesotho Foundation.

Dos Santos explains: “Our flagship project in healthcare is designed to address the high prevalence of HIV in Lesotho and the huge strain this is putting on the sector. With the third highest HIV-positive prevalence in the world, we have found that there are preventative programmes in place but the gap lies in, among other things, transportation methods to reach the clinics; and we identified around 20,000 possible children that could not access treatment.”

Together with the Foundation, Vodacom Lesotho has so far raised more than US$12 million to be invested in identifying vulnerable and exposed mothers and children, and utilising technology to provide a transport allowance through the M-Pesa service to access transport to the local treatment centre; implementing a comprehensive text-to-treatment,

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FELIX (PTY) LTD

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ounded in 2005, Felix (PTY) Ltd offers complete telecommunication infrastructure solutions. We supply equipment, consulting, installation, commissioning and support services.

Operating within Telecommunications and Construction industries, Felix delivers unique turnkey infrastructure solutions to mobile operators and other customers throughout Southern Africa.

Our skilled work force combines a wealth of Telecommunications and Solar expertise and experience. We project manage operations across two business lines - Construction and Solar Solutions aimed at delivering tangible, sustainable solutions.

Backed by our Mechanical and PlantHire Companies and TyreCentre, Felix is synonymous with efficiency, trust, quality and excellence.

www.felixgroup.co.ls

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We provide Telecommunications infrastructure with a successful track record in delivering more than 200 semi turn-key and 20 full turn-key projects to Vodacom Lesotho, as well as various other projects for Rohde-Schwarz and WIOCC. We strive to consistently build and maintain telecommunications infrastructure within agreed time, quality and costs, and has acquired a reputation as a company guaranteeing superior excellence even in the harshest conditions.

innis@felixgroup.co.ls Johan: +266 5900 3747 Innis: +266 5888 2010

www.signworld.co.ls Tel: +266 22313221 / 22312573 Cell: +266 58857330 Email: signworld@tlmail.co.za info@signworld.co.ls

• BRANDING • PRINTING • SIGNAGE • EMBROIDERY

Proudly creating signage for Vodacom

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mobile health management system that will ensure that patients are not only initiated on life-saving treatment, but they also remain enrolled in treatment.

“Given that HIV can now be treated and managed, we are hoping for longterm success stories to give children a real chance in life. We are hoping to ramp up investment in this area as the project gains traction in the coming months,” he emphasises.

Vodacom’s second project in Lesotho is centred around education as a vital area to secure the country’s future economic development.

In a partnership with iSchool - an organisation that has been working to digitise education in Zambia - and the Ministry of Education, Vodacom Lesotho has provided an alternative and effective way of educating school children in Lesotho who in a lot of cases do not have access to textbooks or other educational resources.

“At the five schools we are currently trialling this in, two children share a tablet and teachers are able to track their performance. We will soon deliver

We want to be seen as an entrepreneurship and innovation hub that looks to incubate business ideas from the local community

Approach to employment: Two-year rotational graduate development programme and placement Short-term internships Internal online education and development programmes Regional training workshops and initiatives Lesotho repatriation opportunities

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the service in the local language and roll this out across Lesotho to build the next generation of thinking by leveraging the tech revolution trend,” Dos Santos says.

To continue its employment creation and education focus, Vodacom strives to address the growing gap in the funding and support available for startup businesses in Africa, where the larger financial institutions have not traditionally had the appetite to invest.

Vodacom Lesotho Foundation built a first-of-its-kind business acceleration hub in Maseru - The Vodacom Innovation Park - which allows startups to utilise the space over a period

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of 12 weeks, providing the financial support and mentorship needed to get their business off the ground in Lesotho. The application process is rigorous and the programme even more so; with the aim to pick only the very best ideas and entrepreneurs who will change the business landscape of Africa and generate endless job opportunities for other Basotho.

“We want to be seen as an entrepreneurship and innovation hub that looks to incubate business ideas from the local community. Plus, if this is successful in Lesotho, we want to roll this out across our other African operations,” he further adds.

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20th anniversary

With 2016 marking Vodacom’s 20th year in Lesotho, the operator is keen to build a reputation as a total communication services provider, with a repertoire of converged solutions that leverage the evolution of data and the Internet of Things (IoT) to explore new ways to utilise technology beyond telephony services.

“As data usage continues to increase, other content aggregators and players will enter the market which makes it vital that we diversify our offering into areas such as finance, VOIP and streaming so as to not only relieve the pressure on traditional growth areas of voice and SMS in the long-term, but in becoming a platform that truly enables our customers to connect,” Dos Santos highlights, adding that in the short-term, Vodacom will benefit from bringing in microfinancing and other value-add financial inclusion services to the M-Pesa offering.

“In line with this, we have ambitious targets for M-Pesa to reach 50 percent of our subscribers in the next four years, which would contribute significantly to our business and accelerate the banking and financial inclusion landscape in Lesotho,” he further adds.

Vodacom Lesotho has a strategic advantage over its competitors in that it can achieve the best return on investment possible by aligning innovation would mean with the Group’s experience in added simplicity to your business... other African markets; with M-Pesa representing just one example of this in practice.

Dos Santos concludes: “As we move to becoming a fully-fledged services provider, it is important that our customers know they are at the centre of our future vision.

We want to be an admired Company that is not just a network provider of choice, but a local employer of choice and an industry leader.”

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being your trusted and dedicated IT business partner in 2013

Partnership; Execution; Support; Integrity.

Distributers of various mobile device brands in Africa.

Cloudburst is a company built on a foundation of passion, knowledge and expertise, where the culmination of years of experience in the telecommunication industry has resulted in a successful and wellrounded product range and supplier profile.

Our customer categories include: Network Operators, mass retail, chain retail and independent specialists.

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Sales: Computers and Components, Printers, Copiers, Toners, Flash Drives, Servers, Stationery, Office Equipment and Consumables

ICT Consultancy on Solutions, Design, Implementation, Support and Maintenance of ICT Solutions for both Software and hardware.

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ame I P S O S

A F R I C A

New Services Behind every big business decision is accurate market research data, something which leading global research specialist, Ipsos is proud to provide for some of Africa’s biggest blue-chip companies Writer: Emily Jarvis • Project Manager: Donovan Smith

David Somers, CEO of Ipsos Pan-Africa

Working with some of Africa’s biggest brands

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roudly celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2015, Ipsos continues to maintain its status as a leading force in market research; drawing on both its local understanding and wider international Group expertise to provide new and innovative accurate research services for some of Africa’s biggest brands.

With a presence in 14 countries on the continent; including Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria in the north; Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia and Rwanda in the east; Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Cost in the west; and South Africa, Ipsos teams work in collaboration in order to meet client needs in the most effective way.

After identifying Africa in the late 2000s to join its already successful international expansion strategy initiated in the 1990s, the Ipsos Group continued on its growth path by combining with Synovate in 2011.

“Synovate had previously acquired the market leader in sub-Saharan Africa, the Steadman Group, so the combination marked a real acceleration in the creation of the Ipsos global network, strengthening the Group’s African footprint significantly,” comments David Somers, CEO of Ipsos Pan-Africa.

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The African continent represents a rapid growth market for Ipsos, and in addition to the economic changes dictating an emerging middle-class and growth of indigenous companies, an increasing number of international organisations are also looking to invest in the relevant market research required so as to better understand African consumers.

“Given that South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria are still emerging as hubs for international business, our research experts on the ground can help businesses and individuals looking to enter the market make the right decisions from day one,” he further notes.

After spending the past eight years bolstering some of its global products and services in a growing number of African locations - and now comprised of a team of more than 800 employees in sub-Saharan Africa alone, only a handful of which are non-African in origin - Ipsos has worked hard to reinforce its position within the industry’s Big Four, enabling the Company to become a leading force on the continent.

Project Q – “The road to quality has no end”

As a Company with a growing

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Ipsos Africa divisions Ipsos Marketing Helps clients to transform insights into their competitive advantage through Ipsos’ teams of specialists who offer innovative contractual models to better manage market research money. The Company distributes insights in realtime within client’s organisations by leveraging technology and workshops and integrating knowledge by combining various sources of insights to drive business growth Ipsos Connect A combination of media research in addition to brand research, where Ipsos brand specialists examine how to measure and amplify the ways in which the media, brands and consumers connect through compelling content and great communication channels

dependence on the latest technology in order to stay ahead of industry trends, Ipsos is keen to look for new and innovative ways to optimise its spending in order to reduce its running costs and remain sustainable.

Somers notes: “One particular aspect that is costly, but a worthy and necessary investment for a sustainable business, is continuing the development of our local pool of researchers; developing these local skillsets will be crucial in the long-term for our business and the countries that we operate in.

“Ultimately if we have a sustainable business and look after our local staff with the right skills transfer initiatives in place, then we can retain it.”

Adding to this, quality of data

will always remain central to Ipsos’ value proposition and continuous investment is required to make sure this always remains the case. By investing in the quality of data collection on a daily basis through ‘Project Q’ - a total quality management programme that covers all aspects of the research, from the briefing to the results - the Company has been able to consolidate its offering by finding ways to improve service delivery and delight its clients.

“This huge investment feeds into our BQC ethos that drives our business: Better, quicker, cheaper; and staff training and innovation initiatives are also incorporated into these key pillars,” Somers details.

Ipsos Public Affairs Conducting research through opinion polling and research on public policy issues in order to help clients manage issues and pinpoint market change to advance its reputation through new and effective policies and marketing initiatives Ipsos Loyalty Customer experience, satisfaction and loyalty research with more than 1,000 dedicated professionals located in more than 40 countries worldwide, with an aim to build relationships which lead to better results for clients Ipsos Observer Managing data collection and data delivery for clients who require field and tab-style research to support their business

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CMC NETWORKS

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or more than 27 years, global telecommunications carrier, CMC Networks has served the data communications needs of wholesale carriers and clients on a global scale, through the provision of Ethernet, EoSDH, EoMPLS and DIA services.

This broad portfolio of carrier grade network solutions has not only ensured the Company’s ongoing success on an international scale, but has facilitated the continuous improvement strategies of numerous multinational clients who have similarly been striving for advanced technologies in competitive markets.

Owning in excess of 104 global PoPs, these are integrated into other wholesale carrier partner networks in order to deliver a global wholesale footprint to the carrier community.

This global footprint subsequently has a positive knock-on effect on costeffectiveness, scalability and network resilience for its clients.

Ipsos Africa footprint

Mobile data collection

With all the relevant internal procedures in place, Ipsos can focus on how best to expand its operations in challenging and interesting markets which some of Africa’s countries provide. Driven by the wider Ipsos Group hub strategy, the Company added data hub branches in Africa; a welcome addition with two key hubs in Kenya and South Africa and a

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‘situation room’ in Nigeria (an instant field supervision hub). The hubs will constitute learning schools which are facilitated by global and local experts to expose the Company’s local upcoming researchers to the skillsets intended for development, and data processing units for improved efficiencies in the security of the data service offering.

“All major data processing in Africa is currently sent to these two hubs as a way of making sure a client’s results remain of a consistent, reliable high quality.” Somers highlights.

In line with economic development in Africa comes the growing prominence of the technology revolution, which is something Ipsos can leverage heavily on to create more accurate and faster results for its customers.

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CMC has continuously managed to stay ahead of the industry curve over the decades by adhering to the latest industry trends - such as increased demand of certain solutions in specific markets, and the internal need for increased capacities - as well as partnering with other leading industry players.

One such key partnership has been shared with IPSOS for the best part of 20 years, helping the Company expand its reach in Africa and the Middle East to become a market leader across both regions.

Enabling IPSOS’ first MPLS connectivity, CMC ultimately integrated full voice and data connectivity for its client in challenging environments; solidifying a mutually beneficial and supportive working relationship throughout their partnership.

T +27 (0)11 517 8400 E globalsales@cmcnetworks.net

www.cmcnetworks.net

We connect

CMC is a Global Telecommunications Carrier, providing services for over 27 years, serving the data communications needs of wholesale carriers and wholesale clients across the globe. CMC owns in excess of 104 global pops which are integrated into other wholesale carrier partner networks in order to deliver a global wholesale footprint to the carrier community. This insures a cost-effective, scalable and resilient network that is committed to the wholesale environment and their respective end clients.

CMC has one of the largest Pan African networks (AFNET) spanning across 50 Countries. Inaddition, CMC has an extensive Middle Eastern (MENET) and Western Asia (ASNET), which is extended via our wholesale partner program into other regions.

The CMC Carrier Interconnect Model enables delivery into the USA, Europe, UAE, India, Asia, Australia and varies African aggregation points. CMC provides its clients with a broad portfolio of Carrier Grade Network Solutions including: Ethernet, EOMPLS, MPLS Layer 2 or layer 3 and DIA Services.

Managed Solution Options MPLS • VPLS • Ethernet • EoSDH • EoMPLS • GDIA

Contact us for all your needs Tel:+27 (0)11 517 8400 Email: globalsales@cmcnetworks.net www.cmcnetworks.net

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A F R I C A

CARLSON WAGONLIT TRAVEL KENYA

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or more than 60 years, Carlson Wagonlit Travel Kenya (Independently owned and operated by Bunson Travel Services LTD – Nairobi) has assembled the best Travel Advisors from across the country. With decades of experience and a global network, we will perfectly plan your business trip, custom vacation, meeting or event.

CWT Kenya has strategically invested in Technology, Talent and Resources to provide the best end-to-end travel solutions with a personal difference.

Since 1999 we have been the Kenyan exclusive partner of Carlson Wagonlit Travel the world’s largest travel Management Company with a global presence in more than 150 countries and in over 3000 locations.

www.bunsontravel.com Ipsos Africa places emphasis on hiring local at all sites including Ivory Coast, Uganda, Mozambique and Zambia

“At the moment, the mobile data collection (MDC) trend is driving many of our business decisions and is something that we have been capitalising on since 2011. About 85 percent of the data we have collected has been through this method.

“The automation from MDC, once fully set up, simplifies things, it is more cost effective for our clients, it saves time and provides instant access to respondent data. The time saving element enables our researchers to then spend more time on analysing and providing insights into the data,” he further explains.

To date, Ipsos has conducted more than one million interviews on mobile handsets and tablets. “And this can be as simple as handing someone a tablet or sending them an SMS / email link and completing a survey to find out how pleased they are with your product or service,” he adds.

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Game-changers

Driven by digitisation, new consumer behaviours and its own new Company tagline, Ipsos strives to “take data collection to the next level” in existing markets in Africa, while also eyeing the right opportunity to enhance its geographic reach. Somers emphasises: “Not only will we continue to drive the hub strategy and build on the continuous training of our staff, but also implement modern research methods to automate elements of our data collection and keep on top of these trends to provide the best quality monitoring possible for our clients.

“Some economies in Africa have been exploding, so there is huge demand for our skills and services; and by working together with our current clients, we ensure to act on any feedback received to stay relevant to market needs.”

By reaching out to the smartphone audience in select markets such

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Our Travel Management Service includes: › Air ticketing › Airport transfer Services › Hotel Reservation Services › Meeting and Events services › Visa and Immigration services › Meet and Assist Services › Tours and Leisure packages

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www.bunsontravel.com tel:+254 (20) 3685 990-999 email: salesandmarketing@carlsonwagonlit.co.ke

as Nigeria and South Africa, where smartphone penetration in Africa is among the highest, Ipsos is exploring avenues to integrate its service for the purpose of collecting, processing and supplying more reliable data almost instantly.

“Through Ipsos Interactive Services, which is currently an active subsidiary of Ipsos in Europe, Asia and the Americas, we want to transform our market research techniques by utilising mobile phones as a new channel to reach customers in some African markets where this is commercially viable. This can be done through online self-completion questionnaires, or SMS research, the latter being something we are already providing in certain countries,” Somers notes.

He concludes: “Ultimately, we have to make sure we are considered as a one-stop shop for our clients by having the right quality of accurate data with actionable business solutions. Providing accurate data is our ticket to play.

“Providing business solutions and actionable insights is what sets Ipsos apart from the competition, therefore our internal business structure ensures that for each of our client research needs, we have available local and global experts who provide the right solutions. That is our unique selling proposition.”

Car Rental in East Africa www.legacycarrentals.com

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Sudatel CEO, Eng. Tariq Hamzah Zein Elabdein

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Telecom Triumph Sudatel Group is not just reacting to industry demands and fluctuations, but it is setting the tone for much of it through a series of innovative launches across its voice, data, fibre and cloud capabilities Writer: Matthew Staff • Project Manager: Donovan Smith

udatel Group (STG) has now thrived in Sudan for more than 20 years as the only telecom Company to offer end-to-end portfolios serving both consumer and business segments, and is now looking to further leverage this reputation and market standing to bring even further innovation not just to its own country of origin, but wider into Africa also.

Since 1993, the Company has fulfilled consumer demand by adapting continuously to the very latest market requirements and to the future industry trends emanating their way from other international markets. This not only stands true for its core voice services,

but across data, digital, cloud and fibre solutions with Sudatel’s turnkey offering central to its ongoing success.

“Since 2006, STG has made steady investments into West Africa, finding great synergies across our four operations outside of Sudan; Guinea Conakry, Mauritania, Senegal and Ghana,” explains the Company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Eng. Tariq Hamzah Zein Elabdein. “We have a combination of CDMA and GSM networks and have adopted a transformational strategy moving from a traditional mobile telecom operator towards an integrated ICT services and solutions enabler across all markets; serving businesses, consumer segments and other operators.”

Strategically focused on enhancing performance through the maximisation of operational efficiency, it is the 7.5 million customers in Sudan alone who benefit most from

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he Sudan Currency Printing Press (SCPP) is Sudan’s sole authorised printer of banknotes and is a proud member of the Association of African Banknotes and Security Document Printers.

Established in 1994, the SCPP’s three main activities include banknote production, printing of secured documents as well as commercial printing.

An ISO 9001 certified Company, SCPP works closely with a number of telecommunication companies in the Sudan, offering prepaid card printing services of various sizes, all PIN techniques and a total solution for storage, shipment, data storing and secure waste destruction capabilities.

T +249 183 471 977 - (283)/(320) +249 912 160 055 E info@sudancurrency.com

STG’s commitment to development, leading the Company towards a unique position through its superior international connectivity, large national backbone network, a state-ofthe-art Tier 4 data centre, and a host of frequencies including 800 MHz digital dividend bands.

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NEW LIFE PRINTING PRESS

Revamped offerings

In 2015, this strong platform has culminated in a series of introductions and unveilings to the Sudanese market, once again improving the infrastructure in the country and the levels of accessibility that the population now has to previously unavailable products and services.

From a mobile perspective, STG is launching the Youth Network as a sub-brand to target university students with a tailored offering suited to their needs, while the Company has also entered the fast moving consumer goods market by launching micro recharge cards as an alternative to cash transactions.

“From a fixed lines perspective, we have revamped our offerings to more segmented propositions for residential

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Eng. Tariq Hamzah Zein Elabdein speaks at the Red Sea State Festival for Tourism

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ew Life Printing Press, formed in 1996, is committed to quality, service and advancement in printing technology to our customers, and is one of the leading producers of business printing needs in Sudan.

Our highly skilled and dedicated employees strive to make our customers satisfied for our services, providing full support in the production of high quality prints to meet all kinds of job specifications.

T 00249 185 334244 F 00249 185 333833 E info@newlifesudan.com Sponsorship of Khartoum International Books Exhibition

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Security Printing Leaders in Africa.

New Life PRINTING PRESS

JACKET FOLDERS CATALOGUES MAGAZINES NOTEBOOKS POSTERS HEAD PAPER & VISIT CARDS BOOKS DIARIES & ANNUAL REPORTS CALENDARS WASH LINES & DANGLERS FLYERS SHOPPING PAPER BAGS

www.newlifesudan.com Tel: 00249 185 334244 Fax: 00249 185 333833 Email: info@newlifesudan.com

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and corporates through voice and data bundles, besides offering value-added services and integrated solutions on top of existing services,” Elabdein says.

“We are also increasing our footprint in fibre connectivity to cover all of Sudan and to connect to neighbouring countries.”

Equally significant has been STG’s approach to data optimisation as one of the fastest growing services called for in the region. The Company has subsequently focused on introducing much higher speed connectivity, with special propositions unveiled in schools and for SMEs to enhance its enrichment of the local communities.

Turnkey solutions

Bridging its international network through such projects has been pivotal and has been enforced by its ACE (Africa Coast to Europe) submarine cable which connects seven countries to the international subsea network; a regional first in this area which has already had a massive impact on the

Laying submarine cable in Sudan

Sudatel Data Centre is considered as one of a kind in Sudan and one of the top in Africa...

Sudatel HQ, Khartoum

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relevant populations now enjoying enhanced connectivity.

Thinking big and outside of the box is a theme ongoing within STG’s continuous improvement strategy, and not only allows the Company to contribute to more than half of the African population, but is compounded by a series of large scale projects recently seen or in the pipeline at present.

The first of which is the recently inaugurated Sudatel Data Centre which is one of the largest on the continent and has opened up a

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series of innovative opportunities for governments, banks, corporate entities and SMEs alike.

Elabdein explains: “Sudatel Data Centre is considered as one of a kind in Sudan and one of the top in Africa, and, to the cost of US$45 million, has been designed to the highest Tier 4 standards.

It has been built to provide the whole set of data services, across IaaS, PaaS and SaaS and is the most reliable data centre in all of North, East and West Africa.

“The first stage of the Sudatel strategy is to provide IaaS to corporate customers and, accompanied with Sudatel’s corporate portfolio, it will be able to satisfy corporate turnkey solutions, to enable them to focus on their main business, and to reduce total cost of ownership and capital expenditures.”

The Data Centre has already been shortlisted as one of the best African Projects in 2015 and has set the tone

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for its similarly significant national broadband network; the deployment of a new national fibre network which will connect national cities as well as neighbouring Chad, Libya and Central Africa.

“This strategic project, with an investment of US$267 million is expected to enable and provide the needed infrastructure for the

country’s E-government, and is planned to construct the broadband infrastructure in vast areas of the country,” Elabdein says. “This new major network infrastructure will also support the increase in the broadband penetration that subsequently will be linked to an increase in the country’s GDP, supporting the economic and social development of Sudan.”

The Sudatel Data Centre cost US$45 million to build, and has been designed to the highest Tier 4 standards

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CSR pillars

The theme of empowerment and enrichment across its operating network is one that has differentiated STG over the years and is one that is present throughout all facets of its internal strategy also.

From a personnel and human capital perspective, Elabdein sees this localisation as the main success driver in the organisation, by ensuring that the Company develops the most talented, skilled, knowledgeable, satisfied and engaged staff in the sector.

“One of the biggest objectives and ultimate goals of Sudatel Group is to be the employer of choice in the Sudanese labour market, and in the wider region, not to mention the huge

transformation occurring to Sudatel’s human capital management in order to achieve this important objective,” the CEO affirms.

The same commitment to local development exists outside the confines of Sudatel’s immediate projects and employees also, through a long and concerted dedication to corporate social responsibility activities.

Elabdein continues: “Sudatel Group has a long history with social activities and community development across all its operations in Sudan and West Africa. Our telecom projects directly focus on sustainable development so by having a solid telecommunication infrastructure, we are representing the CSR pillars that characterise our company.

“Our fibre network extends over 14,000 kilometres, we play a major role in social activities like water and irrigation, our submarine cables help to connect Sudan to the rest of Africa, and all of our projects make a major contribution to the sustainable development of Africa and in helping it to grow bigger.”

Process of transformation

Inaguration of Kosti Hospital

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The balancing act between local prosperity and global expansion is one that STG has mastered over the past 20 years, and is an attribute which will stand the Company in perfect stead as it looks towards future industry demands, and subsequent continuous improvement strategies.

“We have plans to expand the Company’s footprint in Africa and shift the Group’s focus to services,” Elabdein states. “The Group focus now is on the markets in which we are operating and the sub-Saharan region, and as the future of the ICT sector will be in Africa, we have some plans to acquire new licenses for telecommunication services.

“Generally speaking, our Group is in a process of transformation from a

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network-centric player to a customeroriented service provider. This change will require a lot for work and investment to satisfy our customers.”

Subsequently capitalising on the great economic potential that West African markets are set to enjoy in the coming years, Sudatel’s role within the necessary upgrade of infrastructures required to facilitate such growth will be significant, continuing its model of winning customers and market share with creative value propositions, customer experience, lifetime value development and extensive distribution networks.

Elabdein concludes: “The Group has a strategic plan to invest around US$500 million in the coming five years, focusing mainly on broadband infrastructure and services in

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Sudatel sponsors the Sudani Premier League as part of its CSR contributions

Abu Karshola water station project

The first winner of the Mashrouy Project, part of STG’s extensive CSR commitment

University sponsorship for female students

Completion of the Blue Nile State University computer labs

addition to the ICT transformation requirements to enable the Group to meet the current sector transition towards a digital ecosystem.

“This five-year strategy and business plan is based on a turnaround and transformation approach which aims towards consistent growth within the Group.

“The strategy’s main themes are business transformation through adopting the industry’s best practices, enhancing customer experience, laying the ground for ICT services, and finally developing the Company’s human capital. This strategy is based on exploring all the opportunities to maximise growth and increase shareholder’s returns.”

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All Smiles at MTN Rwanda

The country’s leading telecom operator has overcome recent challenges and is now striving for even further revenue diversification under the stewardship of its new CEO, Gunter Engling Writer: Matthew Staff • Project Manager: Donovan Smith

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TN Rwanda has overcome strong market competition in recent years to once again solidify its positioning at the top of the country’s telecom market, with a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) keen to maintain the strong momentum achieved over the past 12 months especially.

Having been a part of the wider MTN Group on the continent since 2002, the new incumbent, Gunter Engling is all too familiar with the facets that have made the brand name so successful in Africa and the Middle East. With an infrastructure - both internal and external - full of potential, he is honing in on the few remaining areas in need of improvement.

“When I joined in July, 2015, I found an operation that was well run and well on its way to revenue diversification,” Engling says. “When Airtel and Tigo arrived in the market a few years ago, we had to get used to having competition, but my predecessor did a wonderful job in making MTN Rwanda a lot more agile and a lot more efficient.

“However, one thing that I did notice, especially among our younger staff, was that people weren’t coming to work with smiles on their faces, so we have worked hard on creating an engaged and smiling workforce.”

Engraining a more positive and productive culture doesn’t require a lot of investment, rather a change of philosophy, and this has been achieved subtly and methodically since the new CEO’s arrival; subsequently having a positive knock-on effect on employee efficiency and overall productivity which Engling expects to become even more evident in the future.

“We’ve tried to get those smiles back by finding a way to relax in the work environment while still actually completing the work,” he notes. “Even though we have less people in the Company than a few years ago, we can

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still go home at the end of the working day knowing that we are more efficient, happier, more productive and serving our customers better in the process.”

Revenue diversification

As a Rwandan-owned Company, this ethos surrounding enrichment and individual development is equally prominent within its corporate social responsibility efforts; MTN being one of the only corporates in the country to consistently give back to the surrounding communities, both financially and non-financially.

However, it is still the Company’s renowned market offering which most sets it apart from the competition, and Engling is keen to continue the diversification of services which began under previous CEO, Ebenezer Asante’s guidance.

“The diversification is going very well with almost 45 percent of our revenue now being generated outside

of voice services,” Engling explains. “A big chunk of that now is data, because while handsets are no longer our core business, data continues to grow.

“The next big focus area for us is digital, breaking it up into lifestyle, entertainment and ecommerce as part of our value-added services, to diversify even further away from voice which continues to be a very challenging business.”

This diversification isn’t just tailored towards the consumer space either, with its corporate offering every bit as critical to the ongoing portfolio under the MTN umbrella. The Company’s success in this area harks back to a historical advantage derived from longevity as much as differentiation in what is still, in some cases, a developing area.

Engling continues: “We have the biggest infrastructure footprint in the country so for us to connect a bank with 50 or 60 branches, for example,

MTN staff serving a happy customer

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GENERAL ELECTRICAL & MECHANICALS

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E&M has been in operation in Rwanda since 2006 and our clients benefit from our personal approach of a local company with expertise resources and the backup that satisfy international quality and standards.

This is made possible by our regional and international partnership arrangements on various projects, including supply and installation of ceiling ducted air conditioners at MTN Rwandacell’s call centre in Nyarutarama.

In all the markets we cover, we endeavour to become leaders in our fields of expertise, including supply and installation of air conditioners for MTN Rwandacell.

T +250 788 304 019 E info@generoleelectricole.com

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SPECIALISTS IN AIRCONDITIONING, MECHANICAL VENTILATION AND REFRIGERATION We are leading distributer and service provider of HVAC/R installations and solutions in Rwanda. We pride ourselves in giving honest and accurate advice and our service is comprehensive, efficient, fast and competitive. We cover residential, commercial, industrial and emergency applications. Our friendly expert staff welcome the opportunity to discuss your requirements in a ‘jargon free’ manner. www.generoleelectricole.com

is complex but achievable within our own infrastructure. Other operators would have to put together a puzzle of infrastructure providers, so this is a key advantage for us.”

This isn’t to say that there aren’t still challenges or that there isn’t the need for higher levels of education though, and it is the remaining market opportunities which the CEO has earmarked as pivotal telecom battlegrounds moving forward.

He adds: “For us to convince that same bank that we can also host their primary or secondary data centres better than they can themselves is a lot more of a challenging selling proposition, but that’s where a lot of drive will be targeted in the future, and we are known for providing new value-added services already available in more developed markets.”

Mobile money

Arguably the most successful strand

PLOT NO 1027 NN 10 ST OFF KN 7 RD, P.O. BOX 7409, KIGALI, RWANDA Tel: +250 280 305 050 Cell: +250 788 304 019, 0788 514521 Email: gemrwanda@yahoo.com

We’ve been very focused on not just the usual cash-in and cash-out aspects, but on launching new products and services within mobile money

of MTN Rwanda’s diversification, however, has been seen through its mobile money offering, which now forms 5.5 percent of its revenue and looks set to become its biggest differentiator over the coming months and years.

“We’ve been very focused on not just the usual cash-in and cashout aspects, but on launching new products and services within mobile money,” Engling explains. “Since 2014, this has included the ability to pay taxes, utilities and even school fees through mobile money.

“One of the biggest differentiators within our mobile money service though is regional remittances, and setting up payment corridors with neighbouring countries like Uganda, Kenya and a couple more.”

This isn’t necessarily a way to extend the MTN reach, but to once again enhance the accessibility to previously unavailable services for

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Opening of a new MTN Service Centre

Gunter Engling, CEO of MTN Rwanda

Gunter Engling participating in ‘Umuganda’, monthly community work

2015 MTN Kigali Peace Marathon

Setting up solar panels as part of its CSR commitment

its customers, with the Company subsequently partnering with the leading telecoms provider in each of the aforementioned countries - MTN Uganda and Safaricom in Kenya, respectively - to provide the most efficient corridor possible for money to flow internationally.

“Mobile money in East Africa is so well developed that you have good products in every country, so you just have to link to the main player in that country to avoid it being as challenging as it is sometimes in other regions in Africa.”

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In 2015, MTN’s annual staff volunteer programme, 21 days of Y’ello Care, continued the theme of making communities a whole lot brighter

Future progress

Mobile money in East Africa is so well developed that you have good products in every country...

As a result of this ongoing commitment to diversification and delivering a portfolio designed to cater for consumers’ and corporates’ requirements, MTN Rwanda has overcome the challenges endured at the start of the decade to still own a 50 percent market share in regards to SIM cards, and a significantly higher share when it comes to value.

While this partially harks back to the longstanding presence that the Company has had in the country, the ability to move with the times and

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remain the leading operator across all segments is no mean feat.

Value-added services like mobile money further compounds this market advantage and will also be supported over the course of 2016 by a more concerted drive into a strong fibre offering for corporate customers and also within the mobile space.

Engling concludes: “It will be a continuous evolution in terms of investments and improvements.

There’s a fair amount of investment going into getting 3G speeds up as high as possible on the data side while, in

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It will be a continuous evolution in terms of investments and improvements

terms of projects, we have plans to roll out our fibre network to businesses.

“We are also looking at how else we can roadmap future products in things like mobile money to bring an even more enhanced offering online in the future.

“Roadmapping future progress areas in the digital space and on the enterprise business side - including things like hosting and cloud services - is also an aim, and while they’re fairly new and in their infancy at the moment, these will be the kind of differentiators we look towards once that initial customer hesitation is over.”

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With 36 years of experience in the construction and civil engineering industries in Seychelles, Vijay Construction has reaped the benefits of the country’s hotel boom in the late 90s-early 2000s, and is now seeking a new challenge to diversify its portfolio Writer: Emily Jarvis • Project Manager: Stuart Parker stablished in 1979, Vijay Construction has grown from a small familyowned Company handling just two hotel projects, into a multi-disciplinary organisation offering in-house construction capabilities through a team of more than 50 trained professionals and close-to 1,500 skilled tradesmen.

Chief Executive Officer, V.J Patel reminisces: “I started the Company as 90 percent shareholder, with my wife and brother taking a five percent share

each. To this day, I hold 80 percent shareholding and the rest is distributed among the longstanding senior members of staff and close family.

“From the beginning, our clients showed confidence in the business and, given my background working as a civil engineer - and eventually a Company Director - for the famous Laxmanbhai Construction, Vijay Construction started with its best foot forward.”

Despite the challenging reverse business climate in the early 1980s due to the political unrest in Seychelles,

Eden Bleu Hotel by night

Vijay Construction weathered the storm and emerged more motivated than ever before; leveraging the reliable local team gathered over this decade to take part in the construction boom which followed in the late 1990s.

“In the past 10 years alone, business has grown beyond expectation; something that is hard to imagine for a Company that started with just two employees in the late 1970s. In the last financial year, we achieved a turnover of $50 million, thanks in

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JYOTI IMPEX

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yoti Impex is a multi-commodity merchant export company specializing in a variety of products and value-added services. Working with multi-nationals in India and across the world, we are a multi commodity exports company specialising in, but not limited to: • Products for the construction industry • Engineering related equipment • Medicines and medicinal products Our company delivers on product, reach and professional services to ensure that deliveries are always on time and with the desired output.

T +91 9820612178 (Mr Suresh Shah) +91 9819507080 (Mr Vipul Shah) E admin@jyotiimpex.co.in

www.jyotiimpex.co.in

Eden Bleu Hotel conference room

V.J. Patel, CEO A civil engineer by profession, Patel started his construction career in Nairobi, working for Laxmanbhai. After demonstrating his management skills, he was relocated and appointed as the Company Director for Seychelles in 1973 as part of Laxmanbhai’s geographic expansion strategy. Becoming a five percent shareholder in this time, Patel remained as the Director of the Seychelles’ division for four years before “going solo” and trying his hand at the construction game by “directly competing with his previous work”, through the formation of Vijay Construction.

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part to the government’s opening of the construction market to foreign investment,” he adds.

However, a recent change in government ruling has called for the construction of new hotels in Seychelles to cease; resulting in a potential opportunity for Vijay Construction to explore potential long-term investment opportunities in other prospering markets in Africa and beyond.

Eden Island

Eden Island has been a key project responsible for the continued growth of Vijay Construction over the past two decades. Having defaulted on international loans in 2002, the Seychellois government was seeking ways to improve its tourism offering so that the profits from the largely foreign-owned five-star resorts would stay in the country and contribute to job creation and the local economy.

One such project in the final phase

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L.CANNATA & SONS

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ince 1910, L. Cannata & Sons has specialised in the supply, manufacture and installation of top quality natural and engineered stone products for most applications, namley counter and vanity tops, staircases, fireplaces, wall and floor cladding, specialised tiling and custom designed furniture.

The family-run Company’s reputation for excellent service and workmanship has culminated in a strong global presence and strengthening of its supply chain in supplying a vast array of products, ranging from bespoke stone slabs, mosaics and tiles; completing projects for numerous industry professionals, including the likes of Vijay Construction, in the process.

T 0027 21 510 8553 E sales@cannata.co.za info@cannata.co.za

www.cannatagranite.co.za

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Jyoti Impex is a multi-commodity merchant export company specializing in a variety of products and value added services. www.jyotiimpex.co.in Email: admin@jyotiimpex.co.in Tel: 022-25015081 to 86 / 25012727

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› Products for the Construction Industry › Engineering related equipment › Medicines and medicinal products amongst others

Contacts Mr. Suresh Shah - 9820612178 Mr. Vipul Shah - 9819507080

LCCL 19 10

C ANN ATA L.Cannata & Sons (Cape)

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LONGSPAN GUTTERS

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stablished in 1980, Longspan Gutters is the leader in rainwater dispersal systems in Africa.

Our team of skilled and experienced personnel strive for excellence through our commitment to provide world-class products and customer service. Being a full-service gutter business, we provide our customers with a comprehensive solution to most configurations.

We manufacture high quality rainwater products that are carefully packaged and stocked in our Warehouse. Our Customer Service Centre distributes our products world-wide.

T +27 (0) 21 521 0000 E info@longspangutters.com

www.longspangutters.com Eden Island, a R5 billion public private partnership project has created more than 700 permanent jobs

of development is Eden Island, a R5 billion public private partnership project comprised of high quality villas, apartments, housing, two marinas and commercial buildings.

Initial building works include the construction of a bridge to reconnect the reclaimed, manmade island with the capital, Victoria, which is just 100 metres away. “The bridge was completed in early 2006 and ever since then, we have been building the residential area, which is now home to many foreign residents, with 40 percent of the occupants South African in origin,” explains Patel, adding that the Island created more than 700 permanent jobs, and it is hoped that the development will contribute an impressive 45 percent of the country’s GDP and nine percent of the total foreign direct investment.

“As the island was manmade, we had to be mindful of the marine life as the environment is one of Seychelles’ most valuable assets that must be

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ACEE ELECTRIC PTE LTD

A As the island was manmade, we had to be mindful of the marine life as the environment is one of Seychelles’ most valuable assets...

CEE Electric Pte Ltd supplies a wide range of branded electrical and hardware products. These renowned brands include TERASAKI, GRASSLIN, SCHNEIDER, BRANDES, TECS, PROCONECT, GREENLAND PLASTICS and many more.

Our quality assurance coupled with our dedicated and enthusiastic employees ensures that we always bring an excellent level of professional service to our valued customers; making sure to add that personal touch to our service delivery.

With an expansive product portfolio available, ranging from small accessories to switchboard panels, we pride ourselves on our position as a one-stop supplier for your electrical and hardware needs.

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AXIOS GROUP

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ince May 2000, the AXIOS Group of Companies has designed and built many of the leading Wellness Centres in the Indian Ocean, especially in Mauritius, Reunion, Seychelles, Madagascar and Mayotte. We are a leading expert in the region in the supply and maintenance of Fitness Equipments, floorings, accessories, Saunas and Hammams. We have worked with Resort and Business Hotels as well as Private Gym owners, to provide the best solutions and brands at the most competitive prices. DO CONTACT US! Address 8 John F.Kennedy St Floreal – Mauritius T (230) 698 8090 F (230) 698 8091 T (230) 59 19 30 10

Eden Bleu bar is in a relaxed setting with views of the marina

protected. This government-driven ethos extends throughout all of our marine projects,” he notes.

Utilising its in-house complete support service offering, Vijay Construction was responsible for all aspects of the build, handling everything from construction and project management, right through to plumbing, electrical, mechanical, steel works, engineering and even the air conditioning requirements.

Patel says: “The project was due to be completed a number of years ago, but due to the financial crisis and factors out of our control, it is now scheduled for total completion in the first half of 2016. Moreover, after completing the residential component, we noticed that the apartment blocks proved more appealing than the villas, so we have now converted a number of these which has increased the apartments available to 600, and we continue to see good sales from this.”

In addition to the ongoing Eden

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...Vijay Construction is currently involved in the construction of two large hotels, the Raffles Resort in Praslin and H Hotel on mainland Mahe...

Island project, Vijay Construction is currently involved in the construction of two large hotels, the Raffles Resort in Praslin and H Hotel on mainland Mahe, worth $100 million and $50 million respectively; as well as $10 million worth of extension work on a Four Seasons hotel, which will comprise staff housing and a casino.

“This has bolstered our portfolio as a welcome addition to Eden Island and with the government encouraging

Eden Plaza shopping centre

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AXIOS GROUP LTD 8 John F.Kennedy St Floreal – Mauritius Tel: (230) 698 8090 Fax: (230) 698 8091 Mobile: (230) 59 19 30 10

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Eden Island’s beach villas offer high class accomodation

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foreign investment, we are able to leverage the skills and reputation we have developed over the years to work closely with these investors,” he highlights.

Moreover, when construction at Eden Island was at its peak in 2009, Vijay Construction also had the privilege of working on the Raffles Hotel and Resort, which was completed in 2010. “Our turnover at this time was beyond our dreams and we were at our peak in terms of people, employing more than 2,000 tradesmen,” Patel further notes.

Always a warm welcome at the Raffles Hotel and Resort

Marine leaders

Ongoing projects

ZIL PASYON Many years in the making, the Zil Pasyon tourist resort on the stunning Felicite Island is one of the most scenic locations of the inner Seychelles archipelago. A $45 million hotel project is now on track for completion in the first half of 2016. “This is a significant project for us, consisting of 35 furnished villas on the hilltop with a panoramic view of the adjoining islands, along with a hotel built around the coastline. Access to the hotel by sea is currently via a 50 metre jetty or by helicopter,” comments Patel.

With Seychelles surrounded by the clear blue waters of the Indian Ocean, Patel and his team have been able to perfect the art of marine-based engineering.

“With plenty of experience now under our belts, we have taken to the sea like a duck to water, and we see ourselves as the number one marine contractor in Seychelles,” he says.

Vijay has tackled a number of different marine projects, the majority of which require a skill called piling, which can be a challenging task. Patel explains the process: “We take a steel tube and use a crane to lift it into the sea. Then we have a mechanical hammer at the top of the crane that is used to hit and drive the steel tube into the seabed. Once the tube hits the hard rock we fill it with concrete so that if over the years the tube rusts,

FISHING QUAY Due to be completed in March next year, Vijay Construction is building a new 425 metre-long fishing quay. This is being done by driving 27 metre-long sheet piles in a water depth of 10 to 14 metres.

Eden Marina

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Round Island in Praslin, completed in 2006

Vijay Construction increased the number of apartments available at Eden Island to 600 to cater for demand

the concrete will become the column.

This ensures that whatever we are building has a strong foundation that will last a long time.”

So far, the maximum depth Vijay Construction has piled is 48 metres for a wind turbine project.

knowledge and expertise to correctly handle their job role to the best of their ability.

“After receiving our in-house training and working their way up from a junior level, we then trust our people to do a responsible job and, in return, the employee knows that the whole Company is behind them in their In-house expertise decision-making. Investing in our people Seychelles has a relatively small population of around 90,000, which not only makes us more efficient, but gives us a competitive edge and makes retaining local employees incredibly important to the longevity of equips us with committed employees. any business operating in the country. Moreover, by handling all aspects of construction in-house, we also At Vijay Construction, the training of create a long-term cost saving for local people is a constant exercise in order to make sure that each member ourselves,” Patel states. of staff is equipped with the necessary

Faced with the government decision to halt further construction of new hotels in Seychelles, Vijay Construction looks forward to the completion of its current hotel projects, as well as an exciting future in infrastructure; strengthening the developing country’s water, sewage, road, marine and other civil engineering needs.

Patel concludes: “Outside the country, there is also the potential to expand, but we remain cautious as the market in Seychelles could still present us new opportunities, which we will of course be keen to capitalise on.”

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ETHICAL Workmanship Samani Construction’s two decades in the Kenyan fit-out market has led to an array of business-defining projects in recent years, leading to a concerted push into the surrounding region Writer: Matthew Staff • Project Manager: Stuart Parker

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or the best part of 18 years, Samani Construction has built a strong reputation in Kenya for its sustainable projects and ethical workmanship, as the focus now turns towards replicating its success across a wider footprint.

Opening in 1997 as a small joinery workshop, a series of expansions, investments and organic growth opportunities has led the business towards a more turnkey approach in recent years, encompassing fit-outs and small construction works.

As a family run business, the Company’s growth has been facilitated by an internal flexibility and entrepreneurial flair which, in turn, has a direct knock-on effect on the quality of work carried out by each employee.

Ultimately, the reputation that has manifested as a consequence has been the pulling factor for a series of significant contracts attained over Samani’s tenure in the Kenyan market, and beyond.

Sirai House, Nanyuki

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EAST AFRICA INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES LTD

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AST AFRICA INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES LTD is a Limited Company established with an intention of providing solutions for the renewable energy industry, electrical Installations, security systems and IT services. EAISL has built an enviable reputation over the years for quality electrical installations and maintenance services.

EAISL’s success is attributed to its happy clients and construction companies Like Samani Construction Ltd, with whom we have successfully completed numerous projects.

With Samani Construction Ltd, EAISL has completed projects in the hotel sector, offices, residential and industrial.

Some of the major completed projects include Whitesands Beach Resort & Spa, MasterCard offices, IDRC offices, and Imperial Bank branches.

The company specializes in all aspects of electrical contracting, with the capability to take on almost any client requirement, among them:-

Capital Club, Nairobi

The picturesque Sirai House in Nanyuki is just one example of the Company’s ability not only to produce state-of-the-art constructs, but to do so in-keeping with different environments, terrains and sceneries to best complement the area.

Capital Club in Nairobi is further proof of this ability, with ‘East Africa’s Premier Private Business Club’ indicative of Samani’s customised approach to catering for a range of clients’ needs.

A synonymous high quality finish was also applied to the entrance of Sankara Hotel in Nairobi, setting the scene for similarly high profile projects being constructed by the Company at present.

Managing Director, Dinesh Sachania notes: “At the moment, we are involved in refurbishing the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Windsor Golf Resort Hotel and the new branches of the Dubai International Bank, Lazizi Airport Hotel and Tune Hotel.”

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• Renewable Energy • New electrical installations • Structured cabling and IT solution services • Fire alarm systems • Access control and CCTV installations

Dinesh Sachania, Managing Director

High quality

Primarily specialising in the fit-outs of offices, hotels and homes, the Company’s bread and butter has traditionally stemmed from its abilities in customer joinery, dry wall partitioning and ceilings.

However, completing this ilk of project to such high standards has opened the door to some of the more lucrative aforementioned

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These key activities of the company are meant to initially be carried out in Kenya with a long term focus on East Africa with plans to engage internationally in the future.

Currently EAISL is carrying out sizeable projects within the country, and besides provision of the above services, the company also carries out sourcing of electrical, Access control and CCTV equipment both locally and internationally.

We deal with a variety of clientele ranging from individual to corporate, which gives us the confidence and capability to meet our client’s demands within our stated policy of consistently providing high quality services.

We are proud to be associated with Samani Construction Ltd

East Africa Infrastructure Services LTD (EAISL) is an enterprise founded on years of experience. Through our fully integrated services we are delivering a single solution for some of the most prestigious organization’s.

RENEWABLE ENERGY ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION STRUCTURED CABLING SECURITY SURVEILLANCE

Westlands Close, off Westlands Road, Nairobi - Kenya / P. O. Box 66561 – 00800, Nairobi - Kenya T: +254 722756005 / +254 717027328 / E: info@eaisl.com / ketan@eaisl.com www.eaisl.com

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DESIGN FOR LIVING

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ffering an exclusive, yet personal, service Design For Living creates a seamless journey from concept through to completion. With a wealth of expertise in the design and application of fabrics and wallcoverings, the team provides custom solutions catering to both commercial and residential markets.

Design For Living consistently aims to exceed expectations by combining high standards with warmth and professionalism, creating a rewarding experience.

Representing companies throughout Africa, including Samani Construction, their high standards of workmanship can be seen in Africa’s most prestigious establishments.

T +254 731 897 007 E info@designforliving.co.ke

www.designforliving.co.ke Samani Construction’s workshop

opportunities; also incorporating more corporate facilities and works in nationally significant buildings like airports.

To facilitate this more allencompassing range of clientele and contracts, Samani has subsequently had to instil a series of enhanced internal procedures to ensure it remains ahead of the industry curve and up to the very latest codes and standards.

“Over the years we have brought in several pieces of automated machinery to help cope with the increase in high quality goods and uniformity. So far our investments have paid off,” Sachania explains. “We have always tried to build up our work standards with the current trends.”

One such trend at present brings into play the role of international influences, such as the European style fit-out constructs which require a host of different processes and designs.

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Once again, the advantage of having customisable automated machineries has gone a long way in efficiently adhering to such fluctuations in a relatively short space of time.

A clear and concise supply chain management strategy further enforces said efficiencies, once again utilising advanced systems to ensure the

smooth transference of requirements from the Company’s sites to its main warehouse and then back again.

A subsequent knock-on effect on procurement is also engrained into the system via its procurement office to complete a cycle which has proven pivotal to the Company’s ongoing success.

Refurbishment of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Windsor Golf Resort

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Design For Living specializes in wallcoverings and fabrics catering to both residential and commercial markets.

Collections are picked from the best manufacturers and textile editors the world has to offer. Design For living proudly represents; Nya Nordiska Vescom Fidelity Industries Marburg Wallcoverings Linwood Fabrics Sellers & Josephson Wallcoverings LLC T: +254 731 897 007 E: info@designforliving.co.ke www.designforliving.co.ke

A synonymous high quality finish was also applied to the entrance of Sankara Hotel in Nairobi

Work ethics

With Kenya known as a gateway for East African business across the full range of industry sectors, construction is certainly no different, and Samani has been able to leverage its early successes to breach the surrounding region.

Operating as far into the continent as Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, there isn’t much of East Africa that Samani Construction considers off limits, and this strategy has only come to fruition as a result of its equally prominent commitment to local considerations and sustainable growth.

This begins within the workforce as Sachania explains: “The majority of our staff are locals, and while we do have a few who come from abroad, they do so to help train the local staff as well as maintain the quality of people who specialise in certain works.”

All told, 90 percent of the Samani workforce are locally hired, trained and promoted; a statistic which aptly bridges the gap between its employment philosophy and its wider corporate social responsibility commitments.

Applying its construction skill-sets to the building of schools in the reserve areas of Masai Mara and Nanyuki forms just the basis of this enrichment of the local communities and once again epitomises what Samani Construction is most renowned for in the MD’s eyes: “quality workmanship and good work ethics”.

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WEST AFRICA’S

Sustainable

PIONEER

One Airport Square is Laurus’ most iconic project so far

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Laurus Development Partners is leveraging a strong ownership mentality under the guidance of industry specialist, Actis in completing some of Nigeria and Ghana’s most iconic modern constructs Writer: Matthew Staff Project Manager: Stuart Parker

aurus Development Partners is realising its ambitions of introducing international standard, sustainable projects to Ghana and Nigeria, just five years into its exciting tenure in the region.

The property development Company is a brainchild of private equity Group, Actis and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Carlo Matta, set up in 2009 to address the lack of execution capabilities on the ground, as well as to support the former’s investment strategy across the two countries.

Less than six years on and Laurus is already close to managing $400 million developments on Actis’ behalf, having completed its first office project, and beginning work on a further two moving into late 2015 and beyond.

Matta recalls: “Laurus is the result of a meeting of minds and alignment of goals and vision between Actis, me and

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a handful of property professionals who are part of my team.

“I was fascinated by the changes and transformations West Africa had been going through since 2000; urbanisation, the emergence of middle-class, political stability and growth. I wanted to be part of it.

I thought that the partnership with a strong player like Actis would give us the opportunity to make a difference and to work on exceptional projects, and this has been the case. In 2010 I moved to Ghana and started building the team.”

Pulling together repatriates and expatriates among both local and overseas markets, the “exciting ride” that has subsequently ensued has proved every bit as successful as Matta hoped, not only in creating a diverse and extensive service proposition, but in engraining itself both into Actis’ and other third party investors’ own development ambitions.

Green Stars

CERTIFICATION One Airport Square is Ghana’s most advanced development through the use of world-class construction

World-class construction

The reason for Laurus’ appeal as a partner on such high profile projects largely stems from the comprehensive portfolio of services brought to the party; allowing the Company to remain flexible and entrepreneurial in offering customisable solutions, tailored to the demands of each construct.

This model has consequently resulted in the four main projects undertaken to date, spread across both Nigeria and Ghana’s key urban hubs, and emphasising the extent of Laurus’ capabilities to work on vast, complex developments.

Alongside the mixed-use office, hotel, retail and residential complex - the Exchange in Accra, Ghana - the Company’s most iconic project so far is its only completed one, in the form of One Airport Square, also situated in Ghana’s capital.

“One Airport Square is a Class A office development situated in Accra’s Airport City, the newest commercial and retail area, a few minutes’ walk from the most important venues in the city,” Matta explains. “The building comprises nine floors, 18,000 square metres of office space and 1,500 square metres of retail space.

“One Airport Square is one of the city’s most prominent design landmarks boasting the highest level of health and safety standard and has attracted blue-chip tenants such as Nestle and Puma Energy.”

The Actis-Myma Belo Osagie joint venture has benefitted from Laurus’

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CA CONSULTANTS LIMITED

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A CONSULTANTS LIMITED is an ISO 9001:2008 Certified Independent Limited Liability Company of Consulting Engineers founded in 1987. It is a multi-disciplinary company consisting of Mechanical, Electrical and Piping (MEP) Engineers.

With a head office in Lagos and a branch office in Abuja, Nigeria, the company has provided Mechanical and Electrical Engineering design and supervision services for the construction of commercial, recreational and residential structures in order to create functional buildings.

Being the first Nigerian MEP organisation to acquire the ISO 9001:2008 quality management certificate, the company raised the standards for MEP organisations in Nigeria.

Services > Opportunity sourcing, evaluation and underwriting > Feasibility and economic analysis > Budget development and administration > Project concept and design management > Project due diligence > Land assembly and acquisition > Deal structuring > Securing financing (both equity and debt) > Government approval coordination > Scheduling > Tendering and construction management > Marketing, leasing and sale > Tenant construction management > Accounting/control/reporting

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View of the internal atrium at One Airport Square

expertise in achieving Green Stars certification and in becoming Ghana’s most advanced development through the use of world-class construction techniques and finishes.

Moving into Nigeria, Matta continues: “Heritage Place is another Class A office development, situated in Lagos’s prime commercial and retail area of Ikoyi.

“The Project is the first green certified commercial building in the city and has achieved LEED accreditation.

Heritage place is Nigeria’s most advanced development and is rapidly becoming a landmark development; comprising 16,000 square metres of office space over eight floors, a doubleheight reception, a meeting and dining area, and more than 350 private car parking spaces.”

The right attitude

Jabi Lake Mall in Abuja, Nigeria completes the impressive portfolio compiled in just half a decade, with it

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www.cacons.com

TILLYARD

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illyard was established in Nigeria in 1958 and continue to practice and provide expertise in Quantity Surveying, Project Management and Construction Economics on an international consultancy basis.

The firm has provided quality services together with other ancillary cost consultancy services to various clients and organisations in a variety of industry sectors throughout Nigeria, Africa and worldwide.

From our range of experience and diverse management services, Tillyard Nigeria is equipped with the in-house skills and experience to provide input from strategic guidance of master plan to delivery of complex projects.

We are proud to be associated and involved with Laurus Development Partners on various projects and developments.

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Over the last two decades, our completed projects have Shaped the Lagos Skyline CA Consultants Limited have collaborated with Laurus Development Partners by providing the following Engineering Services on the Heritage Place project in Lagos, Nigeria.

CIVIC TOWERS, LAGOS, NIGERIA

TARINO TOWERS, LAGOS, NIGERIA

IND15.7044 U/Q ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

STANDARD CHARTERED BANK HEAD OFFICE, LAGOS, NIGERIA

• Engineering Design – Mechanical – Heating, Ventilation & Air-Conditioning (HVAC), Plumbing & Piping, Electrical – Power, Signal, Lighting, Fire Protection/ Life Safety, Lift Design, Utility Supply, Troubleshooting, Security and Control.

• Contract Documentation - Preparation of specifications and drawings for tender action, preparation of specialist bills of quantities.

• Contract Administration - Evaluations of tenders, installation review and cost control Valuation of variations, certification of interim payments and settlement of final accounts.

Head Office 6th Floor, UBA House 57 Marina, Lagos, Nigeria E-mail: mainoffice@cacons.com Telephone: +234-1-4622734 -5

Abuja Office Suite 1, 1st Floor, Wing B, City Plaza Ahmadu Bello Way, Garki 2, Abuja, Nigeria E-mail: abujaoffice@cacons.com Telephone: +234-9-2918015

www.cacons.com

TILLYARD NIGERIA LIMITED Chartered Quantity Surveyors and Project Managers

First Floor 241, Igbosere Road, Lagos Tel: (01) 7642726, +234 9094833266 Email: info@tillyardng.com Website: tillyardng.com

Proud to be Quantity Surveyors associated with Laurus Development Partners

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Night view of Heritage Place in Lagos three months from completion

set for completion in November, 2015, and once again geared towards being a game-changer for the city. Featuring 30,000 square metres of floor space dedicated to the cream of the crop in continental retail, the complex also integrates cafes, restaurants, bars, a cinema and public areas to once again highlight not only the scope that Laurus is able to work to, but its ability to adhere to the demands of each project and indeed, region.

“While a lot of people think of Africa as one market, we cannot emphasise enough how Africa is a vast continent with 53 countries, each one with its peculiarities, market conditions, laws, regulations and languages,” Matta affirms. “We do not want to spread ourselves too thin as we know how difficult it is to manage large footprints in Africa, and this is why we are still focused on Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast.”

In taking this approach, Laurus is also able to adopt a concerted local

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While a lot of people think of Africa as one market, we cannot emphasise enough how Africa is a vast continent with 53 countries...

Senior Development Manager, Stephen Hynes addressing the press and dignitaries at Heritage Place topping out ceremony in Lagos

strategy in regards to its employment strategy; leveraging the Actis influence as well as its own rapidly growing reputation in the process.

“We tend to hire as many local professionals as possible, as local knowledge is key in what we do,” Matta says. “When we cannot find the talents we need locally then we look internationally, but increasingly we see West Africans living in the UK, France and US looking to come back to the region, so we tap into that pool of talent when we can.

“We are a small Company so every new hire is very important and in this part of the World, problem solving is critical to success so it’s more about having the right attitude than skills.”

Replicating the entrepreneurial culture evident across its external operations, Laurus has ultimately formed a very entrepreneurial internal structure among its workforce, having created an environment conducive to

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innovation, knowledge sharing, and close collaboration with each other and investors.

Sustainable development

The final string to Laurus’ local bow comprises a strong commitment to corporate social responsibility activities, once again taking its lead from Actis’ longevity and subsequent involvement in regional enrichment.

This philosophy embraces everything from local personnel development to engraining the most modern and advanced green concepts into its developments, while always looking to boost the local economy where possible.

A strong “ownership mentality” is what Matta attributes this ethos to, and this has a similarly positive knockon effect on the projects themselves, as Laurus looks towards future

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opportunities.

“We work in complete alignment with the investors and are very focused on quality as we believe quality assets will retain value in the long-term,” the CEO says. “We can comfortably say that Laurus is a pioneer in sustainable development in West Africa; One Airport Square is the first green certified commercial building in the region and we are very proud we had the chance to be part of it.”

Increasingly outsourcing project and construction management services, Laurus never detracts from the plethora of services that helped get the Company off the ground so nimbly to begin with, and an almost unrivalled track record in the market has been achieved over the past five years as a consequence.

Over the next five years, Matta expects such successes to be not just

Top: View of Jabi Lake Mall waterfront. Above: The main internal square in Jabi Lake Mall under construction

replicated, but refined and improved even further as it opens up West African markets to more and more international and local investors.

“In five years we have managed to deliver three projects, following the whole process from the first day we walked on to the site, to the day we handed over the keys of the building,” Matta concludes. “Our world-class team creates projects that are relevant; this means that they are aesthetically relevant, socially relevant and functionally relevant.

“Because of our experience, our expertise and our tried and tested approach, we are able to manage short and long-term risk and deliver strong returns.”

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Unprecedented

Insurance

MicroEnsure has proved over the past 13 years that it is possible to insure the low-income market and has subsequently thrived off the back of its unique and innovative service provision Writer: Matthew Staff • Project Manager: Callum Philp

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icroEnsure has enjoyed an unprecedented rise in registered customers over the past 12 months as a result of its innovative product and distribution approaches, and is already setting its stall for the next 12 months in the low-income insurance bracket across the continent.

The increase to seven million customers served in Africa, from the one million accounted for at the beginning of 2014, provides the answer to a question the Company asked itself prior to inception in 2002: “Is it possible to insure the low-income mass market?”

A resounding “yes” has been the response from Ghana and Kenya initially, and now from a further eight markets across Africa, through its partner Group model comprising telecoms, banks and other aggregators.

With a global headquarters in the UK, MicroEnsure provides a turnkey solution portfolio from its regional headquarters in Nairobi - in partnership with its distributors - for brands looking to use insurance to drive their business: its offering including innovative product design; customised, customerfacing mobile technology; back-office operations; risk management; policy and claims administration; customer engagement; and ongoing product performance management.

Marketing Director, Peter Gross adds: “Low-income customers can’t afford to pay the same premium as typical insurance customers, and yet they face greater risk. We found that we could serve this market sustainably by lowering administrative costs, reaching scale quickly, building great products, and preserving trust through fast claims payment.

“In the process we uncovered dozens of new ways to provide insurance and we’ve become the fastest-growing provider in Africa by outreach.”

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FINCA: The Leading Pan-African Microfinance Network Over the past 20 years, FINCA has worked its way to the top in providing financial services for low-income individuals across Africa. Regional Director, Mike Gama-Lobo explains the strategies and decisions behind this evolution and the Company’s commitment to continue meeting customer demand in the future.

Mike Gama-Lobo,

Vice President and Regional Director - Africa

www.FINCA.org Office: +256-414-340-838

Africa Outlook (AfO): Can you firstly introduce FINCA, providing a history of the Company and its evolution over the years?

Mike Gama-Lobo (M G-L): FINCA is the leading pan-African microfinance network with a vision to be the number one financial services provider for low-income individuals in Africa.

FINCA has more than 20 years of experience in Africa, with operations in the DRC, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Malawi, and Zambia and, over the past six years, has seen a major shift in its business model, which has historically been focused on group credit operations serving group lending customers, only at the very bottom of the pyramid.

Today, all six operations have microfinance banking licenses, and in many countries, we have been the first to transform into a regulated financial institution, Malawi being the latest example of our leadership in the region.

We currently serve more than 700,000 customers in Africa, more than 360,000 of them borrowers with an average loan size of $650, staying true to our mission to alleviate poverty through lasting solutions that help people build assets, create jobs and raise their standard of living.

‘FINCA is investing in its future now, so as to be the clear choice if you want a warm, responsible and trusted financial partner’ AfO: What is the range of products and services within the FINCA portfolio which the Company has become renowned for within the market?

M G-L FINCA’s focus is on finding appropriate solutions for low income individuals and businesses, but we offer products to a broader range of the market. The majority of our portfolio, and what we are known for, is Village Banking; a group lending and savings product appropriate for serving peri-urban and rural communities in Africa.

In Tanzania for example we have modified our Village Banking product to allow for smallholder farmers to invest in farming activities giving them repayment options to meet their needs. More than 50 percent of our

Plot 11,Portal Avenue,Adam House, Block B P.O.Box 24450,Kampala,Uganda

Building Tomorrow Together portfolio, however, is in small business loans that range from $1,000 to $100,000. Beyond Loans and Savings, we also offer microinsurance products and payment services in many of our subsidiaries.

AfO: What is FINCA’s main customer demographic and current geographic footprint?

M G-L: FINCA, though mostly known as a financial services provider for women and low income borrowers, offers savings products, loan products, and payments solutions for the larger low to mid-income segments of the market.

We mobilise deposits from entrepreneurs, salaried workers and corporations. Our loan products focus on small entrepreneurs with debt needs from $300 to $20,000, but will go as high as $100,000 in the SME space.

FINCA works in six countries and has a branch network of 93 full service branches.

We offer an innovative agency banking solution in DRC, Tanzania, and Zambia. In Tanzania, and soon in Uganda, we offer full interoperability between your bank account and e-wallet provider (Vodacom, Airtel, Tigo, etc).

AfO: What have been the main continuous improvement strategies and philosophies to have driven FINCA’s growth?

M G-L: It has been a case of organic growth and FINCA will now focus on having maximum impact in the countries it operates in before further expansion. In November, 2014 FINCA opened a microfinance bank in Nigeria given the size and need of the market there. There is lots to do in each of our six countries!

All FINCA Subsidiaries in Africa are owned by a holding company which has a global presence in 23 countries and includes investors such as IFC, KFW, Triodos, ResponsAbility, FMO, and FINCA International.

AFO: What have been the key features of your relationship with MicroEnsure, including the kinds of services offered specifically within this partnership?

M G-L: MicroEnsure and FINCA have a longstanding relationship and we work with them to provide micro-insurance products for our borrowers.

The major causes of poor loan repayment among our clients are unforeseen events and emergencies; for example illness or death in the family, or the destruction of the business due to fire or flooding.

Micro-insurance creates a great buffer in times of such a shock to the client; including repayment of the loan in case of death of the borrower, covering funeral costs in case of loss of a family member and payment of health bills.

AfO: Going back to FINCA specifically, what expansions/ diversifications/ investments/launches have been seen in 2015 to ensure you are progressing and staying ahead of the industry curve?

Nigeria M G-L Throughout the region we are investing heavily in new technology to bring down the Zambia cost of delivery and Malawi to ensure improved service to the customer.

We will soon automate all our loan and savings applications through tablets; we are expanding agency banking solutions in all countries which allow for cheaper and more convenient transactions for the customers; and we are partnering with various mobile network operators in the region to innovate on payment services and new products we can launch together.

AfO: What is FINCA’s approach to the hiring, training and retention of key skills as part of its overall employment strategy?

M G-L: We take great pride in the training and development programmes in place at FINCA. We mostly hire new graduates and do not rely on other banks to “make” our people.

The FINCA Development Academy has been put in place to develop training programmes appropriate and specific to the challenges of serving our target market.

AfO: What would you say defines FINCA, and sets it apart from market competitors?

M G-L: With more than 20 years of experience in Africa, FINCA has proven its ability to provide appropriate financial services to low income individuals and at the same time evolve and expand its services to other segments.

Across our subsidiaries, FINCA is recognised for responsible financing and being a trusted financial partner in the growth of our clients’ businesses and improvement in their livelihoods.

This is anchored in our Democratic mission and brand Republic promise. That’s what of Congo defines and sets us apart.

AfO: Looking forward, what Uganda short or mediumterm goals are in place for FINCA’s future growth and how do you expect to get from Tanzania where you are now to that point?

M G-L: Our short term focus is to work on our operational efficiency, invest in technology, and introduce credit scoring and other new loan underwriting techniques to serve our customers faster.

We aim to be viewed in the market as an institution that offers a great customer experience through products and services that respond to customer needs, that are easy to understand and access, and that are delivered in an enjoyable manner.

Afo: Finally, is there anything you feel I have failed to mention within these questions that you think would be important to mention in the final editorial?

M G-L: The financial sector in Africa is evolving rapidly and the needs of the population are changing. With more than 20 years of experience in Africa and a proven ability to change, FINCA is investing in its future now, so as to be the clear choice if you want a warm, responsible and trusted financial partner.

M I C R O E N S U R E

An additional four million customers around the world in 2015 alone epitomises the freshness and uniqueness of the offering to this segment of the market; something which Gross attributes largely to the high levels of innovation found within the Company.

“We’re very much market innovators, in as much as we don’t design products and services in a boardroom,” Gross continues. “We go out to slums, villages and towns to talk to the individuals there to find out what they really need from an insurance product and design it around them.

“We also look to provide value to our partners. How can we help their retention levels by developing solutions that their customers really want? What this has done has really put us at the forefront of our market and we’re really proud that we’re being recognised for our efforts.”

Managers always try to talk to their clients in person

Unprecedented insurance products

Peter Gross presents a cheque in person to a client, one of many satisfied MicroEnsure customers

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While the aforementioned segment of customers is one that large, turnkey insurance specialists have traditionally bypassed, it certainly isn’t a small segment, with MicroEnsure accessible to the middle 70 percent of consumers outside of the top and bottom rungs.

Subsequently, the Company has managed to not only change the dynamic, but has done so in an extremely lucrative domain following a strong a positive response from the majority of prospective customers existing under this umbrella.

Once again though, simply entering the market was never going to work without bringing something equally dynamic, different and ultimately tailored along with it.

“Over the years, we’ve created a number of unprecedented insurance products to meet the needs of the mass market,” Gross says. “What we

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found was that the mass market is very well-educated about the risks they face, and they have many ways of coping with those risks. As a result, our best product ideas have always come from our customers.

“Today we offer a range of products that are easy to use, from hospital cash products that provide cover at any hospital for any medical reason, property insurance products that protect against any natural or manmade disaster, to life insurance that covers any one at any age, without all the terms and conditions and restrictions that typically lead people to mistrust insurance companies.

“We can provide these useful benefits because of the massive scale we reach. We find that scale requires simplicity, but also that scale justifies simplicity as well.”

MicroEnsure compounds this collaborative influence via a product design approach which actually encourages change among its customers’ behaviours for its partners also.

Gross explains: “For example, Barclays Africa uses our products in four African markets to increase salary accounts. Airtel Africa uses our products in eight African markets to drive customer loyalty and spend, as well as direct revenue.

“What we’ve found is that, due to the low penetration of traditional insurance but the high demand for valuable protection from risk, massmarket consumers will reward a brand that protects them in the course of their normal customer relationship.

We have shown that insurance does not have to be a “grudge purchase” as is commonly assumed.

“The result is a win-win for the brand and the customer. The brand receives increased patronage and the customer receives access to valuable insurance, often for the first time.”

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...Barclays Africa uses our products in four African markets to increase salary accounts. Airtel Africa uses our products in eight African markets to drive customer loyalty and spend, as well as direct revenue Establishing partnerships has expanded MicroEnsure’s customer base faster than others in Africa

Barclays is just one of the numerous globally-renowned brands who have partnered with MicroEnsure in recent years, epitomising the rapid growth experienced by the Company over a relatively short period of time.

As a for-profit social enterprise, a shareholding structure comprising the likes of AXA, Omidyar Network, International Finance Corporation and Sanlam has set the tone for a partner portfolio which features Airtel, FINCA, Advans and Opportunity International among its network.

“By establishing large partnerships with Airtel and others, and then delivering on those partnerships with fast implementation, we’ve seen our customer base expand faster than any other insurance organisation in Africa,” Gross emphasises. “We were only able to establish those partnerships because we provide unique products supported by the best service in the market, whereas many of our competitors see insurance as a commodity business and compete primarily on price.

“We’ve found that the biggest consumer brands on the continent aren’t interested in a commodity offering, insurance or otherwise. They want something new that addresses their customers specifically, and they want to see an insurance provider deliver a service that is helpful and easy to use, and that is key to our value proposition.”

Ultimately, MicroEnsure’s positive reputation has derived from a ‘golden rule’; to serve customers in the way that you would want to be served, on a local level in each country of operation.

This has been rewarded as such, and becomes a pivotal aspect of the Company’s continuous improvement strategy which requires the business to keep expanding and diversifying in the same way it expects its partners to do.

From a capital expenditure perspective, “we have invested

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heavily in the past several years in our back-office technology, to ensure that our quality, speed-to-market, and customer learning engines are up to standard as compared to other mobile VAS (value-added-service) providers”, Gross notes. “We don’t spend money on flashy offices; we’d rather spend money to improve our service offering.

“As a result, we were able to launch last year in Zambia with only ten weeks from the first meeting to the launch of the product, and we covered more than two million people overnight. Mobile operators expect that kind of speed when bringing a product to market, in contrast to most insurance offerings which often take months or years to see the light of day.”

Once we learned that wider and deeper forms of coverage were in demand and made business sense, we started to expand our offerings, and we aren’t finished yet.

We’re committed to ongoing innovation from year to year

Ongoing innovation

As well as the Company’s presence in Ghana, Kenya and Zambia, MicroEnsure has also penetrated into Burkina Faso, Niger, Madagascar, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi over the past 13 years; ensuring strong local support in each case as a key facet of its commitment to sustainability.

People and skills development and corporate social responsibility efforts further enforce this dedication to long-term enrichment both inside and outside of its core industry operations; laying the perfect foundations for the next stage of MicroEnsure’s rapid rise to prominence.

Five billion Although the industry serves 500 million people today, there are another 5.5 billion to reach CEO, Richard Leftley at Financial Times IFC forum

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Assessing the Company’s evolution thus far, the Marketing Director says: “When we started, we weren’t sure what would be possible from a product perspective, so we started small with credit life insurance.

“Once we learned that wider and deeper forms of coverage were in demand and made business sense, we started to expand our offerings, and we aren’t finished yet. We’re committed to ongoing innovation from year to year.”

In terms of services, the Company has expanded into becoming fully mobile in recent times, addressing the latest trends and the realisation that mobile is the future of financial services.

“We feel we are on the leading edge of where the industry is headed,” Gross continues. “Looking forward, we already have 10 products to roll out in our telecom markets and over the next three-to-five years I would expect this number to be increasing year on year.

“We are constantly innovating and looking at how we can do things better and maybe in a different way to how they are done now, so it’s a very exciting time.”

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The health domain will form a particularly concerted focus for MicroEnsure in the coming years, while the Company is also looking to capitalise on smartphone penetration and an enhancement of its technological processes.

All of this will help to not only build upon the market significance already enjoyed by MicroEnsure, but will set the business up for a drive into the vast potential that still lies untouched around the world.

Gross concludes: “Although the industry serves 500 million people today, there are another 5.5 billion to reach, so much work remains to be done, and our approach will continue to focus on ongoing enhancements to product and service offerings, and new areas of innovation in distribution.

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In 2015, MicroEnsure won the Financial Times IFC Transformational Excellence Award

Peter Gross, Marketing Director

“We were selected [by the FT/ IFC to receive their special 10-year anniversary award for excellence in transformational business] as being the best of the best from the past decade: the Company that stands head and shoulders above all the other winners of the awards; a list that includes most of the world’s largest banks and leaders in inclusive finance.

“This is as a result of the monumental effort put in by the MicroEnsure team across the globe and the award really does go to show that we are making a real difference to the people we serve, and is testimony to the phenomenal effort and hard work that everyone has put in over the past 10 years.”

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Aligning with the wider Group’s ‘Vision 2020’ targets as part of an ambitious global growth plan, EY Namibia is working on new services that tackle Africa’s challenging economic environment Writer: Emily Jarvis • Project Manager: Callum Philp

fter benefitting from a successful global rebrand in 2013, EY Namibia is aligning with the wider, internationally renowned financial Group’s Vision 2020 in a bid to become the most integrated assurance and advisory Company in the world.

Starting business in Namibia in 1956 and adopting a variety of names in the past seven decades - most recently known as Ernst & Young - EY has grown from a small practice offering limited assurance services, into a fully-fledged division of EY Group; with more than 80 employees and five partners. The first to introduce a dedicated tax service line in the country in 1996, EY Namibia quickly expanded its service offering in line with the increasing demand for tax advisory and compliance services.

Cameron Kotze, Managing Partner of EY Namibia “As a result of our alignment with MNCs, the EY Group now has a presence on every continent around the world, including operations spanning the entire African continent”

“Namibia’s economic growth began to dictate the need to address more sub-service focus areas, so we created several value-add offerings to add to our repertoire, including fraud investigation and dispute services (FIDS), internal auditing and transaction advisory services,” comments Cameron Kotze, Managing Partner of EY Namibia.

Global alignment

With a newly rejuvenated brand and Vision 2020 approach, EY Namibia has ambitious growth plans to develop its people and better position itself to replicate the same high standards offered by EY globally; partially driven by a series of recent acquisitions in the local market along with other continuous improvement goals.

“One of our distinguishing factors is our ability to align with

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the multinational companies (MNCs) that operate in various markets around the world, strategically setting up our operations in the best locations in order to best serve their needs.

As a result, the EY Group now has a presence on every continent around the world, including operations spanning the entire African continent,” Kotze says.

He further details: “By looking at what motivates us each day, it became clear that we needed a strategy that contributes to our vision of ‘building a better world’. This became the Group’s tagline, with every audit, every tax return, every valuation and every interaction helping our clients fulfil their purposes and contribute to building a better working world themselves.”

In support of this positive attitude to innovative service delivery, EY Namibia has taken a closer look at refining its policies and identifying key market trends that will be mutually beneficial.

As many African governments, including Namibia’s, are under pressure to spend their available funds in the most effective way possible, EY is bolstering its assurance, FIDS and tax services so as to meet this market requirement.

Similarly in the private sector, companies doing business in Namibia are being careful with spending as commodity prices remain under pressure. “Therefore, we need to find a variety of ways to help clients reach optimal efficiency and right now, we are seeing a big demand in the advisory space, so we are looking closely at how we can grow in regards to better process improvement, as well as expanding our internal audit client base.

“Another area where we are seeing growth is in the IT risk advisory services sector. Companies are going digital, which is increasing demand for data analytics and other services in the technology space,” Kotze says.

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Continuing to obtain top talent befitting of a globally renowned organisation

By further diversifying its product offering, EY Namibia is able to gain practical insights into the methodologies needed to continue to foster healthy growth. “This forward-thinking strategy stems from the Group’s ‘Growing Beyond’ initiative, by finding new ways to be innovative and gain a practical insight into topics such as globalisation and entrepreneurship,” he explains.

Despite the challenging economic environment felt around the world, opportunities are still plentiful for companies to move or expand into new markets. Part of EY Namibia’s strategy is to assist those companies who are looking to enter a specific

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Aligning with EY Group’s Vision 2020 goals

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H. D. BOSSAU & CO Legal Practitioners / Notaries with a penchant for all aspects of corporate, commercial, mining and intellectual property law 49 Feld Street, Windhoek Republic of Namibia P.O. Box 1975, Windhoek, Republic of Namibia Telephone: (+264)(061) 370 850 Facsimile: (+264)(061) 370 855 Email: hdb@bossau.com

territory with access to a variety of information that makes their decision easier, allowing the organisation to create a better business model to enter the country in question. “Complementing this is our Africa tax centre and Africa payroll hub that we offer to MNCs, the former coordinates our service delivery and the latter renders services to MNCs so they

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can outsource their payroll function to the hub. We are seeing many companies taking up our offering when they move into Africa for ease of doing business,” Kotze highlights.

EY Canvas

Not only do EY Namibia’s clients benefit from its vision for growth, but many internal processes are now in place to improve connectivity and interaction with all divisions around the world, having made significant investment in technology solutions as a Group to make sure that the client gets the best solution as quickly as possible.

Kotze notes: “In the fall of 2014, we began rolling out EY Canvas, our new audit tool that has replaced our old audit support platform. The global network made an investment of more than US$400 million to implement this, with the ultimate goal to improve audit quality and project management methodologies.

“EY Canvas is enhancing audit quality and performance by better aligning the significant risks identified during

TOP employer EY has continually received recognition as a top Company to work for globally; including best employer to work for in Namibia for the past five years, and for the past 10 years in South Africa

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In the fall of 2014, we began rolling out EY Canvas, our new audit tool that has replaced our old audit support platform

an audit with the audit procedures that address those risks, and by enabling our teams to better tailor audit procedures to the specific characteristics of the entity being audited.”

Striving for a superior audit quality, EY is committed to creating solutions that address the investing public’s demands, while rendering its exceptional client service levels with a growing team of quality and multidisciplinary staff.

“People are at the centre of our organisation and will be key to futureproofing the Company and driving efficiencies. Our ambitions have led us to keep on retaining top local talent that can deliver the high performance levels befitting an international organisation,” he further details.

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Exceptional service

Since the rebranding activities two years ago, EY is now able to share Group synergies on its way to achieving Vision 2020 goals.

Kotze concludes: “We want to be seen as the most distinctive professional services organisation, making sure each country practice does its part to help reach - and even exceed - this status.

“We want to make sure we have the best brand globally, country-bycountry, become the most favoured employer, grow faster than our competitors in our chosen markets and enjoy market-leading growth as a reward for adding scale to our business and meeting our bold ambitions.”

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Tomorrow’s Technology Retirement Supported by

ccording to Statistics South Africa, there are currently more than 4.15 million South Africans aged over 60 in the country, and with quality of life tipped to improve in line with the growing middle-class trend, more and more young people are turning to lifeassurance companies to take out a pension.

As a 13B administrator operating in South Africa, M Cubed, also known as M3, is at the forefront of implementing employee benefit solutions to improve the retirement planning landscape, including the implementation of efficient, effective and relevant pensions and specialised retirement solutions. Through its innovative administration system, M Cubed is a prominent frontrunner in this niche – but growing – market segment of small to medium enterprises, exacting its proven ability to provide highly flexible, comprehensive and costeffective benefits for the client.

Comprising several key business areas including M Cubed Employee Benefits, Risk Solutions, Asset Solutions, Payroll and its foray into the cleaning services industry via M Cubed Hygiene, the M Cubed Group is able to provide value-enhancing products by maintaining open communication and

M Cubed is reacting to South Africa’s recent pension reforms by aligning its product offering with these changes, and utilising state-of-the-art software to provide the bestservice platform possible Writer: Emily Jarvis • Project Manager: Callum Philp

Richard Olfsen, Group Chief Executive Head

trust with its partners and members.

Given the rapid evolution of technology and the importance of its utilisation in the average business today, M Cubed’s administrative system allows clients to access an online services platform that provides customised financial solutions tailored to individual client needs. “We promote total independence through the quality, depth and diverse nature of our services. Our focus is to leave a legacy through our value-enhancing products by maintaining open communication and trust with our members,” says the Company.

As one of the market leaders in the employee benefit segment, M Cubed has proved that its solutions are a competitive and flexible solution that also meet the design and subsequent servicing needs of clients and consultants.

“Our commitment to qualitative service is achieved through excellent leadership, effective people and process

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anlam Employee Benefits is built on a solid foundation as it forms part of Sanlam, one of Africa’s leading financial services groups. Our standing in the industry is confirmed by the funds entrusted to us by our clients, the number of members we have, the impact of our research, the industry awards we have won and our efforts to create retirement means for all working people in our country.

Our industry leadership position is a function of the quality of our people, our service, our products and our operational systems.

T + 27 21 947 1341 E danie.scholtz@sanlam.co.za M Cubed’s administrative system allows clients to access an online services platform

management as well as a state-ofthe-art administration platform,” the Company further explained.

Retirement reforms

Taking an annual review of the retirement industry in South Africa, Sanlam’s 2014 Benchmark Survey stated that only 29 percent of retirees who are members of a pension fund are able to maintain their standard of living when they retire. This number falls to 10 percent when all retirement age South Africans are considered; and with the growing number of dependents they must care for and the growing life expectancy, this portrays a challenging picture.

Various attempts to reform the South African pensions system have been explored over the past half a century. In 2012, the National Treasury published an overview of proposals entitled ‘Strengthening Retirement Savings’, which revealed some of the complexities involved if the

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retirement funds were introduced as a fringe benefit in the hands of employees for tax purposes.

Although this made the employee benefits environment somewhat more complex, M Cubed has been working to increase the number of SMEs choosing them to set up a retirement fund for its employees, so as to improve the future financial situation of employees and their dependents.

“Under the new reforms, individuals are able to receive a tax deduction on employer and employee contributions to a pension fund, provident fund or retirement annuity fund up to 27.5 percent of the greater of remuneration and taxable income,” highlighted the Company in its own report on the reform.

“We are certainly looking forward to another exciting and challenging year ahead in our M Cubed Employee Benefits subsidiary,” Mmapula Ikaneng, Principal Officer said in the M Cubed annual trustee report.

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the decider

An umbrella fund won’t work for everyone.

Unless it’s ours.

As thought leaders in retirement solutions, we believe that an umbrella fund shouldn’t mean an umbrella approach. Which is why our newgeneration Sanlam Umbrella Fund has been designed to provide retirement security, compliance, cost savings and bespoke investment opportunities to meet the needs of every employee and enable them to make better retirement choices. Call us on 011 778 6660 or visit sanlam.co.za for more information.

Sanlam is a Licensed Financial Services Provider.

34615_Watches print ad_96x160.indd 1

M CUBED BUSINESS MODEL > M Cubed Employee Benefits

Provides a world-class and specialised retirement services administration platform to effectively manage pension and provident funds and act as a supportive base for the Company’s diverse broker market.

> M Cubed Risk Solutions

Providing death and disability cover through preferred risk providers who offer holistic risk management through a bulking arrangement. This arrangement offers flexibility through either a unit rate or percentage of payroll

> M Cubed Asset Solutions

Regulation 28-compliant investment portfolios provided at competitive rates, with individual investment choices assisted by performance comparisons, reporting and benchmark monitoring

> M Cubed Payroll

An integrated payroll solution for both new and existing M Cubed Employee Benefits clients. By partnering with clients to provide effective remuneration functions, the Company has developed a best-practice approach to understand each client’s requirements

> M Cubed Hygiene

Acquired in October, 2007, M Cubed Hygiene demonstrated the Group’s ability to diversify its offering to include value-add daily contract and deep cleaning services

2015/10/23 1:48 PM

Strengthened by staff

In order to align itself with the reform, M Cubed is continuously adjusting its products and processes, bringing in state-of-the-art software coupled with a team of high-calibre employees capable of the job in hand.

By following its carefully refined processes and implementing the latest technologies to power its software, M Cubed can ensure accuracy, efficiency and effectiveness of its products.

Recognising that its employees are one of the Group’s greatest strengths, M Cubed ensures its teams are kept motivated through various monthly performance-based incentives that address any shortcomings before they happen, and keep them on their toes.

The Company summarised on its website: “Above all, we strive to perfect our services for our growing customer base. This is just one element that sets us apart from the competition.”

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After making a significant capital investment in the mechanisation of its mining equipment, Redpath Mining South Africa is keen to stay at the cutting-edge of innovation Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Arron Rampling

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edpath Mining remains led by its Founder’s philosophy to rise up in the face of challenge in order to succeed in a competitive mining environment. In line with these guiding words, the Company recently made the fundamental decision to move away from traditional handheld drilling and blasting methods, embracing worldclass industry practices, in a move towards mechanising all projects within its portfolio to create the desire in the industry for its continued and valuable service offering.

“Substantial capital investment has been put towards trackless mobile machinery to safely execute projects within a faster time frame and reduce total cost of ownership commitments,” highlights Bennie Burger, General Manager of Mining for Redpath Mining South Africa (Pty) Ltd. Established in 1962 by Jim Redpath, the Company has a rich history focused on calculated growth in order to maintain a high calibre reputation of executing mining projects all over the globe. The Group’s steadfast footprint around the world comprises operations on six continents in 19 countries with eight different spoken languages; spanning some of the most remote and extreme environments including arctic, high altitudes, deserts and tropical conditions.

Determined to provide an unrivalled level of service to the mining industry which exceeds accepted standards, Redpath Mining has a controlled growth plan involving both internal and external improvement initiatives to embrace industry trends while staying at the cutting-edge of innovation, safety and mining practices.

“Jim Redpath’s vision for the Company is much the same as it was in the beginning; offering a high level of service to the mining industry which exceeds current standards and provides challenge for employees,” he adds.

Bennie Burger, General Manager of Mining

Mechanisation

With a foundation built on global experience, adaptability and exceptional workmanship, Redpath Mining South Africa has been actively involved in various mining projects across Africa including South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Burkina Faso; ranging from shaft sinking, infrastructure development, highspeed development, contract mining, raise boring and specialised mining work.

Its major projects are located in Zambia - where the Company executes projects on an assortment of mines for Mopani Copper Mines, of which Glencore is the majority shareholder and South Africa, executing projects for Impala Platinum and Northam Platinum.

“Our first step towards increasing our mechanisation came in Zambia, where we launched our first blind boring machine at Mopani. Fitted on tracks, this independently operating machine uses state-of-the-art technology to drill 1.5 diameter holes upwards to a maximum of 50 metres, offering a total solution to our clients,” says Burger.

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SANDVIK AMPLIFYING YOUR POSSIBILITIES CATALYZING YOUR GROWTH As the mining industry demands better productivity to ensure profitability, we are providing the cutting-edge solutions needed to succeed. Our equipment and services help our customers in every corner of the world, mine safer and more productively. Our offering covers rock drilling, cutting and crushing, loading and hauling and materials handling. In an industry where an hour of downtime can cost thousands, Sandvik parts and services can save you millions, with around-the-clock service, qualified engineers and genuine parts on demand.

Burger delivers a presentation on integrated safety systems at the Annual Health and Safety Conference, Lusaka, Zambia

We are driven by a total safety company culture and a set of operating values which have been carefully developed through best practice training schemes

“The quality of execution remains a cornerstone of our business, therefore we have established a solid plan to control and strengthen our concerted effort towards continuous improvement.”

High performance teams

Forming another crucial component of its continuous improvement is Redpath Mining’s focus on establishing highperformance teams to accompany its advanced product range. Burger explains: “This is so that we create an even better level of consistency across our employees by consolidating our resources to create a smaller team with highly effective skillsets.

“By doing so, we can engender better risk management in the daily running of our operations and simplify our other processes alongside this so as to become more efficient.”

Supporting this is the Company’s integrated management system which not only encompasses operational protocols, but also incorporates a document management system and

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global fatal prevention programme to improve health and safety results and endorse our safety slogan of “Safety First, Last and Always”.

Burger says: “We are driven by a total safety company culture and a set of operating values which have been carefully developed through best practice training schemes. Employees remain our greatest assets and we will continue to provide them with reasonable challenge and scope within our organisation.”

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We are always striving to eliminate harm to our people, our customers, our suppliers and to the environments in which we work. That is our Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) vision, and we never compromise on it.

Our people drive our business. They empower Sandvik to develop our industry-leading mining technologies.

Our core values, Customer Focus, Innovation, Fair Play and Passion to win, are built on our rich heritage and support our ambitions for the future and guide us in everything we do.

Our offices in Central Africa are strategically placed to support our customers. To add more value and serve our customers above expectation, we also act in line with our high ethical standards, putting safety first and always show consideration for the environment and the communities in which we operate.

T +260 212 241 000 F +260 212 218 896 E sales.zambia@sandvik.com

MINING.SANDVIK.COM

DRIVING TECHNOLOGY DELIVERING PRODUCTIVITY Our underground loaders and haul trucks are engineered for safety, productivity and reliability in your toughest mining applications. Rugged, compact and highly maneuverable, the ergonomic equipment oers enormous capacity for its size and returns a low cost per ton. Sandvik LH517 is a high-capacity, 17-metric-ton loader designed for three-pass loading of our Sandvik TH551 underground truck to optimize your ore-moving process.

5030 Mutentemuko Road Industrial Area, Kitwe Tel : + 260 212 241 000 Fax : + 260 212 218 896 MINING.SANDVIK.COM

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ounded in 1982, Ramsay Webber has earned a reputation as a leading corporate and commercial law firm comprising diverse, highly specialised teams that provide personal, innovative and robust legal solutions to a diversity of corporate and individual clients.

Ramsay Webber’s ethos is to never compromise on integrity, commitment or reliability when assiting its clients. In doing so Ramsay Webber has built – and continues to develop and nurture – mutually beneficial and purpose-driven relationships.

As the South African member of Mackrell International, one of the world’s premier networks of independent legal firms, Ramsay Webber is able to provide its clients with seamless access to legal services both at home and abroad.

The Retrax blind hole boring machine

www.ramweb.co.za

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al Tire Zambia is a global leader in delivering customised mining tire solutions and, as such, has built a strong business relationship with Redpath Mining in the country and worldwide.

Ghaghoo sand tunnel established in the heart of Botswana

Despite the familiar challenge of skills shortages in South Africa, Redpath Mining remains confident in its ability to compete on international projects and remuneration, driven by its passion to provide employment to local South Africans and upskilling these employees where possible. “We are in a unique position where we can leverage the Group’s international expertise to add depth of knowledge

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to our teams and additionally, create highly skilled local individuals through our own academy on the occasions where the right skills do not already exist,” he further adds.

Sustainable partnerships

For any company pursuing global growth today, an efficient and mutually beneficial supply chain has become critical to securing a competitive

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A subsidiary of the Kal Tire Mining Tire Group, the Company operates and provides services to customers across both Zambia and DRC from its four offices.

The business’s seven guiding principles - or AIMS - sit at the heart of the Kal Tire Corporation, and forms the basis of the Zambian arm’s success in putting the customer first, and creating a respectful, safe environment in which to work.

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Providing personal & robust legal solutions since 1982 A member of Mackrell International, one of the largest worldwide networks of independent law firms.

Contact us: af@ramweb.co.za / gm@ramweb.co.za Tel: +27 11 778 0600 Fax: +27 11 778 0677 www.ramweb.co.za

Aviation • Banking • Commercial & corporate litigation • Construction and Mining • Competition • Property •

• Healthcare • Mergers and Acquisitions • Business Rescue and Insolvency • IT and Telecoms • Labour • Insurance

WE KEEP YOU ROLLING Kal Tire Mining Tire Group delivers innovative solutions to maximise tyre life and increase mining productivity.

With over 40 years of experience and global operations on five continents, Kal Tire is the only tyre service provider capable of handling all of your tyre requirements on a daily basis.

info@kaltire.com www.kaltiremining.com

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advantage. Redpath Mining has worked hard to create a sustainable partnership with many quality local suppliers where possible, complementing this with its international relationships with key vendors from the wider Redpath Group.

Burger reasons: “We chose to partner with major international logistics vendor who have a large African footprint and the capacity to cater for the large amount of cargo and equipment we procure or rent.

As we often move large amounts of equipment between our regional offices, it lends itself to ex-works Incoterms, this means we require door-to-door services from a single supply chain partner and facilitates the management thereof.

Community Involvement Redpath Group is a strong believer of community involvement to improve not only the lives of civilians, but to focus on a good quality of life for its employees.

In South Africa and Zambia, the Company supports numerous social initiatives across the key areas of youth, education, sports, health and the arts.

Each year on the first day of December, Redpath Mining South Africa helps to fundraise for AIDS orphan homes across the country in recognition of World AIDS Day. The Company has made ample contribution to the healthcare sector over the years, raising awareness of disease and educating others about the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS. In going the extra mile, the Redpath Mining has also established a world-class medical clinic for its employees in Zambia.

Bulk air cooler being constructed on Mindola Shaft in Zambia

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“Moreover, most African countries subscribe to withholding taxes for services such as transport and subsequently, we therefore require an international supply chain partner who is able to invoice us locally in the country we are operating in, something the smaller operators cannot offer. At the end of the day it is all about being as cost-effective as possible and balancing this with the right quality to better align our supply chain with our overall business strategy.”

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Survey House • SHAFT SINKING SURVEY • GYROSCOPIC SURVEY • SURFACE AND UNDERGROUND 3D LASER SCANNING • SURFACE AND UNDERGROUND CHECK SURVEY • SURFACE AND UNDERGROUND SURVEY AUDITING • CIVIL AND ENGINEERING SURVEY • SURVEY TRAINING COURSES • CONSULTING • TECHNOLOGY • OUTSOURCING • TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS WILLIE DE BEER MANAGING DIRECTOR +27 79 528 6329 / +2711 472 1527 willie.debeer@eoh.co.za

Redpath’s cardinal rules painted underground at Synclinorium shaft in Zambia

Equipped with a comprehensive strategy that encompasses a highlyskilled team, competitive positioning and a streamlined supply chain, Redpath Mining is continuing on its path to excellence by investing in its core business attributes; to both combat and welcome new challenges along the way.

“Challenge is an important part of life, and this is our core guiding philosophy that drives us forward to achieve more in Africa.

“Going forward, we remain focused on bolstering our safety policies and increasing our brand presence to create a more diversified client base. As a well-recognised name in local South African and Zambian markets, we want to expand our existing and potential client base by demonstrating our ability to execute projects safely, more efficiently and in the most cost-effective manner,” Burger concludes.

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SEIZING OPPORTUNITY Hyspec Mining Services has been looking at ways to increase the reach of its world-class product range by deploying its managed workshop business model in new locations on the continent Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Arron Rampling

Hyspec is part of the industry-leading Manuli Group

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rowing from a single container Company in Ghana in 1996 into one that operates more than 65 hydraulic hose workshops on mines across 15 countries, Hyspec Mining Services (Hyspec) is considered the premier supplier of hydraulic parts and service equipment to the mining industry in Africa. Incorporated in Perth, Western Australia, Hyspec is part of the Fluiconnecto by Manuli Group, a division of Manuli Rubber Industries, known as a world leader in the manufacture of steel reinforced hydraulic hoses and fittings.

With more than 250 employees distributed across registered offices in nine African countries – namely Guinea, Ghana, Mali, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, DRC, Zambia, Tanzania and Cote d’Ivoire; as well as Botswana and South Africa if Fluiconnecto by Manuli’s operations are included – Hyspec is contributing to the sustained development of the continent’s mining industry, supporting local mines in spite of the substantial price decrease of commodities that has hit the resources sector in the past two years.

“As a result of this, mines had to find ways of reducing their operating costs, and this is where Hyspec’s

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value proposition comes in. By providing best-in-class quality products and implementing a number of preventative maintenance solutions that minimise the mining equipment’s downtime caused by hydraulic failures, we have been able to help mines increase production and also reduce total cost of ownership of machinery,” says Alan Wood, Managing Director of Hyspec Mining Services.

Designed to withstand

Working hand-in-hand with Manuli Hydraulics’ research and development teams, Hyspec has benefitted from an enhanced product range which it has been able to introduce to the African market. This includes the Rockmaster and Goldenlso range of products, which are more flexible, durable and resistant to abrasion.

Wood highlights: “Our products are designed specifically to withstand the day-to-day harsh operating conditions of a mine; tackling heat, dust, abrasion and general wear and tear. Boasting a longer lifespan than competing brands, using our hose solution allows a mine to save on operating costs, and this guarantee is supported by our on-site teams who carry out daily inspections in order to identify potential hose failures and replace them before they fail,

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eliminating unnecessary downtime and costs from the production time lost.”

By having on-location hydraulic hose assembly workshops, complete with stock and a team of experienced technicians, Hyspec’s removes investment and financial risks for its clients. “We support all the workshop, labour and stock costs, and invoice our customers each month per hose made,” he adds.

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assembly offering, the Company has also introduced a range of lubrication and fast fuelling products and is now able to offer solutions to the mines for their lube bays, service trucks, fuel farms and fuel distribution points; teaming up with industry leaders’ Graco and Banlaw.

Wood explains: “For now, our strong business model, service levels and quality products allow us to remain ahead in some of Africa’s most

World-class quality hydraulic hoses

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Hyspec uses its managed workshop model to explore a new country before making the decision to establish an office

challenging environments. We have in place a very efficient supply chain and stock management system so that we can remain focused on preventing the downtime of mines due to hose failures, making sure we hold sufficient stock levels in all of our workshops at all times, including a supply of slowmoving items which might only be required once every 24 months.

“This is, and always will be, a costly exercise that requires a team of skilled workshop technicians who must understand how to identify hose failure causes amongst other key details so that we can understand what improvements can be implemented to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Achieving sustainability

While product research forms a core part of Hyspec’s continuous improvement strategy to future-proof the business, securing highly skilled, local staff is often a challenge in the

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Careful organisational and safety measures have been put in place

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mining industry and something that Wood feels passionately about.

He emphasises: “We believe that achieving long-term sustainability is not possible with expats only as this is too costly. We need local staff that have the local knowledge and cultural understanding; two aspects that are incredibly useful when having to deal with local administrations.”

With a comprehensive training programme in place, from basic tasks right through to management, the Company allocates a significant amount of its time to upskilling local people and managing sustainability with local employment needs. “It can take a long time before employees can assemble hoses or manage a workshop without supervision, so we utilise a team of expats who supervise our staff while they train to satisfactory levels before eventually becoming selfsustainable.

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still required after working under close supervision, to make sure that the latest procedures are adhered to,” says Wood.

HANNAY WORKS HERE

Larger footprint

In order to grow its geographic footprint, Hyspec is using its managed services model to test the market in each respective country of interest in order to limit risks incurred, by supplying a managed solution comprising a local workshop and hose assembly equipment.

“The managed workshop approach allows us to set foot in a new country without establishing an office there so as to better understand legal, economic, employment and operating constraints. The difference between this and our ‘traditional’ style of workshops is that we do not consign the stock to the mine, it is bought upfront by the client, meaning that the investment risks are shared with our client,” explains Wood.

Rugged, reliable construction Vast choices in size and finish Reels built to your exact specifications

Made .A. in U.S.A.

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The Company allocates a significant amount of its time to upskilling local people

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“At a later stage, if and when the market justifies it, we then have the option to register a Hyspec office. We have successfully followed this approach in Cote d’Ivoire and in the DRC.” Given the wide range of industries that utilise hydraulic equipment in their daily operations, Hyspec is to target new end-user markets in the oil & gas, construction and maritime sectors in order to increase its footprint not only in Africa, but also in Asian markets.

“Next year, we will be building a number of new workshops in countries where we are already present, as well as in new locations. We are driving growth in the DRC, Angola, Mozambique and Nigeria as these countries have huge potential for us to grow even further. Our move into new countries will form a crucial part of our long-term strategy and we have identified Liberia, Mauritania, Nigeria, Madagascar, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Mozambique as locations which have the attributes that Hyspec typically looks for,” Wood details.

He concludes: “Even though the business and political environments in these countries lack some stability, we believe this will improve over time and become favourable for Hyspec; and whoever gets there first will be able to seize the best opportunities.”

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Africa’s Leading

EPcommerce latform ounded in May 2012 as an ecommerce platform designed to bring unrivalled, quality commodity choices to the emerging middle-class African consumer, Jumia has combined blue-sky thinking with considerable market research in order to bring better convenience and reliability to the African retail scene.

Initially launching in Nigeria and Morocco three years ago, Co-CEO, Nicolas Martin says that he was driven by the idea to bring ecommerce to Africa “in a big way”, starting with two of the largest economies in North and West Africa.

“The growth of access to data and consequently, access to the internet, in combination with the prospering Nigerian economy, provided the perfect platform for our ecommerce offering,” he highlights.

“Jumia brings competitive pricings, choice, convenience and a flexible supply chain for reliable delivery of goods. We feel all of these dimensions can be of benefit to the African consumer.”

Part of Africa Internet Group (AIG), which has a presence in more than 30 African countries via 10 other online service companies, Jumia shares the Group’s mission for the rollout of a successful internet business model.

Today, the Company is the largest

Jumia is experiencing exponential growth of its ecommerce platform as it strives to become the most renowned, leading platform for retail trade on the continent Writer: Emily Jarvis • Project Manager: Donovan Smith

Nicolas Martin, Co-CEO, Jumia

online retail store in Nigeria - with 2,000 staff in this country alone - and is well on its way to achieving the same leading status in 11 other countries across Africa.

infrastructure gap that many African nations are facing on the ground.

“Compare the US and Europe’s retail infrastructure with the likes of the Africa’s for example and there are some big differences, as well as some consumer similarities which are just waiting to be explored. The average African consumer is not used to having a wide choice of branded products, which makes Jumia’s offering incomparable with the limited choice in a retail shop,” explains Martin.

Less than five percent of Nigeria’s retail shops are owned by a national or international chain of stores, the rest are independently-owned businesses and this can have an effect on the price charged for commodities, but also on the reliability of supply and the quality of the final product.

Value proposition

Deploying Jumia’s ecommerce platform in Nigeria’s most populous city, Lagos – reported to have a population of 21 million in 2014 – showcased the true potential and demand for this retail service, further leapfrogging the physical retail

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LUMINOUS POWER TECHNOLOGIES LTD

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ounded in 1988, Luminous Power Technologies (P) Limited is a leading global company with a differentiated portfolio of solutions for packaged power, diversified generation, electrical control & safety and energy optimization.

With over 5000 employees, 8 manufacturing units, 28 sales offices and more than 60000 channel partners spread across 39 countries; Luminous apart from its dominating position in the domestic market also has a strong foothold worldwide.

Awarded with the ‘Global Superbrand’ status for the year 2011-12 & again in 2014-15, ISO 50001:2011 certification and MNRE: CRISIL recognition, Luminous is passionately committed to bring uninterruptible and alternate power solutions to the customers that makes their life comfortable and efficient.

Investing in its processes to ensure its ecommerce platform utilises professional and efficient technologies

Another advantage of ecommerce is that of convenience, as many potential customers have to travel a long way to be able to access retail, and even then there may be no available parking due to popularity, and the choice may not be what they were expecting.

Martin notes: “Jumia is now a pricesetter for the market, offering home delivery services nationwide not just in Nigeria, but every country which we currently operate in. Moreover, we are able to offer a convenient service and consistent availability of a quality product range at an affordable price point.”

Currently, Nigeria accounts for roughly half of Jumia’s revenue due to its substantial GDP and a large population of internet-savvy consumers. “And we were right to move into this market,” he adds.

“Jumia Nigeria has witnessed lightening speed growth fuelled by our investments to expand the business, and to this day it remains the market

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Jérémy Doutté, Co-CEO, Jumia

with the biggest potential.

“Ultimately, ecommerce has the ability to leapfrog some of the major retail infrastructure challenges in Africa, and Jumia is one such platform that has an excellent value proposition executed across some of the continent’s most developed countries,” he further highlights.

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Wandel International (Nigeria) Limited, flagship company of the Simba Group operating in Nigeria since 1987, is the nation’s foremost Green Technology solutions provider in the field of alternative energy power back up solutions with Luminous brand of Power Back up products viz. inverters/ UPS and batteries across Nigeria. Over the years, the Simba Group has grown to become a leading and diversified business entity with operations spread across Nigeria’s key verticals including communications, agriculture, software, transportation, power and alternative energy.

Luminous inverters and UPS are empowering businesses across industries viz. Retail stores, IT & telecoms, banks, corporate offices, home offices, data centres, shopping malls, and renewable & alternate energy industry. At the heart of our value proposition, is our commitment to service, and it is our relentless pursuit of extraordinary customer service that sets us apart from our competitors in each of our respective fields.

In Nigeria, Luminous is supported by Simba Service that is an award winning Customer Service Response Team, based in key locations across Nigeria, is highly trained to address and resolve any technical issue with the shortest response time.

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Big investment

As a young startup Company, Jumia is continually investing in its processes and equipment to ensure that its ecommerce platform utilises professional and efficient technologies so as to continue to function as it should. One such investment was to overcome the lack of trust African consumers have in the internet, with many having the preconception that it is littered with scams and fraudulent services.

“To tackle this problem and increase customer trust, we made the Jumia delivery service cash on delivery. Not only could the customer be assured that their product would arrive, but they can check the quality of the product before paying; which unlocked growth for us in a big way,” Martin explains.

In addition to internal technology investments, the Company has employed sales agents who not only

Sales agents educate customers on Jumia products

introduce the public to Jumia, but also educate the customer in what it means to be online. Martin details: “Dubbed the ‘J-Force’, our teams operate as an enabling platform to bring more people online in a market where ecommerce is only just beginning. Thus, it is important to ensure we interact with our customers, as opposed to having an invisible online presence, in order to help our customers discover what ecommerce is all about and how they can benefit from it.”

Last year, Jumia launched in Cameroon, Africa’s 13th largest economy. “In order to make this strategic decision, we had to ask ourselves whether there was the potential to secure rapid growth in line with our business goals.

“We wanted to make sure we partner with the right vendors to provide good quality, branded products that can cater for demand, while also adapting our business model for the business environment. Additionally, the local vendors themselves can also benefit from increased access to a country-wide market, where they can set their own price and other key details.

“And it was our preparation leading up to the launch that made our move into Cameroon one of the fastest launches we have experienced,” says Martin.

Local vendors can benefit from access to a country-wide market by choosing Jumia as a selling platform

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The Jumia Nigeria team is comprised of 2,000 staff

Capitalising on opportunity

Jumia strives to become the biggest retailer and the most renowned platform for trade in not just Nigeria, but in Africa. It has already earned its status as the biggest ecommerce platform in many of its countries of operation.

The Company’s next challenge is to keep on-track with its rapid expansion plans in some of Africa’s most developed markets, something which Martin says Jumia has “only scratched the surface” of.

He concludes: “With the support of my Co-CEO, Jérémy Doutté the potential customer reach and product range for Jumia is huge. Two brains are better than one in a fast moving and complex business environment. To put things in perspective, we are growing much faster than Alibaba or Amazon’s in their best uptake year. And despite challenge, we can see that we are facing a massive opportunity and we want to stay at the forefront, doing what we know how to.”

Jumia locations Morocco Egypt Senegal Ghana Ivory Coast Kenya Nigeria Cameroon South Africa Myanmar Bangladesh Pakistan

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Firmly Rooted

IN AFRICAN SOIL Securing further capital investment, products and expertise from a strategic partnership with US-based Company, Land O’Lakes will enable Villa Crop Protection’s vision to grow Writer: Emily Jarvis • Project Manager: Callum Philp

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or the past 21 years, Villa Crop Protection (Villa CP) has significantly contributed to South Africa’s agricultural industry via its unique and innovative approach to crop protection. Through massive investment in the development of its product portfolio, targeting products mainly towards “permanent crops”, or “export crops” – such as citrus fruits, table grapes, apples, pears - the Company is helping to protect the seeds of continued growth of the country’s strong agriculture exports.

Agriculture remains a critically important industry in South Africa, and indeed many other African nations, not only as a provider of job opportunities but also from a food security perspective. Nearly 80 percent of arable land in South Africa is used for agricultural production, which amounts to more than 97.6 million hectares.

back into the business for the purpose of market share gain. “Based on the size of the local crop protection market at wholesale level, it is estimated that we currently hold a market share of just over 20 percent,” details Andre Schreuder, Managing Director (MD) of Villa CP. Further bolstering its aspirational growth plans, October 2015 saw Villa CP sign an exclusive partnership agreement with Land O’Lakes Inc; marking the USbased Company’s first move into Africa and giving rise to a fantastic platform to further grow the Villa CP business both in South Africa and beyond via its “Rest of Africa” strategy.

Villa CP can now provide virtually the full product portfolio across the entire South African agriculture market, with key retailers across the sector to facilitate further market growth, and a strong team backing of more than 200 employees; a number which is touted to grow in line with the new partnership.

With the sector contributing around 2.5 percent (US$8.7 billion) to South Africa’s GDP, Villa CP is keen to capitalise on this market segment, investing heavily in product development in order to provide a total solutions approach to crop protection, as opposed to providing standalone products to the market.

After growing its turnover by 23 percent in the 2013-2014 financial year, Villa CP is now more confident than ever in its ability to invest its profits

The Land O’Lakes joint venture model provides Villa CP with a fantastic platform for further growth in South Africa, but most importantly, to begin making progress on its continent-wide growth plan to deploy its products and services across Africa.

Schreuder comments: “The deal is to radically change our business for the better, and will see two likeminded organisations combine together two complementary portfolios of

Andre Schreuder Managing Director Villa CP is a majority South African-owned entity providing a comprehensive range of high quality, cost-effective crop protection solutions, thereby adding value and creating wealth for all stakeholders while satisfying Southern African farmers’ need for sustainable crop production

Land O’Lakes

Fountain Chemicals factory

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Herbicide Product Manager, Thinus Uys training at the Villa Academy

productivity-enhancing crop input products and services to help farms of all sizes to sustainably improve their yields in Africa.”

Operating for more than 93 years, Land O’Lakes is one of the most respected brands in agribusiness and food production. Its crop input and insights business, WinField Solutions is a leading distributor of seed and crop protection products and has built a leading reputation in adjuvants, plant nutrition and technological insights.

Schreuder details: “A key challenge for us has always been constraints on capital to keep our growth momentum going, while retaining a price competitive product offering.

With the backing of Land O’Lakes and its WinField product range, we have the support of a US$17 billion entity to pursue worthwhile growth opportunities.

“But the relationship brings much more than access to new capital.

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The deal is to radically change our business for the better, and will see two likeminded organisations combine together two complementary portfolios...

The most exciting component of our new venture is the ability to tap into new expertise across a wide range of aspects, ranging from collective product procurement, skills transfers, sharing product formulation expertise, access to decision supporting information technology and other aspects such as quality control expertise.”

While the two companies continue to integrate and merge their expertise in the coming months, the short-term focus will be to oversee the local registration of the impressive range of Winfield products including adjuvants, as well as the Winfield range of plant nutrition products. The introduction of seeds into the local market will also be explored.

Selling a solution

Selling a solution, rather than a standalone product, has gone a long way in ensuring the Company stays ahead of the competition,

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Cost effective, comprehensive crop protection, now delivering new capabilities with international backing to the South African market

• Market leader in South African crop protection products • More than 350 product registrations • Nearly 900 on-farm research and development trials • ISO-accredited Villa Crop Protection has partnered with Land O’Lakes, Inc., a Fortune 250 global agribusiness and food company headquartered in the United States. Through Land O’Lakes’ leading crop inputs business, Winfield Solutions, Villa Crop Protection now has access to new capabilities, additional expertise and support from Winfield.

Continuously innovating its product range to explore more of the market

Herbicides Fungicides Insecticides Adjuvants Plant Growth Regulators Foliar Feeds

www.villacrop.co.za info@villacrop.co.za Tel: +27 11 396 2233 Fax: 086 677 3175

subsequently remaining sustainable and realising international growth aspirations; something that can only be accomplished by enhancing capacities to cater for demand.

“These solutions will typically take the form a season-long spray programme consisting of an integrated crop protection programme, such as integrating insecticides and fungicides sprays, ensuring the correct usage of adjuvants with relevant products, creating an integrated plant nutrition programme and providing the appropriate decision-making data,” Schreuder says.

In order to provide the “ultimate solutions package” to clients, employees are able to utilise the Villa Academy, an in-house training facility with more than 30 short courses available at present, with a Diploma and Certificate in Crop Protection to be introduced as soon as it receives accreditation.

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“We view the Academy as a critical component to our success,” the MD adds.

From a facilities perspective, the Company is to expand its warehousing capacities via the addition of more than 9,000 square metres of space. Capital investments are planned for Villa CP’s formulation facility, Fountain Chemicals and this has also allowed the Company to expand not only its research and development capabilities - with more than 900 fully-replicated trials planned each year – but to install additional formulating plants, automated filling

Apples are just one of the crops protected

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With the backing of Land O’Lakes and the Winfield brand, we are now in a position to share our knowledge and expertise through a skills transfer model and employee exchange programme

lines and laboratory upgrades over the course of the next three years.

Schreuder continues: “Modern agriculture is technology-driven and requires high levels of expertise, and we see Villa CP playing a role in both these areas.

“With the backing of Land O’Lakes and the Winfield brand, we are now in a position to share our knowledge and expertise through a skills transfer model and employee exchange programme.”

As the portfolio of Winfield products increases, and Villa CP places a more concerted focus

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on expanding beyond the borders of South Africa, the Company also plans to increase the size of its team across all areas; placing more emphasis on HR in particular so as to ensure “optimal efficiency and professionalism at all times”.

“We also have a bursary scheme for agricultural students in order to provide a source of young talent in the industry, encouraging them to join Villa CP after completion of their studies,” Schreuder affirms.

Rest of Africa

Villa CP continues to strengthen its brand promise by making sure it does not lose sight of the customer at any stage of its investment. Living by its mission statement to provide high quality, cost-effective crop protection solutions that add value and creates wealth for its stakeholders - while also satisfying growers’ needs for sustainable crop production - Villa CP is targeting international expansion

through a programme to register a wide range of crop protection products in neighbouring countries such as Namibia, Botswana and Mozambique.

“Given that we now have the backing of Land O’Lakes, our ‘Rest of Africa’ strategy is currently under review and will be developed on a country-bycountry basis in due course, and we

hope to find new, likeminded partners who are keen to share in our vision.

“Aligning ourselves with the synergies of Land O’Lakes and the WinField brand will form an important part of the next few months, and we need to make sure that our customers understand how our new structure and revised strategy can further enhance these critically important relationships,” Schreuder explains.

He concludes: “These are exciting times for Villa CP. By the end of 2016, we will have a significantly bigger presence on the continent, a bigger team, larger facilities and a wider range of products that cover associated industries such as fly control solutions, rodenticides, a home and garden portfolio and an industrial weed control portfolio. Ultimately, our goal is to grow our market share and continue to develop in line with industry trends in order to sell a complete value-adding solution to our customers.”

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Devotion Continued

T O E A S T A F R I C A N H E A LT H C A R E

After declaring itself debt-free at the end of the last financial year, Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital is now keen to attract international partnerships to develop the skills of its clinical staff as well as its educational capacity in paediatric specialist training, in order to grow the reach of its facilities Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Eddie Clinton

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s the largest private hospital in East and Central Africa dedicated exclusively to the care of children, Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital is continuing on its quest to provide award-winning, world-class healthcare to Kenya’s children by increasing its geographical coverage in order to have a greater physical presence outside Nairobi; which started with the opening of its first outpatient clinic in Mombasa last year.

Rapid urbanisation and decentralisation are dictating the Hospital’s expansion plans in line with the changing needs of Kenya’s growing economy. Having successfully

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maintained its position as one of the biggest contributors to child wellbeing in the country for more than 65 years, Gertrude’s was declared debt-free at the end of the last financial year which has allowed the organisation to free-up more cash to buy new equipment and continue modernising its facilities to provide even better patient care.

“We have been able to pay off all of our financial commitments, so we can now allocate more spending to the expansion of our clinics, improve the medical training available and provide essential medical equipment in the hospital,” comments Gordon Otieno Odundo, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gertrude’s.

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Tending to more than 300,000 patients each year, Odundo is acutely aware of the number of people in more rural areas of Kenya who are unable to get to the Hospital in their time of need.

He explains: “In a country where the population stands at 44 million, we can only reach so many with one facility.

Therefore, we are now developing the number of outpatient clinics we have, with a long-term plan to have several in key geographic locations across the country and ultimately, aim to reach more people.”

The most recent completion of an outpatient clinic was in December 2014 in Nairobi and was designed to decrease the number of unnecessary

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Gertrude’s has seen increased use of the clinics, which shows they are working and as such, it intends to open another clinic in early 2016.

“Our clinics are popular because they offer a more convenient location for basic health provisions such as immunisation services; meaning that the patient does not have to travel to the Hospital to receive access to this service; they can receive it from a more suitable location and in a more timely manner,” Odundo adds.

As a result of the increased healthcare capacity generated by the clinics, the Hospital itself has seen no major rise in bed occupancy numbers in the past year, holding steady at around 71 percent.

Gordon Otieno Odundo, Chief Executive Officer

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World-class standards

Further bolstering both its commitment to Kenya and dedication to continuous improvement, Gertrude’s has focused on gaining recognition on an international stage for its good work in the country. One such aspiration was obtaining Joint Commission International (JCI) status - considered the “gold standard in global healthcare” – and the other becoming members of the Children’s Hospital Association, a US-based organisation with members drawn from children’s hospitals around the world.

The CEO highlights: “2015 was a year filled with proud moments for the Hospital in this regard. The Children’s Hospital Association membership helped set the benchmark from which we can compare quality indicators with others around the world, and share best practices in patient safety procedures.”

Funding

With the Kenyan economy currently fluctuating due to many external factors concerning the global economy, Odundo says there is still great potential for improving access to healthcare. “Other factors such as population growth, the emerging

We would like to open our doors to the prospect of international partnerships and although we have none in place currently, we are striving to change this in the near future...

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Lab attendants testing the newly-acquired laboratory equipment at Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital in Muthaiga

middle-class and urbanisation are dictating how we grow and we are taking advantage of all of this to reach as many people as possible.

“And in these uncertain times, the Hospital has done well to secure funding for itself. Now, we are trying to secure what I call ‘unrestricted funding’ in order to improve our community outreach, which is such an important part of ensuring that the population has access to healthcare.

With this kind of funding, we will be able to do more to improve our community outreach,” he details.

In addition to this, each year, approximately 10,000 Kenyan children benefit from the funding that Gertrude’s receives from its fundraising activities as an established Trust. “To put this into context, funding from the Gertrude’s Hospital Foundation helped support the construction of the Chandaria Wing in November 2013, and funded the availability of cardiac surgery at the Hospital,” Odundo further adds.

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The new outpatient clinic in Doonholm, Nairobi will be a complete reconstruction of the old site in order to handle a larger patient capacity

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WE ARE YOUR ALL-PURPOSE

HYGIENIST

Doctors attend to clients during the Beacon of Hope Medical Camp in 2015. More than 2,000 clients were checked and treated at the camp

Having established its healthcare reputation on an international scale, Gertrude’s is now keen to attract likeminded international partners that can help achieve its mission of high standard paediatric care backed by a quality research team and healthcare professionals. “We would like to open our doors to the prospect of international partnerships and although we have none in place currently, we are striving to change this in the near future by seeking out those who have the long-term horizon in mind via a two-way beneficial partnership with a focus on the betterment of children’s health,” Odundo emphasises.

He concludes: “Kenya’s healthcare environment is rapidly improving, with more privately-owned hospitals now operational. Despite the shortage of certain specialist skills, day by day we are seeing more repatriates return to work here and we have capitalised on this by hiring more staff who can help us to advance the country’s healthcare, further demonstrating the Hospital’s continuous devotion to better healthcare for children.”

We offer total hygiene solutions and dedicated to hygiene with proprietary cleaning chemicals, disinfectants and sanitisers. GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) procedures are followed.

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Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital team cheer one of their own as she takes part in the 2015 Jigger Staircase Relay at KICC Nairobi, an annual event organised by Ahadi Kenya

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SETTING THE PACE IN

Ghanaian

OIL MARKETING

Dukes Petroleum Company has overcome numerous national challenges to become one of Ghana’s leading indigenous market players, thanks to a sustainable and localised approach to continuous improvement Writer: Matthew Staff • Project Manager: Eddie Clinton or more than a decade, Dukes Petroleum Company has been making its mark in the Ghanaian oil & gas sector as one of the leading lifting, marketing, distributing and retailing operators in the space.

Catering for products delivered to filling stations across a wide range of sectors - including mining, construction and retail - the Company’s growth strategy since 2004 has been consistent despite the initial dominance of international players in the market.

Dukes Petroleum has subsequently not only grown alongside the internal industry growth that has been witnessed in Ghana in recent years, but has largely contributed towards it, as the Company’s General Manager, Bernard Havor explains: “When Dukes Petroleum Company was licensed in 2004, the industry players were about 24 in number and the dominance of the multinational companies was greatly felt. The remaining 19 players

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Dukes Petroleum enjoys positive customer relationships

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were the indigenous companies including Dukes Petroleum with its unique strategic entry into the industry.

“Today, the number of all oil marketing companies is well over 100, the majority of which are Ghanaianowned.”

This shift in dynamic has contributed greatly to the success that the private Dukes Petroleum Company now enjoys; subsequently boasting 44 petrol stations as part of its repertoire as a consequence of its differentiating ownership business model.

Havor continues: “The implementation of the petroleum price deregulation in Ghana recently has been challenging, but with our competitive advantage, we have been able to stay ahead of the competition.

“About 80 percent of our outlets are Company-owned and Companyoperated (COCO), and while the rest are third party-owned, we are emerging with a strong brand in addition to competitive prices.”

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Profitable and indigenous

Having a core strategy in place, and committing to its effectiveness, has played a vital role in overcoming some of the previous challenges experienced in Ghana, and has been carried out via a sustainable approach to identifying semi-urban locations and through the expansion of its retail networks.

Today, the number of all oil marketing companies is well over 100, the majority of which are Ghanaianowned

“Our strategy is to compete with all industry players in an environmentally friendly manner and to become one of the most profitable indigenous oil marketing companies,” Havor emphasises. “Dukes Petroleum Company’s belief in COCO explains why the Company has a strong asset base and stands tall among other players in the industry.”

This strategy is compounded by a strong focus on local optimisation, across both its workforce and its supply chain, building longstanding partnerships and relationships within the country along the way.

Internal promotion of local artisans is always the preferred choice, while training is carried out on an ongoing

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basis to ensure that each employee is moving with the times as efficiently as the wider Company is.

Havor adds: “The Company is built on the strength of its dedicated and competent staff, structures, policies and procedures; and these, we believe, make us unique.”

Across the logistical aspects of the Company’s operations, the same longevity is strived for having worked with some business partners from inception in 2004 and ensuring that the entirety of the supply chain is based in Ghana to further aid quickness and efficiency of delivery.

Industry pacesetter

Despite its success, the Company still refuses to rest on its laurels and rely solely on its now established positioning within Ghana, instead opting to continually upgrade and invest in its existing processes to keep ahead of the industry curve.

“In the next

3-5 years

we hope to build

15 more filling stations”

The Company is built on the strength of its dedicated and competent staff, structures, policies and procedures; and these, we believe, make us unique The current portfolio of 44 outlets is set to increase to 50 by 2016 as part of its dedication to opening at least three filling stations every year, while Dukes Petroleum has also recently acquired 10 brand new bulk road vehicles (BRVs) as part of its plan to augment the existing fleet for the lifting and distribution of petroleum products.

This will take the BRV fleet up to 20 and will complement a similarly significant acquisition this year of several strategic lands for both current and future filling station projects.

“Three filling stations have been opened this year and two others are

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on the verge of completion and we hope to commission them in the first quarter of 2016,” Havor says. “We have also procured more efficient and state-of-the-art fuel dispensers that will enhance customer service.

“In the next three- five years we hope to build 15 more filling stations with all filling stations fully networked for easy monitoring.

“We also hope to be one of the best oil marketing companies in terms of customer service, profitability and, above all, adopt environmentally friendly policies thereby becoming a pacesetter in the industry.”

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Castrol South Africa’s manufacturing and distribution of lubricants to a hose of industrial sectors remains unrivalled, as its numerous globally-significant partnerships continue to elevate the brand to new levels Writer: Matthew Staff Project Manager: Ben Weaver

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astrol South Africa (SA) continues to leverage a brand name which stands head and shoulders above the majority of the global market competition, as its adherence to operational excellence and partnerships with some of the most renowned organisations drives the Company forward.

As a world-leading manufacturer, distributor and marketer of premium lubricating oils, greases and related services to the automotive,

industrial, marine, aviation, exploration and production sectors, Castrol’s influence and recognition stretches far beyond the bounds of its UK headquarters with a presence in more than 40 countries as of 2015.

Employing more than 7,000 people in the process, and also supported by a series of third party distributors ensuring that its products breach every corner of the globe, Castrol is one of a select few Groups who can truly claim to enjoy worldwide success.

This is not to say that it adopts a one-size-fits-all approach, however, with the Company quickly realising that a commitment to local regulations and trends would be pivotal to its longevity.

While these trends often catch up on an international scale in time, the ability to strike while the iron is hot, especially in the emerging market of Africa, is key, and Castrol is currently honing two vital areas in its South African operations to that end.

Health and safety is clearly a key performance indicator in most manufacturing operations but in South Africa, there is still room for improvement, and Castrol continues to lead the way in introducing innovative approaches for the safety of its employees.

On a more all-encompassing, external level, the same dedication is being targeted towards its eco efficiencies, as the Company explains: “Castrol understands that a lubricant is, in essence, a form of oil and the Company recognises the impact this can have on the environment. As a result, high standards are in place across the board which educate staff on protecting the environment and striving for greener operations.

“Many manufacturers are demanding more sophisticated lubricants and oils, which plays more and more to our advantage. We are getting a really good performance out of our products; there are growth opportunities out there that we are looking closely at.”

Many manufacturers are demanding more sophisticated lubricants and oils, which plays more and more to our advantage

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Worldwide assurance

Enhancing its portfolio of products and services in line with the latest consumer and industry trends is an attribute which Castrol has mastered over the years, and one which is facilitated by the sheer size of the wider international Group and its role as part of BP. Offering lubricants for all domestic, commercial and industrial applications, all of Castrol’s products come with a global chemical registration status, ensuring that they meet compliance in all individual locations distributed to.

The size of this portfolio means that there is an unparalleled flexibility in the final customised solution that can be offered to customers, sharing knowledge across its sector arms to also suit the conditions of each environment sold into.

“Our global business operations provide worldwide

assurance, improved productivity, improved environmental products and trusted advice focused on optimising our customers’ production processes,” Castrol SA affirms.

Adding to the value proposition even further is the competitive pricing, deriving from the fact that the Company is a firmly established partner of choice for a host of elite manufacturers.

The Company continues: “We’re slightly more expensive than most products on the market, but what most people don’t know is that we invest that money right back into our research and development (R&D).

“Going forward, we continue to make breakthroughs in R&D, just as we have continued to do so consistently for the past 100 years.

Consequently, our products have often been used at the forefront of historical achievements such as land speed records.”

Our global business operations provide worldwide assurance, improved productivity, improved environmental products and trusted advice focused on optimising our customers’ production processes

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SUCCESS STARTS WITH

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Achieving excellence is your number one priority. Helping you get there is ours. What makes us a leading fuel marketer is the commitment we bring to transformation in the fuel industry through our strong B-BBEE credentials.

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MASANA To find out about Masana, visit www.masana.biz

Fuelling Excellence

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Much more for much less

This R&D and subsequent involvement with some of the most exciting brands and events in manufacturing history is arguably what stands Castrol out from the crowd most, driven by 13 R&D centres around the world where hundreds of new, pioneering products are tested each year.

Working closely with the likes of Audi, Ford, Honda, JLR, Volvo, Seat, Tata and Volkswagen in the automotive domain alone, Castrol openly attributes its success to the partnerships built with such heavyweight OEMs over the years.

There are more cars on the road in Africa that are born with Castrol oil in the engine than any other oil

Working with heavyweight OEMs over the years has set Castrol apart from the competition

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“What sets us apart is that we work very closely with our partner companies,” Castrol says. “We’ve got a long history with firms such as BMW and Volkswagen and we’ve worked with them developing technology to suit their purposes. In terms of our depth of partnerships we are second to none.

“There are more cars on the road in Africa that are born with Castrol oil in the engine than any other oil.

So we have a great relationship with manufacturers.”

These technologies are applied to vehicles from basic cars to Lamborghini supercars and have consequently become a yardstick of how the country, in general, is progressing from a manufacturing standpoint.

This is also true in regards to Castrol SA’s employment strategy, with the Company’s influence in South Africa having had a massively positive effect on the development of young artisans in the industry.

“We have a solid graduate recruitment programme as well as a direct entry system where we recruit the right person for the right job from other industries. We also have a strong B-BBEEE push to find the best black talent out there, and we consider ourselves as being at the forefront of empowering Africans,”

Castrol SA has a long history with firms such as BMW

Castrol emphasises. “Additionally, our development programme is excellent and the breadth of BP means we can offer great sales, marketing and finance expertise that can give employees great exposure to all kinds of skills and disciplines.

“With the market demanding much more for much less, engines getting smaller and smaller, and the desire to conserve fuel whilst still gaining power from the engine, the demand for an oil that can keep up with these changes is huge. Therefore, it is vital that Castrol staff are trained in the latest R&D technologies and products coming off the manufacturing line.”

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Best-in-Class Manufacturer After increasing its capacity by more than 50 percent two years ago, Icecold Bodies is ensuring that it listens to the voice of its customers so as to increase its market share Writer: Emily Jarvis • Project Manager: Tom Cullum

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efrigerated vehicle body and trailer manufacturer, Icecold Bodies has reacted to South Africa’s recent economic slowdown by overhauling its market strategy to better serve South Africa’s transport industry, becoming one of the major trend-setters within a highly competitive industry.

After recognising the need to compliment its manufacturing capabilities with value-add services, such as repair facilities and extended product warranties, Icecold Bodies increased its facility capacity by more than 50 percent in 2013; forming an integral part of a five-year expansion plan to future-proof the Company.

“The decision to transform the Company into a more respectable, reliable organisation that builds on personal relationships became evident when we listened to the voice of the customer. Customer interaction is essential for our brand and product development as this allows us to set new trends based on customer needs and demands,” said Icecold Bodies in a press release.

Two years later and this plan has been successful in creating new business partnerships, while reinforcing longstanding ones. The Company has come a long way in the industry since establishing in 1993, becoming a well-respected, proudly South African body and trailer manufacturer, with a renewed flexible and responsive business model and comprehensive product rang; comprising trailers, insulated bodies and rigid truck bodies that are all adaptable to customer needs.

Serving a growing demographic of customers in South Africa and Namibia, Icecold Bodies strives to be a one-stop shop provider of innovative products and value-add services including trailer and truck production, repair and finishing.

“Setting new trends in production

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UNIVERSAL PLYWOODS

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niversal Plywoods are a South African based plywood company specialising in bulk imports and exports of all plywood and engineered timber products into Sub-Saharan Africa.

Supplying a wide variety industries as well as retailers and merchant wholesalers, we have the widest range of Plywoods and engineered timber products sourced globally for every application!

With decades of experience in the timber industry, we procure our stocks from sustainable timber organisations both locally and internationally.

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GRP composite body, semi-trailer with outrigger and intermediate sub-frame construction

Product

Warranties 3 YEAR

warranty on Insulated GRP bodies

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warranty on steel trucks and trailers

6 MONTH

aftersales repair cover

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and supply chain will allow us to become leaders in the field. However respect between likeminded manufacturers will benefit everyone; the pie is big enough and all can share in this multi-billion rand industry,” affirms Ettiene Tukker, GM of Icecold Bodies.

www.universalply.com

manufacturing efficiencies.”

He added: “Thus, it became essential for us to ensure that our customers can remain competitive. Therefore, we are constantly adapting our designs and operations to suit new demands from the industry in order to ensure our customers run at optimum performance levels.”

Optimum performance levels Driven by its continuous As the number of middle-class South improvement strategy to bolster its African’s continues to prosper, so manufacturing capabilities in line with does the demand for commodities and industry trends, the Company owns the need for convenient and efficient and operates two substantial facilities delivery systems for these goods, - a 13,000 square metre business and which is something that Icecold is keen repair centre in Linbro Park, and a to capitalise on.

60,000m2 facility in Heidelberg – both Tukker highlighted: “The transport of which have plenty of room to industry will continue to grow expand at a moment’s notice. as living standards and demands “Manufacturers and operators are increase. However, with the current desperate for a modern, concise, clear government involvement and and firm set of guidelines...so they initiatives such as implementing can accurately plan their equipment refrigeration standards - and with full designs and purchases. industry support - this will become an “Our system approach allows us ever-changing process to deliver better to implement ‘kaizen,’, lean and MRP

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For further details, contact our Johannesburg Head Office on: +27 11 310 9717 E-mail: sales@universalply.com www.universalply.com Aleksandar Todorovic/Shutterstock.com

Fabio Bernardi/Shutterstock.com

“Universal Plywoods – South Africa’s ONLY plywood specialist group, specialising in all types of plywood panels – sourced worldwide.”

initiatives throughout our operations, allowing for just-in- time, cost-effective and quality production and continuous in-line development through line balancing and product optimisation,” Tukker commented.

Attention to detail

Thanks to the increasing power of computerised technology, easier, faster and more efficient methologies to design and build trailers are arising.

Along with many other South African operators, Icecold Bodies is integrating its local specialist employee skills with new technologies at various stages in the manufacturing process, in order to create a final product that has been thoroughly and strictly controlled according to SAVS specifications prior to it being delivered to the client as a ready to use product.

SPECIALISTS AND STOCKISTS • LVL – Laminated Veneer Lumber • Wood Engineered I-Beams • Long-spanning LVL structural beams • LVL – up to 12 metres in length & 100mm in thickness • Glulam beams & sections • Plywood specialists, agents & distributors • Finnish birch plywood • Nordic spruce plywood – large panels • Anti-slip birch plywood – mezzanine floors • Film-faced off-shutter plywood concrete finish panels • Marine plywood exterior • Pine plywood – all grades • Transport plywood specialists • Packaging plywoods

“The manufacturing process for all our products starts in the drawing office where the product is duly planned on paper by our team. The final drawing complete with the job card is then submitted to the factory so that the raw material can be ordered and subsequently start the manufacturing process,” the Company details.

Similarly, the use of the latest materials and components to construct

the trailer also requires continuous market research to find out what materials are popular in vehicle refrigeration around the world, with attributes such as weight and durability considered.

Tukker concluded: “We are entering an exciting period where a handful of trailer manufacturers are likely to set new boundaries in design and innovation, in response to the recent tide of European imports.

“All that is needed then is strong guidance and support from South Africa’s transport and road authorities so that we can align with both the regulations required, and ensure we continue to grow our market share by listening to the ‘voice of the customer’ and incorporate a value-add after-sales service into our business offering.”

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Planning and Scheduling Forensic Delay Analysis

EVRA Consulting provides efficient and effective planning solutions throughout the lifecycle of a project from tender through to project completion. We offer our clients a tailor made solution that will best support their projects requirements.

What differentiates us is our consultants all of whom all have in-depth practical construction expertise combined with world-class planning and scheduling skills. This enables us to deploy the consultant or team best suited to our client’s needs.

A professional baseline schedule is a contractual obligation under most forms of contract, our team of Senior Planning Consultants will ensure the programmes meets contractual requirements, assist in the managing and monitoring the project. A professional project plan does not only contribute to the success of a project, it also plays a key role in dispute avoidance and resolution. The need to identify the cause and demonstrate the effect of delays is now a key requirement in dispute proceedings. EVRA’s team of Forensic Delay Analysts can assist in preparing and defending claims.

With an enviable reputation of completing projects on time and within budget we can offer our clients the assurance that our services will be both affordable and completed when required.

EVRA Consulting’s vision is to be the preferred planning and scheduling service provider in Africa. As a company we are an equal opportunities employer that provides a professional environment that is challenging, rewarding and respectful of ideas and individuals.

Get in touch!

Address Block A, Rivonia Close 322 Rivonia Boulevard Rivonia, 2128, Johannesburg South Africa

Tel: +27 11 234 8410 Email: sales@evraconsulting.com

We are able offer our clients the following services; Ø Tender Planning and Scheduling Ø Commissioning programmes Ø On site planning, progress recording and progress report writing Ø Programme repair Ø Earned Value Management Systems Ø 4D/5D BIM Scheduling Ø Maintenance and shutdown planning Ø Identification and compiling of claims Ø Acceleration and Recovery programmes Ø Forensic delay analysis Ø Claims avoidance, preparation and dispute resolution

Our consultants are experience in standard form contracts including; Ø NEC3 Ø FIDIC Ø JBCC Ø GCC Our planning consultants have vast experience and technical proficiency in all project management scheduling software including; Ø Primavera P6 Ø Microsoft Project Ø Asta Powerproject Ø CCS Ø Tilos

Ø Expert report and witness service in support of adjudication or arbitration proceedings

www.evraconsulting.com

EVRA CONSULTING

N O R T H

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D O W N S T R E A M

S U M M I T S

F O C U S

North Africa Oil & Gas Summit and North Africa Downstream Summit F O R T H E P A S T 10 years, the North Africa Oil & Gas Summit and North Africa Downstream Summit have been the meeting place for North African NOCs (National Oil Companies) and their partners. The continued support of the region’s governments and NOCs every year, and the growth we have seen at the event since its inauguration in 2006, demonstrates how vital these Summits have been to the industry, and how valued they are to the stakeholders of the North African oil & gas industry.

With 632 participants, 35 sponsors and 33 speakers in 2014, the 2015 Summit, once again held in Algeria, is to set new levels of attendance and engagement from all those active, or looking to be active, within North Africa.

With North African NOCs and governments looking to draw more foreign investment and increase exploration and production in the region, this is the time for IOCs and independents to build fruitful partnerships and negotiate favourable conditions.

The North Africa Oil & Gas Summit brings together North African NOCs and their partners, exploring upstream opportunities for investment across the region, and highlighting the latest technologies and financial strategies to support their projects.

Who should attend?

• Transport & logistics companies • Software companies • Catalyst • Refiners & petrochemical producers • Investors • E&P companies • EPCs • Oil field services • Exploration technology and seismic companies • Safety equipment and security technology companies • Consultancy companies • Law firms 7-9 December, 2015 | Algiers, Algeria • Financial services • Chemical companies Download 7-9 December, 2015 | Algiers, Algeria the agenda now!

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WEST

AFRICA

PROPERTY

INVESTMENT

E V E N T

SUMMIT

(WAPI)

F O C U S

The West Africa Property Investment (WAPI) Summit Hot topics at the event include: > A closer look at West Africa’s economic and political landscape > Overcoming currency challenges > An inside look into the developer’s mindset > Nigeria’s retail development sector > West Africa’s hotel growth momentum FROM THE CREATORS of the Africa Property Investment Summit and East Africa Property Investment Summit comes the latest instalment of this highly regarded event. The West Africa Property Investment Summit (WAPI Summit) this November will provide a platform for top tier investors and property professionals across the region to gain insight and better understand the region’s real estate markets.

As the region witnesses increased investment with an eye on the real estate sector, the WAPI Summit provides a platform to learn about the latest regional trends, research and ideas shaping the property landscape.

At the WAPI Summit, delegates are set to learn first-hand about the region’s investment processes, proven case studies and gain legal and financial insights into the thriving West African commercial real estate industry. Delegates will have the

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> Addressing key issues in West Africa’s housing sector > In-depth outlook of current infrastructure developments in West Africa > Financing your project in West Africa > The influence of global megatrends opportunity to network, nurture and develop key partnerships to gain a competitive edge in the industry.

West Africa’s property landscape encompasses its own mixed bag of opportunities and challenges, including renewed currency and economic growth challenges, however developers need to look ahead and determine possible shifts that will most likely shape the real estate landscape in the foreseeable future and have profound implications for real estate development and investment. The WAPI Summit is the perfect place to network and grow your business with the help of industry thoughtleaders and the trend-setters who are shaping West Africa and beyond.

WWW.AFRICAOUTLOOKMAG.COM

E V E N T

D E TA I L S

WHEN: 18-19 November, 2015 WHERE: Kempinski Hotel, Gold Coast City, Accra, Ghana REGISTER: www.wapisummit.com

1ST

FORUM

ON

MADAGASCAR

E V E N T

MINING

&

PETROLEUM

F O C U S

1st Forum on Madagascar Mining & Petroleum

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E V E N T

D E TA I L S

THEME: Xxxxxxx WHEN: Xxxxxxx WHERE: Xxxxxxx EMAIL: Xxxxxxx REGISTER: Xxxxxxx

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