Africa Outlook - Issue 34-35

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Better Food Today

... for a Better World Tomorrow

Mars Food shares its sustainable ambitions for South Africa at Retail Congress Africa 2015

AIRTEL GHANA 32 Raising standards across Ghanaian telecommunications

AVAYA 42 Complex business communications’ specialists

ZPC GROUP 98 Perfecting its turkey offering to become the preferred contractor of choice

EGOLI GAS 150 Dynamic and world-class natural gas provision

AFRICA OUTLOOK ISSUE 34/35 FEATURING: ERICSSON | VICTORIA COMMERCIAL BANK | KALYAN HOSPITALITY DEVELOPMENT LTD

grows and exports THE PJ DAVE GROUP

cut Roses

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W E L C O M E Life on Mars Africa Outlook has stepped into 2016 on a whole other planet, with a bumper edition embracing the combined excitement of Christmas and New Year through a plethora of annual reviews, continental trends, event focuses and, of course, an aptly bumper-sized ... for a company profile showcase.

Better World Bridging nine sectors all-told, we Tomorrow kick-off by completing our recent Mars Food shares its sustainable ambitions for South Africa at Retail Congress Africa 2015 2015 partnership alongside Retail Congress Africa with a mission to Mars.

The globally-renowned food & drink manufacturer’s Supply Chain Director in South Africa, David Hallett discusses the Company’s global incentive regarding sustainability and how it is being aligned to the Congress’ industry-wide goals on the continent.

Staying on the theme of household-name food & drink protagonists, we revisit the Coca-Cola Sabco Mozambique factory to explore the past year’s continuous improvement strategies and capital investments; also leading in nicely to our manufacturing assortment and the likes of PCS Group, BBF Safety Group and Ghana Rubber Estates.

Ghana was one of the pioneering countries across continental industry development in 2015 and hosts arguably our biggest scoop this month, in the form of an exclusive interview with Lucy Quist; the Managing Director of Airtel Ghana, and a much-acclaimed shining light among African entrepreneurship.

Avaya and Gilat Satcom help to compound the remaining tech saturation, and are subsequently joined by the rest of the neighbouring sector fraternities.

Kalyan Hospitality Development, Turner & Townsend and Amdec Property Development represent the best in construction and pave the way for Egoli Gas, Hillcrest Private Hospital and Victoria Commercial Bank to fly the flags for their respective oil & gas, healthcare and finance domains.

Finally, we begin 2016 by finalising 2015 and a review of some of the past year’s major success stories, while also bridging the gap to our rapidly growing Europe & Middle East sister publication via an analysis of the East Africa-Middle East connection; which looks set to play a big role across both regions’ development this year.

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Better Food Today

AIRTEL GHANA 32 Raising standards across Ghanaian telecommunications

AVAYA 42 Complex business communications’ specialists

ZPC GROUP 98 Perfecting its turkey offering to become the preferred contractor of choice

EGOLI GAS 150 Dynamic and world-class natural gas provision

AFRICA OUTLOOK ISSUE 34/35 FEATURING: ERICSSON | VICTORIA COMMERCIAL BANK | KALYAN HOSPITALITY DEVELOPMENT LTD

Matthew Staff Editorial Director, Outlook Publishing

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BUSINESS Sales Director: Nick Norris nick.norris@outlookpublishing.com Operations Director: James Mitchell james.mitchell@outlookpublishing.com Sales Managers: Eddie Clinton eddie.clinton@outlookpublishing.com Tom Cullum tom.cullum@outlookpublishing.com Heads of Projects: Arron Rampling arron.rampling@outlookpublishing.com Donovan Smith donovan.smith@outlookpublishing.com Project Managers: Callum Philp callum.philp@outlookpublishing.com Sammy Wilkinson sammy.wilkinson@outlookpublishing.com Stuart Parker stuart.parker@outlookpublishing.com

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Happy New Year and enjoy the issue!

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In this issue of Africa Outlook...

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

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AVAYA Leading the way in Africa’s Digital Transformation

Raising standards across Ghanaian telecommunications

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F O O D & D R I N K

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T E C H N O L O G Y AIRTEL GHANA Best in Class

T MARS FOOD SOUTH AFRICA Championing the Sustainability Agenda Driving a triple bottom line strategy

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PCS GROUP OF COMPANIES Better Results and Better Growth

Staying robust in ever-changing markets

Complex business communications’ specialists

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Striving to play a big role in Africa’s technology-driven future by investing in its service offering

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NEWS

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ENTREPRENEURS OF 2015 Translating Trends into Brand Success

All the latest top stories across the month from Africa

Java House and Brandtone share the stories of their rise to fame

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GILAT SATCOM Enabling Connectivity with Value-Added Solutions

ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT Connecting the Unconnected

Highlighting the continent’s rapid rise to telecommunications excellence

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MTN SOUTH SUDAN Setting the Tone for LongTerm Success

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Answering the defining needs of South Sudanese customers

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EMTEL Today’s Convenience through Tomorrow’s Technology

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Offering its taste of the future with a continued focus on the customer

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Thriving on meeting consumer demand

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JANUS SERVICES BV Big Plans for Big Brands

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KALYAN HOSPITALITY DEVELOPMENT LTD Making History in Africa and Beyond

A base for nationwide social and economic development

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RETAIL CONGRESS AFRICA Enabling Retail Entrepreneurs to Accelerate Growth in Africa

2015’s event brings together the continent’s most renowned retail brands

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F O C U S

FINANCE Kenya: A Hub of Activity in 2016

A robust and diverse outlook for East Africa’s leading economy

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ZPC GROUP African Hospitality Specialists

Perfecting its turkey offering to become the preferred contractor of choice

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AMDEC PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT Embracing New Urbanism Firmly invested in creating the ultimate lifestyle experience

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VICTORIA COMMERCIAL BANK A Credit to Kenyan Banking

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Widening its export reach to support its future vision for expansion

A versatile institution held in high esteem

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TURNER & TOWNSEND Truly Global

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RAINBOW JUNCTION DEVELOPMENT COMPANY The New Pulse of Business

Displaying local agility across a global footprint

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EGOLI GAS The Natural Alternative

Dynamic and world-class natural gas provision

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An iconic melting pot of business diversity and integration

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HILLCREST PRIVATE HOSPITAL Quality and Care

Nurturing an environment of health and healing

S H I P P I N G & LO G I S T I C S

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ALLIED BUILDERS (SEYCHELLES) LTD Seychelles’ Premier Player in Construction

Applying sophisticated solutions to complex projects

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APPOLONIA – CITY OF LIGHT Leaders in Africa’s Urban Future Appolonia is to play a huge role in Ghana’s economic transformation

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES Soaring to New Heights

The ‘Best Airline in Africa’ continues to live up to its billing

MINING & RESOURCES

PLANNING INTERIORS LTD International Standards with a Kenyan Flavour

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ATLAS COPCO ZAMBIA Lasting Relationships in a Challenging Market Leveraging its deep-rooted influence in Zambia to grow its market share

Harnessing the power of design

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a.b.e. CONSTRUCTION CHEMICALS Contributing to the Sustainable Building Revolution

MANUFACTURING

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BBF SAFETY GROUP (PTY) LTD A Step in the Right Direction

Proudly manufacturing some of South Africa’s most recognised safety footwear brands

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GHANA RUBBER ESTATES LTD (GREL) Staying Flexible

Working closely with customers to better facilitate their needs

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COCA-COLA SABCO MOZAMBIQUE Gaining Momentum through a Strategic Acquisition

Embracing opportunity to become the largest Coca-Cola bottler on the continent

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ELECRAMA 2016

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AFRICA ENERGY INDABA

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MINING INDABA

India’s biennial premier electrical showcase A stellar lineup of global and regional rainmakers who seek to unlock Africa’s energy opportunities

The continent’s largest mining event invests its resources to enable access to Africa’s most lucrative opportunities

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EXHIBITIONS

Africa Oil & Power Conference to be an Industry Game-Changer The inaugural edition of Africa Oil & Power is set to maximise networking and transaction-making opportunities for the continent’s oil & gas and power elite

The inaugural edition of the Africa Oil & Power conference is to be held June 6-7, 2016 at the Westin Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa. Endorsed by the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy of Equatorial Guinea and Hosted by Centurion Law Firm, Africa Oil & Power is an invitationonly event that strives to redefine energy conferences. It draws a premier crowd of ministers and senior level government officials and top executives of private sector companies spanning the entire

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value chain; including upstream, downstream, power generation and legal and finance.

The goal of Africa Oil & Power will be to maximise networking and transaction-making opportunities.

The event will provide sponsors and delegates with deal rooms and speed networking and matchmaking sessions based on common interests.

“Africa Oil & Power will be a gamechanger for B2B oil & gas events,” said NJ Ayuk, CEO of Centurion Law Group, the event’s host sponsor. “It offers

an engaging content experience and a true opportunity for business executives to make deals. Centurion is proud to support this landmark event.”

The debate panel format will draw together key decision-makers from select countries in an unscripted setting. Much of the content will be framed around what the industry has done to adjust to a sustained climate of low oil prices and keeping projects on track. Africa Oil & Power will be the first energy conference with panels made up exclusively of African oil & gas ministers and heads of national companies. The programme will feature a market spotlight on Equatorial Guinea, with project and investment opportunities presented by government and industry leadership.

Already confirmed as speakers are H.E Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, Minister of Mines, Industry and Energy of Equatorial Guinea; H.E. Etienne Dieudonné Ngoubou, Minister of Petroleum and Hydrocarbons of Gabon; Alex Mould, CEO of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation; and Nick Cooper, CEO of Ophir Energy.

“The idea for this event was to create an immersive content experience built around the most authoritative speakers in their field,” said Guillaume Doane, CEO of the Africa Branding Corporation, the event organiser. “The invitation-only format allows us to hand-pick likeminded people with a great potential to strike agreements on the spot.”

For more information and to register for this event, visit: www.AfricaOilandPower.com

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T E C H N O L O G Y

backhaul and access layers have picked up.”

As this proliferation continues, high capacity last-mile access is becoming more viable and FTTX services have become established in key markets such as Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. “While individual services

remain relatively expensive for early-adopters, ongoing investment will lead to price reductions, making fixed-line more attractive for both businesses and consumers,” he added.

Moreover, governments are increasingly seeing connectivity as a critical means to encourage economic growth, and therefore, public sector is becoming more involved in the market; helping to stimulate telecoms investment and debating the implementation of national broadband plans.

“Lastly, we expect to see the mobile payments ecosystem in Africa expand...we cannot ignore this key feature of the landscape on the continent. In 2016, we can expect to see growth in mobile payment proliferation, peer-to-peer transactions, and other operators and banks looking to take a slice of the pie,” Mellon summarised.

Africa will possess more than 50,000 megawatt (MW) of generation potential by 2030, dominated by hydro, coal, wind, geothermal and natural gas-based generation systems. More than 80 percent of the potential gas reserves in East Africa are concentrated around Mozambique

and Tanzania. While LNG exports from these countries are expected no earlier than 2020, rapid development of gas power projects would provide a short-term response to growing electricity demand in the region.

The region will, therefore, provide immense opportunities for companies specialising in oil and natural gas exploration and production, power generation and associated infrastructure, as well as renewable energy technology commercialisation.

“Energy development is gaining priority as East African economies look to attain middle income status over the next decade,” said Frost & Sullivan Energy & Environment Senior Research Analyst, Neeraj Sanjay Mense. “In view of this objective, governments in the region are adopting strategies to diversify the energy mix as well as encourage private sector participation.”

Fixed-Line Connectivity to Make a Comeback in Africa In a recent interview, Gareth Mellon, ICT Programme Manager at Frost & Sullivan Africa provided a run-down of some of the technology trends to watch in Africa in 2016.

One trend that rose to the top of the pile was an increase in fixed-line connectivity. Mellon highlighted: “While technically not a ‘comeback’ in many African countries, where fixed-line hardly got out of the starting blocks, demands for fibre connectivity have soared.

Across the continent, submarine cables have boosted international connectivity and, while terrestrial coverage remains a challenge in most countries, investments in fibre

ENERGY

East Africa: A Hot-bed for Energy Related Investments East Africa is emerging as a hotbed for energy related investments not only for its robust economic growth, but also for its potential to become one of the largest producers and exporters of oil and natural gas in the world. Countries like Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Rwanda - which have traditionally depended on biomass to meet most of their energy requirements - are gradually shifting to modern energy sources to meet the growing demands of the expanding urban population and the rising per capita income levels.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, ‘East Africa Energy’, finds that East

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said: “Our platform on Facebook and our official twitter handle (Tigo_TZ), have become essential tools for us to listen and learn from our growing technologysavvy customers and the public in general. We are proud to have reached this milestone and Tigo Tanzania’s Facebook followers thank our customers for their recently reached the one million evangelistic loyalty to us. Tigo milestone, making the Company’s Tanzania will continue to cater Facebook page the most popular in for its customers’ digital needs Tanzania. and offer even richer and more The enviable feat, which was interactive digital content.” achieved on 27th December, 2015, has served to cement Tigo’s position as the foremost digital lifestyle telecom in the country.

According to Internet World Stats, Tanzania currently has 2.7 million active Facebook users; with Tigo representing approximately 41 percent of online access.

Commenting on Tigo’s Facebook, General Manager, Diego Gutierrez

Tigo Tanzania Facebook Page Gains Highest Following in the Country

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BNA Strengthens Compliance Prevention Measures The National Bank of Angola (BNA) recently announced that it is implementing a series of actions to strengthen compliance prevention measures of anti-money laundering (AML) and financing of terrorism (FT) in the Angolan financial system.

Responding to the policies and recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force, the BNA has successfully implemented series of procedures and new legislations.

These include highlighting policy reforms, developing training materials and guidelines for BNA regulated institutions, ongoing monitoring of the financial system and penalising offending institutions that are not fully compliant with the codes and conduct laid out by BNA. The Governor of the BNA, José Pedro de Morais commented: “The BNA is committed to maintaining the financial stability of Angola, to guarantee social development and sustainable economic, seeking increase in FDI inflows in the country. Our aim is to continue to implement structural reforms in order to strengthen the Angolan financial system to mitigate potential money laundering risks and terrorist financing.”

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Driving Economic Growth Through Empowerment Companies in Nigeria and the rest With a high unemployment rate, Africa is sitting on a largely untapped pool of resources, which means the continent has the potential to drive economic growth, according to Pitso Kekana, Head of Public Affairs and Corporate Citizenship, Samsung Africa.

The problem, he says, lies in both the lack of relevant skills and the availability of existing jobs for an evergrowing working age population.

According to the World Bank, in the past 20 years the working age population in South Africa has grown by 11 million, making up 65 percent of the country’s total population.

Pitso Kekana, Head of Public Affairs and Corporate Citizenship for Samsung Africa RHQ

However, since 2000, the total number of jobs created has fallen short of the growing labour supply, with only 2.8 million new jobs created.

The key is to find ways of upskilling what is largely the previously disadvantaged portion of the population to empower them to find employment through entrepreneurship.

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LOGISTICS

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Executives Identify Sub-Saharan Africa as Emerging Consumer Market

Private Equity in Africa Presents Significant Opportunities for Investors Erika van der Merwe, CEO of the Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA), says that, as private equity is still under-represented in sub-Saharan Africa, the asset class presents an opportunity for investors to invest in a region that is experiencing strong economic growth and robust returns.

The South African private equity industry in particular has delivered healthy returns for investors. Van der Merwe believes that the industry, which has a thirty-year track record of deal-making, exits and fundraising, and which now has an expanding regional reach, is set to play an

Erika van der Merwe, CEO of SAVCA

important role in the continued growth of the asset class in other African markets.

destination in Nigeria by offering convenience and the widest assortment of quality products at affordable prices,” said Juliet Anammah. “We are building a Juliet Anammah has been appointed platform for local and global brands to enter the market at the speed as Jumia Nigeria’s new CEO, while of light by going directly from the the former Co-CEOs take the reins factory to the consumers. This is of Jumia Global. a game-changer for Nigeria and a “My objective is to relentlessly major shift in the way companies focus on building the Jumia brand, look at their market entry strategy.” making it the one-stop shopping R E TA I L

Jumia Nigeria Appoints New CEO

Juliet Anammah, Jumia CEO

According to the 2016 Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index, consumer spending by the fast-growing middleclass is just as important as a growth driver for Africa as mineral and resource demand.

The survey ranks South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana as the most promising markets in sub-Saharan Africa.

“The results show a serious disconnect between the perception of the market and actual opportunities.

These are some of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Africa’s requirement for logistics services and supply chain expertise is huge and growing every day,” said Geoffrey White, CEO of Agility Africa.

ECONOMY

Maputo Ranked as City with the Highest Growth Potential Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, has been ranked as the African city with the highest potential for inclusive growth, according to the 2015 MasterCard African Cities Growth Index (ACGI); with Casablanca (Morocco) and Lagos (Nigeria) ranking second and third respectively.

Maputo’s inclusive growth potential falls into the mediumhigh category, attributed to its share of Mozambique’s foreign direct investment (FDI), which as a percentage of national GDP is among the highest in the world. The city boasts constantly improving levels of government effectiveness, regulatory quality, and ease of doing business.

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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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Translating Trends into Brand Success Africa Outlook takes a look back at two of Africa’s unsung company success stories from 2015, both of whom are hoping to continue to gain customer and media attention in the new year Writer: Emily Jarvis

JAVA HOUSE Nairobi, Kenya

Bryce Fort, Director at Java House and Managing Director at Emerging Capital Partners Java House has received significant media attention in recent years, due to the success the chain has seen has from kick-starting Kenya’s coffee culture and pursuing a franchise business model that focuses on the ultimate sit-down dining experience, with varying economic entry points ranging from a simple cup of coffee to a gourmet dinner. The coffee house has repeatedly won an assortment of industry and business awards including ‘Best Value for Money & Best Coffee House’ at People’s Choice Awards; resulting in a formidable reputation as Kenya’s coffee house pioneer.

After receiving investment from ECP (Emerging Capital Partners) in early 2012, the coffee house has since expanded to 44 branches in Kenya and Uganda.

In addition to the casual dining restaurant brand, the Company has also launched - under the guidance of Bryce Fort, Java House Director and Managing Director of ECP - Planet Yogurt, the first self-serve frozen yogurt brand in Africa, and, more recently, a Nairobi-based pizzeria called 360 Degrees.

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frica Outlook (AfO): What key market trends has Java House identified in Kenya’s food & beverage industry this year, and how was this translated into brand success in 2015?

Bryce Fort (BF): While Kenyansourced coffee beans are loved around the world, the local beverage of choice has traditionally been tea, influenced by the region’s colonial history. Since Java House’s founding, there’s been a gradual change in consumption habits with coffee becoming increasingly popular, especially among Kenya’s growing young professional

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demographic. In 2015, we saw this coffee culture continue to intensify with coffee lounges positioned as massmarket establishments. This, coupled with the growth of Kenya’s middle-class, has provided an opportunity for us to expand quickly across Kenyan towns and also internationally into Uganda.

Kenyan consumers want international-quality products and services delivered at a price that represents value for money in a local context. At Java House we aim to meet these, often conflicting, goals. We have created an environment that not only provides comfortable surroundings but also a relaxed environment that goes

beyond the typical coffee shop. They are lounges in which our customers can hold business meetings, go on a date, have quiet time or a full meal any time of day, and also be part of a dynamic, bustling city.

AfO: Looking ahead to 2016, what opportunities do you foresee in Kenya’s quick-service dining industry?

BF: With Kenya’s improving economy leading to an increase in disposable income, coffee culture is likely to get bigger. We are also experiencing growth of a young and increasingly urban population with greater exposure to, and adoption of, Western culture who will continue to demand coffee and international cuisine in general. As this happens, customers will become more discerning, focusing brands to innovate and refine their offerings. So 2016 is looking to be an exciting time for Java House and other fast food outlets offering premium cuisine. We are looking to expand across Kenyan counties with the goal of opening 12 new outlets in 2016.

AfO: What do you personally think makes an African brand successful?

BF: Africa is at an exciting phase of development. Recent political stability coupled with economic growth across the continent has led to a thriving business environment and increasing incomes. With these changes, a more formalised retail sector is emerging where consumers are increasingly turning to brands. For African brands, innovation will be the key to success.

What Africa lacks in legacy systems and infrastructure, it makes up for in leapfrogging technologies and flexibility. Brands need to be willing to adapt to the changing environment, making use of mobile and web technology to grow their business.

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BRANDTONE South Africa

Donald Fitzmaurice, Chief Executive Officer Brandtone is an award-winning mobile marketing Company headquartered in Ireland that conducts campaigns in emerging markets for brands including Unilever, Syngenta, SAB-Miller, Kellogg’s, Knorr, PepsiCo, BP and others.

Brandtone can help entrepreneurs by connecting consumers with their brands using a mobile, following its values-driven approach. The development of a permissioned database means that brands can begin their relationship with the consumer early, and continue the contact with consumers into the future. This helps to drive brand loyalty, but also keep consumers, and traders engaged; something which is important in a fast growing market.

frica Outlook (AfO): What key market trends has Brandtone’s data-driven marketing campaigns identified in Africa, and how was this translated into brand success last year?

Donald Fitzmaurice (DF): African markets, in simple terms, operate largely in the same way as a typical emerging market when looking at the key trends. Consumers and traders in these markets have access to one ubiquitous technology: the mobile phone. A key trend has been about transforming mobile connection and technology into relationships between brands or organisations, and the consumer and trader. The difference, though, for African markets is that the needs of the population and the pressures aren’t the same as other emerging markets.

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The resulting database offered PepsiCo its first in-depth, individualised understanding of small traders across Brazil.

Brandtone ran a mobile marketing campaign from July-December 2012, for PepsiCo Brazil to engage with small retailers and street vendors to increase sales of Torcida Snacks – the first time the company had run a trade campaign in Brazil solely using digital channels.

We have identified one key area within African markets that could benefit greatly from the values-driven approach we take towards mobile marketing, which is family planning.

As wealth on the African continent increases, the aspirations of the middle-class evolve. The ‘new middleclass’ of Africa desire different things; they are more interested in consumer goods, not only for necessity, but also for luxury. They desire better education for their children, improved healthcare for their families as well as support from financial products that will help them in later life. From these facts alone, it’s clear that the opportunities for entrepreneurs in African markets are vast and only set to increase.

Brandtone has recently announced a partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to work

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with family planning products in the Kenyan market. The way we operate our values-driven approach is through three core principles: we always trust the consumer or trader to initiate the interaction, we reward them for buying the product and profiling themselves, and ask for their permission to reengage them in the future. These values are present in every engagement and underpin the transformation of a connection into a relationship.

AfO: How has technology been helping brands tap into African markets?

DF: Technology, specifically mobile data and big data, will be useful in helping global brands to build direct relationships with consumers in Africa.

The largest and most profitable route to market in Africa is the informal

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retail trade, where the use of big data and technology will help to optimise the performance, as well as provide a better understanding of this channel.

Big data analytics is set to gain some serious momentum in 2016, with businesses using the big data in order to better understand their customer and consumer. For us, this will mean an ability to use mobile and big data to coordinate consumer and trader promotions in a manner that could ultimately lead the way globally.

“Big data analytics is set to gain some serious momentum in 2016, with businesses using the big data in order to better understand their customer and consumer�

AfO: What key factors do you personally think make a successful African brand?

DF: A brand that lives the values of the local and regional culture, while delivering products and services that are better than those offered by global competitors.

In order to facilitate this, key engagement tactics will need to involve transforming connections into relationships, irrespective of the channel used to make them, and using mobile technology and data will be a very important way of enabling such connections.

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䴀椀氀氀愀 䜀爀漀甀瀀 ⠀匀䰀⤀ 䰀琀搀 眀愀猀 昀漀甀渀搀攀搀 椀渀 ㈀ ㄀ 愀渀搀 椀猀 琀栀攀 瀀椀漀渀攀攀爀椀渀最 䴀椀氀氀愀 䜀爀漀甀瀀 ⠀匀䰀⤀ 䰀琀搀 眀愀猀 昀漀甀渀搀攀搀 椀渀 ㈀ ㄀ 愀渀搀 椀猀 琀栀攀 瀀椀漀渀攀攀爀椀渀最 瀀氀愀猀琀椀挀猀 洀愀渀甀昀愀挀琀甀爀攀爀 椀渀 匀椀攀爀爀愀 䰀攀漀渀攀 瀀爀漀搀甀挀椀渀最 焀甀愀氀椀琀礀 瀀爀漀搀甀挀琀猀 瀀氀愀猀琀椀挀猀 洀愀渀甀昀愀挀琀甀爀攀爀 椀渀 匀椀攀爀爀愀 䰀攀漀渀攀 瀀爀漀搀甀挀椀渀最 焀甀愀氀椀琀礀 瀀爀漀搀甀挀琀猀 昀漀爀 挀漀渀猀甀洀攀爀猀Ⰰ 挀漀洀洀攀爀挀椀愀氀 戀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀攀猀 愀渀搀 椀渀搀甀猀琀爀椀攀猀⸀ 昀漀爀 挀漀渀猀甀洀攀爀猀Ⰰ 挀漀洀洀攀爀挀椀愀氀 戀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀攀猀 愀渀搀 椀渀搀甀猀琀爀椀攀猀⸀

䈀攀猀瀀漀欀攀 倀嘀䌀 瀀椀瀀攀猀 䈀攀猀瀀漀欀攀 倀嘀䌀 瀀椀瀀攀猀 倀氀愀猀琀椀挀猀 昀漀爀 愀最爀椀挀甀氀琀甀爀愀氀 甀猀攀 倀氀愀猀琀椀挀猀 昀漀爀 愀最爀椀挀甀氀琀甀爀愀氀 甀猀攀 䜀愀爀戀愀最攀 搀椀猀瀀漀猀愀氀 猀漀氀甀琀椀漀渀猀 䜀愀爀戀愀最攀 搀椀猀瀀漀猀愀氀 猀漀氀甀琀椀漀渀猀 倀愀挀欀愀最椀渀最 昀漀爀 昀漀漀搀 愀渀搀 氀椀焀甀椀搀猀 倀愀挀欀愀最椀渀最 昀漀爀 昀漀漀搀 愀渀搀 氀椀焀甀椀搀猀 䰀愀爀最攀 眀愀琀攀爀 猀琀漀爀愀最攀 猀漀氀甀琀椀漀渀猀 䰀愀爀最攀 眀愀琀攀爀 猀琀漀爀愀最攀 猀漀氀甀琀椀漀渀猀 唀猀攀昀甀氀 椀琀攀洀猀 昀漀爀 琀栀攀 栀漀甀猀攀栀漀氀搀 唀猀攀昀甀氀 椀琀攀洀猀 昀漀爀 琀栀攀 栀漀甀猀攀栀漀氀搀

圀攀 搀攀氀椀瘀攀爀 攀砀挀攀氀氀攀渀挀攀⸀ 圀攀 搀攀氀椀瘀攀爀 攀砀挀攀氀氀攀渀挀攀⸀

眀眀眀⸀洀椀氀氀愀ⴀ最爀漀甀瀀⸀挀漀洀 眀眀眀⸀洀椀氀氀愀ⴀ最爀漀甀瀀⸀挀漀洀 吀攀氀㨀 ⬀㈀㌀㈀ ⠀ ⤀㜀㘀㘀㜀㐀㔀㔀 簀 䔀洀愀椀氀㨀 漀昀昀椀挀攀猀氀䀀洀椀氀氀愀ⴀ最爀漀甀瀀⸀挀漀洀 簀 ㈀ 䈀愀椀 䈀甀爀攀栀 刀漀愀搀Ⰰ 䘀椀猀栀攀爀 䰀愀渀攀Ⰰ 䬀椀猀猀礀Ⰰ 䘀爀攀攀琀漀眀渀Ⰰ 匀䰀 吀攀氀㨀 ⬀㈀㌀㈀ ⠀ ⤀㜀㘀㘀㜀㐀㔀㔀 簀 䔀洀愀椀氀㨀 漀昀昀椀挀攀猀氀䀀洀椀氀氀愀ⴀ最爀漀甀瀀⸀挀漀洀 簀 ㈀ 䈀愀椀 䈀甀爀攀栀 刀漀愀搀Ⰰ 䘀椀猀栀攀爀 䰀愀渀攀Ⰰ 䬀椀猀猀礀Ⰰ 䘀爀攀攀琀漀眀渀Ⰰ 匀䰀

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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Connecting the UNCONNECTED Ericsson’s latest Mobility Report places Africa in the spotlight as one of the world’s fastest growing markets in terms of mobile subscriptions, with the continent expected to reach 100 percent mobile penetration by 2021 Writer: Emily Jarvis

ust five years ago, there were 500 million mobile subscriptions across Africa; and by the end of 2015, this number doubled to one billion.

Rising urbanisation levels are driving the growth of mobile subscription penetration on the continent, as well as growing investment in rural network coverage by mobile operators; something which is being heavily encouraged by an evolving regulatory policy. Moreover, the increasing internet speeds and rise of 3G and 4G technologies, alongside the unprecedented growth of the middle-class in some of Africa’s largest economies, is contributing to the growth of the telecommunications industry.

These are just some of the highlights detailed in Ericsson’s latest Mobility Report, recapping a year of huge opportunity, leading into yet another as we enter 2016. Fredrik Jejdling, President & Regional Head of Ericsson sub-Saharan Africa, discusses the Report in-depth and the main factors that will drive mobile penetration in the future.

Africa Outlook (AfO): What findings stood out for you the most in the Africa Mobility Report?

Fredrik Jejdling (FJ): For me, it is the rapid change that the continent will experience over the coming years that stands out the most.

Decades of progress in technology and telecommunications across Africa has laid the foundation for what is set to come. Today, mobile subscription penetration in sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to be 80 percent. Five years ago, mobile penetration was just above 50 percent. By 2021, it is expected to reach 100 percent in the region.

Growing smartphone ownership and a lack of fixed broadband availability has resulted in mobile broadband being the most common way to connect to the internet.

The benefits of connecting the unconnected through mobile broadband access cannot be overlooked; with one example of this being how increased connectivity improves the prospect of financial inclusion for the 70 percent of Africans that are unbanked, through an offering of mobile money services taking form across Africa.

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The hasty shift from 2G to 3G, and now, 4G mobile broadband services that we will experience over the coming years I find astonishing. In subSaharan Africa today, GSM/EDGE-only is still the most popular technology for mobile subscriptions. It accounts for more than 70 percent of total mobile subscriptions. This, however, is expected to change rapidly up to 2021, when WCDMA/HSPA combined with LTE technologies will account for almost 80 percent of subscriptions.

AfO: What are the macroeconomic factors driving mobility and how has this evolved over the years?

FJ: In the past decade, the African continent has experienced improved international trade and an accelerated pace of foreign direct investment (FDI). Sub-Saharan Africa’s strong economic growth is driven by improved political stability, the global

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commodity boom and greater regional integration. The growth has led to improved living standards for many, giving rise to a new class of consumers.

The combination of mobile broadband access, affordable devices, and the resultant transformation in the way businesses and society operate has the capacity to yield opportunities for empowerment and inclusion.

It is true that most markets in sub-Saharan Africa are seeing a rise in consumer spending, driven by growth in economic output. The large youth population continues to drive demand for consumer goods, with their characteristic entrepreneurial mindset stimulating even further economic growth.

Despite these rising numbers, there is still a large unconnected market in sub-Saharan Africa. Operators are aware of this opportunity and are aggressively pursuing growth in mobile broadband. Their effort is

Mobile subscriptions by technology, sub-Saharan Africa (million) 1,200

1000

LTE/5G

CDMA-only

WCDMA/HSPA

GSM/EDGE-only

800

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400

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20

2016

2017

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2021

“In addition, device affordability - where we now see low cost smartphones at less than US$50 - has driven further uptake; with a quarter of handsets in 2015 being smartphones”

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Device ownership and connectivity per household Nigeria

Kenya

South Africa

Global

Tablet Smart TV Internet at home Laptop/PC Regular TV Smartphone 0%

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30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Source: Ericsson ConsumerLab, TV and media report 2015, Nigeria Base: Internet users in respective countries or regions

supported by the proliferation of lower cost devices and evolving regulatory policies. In addition to this, service providers have increased their focus on extending offerings around increasing mobile financial inclusion and media delivery.

In addition, device affordability - where we now see low cost smartphones at less than US$50 - has driven further uptake; with a quarter of handsets in 2015 being smartphones.

Furthermore, mobile operators have continued to increase mobile network coverage and will continue to do so in rural areas and remote locations.

To put this in context, 70 percent of people in sub-Saharan Africa are within mobile coverage areas, compared to about 95 percent globally.

AfO: What factors have allowed Nigeria’s mobile penetration to soar in recent times, and how does Ericsson see this progressing?

FJ: In 2015, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Cameroon were among the top 10 countries globally for net mobile subscription additions in the third quarter of 2015; with a new mobile subscription is activated every two seconds in Nigeria. Our Ericsson

“By the end of 2021, monthly mobile data traffic in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to be almost 2,200 Petabytes (PB); with Smartphones accounting for almost 95 percent of mobile data traffic by 2021, up from close-to 80 percent in 2015”

ConsumerLab research shows that in Nigeria, 83 percent of mobile phone users rely solely on this method to connect to the internet.

A rise in consumer spending, driven by economic growth, and the proliferation of low cost smartphones are two key contributors to the country’s technology boom.

Mobile data traffic continues its steady growth within the region; with the increasing spread of LTE, this trend is expected to continue. Findings from the Ericsson Mobility Report show that mobile data traffic will grow 15 times between 2015 and 2021.

With enhancements in international connectivity following the upgrade of mobile data networks and expansion of fibre optics, the prices of data subscriptions will decrease and, in turn, encourage even more mobile broadband subscriptions. By the end of 2021, monthly mobile data traffic in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to be almost 2,200 Petabytes (PB); with Smartphones accounting for almost 95 percent of mobile data traffic by 2021, up from close-to 80 percent in 2015. By contrast, voice traffic over the same period is set to only marginally increase.

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AfO: How is Ericsson hoping to continue to drive the growth and penetration of technology in Africa into 2016, and what wider industry trends will dictate this?

FJ: Having observed how the introduction of mobile data services has enabled access to even more services that benefit individuals and transform industries, I firmly believe mobility is a driver of industry transformation in Africa. Technology acts as a change agent across Africa, and in line with this, mobile broadband services have enabled access to both inclusion services that benefit individuals, and efficiency and productivity improvements that have the power to change whole industries as well.

With so much innovation taking place in the mobile space, mobile financial services in Africa are one of the great unique success stories on the continent.

It has allowed the 70 percent unbanked and marginalised segments of the population to start to see the promise of financial inclusion as mobile money services take form across Africa.

Starting from basic person-to-person money transfers, many platforms now provide savings, insurance and credit applications. This has further progressed to mobile commerce and stock management solutions.

Purchasing goods and services is increasingly done via a mobile phone. According to the World Bank, sub-Saharan Africa transfers more money domestically via mobile money than any other region in the world. In 2014, up to 28 percent of the population had received a domestic remittance. By comparison, only four percent of the population in South Asia did so in the same period.

The next wave of services in sub-Saharan Africa within the mobile commerce eco-system will include more mature offerings such as microinsurance and advanced subscriber-to-subscriber/subscriber-to-

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merchant solutions.

Governments are increasingly realising that the widespread availability of payment and other financial services is a key pillar in socioeconomic development and are taking actions to improve the regulatory environment.

AfO: What do you hope to report back at the end of next year in terms of subscription growth, and what factors will dictate this?

FJ: Subscription growth within the region will continue to be driven by a number of factors, including better network coverage in rural areas and remote locations, ownership of multiple SIMs, the continuous reducing cost of devices and call rates, and M2M (machine-to-machine) technologies.

At the core of this is enabling mobile broadband access to the unconnected population through increased 3G and 4G network deployment. This will drive

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“Today, half of mobile data traffic globally comes from video. By 2021, we estimate it will comprise about 70 percent of traffic”

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the uptake of services such as mobile commerce and infotainment, enabling service providers to differentiate their revenue streams and at the same time offer higher value services to their customers.

Today, half of mobile data traffic globally comes from video. By 2021, we estimate it will comprise about 70 percent of traffic. As more of Africa’s population become owners of smart and digital devices, new modes of content consumption are increasingly being explored. But even as mobile broadband networks become increasingly accessible across the continent, TV and media experience satisfaction levels are low, which indicates that consumers in some places are in need of higher speeds and better quality connections to experience the full potential of these services.

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Namport NAMIBIA LOGISTICS HUB DREAM Namibia is a country of just over 2 million people and the current developments of our nation’s infrastructure of i.e. new port facilities, new airports, road infrastructure, and rail infrastructure will undoubtedly create the needed competitive edge to realise the dream of becoming a logistics hub for the 300 million inhabitants of SADC. Namibia’s competitive advantage stems from its stable and secure environment, its strategic geographical position, generous amount of land available for development and relatively efficient services.

With its deep water depth and stable weather conditions, the Port of Walvis Bay is ideally located to accelerate the growth of Namibia and the SADC region as a whole by providing a gateway to the Region, thus serving as a logistics hub. We are confident that the completion of the new container terminal at the Port of Walvis Bay in 2017 will go a long way in establishing Namibia as a Regional logistics hub and will further support the Namibian Government stated intention to develop an industrialised economy.

For any port, capacity to handle various commodities is key, hence the Port of Walvis Bay’s new container terminal on reclaimed land project, which is Namibia’s biggest ever port construction project since independence, and the project is envisaged to pave the way for the port to more than double its container handling capacity from 350,000 TEU’s to 750,000 TEU’s per annum.

Some of the project details are: • Approximately NAD 4 billion in value • NAD 3 billion loan from African Development Bank • Commenced in May 2014 • Project commission date is September 2017 • Various contractors are used, of which the biggest is China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd • To date the project is 38% completed, and still on schedule • A total amount of just over NAD 1.5 billion has been spent on the project to date • 600 metres of new quay wall is being built, with a water depth of 16 metres

Namport CEO, Mr Bisey Uirab

www.namport.com

tbwa.com.na

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

TANZANIA

KOLWEZI LUBUMBASHI

MALAWI

NDOLA

ANGOLA

LILONGWE

LUBANGO

ZAMBIA LUSAKA OSHIKANGO

KATIMA MULILO

ONDANGWA

LIVINGSTONE

TSUMEB

NAMIBIA OTAVI

HARARE

ZIMBABWE

GROOTFONTEIN

OTJIWARONGO

botswana OKAHANDJA

WALVIS BAY

BULAWAYO

MOZAMBIQUE

francistown

GOBABIS WINDHOEK MARIENTAL

GABORONE JOHANNESBURG KEETMANSHOOP

SWAZILAND

AUS

UPINGTON

EAN

IC OC

ANT

ATL

Lüderitz

SOUTH AFRICA

LESOTHO

THE PREFERRED ACCESS TO SOUTHERN AFRICA It is with great knowledge and experience that we get excited by every consignment that comes through our gateway. Though our port has the capacity to accomodate 4 000 vessels, 355 000 containers yearly and handle over 6 million tonnes of cargo, we don’t see them as just numbers. It is the endless possibilities within them that motivates our dedicated team, to deliver the ultimate port experience to our customers. To our customers it’s not just cargo, but their livelihood and we understand that because after all we are also human.

www.namport.com

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Kenya: A Hub of

Activity in 2016

The recent Oxford Business Group Kenya 2016 Report has confirmed what many analysts had already been forecasting about the prominence of the East African nation. Anne Muchoki of KenInvest looks ahead to Kenya’s economic potential for the next 12 months Writer: Anne Muchoki, Chairperson, Kenyan Investment Authority (KenInvest)

ailed as the largest economy in East Africa by the Oxford Business Group Kenya 2016 Report, Kenya is an important player and a heavyweight for attracting direct investment from international markets.

Strategically placed, with a major port, Mombasa, and well-developed financial markets, the country is the regional service hub for information, transportation and business. Its increasing ties with the UK, US and China bode well for trade and investment and position Kenya as a gateway to the region. The economy is

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broad-based, reducing its vulnerability to commodity price shocks, and technology stands out as a rapidly growing sector.

A strong, youthful workforce and a growing economy gives us cause for strong optimism as we approach 2016. The short to medium-term positive growth projections are based on assumptions of a stable macroeconomic environment, continued low international oil prices, stability of the Kenyan shilling, and reforms in the areas of governance and justice; all of which are key focuses for the Government.

In a drive to boost business, the

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Government, in collaboration with key partners such as KenInvest, has taken initiatives to encourage foreign investment in the country, resulting in strong economic fundamentals.

As a part of this strategic effort, the Kenya International Investment Conference in November, 2015 saw the launch of the Kenya 2016 Report published by Oxford Business Group that positions Kenya as the region’s gateway.

Robust and diversified

Growth in 2016 is predicted to be 6.91 percent, an upward revision from the 2015 prediction, while inflation

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is predicted to fall to 5.91 percent, bolstering Kenya’s reputation as a robust and diversified economy.

With its major exports being tea and coffee, Kenya has been somewhat protected by the fall in global mineral commodity prices, which have negatively impacted other serious economic players in sub-Saharan Africa such as Ghana and Zambia. However, it is conceivable that the impact of El Niño may have a depressing influence on the agricultural commodities market globally.

Kenya’s economy is sufficiently robust to survive this, since it is likely to only be a temporary fall. The World

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“Growth in 2016 is predicted at 6.91 percent, an upward revision from the 2015 prediction, while inflation is predicted to fall to 5.91 percent, bolstering Kenya’s reputation as a robust and diversified economy”

Bank has indicated that Kenya is still on track to be one of Africa’s fastest growing economies, with growth estimates outstripping those of more advanced economies.

Vision 2030

Kenya’s economic planning focuses on the Vision 2030 goals, and as such the Government has made substantial strides towards the creation of comprehensive five-year plans for large infrastructural schemes, which represent excellent opportunities for inward investment.

Emphasis has been placed on the agricultural, ICT, finance and energy

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sectors. In terms of competitiveness within the broader sub-Saharan Africa region, the Government of Kenya has, for example, fostered the right conditions for stable and rational sector investment to plug the energy generation deficit, which it is believed will continue to bring down the cost of power within the country. In turn, this will enable the manufacturing sector to grow further in the coming years.

Trade partners

Kenya has a diverse selection of trade partners, with strong ties to Europe, the US and Asia. The East African Community (EAC), and Kenya’s leadership within it, presents a burgeoning opportunity for economic growth within the region as a whole, with future regulatory rationalisation possible.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the Southern African Development Community will be instrumental in helping Kenya to penetrate new markets elsewhere within the African continent itself, which should shelter it from any economic uncertainty experienced by European and American economies in the coming years.

Ease of doing business

Kenya has made great strides in the well regarded “ease of doing business” rankings compiled by the World Bank, rising an impressive 28 places in this year’s rankings.

This, coupled with the Government’s drive to combat corruption, through measures such as the introduction of an e-procurement and e-regulations platform, places Kenya on a strong reputational footing with the international community.

The Government also recognises the concerns around national security, and has presided over a 12 percent year-on-

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“The generous benefits to industrial development in these zones include an exemption from Value Added Tax”

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“Kenya has made great strides in the well regarded “ease of doing business” rankings compiled by the World Bank, rising an impressive 28 places in this year’s rankings”

year rise to the total national budget allocation for the national security services, to $2.5 billion.

Devolution

Diversification of governance within Kenya through the maturing county devolution model is opening up new internal markets to development, a positive move which will be further supported by the Ministry of Industrialisation’s development of Special Economic Zones.

The generous benefits to industrial development in these zones include an exemption from Value Added Tax, a significant reduction in corporate tax for enterprises, developers and operators (10 percent for the first

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decade, 15 percent for the second decade).

This should support the drive for investment by the central Government, and avoid the clustering of industries around major cities, a pitfall that more advanced economies have historically fallen into. This is expected to further support robust and sustainable growth in the coming years.

Lucrative prospects

The 2015 budget prioritised security, infrastructure investment, social expenditure on education and health and the rationalisation of Government internal expenditure, in line with IMF agreements.

The fiscal deficit - which currently stands at around 8.7 percent of GDP - will be sustainably covered by a combination of net external financing and domestic financing.

The future outlook, while slightly more modest than previous forecasts, is nonetheless impressively robust, with growth expected to be greater than in advanced economies.

Kenya is still on course to be one of

Africa’s fastest-growing economies despite the slight economic slowdown.

The economy is one of the most advanced and diversified in Africa.

Infrastructure projects, including the railway, roads and ports, are set to bring benefits in the form of lower transports costs and competitiveness as they come on-stream.

With such a favourable environment, expansion is expected to be driven by underlying factors, including demographic growth and increasing household consumption, as well as more stable improvements in key sectors such as agriculture, transport, telecommunications and financial services.

Kenya is well placed to benefit from the fast-moving integration of the EAC. Indeed, such is the current momentum that the significant reserves of oil and gas, when they do start production, will hardly be needed to fuel the growth. The economy is proving itself robust with lucrative prospects for long-term investors.

“Infrastructure projects, including the railway, roads and ports, are set to bring benefits in the form of lower transports costs and competitiveness as they come on-stream”

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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

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Lucy Quist, Managing Director

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BEST in Class Managing Director, Lucy Quist has only been at the helm of Airtel Ghana for 18 months, but has evolved the operator to enjoy new market heights, unrivalled subscription rises and ongoing critical acclaim Writer: Matthew Staff • Project Manager: Donovan Smith irtel Ghana has confirmed its impressive and rapid national rise to prominence in the telecoms market as the country’s leader in data and digital innovation and the second largest operator in terms of network coverage.

The accolade is inevitably a step towards the Company’s ultimate goal of becoming the market leader in the future, but has been somewhat cast to the background of Airtel’s extensive list of 2015 success stories, obscured by a plethora of significant investments, subscriber statistics, several awards for the Company and its acclaimed Managing Director (MD).

Since Lucy Quist joined the business in April, 2014, the improvements instilled into Airtel Ghana’s operations have not only elevated the Company to new heights in the sector, but has been recognised as such via vastly

increased consumer interest and numerous awards.

Running parallel with this industry success has been an equally prevalent strive for wider community enrichment, partnering with world renowned organisations in an attempt to bridge the skills and tech knowledge gap that still exists within Ghana.

First and foremost in 2015 though, a concerted drive towards infrastructural improvements was seen across its fibre and fixed-line networks, as well as through the digitisation of huge projects in the data space.

As a result, customers are now enjoying 3.75G in some areas of the country and download speeds of up to 42mps via extensive fibre enhancements.

“The thinking, when I joined the business, was initially around a repositioning of the Company, knowing that the industry was quite saturated and we needed a

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strategic move to set us apart from the competition,” Quist recalls. “This strategic move was around four pillars: high value customers; data; Airtel Money and the SME market.”

2015 proved to be a phenomenal year across all highlighted fronts; Airtel becoming the fastest growing telecoms Company in the market, and driven by an unparalleled commitment to segmentation and creating bespoke and customisable solutions tailored to the varying needs of its customers, nationwide.

Investments and innovations

The digital footprint that has subsequently been produced, and that will undoubtedly continue to evolve into 2016, has laid the foundations for a plethora of complementary valueadded services to further differentiate Airtel from its competitors in the quest for optimum customer experience.

Embracing the most modern of

Airtel’s growth across data usage is unparalleled in the Ghanaian market

It’s all about looking beyond the obvious and beyond what is on offer today, to make the most of our investments and innovations to set us apart from the competition

technologies, it is a commitment to innovation which has driven the strategy, with a team working tirelessly behind the scenes to come up with revolutionary products and services.

Quist explains: “For example, we have invested a lot into making our services more inclusive, through initiatives like offering free Facebook to our customers across the network; giving people opportunities to learn and discover and network where they wouldn’t have been able to before.

“Additionally through Facebook,

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I am quite confident that we are the first in the world to allow customers the ability to buy data bundles through the platform; an initiative that was developed in-house as an innovative way to give our customers more access to data if they want to access a link or page outside Facebook.”

Continuing on the theme of applications and technological accessibility, the Airtel Care App has also been launched to not only allow customers to reach Airtel’s customer experience team members when

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Quist is continually recognised for her influence within Airtel Ghana and the wider industry

needed, but to aid the Company’s monitoring and managing of its customers; providing a continuous platform for communication between the two.

“Another service we have added is Airtel Premier,” Quist continues, “which is geared towards our high value customers and provides them not only with great telecom products,

When Opportunity Meets Preparation: Success Story of Airtel Ghana’s Partnership with Huawei “Success is when opportunity meets preparation”, these words of the great psychologist, Henry Hartman perfectly describe the successful partnership between Airtel Ghana and Huawei Technologies, Ghana.

As a global leader in telecommunications equipments and carrier services, Huawei Technologies currently serves 45 of the world’s top 50 telecommunications service providers and Airtel is one of the key networks the company currently serves in Ghana.

When success translates into recognition “There is no greater joy than to see your hard work payoff”. Such is the joy and pride Huawei felt when the very distinguished and hardworking Managing Director of Airtel Ghana, Madam Lucy Quist emerged with the most prestigious award at the 2015 CIMG Awards after been named the Marketing Woman of the Year.

“We at Huawei Technologies Ghana are very proud of Madam Lucy Quist for her achievement. We are glad to have contributed to this success story,” Russell Xu, the CEO of Huawei Technologies, Ghana commented.

Laying of fibre optics for improved network In order to help Airtel Ghana build a faster and convenient network pipeline, Huawei Technologies Ghana provided metro fibre network for Airtel Ghana. The fibre optic cables provide a much faster broadband as research has also proven that fibre optic cables which are made of either glass or plastic facilitate fast movement of data along their length. It is Airtel Ghana’s vision to be the number one data provider on the Ghanaian

market and we are confident that a fast stable fiber network will help them achieve this.

A partnership with a brighter future Huawei Technologies continue to improve all aspects of its business and for a relatively young entrant into the smartphone market, the tech giant continue to make significant strides as the Company is now the 3rd largest Smartphone manufacturer and brand worldwide.

As a telecommunications Company that prides itself as “the smartphone network”, Airtel can get even closer to their goal of becoming the number one telecom network provider through their partnership with Huawei to offer their customers attractive consumer packages and data bundles with Huawei’s high-speed devices.

The assurance Huawei Technologies has a mantra of being an innovative enabler and continues to push for a better connected world; as such the company is always prepared to live by its ultimate pillar of being customer-centric at all levels of business as it is the core vision of Huawei Technologies to help our customers achieve success.

Airtel Ghana can therefore be rest assured that their partnership with Huawei Technologies Ghana will continue to be beneficial. It is also the wish of Huawei Ghana to partner with Airtel Ghana in other business areas relevant to their operations.

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but also adds extra value to their lives through lifestyle offers such as access to more than 700 VIP airport lounges all over the world, or getting discounts at spas, restaurants and hotels or even getting better deals with car dealerships.

“It’s all about looking beyond the obvious and beyond what is on offer today, to make the most of our investments and innovations to set us apart from the competition.”

Unparalleled business solutions

One of the key drivers for Airtel Ghana’s growth has been its “superior offerings for enterprise customers”.

“Airtel Business is our unparalleled business solutions that provides custom-made, cutting-edge end-toend enterprise solutions to cater to the communication, connectivity and collaborative needs of all businesses; small, medium or large,” Quist emphasises.

Under Airtel Business’ suite, the Company segments customers and provides services under Home Business Solutions, Small and Medium

Enterprises, Large Corporates and Multinationals.

Research shows that 92 percent of companies registered in Ghana are micro, small and medium scale enterprises and 75 percent of these contribute to Ghana’s GDP. Quist continues: “Empowering these SME’s with targeted solutions ensures that they can expand, employ more people and continue to contribute significantly to economic growth. We are happy to be leading and shaping the SME space in Ghana.”

Niche offering

A significant component of this differentiation over the past 18 months for Airtel has been the optimisation of its Airtel Money service, which has witnessed a first-of-its-kind introduction of contactless payments in the country.

Once again being tailored to the present and future needs of its evergrowing customer base, the innovation has since branched out even further to incorporate key partnerships with banks, which allows customers to

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Ogilvy & Mather Ghana Ltd is part of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide operating in more than 500 offices in 161 cities across the globe, serving Fortune Global 500 companies as well as local businesses. Ogilvy & Mather has been named Cannes Lions Network of the Year at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity four times in a row, from 2012 to 2015. The company has also been named the EFFIEs World’s Most Effective Agency Network for two consecutive years, in 2012 and 2013.

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AE SOLUTIONS GHANA

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E Solutions Ghana is a leading household name that provides unique turnkey solutions to a huge number of customers: • Network power, power systems and data centre solutions • Project, procurement, logistics and asset management • Deployment and maintenance of fibre optic infrastructure • Turnkey solutions for telecommunications companies • Information and communications technology solutions • Commercial and residential solutions • Process management, industrial automation and climate technologies T +233 264000002 / +233 262344808 E info@aesolutionsghana.com

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conveniently connect their bank accounts with their mobile money wallets and is just one of numerous additions that Airtel is aggressively marketing to a diverse and expectant population.

“We have done a lot of the obvious marketing in terms of above-the-line communications when it comes to these new products, but sometimes customers need that face-to-face interaction too and that’s what we’re focused on, in providing an understanding of the solutions we provide,” Quist says.

Close communication with the business domain has proven especially pivotal in getting these services off the ground, with the initial education repaid with each enterprise client becoming an ambassador for the products’ subsequent filtering into the market.

It also brings into play the facet

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...through Facebook, I am quite confident that we are the first in the world to allow customers the ability to buy data bundles through the platform...

which Quist believes is most critical to Airtel’s current success, in the form of the people bringing said solutions to the attention of Ghana.

The MD continues: “Any growth plan has to start with people and my number one focus has been to make sure we have the right people on board in every role.

“We have a niche offering with a strong focus on changing the market, so it is vital that we have the right people in place on the front line, speaking with customers, engaging with them, and ensuring they can best communicate our offering.”

Best-in-class

Airtel’s personnel strategy as a whole is in-keeping with a strong local agenda, with the gap continuously being bridged between the continentally-renowned brand and the communities in which it operates; all with a view to creating the best shareholder and customer

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AE Solutions Ltd is a Ghanaian Company

working hard to make significant contributions to the country’s telecommunications industry and utility services infrastructure; promoting IT development to deliver innovative products, services and solutions that advance businesses and enrich lives.

value possible.

This local focus also embraces a strong dedication to corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, encouraging Airtel employees to nominate and earmark people in need in their own areas, before Airtel steps in to offer sustainable, long-term aid on an ongoing basis.

Quist notes: “Overall, across both

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CSR and our network improvements, it’s always about people coming up with new ideas, and our differentiator comes from our willingness to try new things and to innovate over and above. That, along with our main differentiator which is our people, is why customers are attracted to the Airtel brand.”

Moving forward, Airtel’s drive towards enhanced digital saturation

Airtel has partnered with many banks and financial institutions to enrich the lives of its customers

looks set to continue as one of the continent’s most influential business leaders capitalises on the positive 18 months of progress already achieved.

“We have built a best-in-class team here at Airtel Ghana, where we have brought in fresh energy, passion, selfbelief and commitment in working closely with our customers,” Quist concludes.

“Our staff don’t want to sit in a nice airconditioned office, they want to be out in the streets meeting customers and setting up activities because that’s what they’re passionate about.

“When we launch products, we go out into the streets, speak to customers and engage with them as part of the launching process, which can only be achieved when you have those kinds of people within the organisation.

“Ghana is an extremely dynamic telecoms market, and is certainly the country to watch from a telecoms industry solutions point of view on the continent. And in this mature market, we plan on Airtel leading the way.”

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ame A V A Y A

Stepping up regional investments to grow its African presence and technology leadership, Avaya is helping organisations to explore new communication methods that promise to drive operational excellence for customers Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Donovan Smith

LEADING THE WAY

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Any vendor that comes to Africa needs to understand Africa: the problem most companies have is that they think of Africa as one country, where one approach will work, not a continent with 50-plus countries, each with their own political, educational, and technological systems,” says Hatem Hariri, Managing Director, Africa, Avaya.

“There are more than one billion people here - with a huge mix of cultures, languages and development levels - and you can find people talking multiple languages in a single village.”

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For Avaya, a global leader in business communications software, systems and services, communicating and bringing people together is very much part of the cultural DNA. Even so, the company has grown its business in Africa through a very much hands-on approach, Hariri says.

“Some companies want to work remotely here, but you can’t do that in Africa, you need to have a local presence,” he explains. “It’s an old adage that ‘people buy from people’, but it is definitely the case here. If you don’t have presence on the ground, you can’t really understand the diverse

cultures and what is required.”

Meeting customer needs

While Avaya has had a presence in Africa since inception, like other companies it made the decision to step up its investment in the region after the global recession, as part of a greater focus on global growth markets. Having established its first office in Kenya, today Avaya has offices in Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt, with a presence in Morocco and Algeria, as well as legal entities in Zambia, Tanzania and Ghana; which can be turned into offices at any time.

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RAYCOM TECHNOLOGIES

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ayCom Technologies Ghana Limited (RCT) provides a wide spectrum of tailor-made information technology solutions to clients. We provide state-of-the-art, cost-effective and expert services in the information and communication technology (ICT) industry whilst making a distinct contribution to the communities in which we serve.

Since our establishment, we have accumulated tremendous experience and distinguished ourselves in the provision of cost-effective communication solutions for companies in both the public and private sectors.

Partnering with internationally acclaimed ICT solution providers enhances the delivery of the state of the art, cost-effective and user friendly ICT solutions.

Hatem Hariri, Managing Director, Africa, Avaya

Through its industry ecosystem of partners, Avaya has a presence in every African country today.

Avaya’s corporate roots stretch back to the start of the telephony industry. Having begun life as part of AT&T in the US, Avaya was spun-off as an independent company in 2000 to focus on innovation in business communications. Today, Avaya is the only company that specialises in complex business communications –internal for companies’ teams and external for their customers – based on open, mobile software platforms with the network infrastructure to meet customers’ underlying needs. As of January, 2015, Avaya had more than 13,000 employees worldwide, and it is a global leader in many communications sectors.

With this technology leadership Avaya is helping organisations in Africa to progress on their digital transformation journeys. Governments and enterprises around the globe are

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...we are coming to the African market with new technologies and new ways of doing things; we are working with enterprises and governments in the region to help Africa with its digital transformation...

looking at digitisation strategies to drive operational excellence, customer and citizen satisfaction and greater competitive differentiation. Avaya’s client-tailored and outcomes-focused

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Our vision is to become a highly resourced, knowledgeable and professional team of ICT consultants and solution providers, enabling our clients to receive a permanent solution to their ICT needs in a cost-effective manner.

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Providing a wide spectrum of tailor-made information technology solutions Unified Communications Data Networking

Hospitality Solutions Call Center Solutions

Address: No 33 Jungle Road, 100m From A&C Mall East Legon, Accra Ghana Telephone: +233-302215000 Email: info@raycomtechnologies.com www.raycomtechnologies.com

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AGC NETWORKS (AGC)

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GC Networks is a Global Solution Integrator representing the world’s best brands in Unified Communications, Network Infrastructure & Data Center, Cyber Security and Enterprise Applications & Services.

AGC is a leader in Enterprise Communications in India and has a significant presence in the Middle East / Africa, North America, Australia / New Zealand and Singapore / Philippines serving over 3000 customers.

In collaboration with global technology leaders like Avaya, among others, AGC delivers solutions and services that accelerate our customers’ business and ensure Return on Technology Investments (ROTI).

For more information log on to

www.agcnetworks.com Avaya solutions, such as Scopia, help teams communicate more effectively

digital and smart services elevate organisations of every scale and accelerate growth through their digital journeys, with vertical, industry-focused solutions and services that focus on outcomes.

As African nations and businesses look to expand and play a greater role in the global economy, Avaya is operating in all verticals across Africa; including service providers, banking, oil & gas, government, education, healthcare, and hospitality. To give one example, Avaya is providing contact centre technology and managed services in 17 Africa countries for one of the continent’s major service providers.

Avaya’s solutions and services increase the performance, reduce the costs and accelerate the transformation of the service provider’s communications environment, supporting more than a billion calls a year and including video and social media capabilities.

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Digital transformation

Today, Avaya works with 90 percent of the service providers in Africa, from Egypt down to South Africa, and also has a presence in most of the banks on the continent, including pan-African and regional organisations, with many of the large global financial institutions also being Avaya customers.

These projects highlight Avaya’s ongoing transformation into a customer-centric, software and services-driven company. Software and services accounted for more than 71 percent of the company’s total revenue in fiscal 2015 and by April this year, Avaya will offer all its technology solutions, including business collaboration, unified communications, video collaboration, contact centres, and networking solutions, in an ‘as-aservice’ consumable model.

“Avaya today has moved on from selling boxes, we are coming to the

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INTELLIGENT NETWORK

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e live in a digital world where information, data and their management are the keys of power. Mastery of this digital world of computing and telecommunications is essential for all business in the 21st century.

Intelligent Network brings networks and telecoms solutions to meet the needs of businesses that want to control this digital world and ensure their future.

Offering integration of hardware and software, computer, networking and telecommunications solutions and training, Intelligent Network has a team of experts with long experience in the field, both internationally and in Algeria.

T +213 21 674784 E contact@inet-dz.com

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BRINGING YOU IT SOLUTIONS, NETWORKS AND TELECOMS AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE WORLD’S TECHNOLOGY

www.inet-dz.com contact@inet-dz.com Tel: +213 21 67 47 84

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A V A Y A

TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP Avaya specialises in vertical, industry-focused solutions and services that focus on business outcomes for enterprises of all sizes and types, rather than the traditional one-size-fits-all approach. Avaya’s Software Defined Network – Fabric Extended (SDN-Fx) architecture and Engagement Development Platform (EDP) are key solutions that help Avaya answer critical business needs.

With the Internet of Things (IoT) becoming an ever-increasing reality in the enterprise, the need to add devices, services, and applications at the network edge is growing exponentially. The Avaya SDN-Fx networking architecture is the first to deliver automation and programmability from the network core to the user edge, providing “connect anything, anywhere” simplicity; the perfect platform for building Internet of Things strategies and to underpin smart transformation.

Avaya SDN Fx is an open, software-defined networking architecture that delivers “connect anything, anywhere” simplicity, making it simpler for businesses to provision new services and reconfigure networks on the fly. From Wi-Fi accessibility to allowing access to personal devices, SDN Fx allows these to be managed and provisioned quickly, leading to happier customers and staff, and more efficient network management.

EDP is a software development tool that makes it easy to communication-enable business processes. Flexible engagement modules, called Snap-ins, are capable of enabling a range of communication-enabled experiences. For example, a hotel or retail outlet could use Snap-ins to build location-aware beacons that identify VIP customers and notify staff to greet them personally.

Avaya built EDP to be platform-agnostic. It’s designed to communication-enable any app, working with disparate content management systems, programming languages and competing silos of information.

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Avaya is active in major industry verticals across multiple African countries

African market with new technologies and new ways of doing things; we are working with enterprises and governments in the region to help Africa with its digital transformation, helping to deliver solutions that change the lives of citizens and consumers,” Hariri says. “We are working very closely with governments across Africa to help them deliver a more connected experience to their citizens.”

With the majority of Africa’s population under 24 years of age, and the World Bank Group predicting the continent’s population will reach 2.8 billion by 2060 – more than a quarter of all people on Earth – digital transformation is key to Africa’s successful future, Hariri argues.

Exploring new avenues

“We want to be in Africa to stay here and ride the wave together with Africa’s growth and participate in its future,” Hariri says. “We are going increasingly into education and healthcare, such as providing

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Technology adoption

While the region’s predominantly young, tech-savvy, population means awareness of the so-called Third Governments want to be more accessible to Platform technologies - big data and their citizens - that means communications analytics, cloud, social, and mobile - are high, adoption is still uneven, given the which is where we help deliver smart government, diverse nature of the market. making life easier for citizens by working in “It very much depends on the partnership with the government organisations to country. Some countries have good bandwidth, good infrastructure and transform everything to digital good education, and consequently are very advanced in their adoption of new technology,” Hariri says. “If you look at countries like South Africa, Morocco and Algeria, our cloud value proposition is gaining tremendous traction, how we integrate video as a service, unified communications and so on. Many countries here have very advanced technology solutions that are ahead of other regions. For instance, we have seen the use of mobile phones to conduct banking transactions being pioneered in sub-Saharan Africa.”

“Other countries may seem behind in technology adoption but they are catching up fast as the infrastructure develops. The good thing that African countries have done is that they have all opened the market for service providers to come, so each country has several service providers competing to provide better service, and a better customer experience.”

For Avaya, the investment in Africa has proven an enormous success, delivering double-digit growth year-onyear, and winning numerous awards the end-to-end infrastructure for emergency alert systems with various internally and externally. Avaya has doubled its team numbers in the telecommunications to enable remote police forces across the continent, learning and healthcare provision, we while it is working with governments to Africa market, and is looking at further are increasingly present in industries provide infrastructure services including expansion, Hariri says. such as banking and we are here to voice, data and unified communications.

“Africa is fertile land, whatever you stay and build with this population.”

“Governments want to be more put into it will bear fruit,” Hariri says.

Major transformation projects accessible to their citizens - that means “We are investing more and more into the continent, and we are looking more Avaya is working on in Africa include communications - which is where we working with one government to help deliver smart government, making and more at what other countries we can invest in because of the potential build a centralised contact centre that life easier for citizens by working in allows citizens to access all government partnership with the government here. Africa is the hidden jewel of the world that is set to become the shining organisations via a single phone organisations to transform everything jewel,” he concludes. number. Avaya is also working on to digital,” he says.

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ame G I L A T

S A T C O M

Enabling

Connectivity with Value-Added Solutions Having been present in Africa for more than a decade, global communications Company, Gilat Satcom has been focused on ways to diversify its revenue streams and remain ahead of the growing competition on the continent Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Donovan Smith

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ith the level of communication continuously growing in Africa and the unprecedented growth and utilisation of technology to enhance businesses, civilian life and industry, leading communication service provider, Gilat Satcom intends to grow into the value-added products and services that bolster the background management of cellular operations, ISP’s and banks to shape the future of technology on the continent.

With a growing global satellite and fibre connectivity presence in 50 countries across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, the Company represents the international arm of the US$7.5 billion Eurocom Group, created with the purpose of extending the reach of the Group into new markets and adding further value to telecommunication and satellite services.

Eurocom, the largest privately-owned holding Company and largest telecommunications Group in Israel, offers a full suite of telecommunications services including landline, cellular, DBS and ISP services for the various governments, NGOs and cellular networks.

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“Leveraging this strong Group backing and communications infrastructure, Gilat Satcom has been able to access larger and more complex projects and also advance its communication channels to remain at the cutting edge of innovation, answering each individual market’s needs on a case-by-case basis,” explains Dan Zajicek, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gilat Satcom.

“An Afro-Israeli Company”

Gilat Satcom’s strategic move into Africa was a result of prior industry knowhow garnered from the market in Israel, allowing the Company to utilise its wider expertise to deploy a similar strategy in a new location.

Having held a presence on the continent for more than a decade, the Company is very much aware of the rapid technology changes sweeping the continent, and the continual improvements to background infrastructure.

“With Africa representing more than 80 percent of its revenue stream, Gilat Satcom is well rooted in Africa. The continent is experiencing a technological revolution and we are at the forefront of this, not only introducing high-tech solutions to those who can afford it, but creating innovative solutions to close the digital gap,” says Zajicek.

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INTELSAT S.A.

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ntelsat S.A. (NYSE: I) is the world’s leading provider of satellite services, delivering high performance connectivity solutions for media, fixed and mobile broadband infrastructure, enterprise and government and military applications. Intelsat provides services to more than 1,300 customers in nearly 200 countries and territories.

Gilat Satcom HQ (L-R): Tzachit Smaga, Director Human Resources; Orit Gal, CFO; Ami Schneider, VP Sales MSS; Ofer Doron, VP Operations & Engineering; Dan Kamhi, VP Sales; Eran Yoran, CMO & Business Development; and Dan Zajicek, CEO

“Together with Raga, our partner in DRC, we have installed and now operate the first O3B PoP in Africa. We are also shareholders in WIOCC, one of Africa’s biggest fibre network players; therefore representing our excellent cost base - both on EASSY in the east and WACs in the west - from which to expand our capacity and gain an even stronger footprint on the continent,” he further details.

This wise investment began seeing dividends for Gilat Satcom, with Cellcom, Bharti Airtel, Orange, Vodacom and many other telecommunications companies benefitting from a longstanding partnership and high quality service level agreements (SLAs).

Moreover, the changing nature of SLAs and quality of service has meant a stronger demand for a higher level of security and visibility; as well as cost-effective, tailored solutions for the customer. For Gilat Satcom, this was a blessed challenge.

Zajicek adds: “Set apart by our ability to execute complicated solutions in accordance with time and budget constraints, we now see a bigger demand coming from the rural areas in Africa and are adapting and shaping

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these solutions to fit around this new market; connecting more customers to sub-services such as cell networks and enterprise solutions.”

Cyber security

As fibre began to take Africa by storm in 2010, the telecommunications architecture surrounding this evolved, making connecting to the internet much cheaper. This improved infrastructure prompted Gilat Satcom to introduce new value-added services to distinguish itself from the competition by focusing on not just infrastructure, but the resultant services from this.

Moreover, as fibre capacity increased, the requirement for security products started to arrive in response to the increased chance of attacks.

In response to this, Gilat Satcom invested in DDoS security, an ongoing managed and secure service to protect customers from spam and cyber threats. “Our security services enable us to provide customers with a clean and efficient channel from the offset, as we clean the channel of spam from our PoP in Europe and the US, resulting in a higher net capacity on both an international and local scale. For the

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Intelsat’s network, which covers 99% of the world’s populated regions, is comprised of a global fleet of approximately 50 satellites and the IntelsatOneSM terrestrial network, featuring eight strategically located teleports and more than 36,000 miles of leased fiber. An industry leader in technology and innovation, we recently announced our next generation Intelsat Epic NG satellite platform, which includes high performance satellite capacity in an open-architecture design.

As the global leader in satellite communications, Intelsat has provided transmission services for many of the iconic moments of the past 50 years, including the global delivery of video signals of the first moonwalk, providing the “hot line” connecting the White House and the Kremlin and transmitting live television coverage of every Olympics since 1968. The ubiquitous reach of our services allows us to assist first responders with critical connectivity during humanitarian relief Xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx efforts.

Today, Intelsat collaborates with its customers to envision their future network requirements, and connects them using our leading satellite-based network solutions, transforming our customers’ opportunities.

Envision…Connect…Transform…with Intelsat, celebrating 50 years of space leadership in 2014.

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customer, this means a more effective use of data and more megabytes per dollar, making it more cost-effective for those who choose us,” explains Zajicek.

Epic Service prelaunch

Leveraging its strong relationship with Intelsat, Gilat Satcom is already rolling out its new, high-throughput satellite (HTS) service and EPIC contracts, a year before the first satellite is launched.

Eran Yoran, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Business Development

Smart Village Project In 2015, Gilat Satcom launched its Smart Village concept, providing villagers in rural Africa access to telephony and internet powered by solar electricity and an efficient Wi-Fi solution that is available for as little as $1-$5 a month.

The Smart Village is economically self-sustaining and scalable so it can grow with demand and with a minimal additional investment. This is a growing project, providing a solution which provides capacity to these areas, providing communication where there is none and serving as a platform for access to e-learning, e-healthcare, e-government and more.

“As a long term supplier of broadband in Africa, it’s our duty to give back to the community and recognise the huge role that connectivity plays in people’s lives. Via our NGOnly service, we provide free capacity for NGO’s so they can better support local communities,” highlights Yoran.

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Gilat Satcom’s data centre hosted by Bezeqint, a sister Company in the Eurocom Group

explains the process: “Our motto is ‘the future is coming… get connected’, and is representative of our desire to be at the front of innovation. In the case of HTS, our customers today are already signing EPIC contracts. We serve them today from an existing Intelsat satellite that will be replaced with a new EPIC one; however, we are already providing the capacity and pricing that the customer will gain from EPIC.” Not only will this increase satellite capacity and value for money for the customer, but while they wait for the new satellite to be launched, Gilat Satcom has a whole host of valueadded services that they can access as part of their long-term contract in the meantime.

The CEO adds: “Becoming EPIC HTS-ready is our way of looking toward the future, by investing in the best technology ahead of time and making it available to our customers first. Our customers are among the first in Africa to experience this technology.”

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Push-to-talk over satellite

In addition to traditional services, Gilat Satcom is a mobile satellite services (MSS) expert, holding a strong relationship with both Iridium and Inmarsat. Due to its relationship with Israeli defence forces, Gilat Satcom was chosen as one of a handful of Iridium partners to distribute Iridium’s new PTT platform around the world.

Zajicek states: “Working closely with Iridium, a mobile satellite communications Company, we recently launched the PTT service; a smarter, more cost-effective and more secure way of communicating either as a group or as individuals.

“Essentially, PTT is a globalrange walkie-talkie that has proven extremely beneficial to world security organisations, NGOs and the military; as well as presenting many advantages for civilian and business use across aviation, maritime and enterprise.”

As security needs are rising, PTT technology is becoming more and

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Iridium PTT: Build and manage your groups easily.

Push-to-Talk with individuals and teams anywhere in the world, over satellite

Gilat Satcom headquarters

more important, especially in Africa where vast areas of the country do not receive full coverage by any other means except satellite; and in other parts of the world where the security forces are in a need of a reliable and secure one-to-many solution.

“Adding to this are two other unique products; Suricate and SuricatePRO. This revolutionary communication solution provides users in underground and other closed facilities with the ability to communicate over standard satellite phones or satellite systems without having to leave their secure surroundings,” Yoran adds.

partner network.

“Today, Gilat Satcom is a multifaceted Company that has evolved beyond satellite communication, embracing the latest industry innovations and practices as communications become better and more affordable. We work closely with our customers to understand their future challenges, and invest to give them a competitive edge,” Yoran summarises.

Zajicek concludes: “As a Company that provides both satellite and fibre to African customers, installing a data centre in one of our PoPs come as a natural choice for us in 2016. Innovation Multi-faceted is something that is very much rooted Ensuring a high level of service from within our DNA, therefore our desire to its staff and subcontractors via a strict address the biggest trends with the best training framework and facility, 2016 products and services is unparalleled is to revolve around the value-add for in the industry; directly reacting to the Gilat Satcom; a consequence of its hard growing interest in data, cloud and work and huge investments in a strong subsequent products such as security infrastructure backbone, extensive and enterprise solutions to enable Africa market research and longstanding to reach its full potential.

Iridium Go: Turn your smartphone or tablet into a satellite phone

Lock&Roll: A global satellite/GSM container monitoring system

MHub: Fleet management

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SETTING THE TONE FOR

Long-Term Success

Leveraging the wider MTN Group’s expertise and support has been key for the Company’s move into South Sudan as it now looks to formalise operations by focusing on the country’s basic needs Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Donovan Smith

TN South Sudan has spent the past five years working tirelessly to address the existing economic and infrastructural development gaps in the country, with the ultimate aim to formalise and bolster its operations by firming up the challenging building blocks required to do so.

“MTN now has an impressive 38 percent market share in South Sudan and in order to maintain this leading position, 2016 will be all about the value-add behind the scenes; such as stabilising the grid by installing adequate infrastructure, improving our

services, creating additional products and continuing local training regimes,” says Philip Besiimire, MTN South Sudan’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

As part of the South Africanbased multinational mobile telecoms Company, MTN Group, the South Sudan operations are a relatively new addition to the organisation’s increasingly growing African footprint; incepted in 2011 at the beginning of the country’s independence. Despite the current challenges arising from the Government’s decision to devalue the local currency at the end of 2015, MTN South Sudan is one of few international companies to persevere and see a light at the end of the tunnel, whenever this may be.

He notes: “South Sudan has very specific needs which need to be answered in tandem with stepping into the fray and matching the technologies offered in other parts of the world. When you mix all the social and economic challenges together, it makes this an even tougher task.

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Africa’s most trusted specialist in the provision of integrated risk solutions.

We believe that creating a safe environment enables people and business to thrive and contributes to social and economic development.

Through our Strength and Integrity we strive to be the best, harnessing our agility and adaptability, by continuous improvement of our people and processes.

Warrior Security combines global expertise and superior local knowledge, innovative technology and outstanding human resources. We provide integrated security solutions tailored to our clients.

We’re operational in South Sudan, Tanzania, DR Congo, Zambia and Kenya.

Creating a Safe Environment

Democratic Republic of Congo Tel: +243 828 271 186 / +243 970 045 119 Email: congo@warrior-security.com Web: www.warrior-security.com Tanzania Tel: +255 783 466 664 Email: tanzania@warrior-security.com Web: www.warrior-security.com

South Sudan Tel: +211 954 043 772 Email: southsudan@warrior-security.com Web: www.warrior-security.com

Kenya Phone: +254 709 851 000 Email: solutions@warrior-insight.com Web: www.warrior-insight.com

Zambia Tel: +260 966 566 509 / +255 783 891 051 Email: zambia@warrior-security.com Web: www.warrior-security.com

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“We have barely realised the market potential here, but for this to be fulfilled, we need to help create an enabling and conducive environment.”

Continued investment

Given that telecommunications is in its infancy in South Sudan, MTN has to balance the provision of the best and latest services with a sustainable longterm outlook. Besiimire explains: “Over the past year, we made efforts to improve our backbone infrastructure by deploying 17 new coverage sites and continuing our investments in alternative energy solutions; deploying 25 new solar power sites to replace the more unreliable diesel generators.

“While energy has been an important area of investment, we have made efforts to improve our data services in line with the significant growth we are seeing. Moreover, leveraging our terrestrial links to the

MTN South Sudan is addressing economic development gaps in a sustainable manner

We have barely realised the market potential here, but for this to be fulfilled, we need to help create an enabling and conducive environment

country, we have started offering enterprise business solutions.”

MTN South Sudan continues to push-on with its plans to make sure that 3G is available in key towns across the country. As a start-up with limited resources, MTN is making the most of its time and money to drive network and cell phone growth on all fronts via the most appropriate routes to market.

The Company has built some-25 new service centres across the country to complement this data increase,

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designed to make the offering more accessible to customers, while simultaneously increasing the brand’s presence in the country.

“These centres will have a range of products on sale, such as low-cost, data-enabled smartphones under US$35 and ultra low-cost handsets with a basic internet offering for below US$15. Voice remains the dominant service in demand but we are seeing an increase in data service adoption; therefore, we are keen to venture

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into financial services to enhance our offering and will do so as soon as we have a license,” he says.

In addition to the huge task of starting from scratch and building the infrastructure required to offer such an impressive range of services becoming of the MTN Group, the South Sudan operations have to also overcome a significant number of social and economic challenges to further stabilise the Company’s footprint.

According to the World Bank, only 27 percent of the population aged 15 years and above are literate; a figure which has still yet to rise above 30 percent.

“Essentially, the overall progress of our services is dependent on the country’s stability. South Sudan’s mobile penetration rate is still low

by African standards, which is to be expected for a fairly new market that is recovering from conflict. If the current efforts to stabilise the country are realised, the penetration could easily rocket to 60 percent-plus to rival the

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arrior Security is Africa’s most trusted specialist in the provision of integrated risk solutions. We enable organisations to achieve their goals through cost-effective security measures that are founded in, and focused on, risk mitigation. There is no one size fits all approach to delivering security services in Africa; therefore, we tailor solutions to meet unique needs, which create safe environments for clients to operate in.

The services that Warrior Security provides are wide ranging: uniformed manned guarding, armed response, security management, critical organizational information (COI) and risk advice & management, alarms, security system design installation (SSDI), access control, remote video monitoring (RVM), location and tracking services, polygraph, canine units, cash in transit (CIT), executive protection, and training.

Warrior’s client base is largely comprised of corporate, government and humanitarian organizations. We have ongoing operations in South Sudan, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zambia. We have also rebranded in Kenya under the name Warrior Insight. At Warrior Insight our intelligence and unique operational innovation sets a new standard. We aim to transform risk management across the region, starting in Kenya with Warrior Insight as a market leader. http://www.warrior-insight.com/ South Sudan is still the largest operation for the company and CEO Tony Sugden admits that whilst all areas of Warrior’s business deserve the same attention, South Sudan is a special venture.

“I do covet the integrity and resilience of the South Sudanese. There really is no other country in Africa like South Sudan.”

“Since Warrior began operations in Juba back in 2008, much has changed. The business climate on the ground has gone from a frontier spirit, where there were opportunities at every turn, to a climate where the ability to adapt to changing security and economic conditions has become paramount in order to maintain continued growth of the business.”

“As a company, Warrior has managed to stay on top by reinforcing processes and ensuring high standards are maintained through hiring expert personnel. The company is built around professionals who have extensive experience in dangerous and often chaotic environments, coupled to intimate knowledge of the cultural and regional peculiarities of their specialist country of operation.”

“It also goes without saying that we couldn’t have reached where we are without the help of our local workforce, which I am overwhelmingly proud of”, said Sugden.

Senior members of Warrior Security are comfortable in any environment worldwide but it is our local grounding that gives us an edge over competitors. Warrior has experienced the first hand ground truth and developed the necessary systems, procedures and resources to serve our clients, from a position of knowledge, with strength and integrity across African markets.

www.warrior-security.com

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BARKA GENERAL TRADING

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arka General Trading imports and exports a variety of products, including food stuffs, building materials and electronics.

Since its foundation, the company has undertaken a number of significant business contracts with both the private and public sectors, including NGO’s.

Along with our sister company in South Sudan, Global General Trading, our mission is “To provide quality and affordable food stuff, building materials, electronics, electrical parts and other items to our customers.”

MTN capitalises on the strong branding and reputation it has in Africa

likes of Kenya, Uganda and other fastgrowing nations,” says Besiimire.

Adapting to cultural differences

To combat some of South Sudan’s core challenges, the Company is ensuring that it helps to grow the country’s literacy figure by investing in all the vital socio-economic areas that directly affect communication across rural areas; which, according the World Bank, could be home to almost 83 percent of the South Sudanese population.

Aligning its business to reflect the wider Group’s desire for community involvement, MTN has to adapt its brand to the cultural differences that South Sudan presents. Moreover, pricing needs to be simple and communication needs to be accessible to address the changing market needs.

Besiimire highlights: “We strive to play more than just a communications and connectivity role; we embed ourselves into the community through an aggressive corporate social responsibility programme.”

With a focus primarily on addressing the lack of education in South Sudan, MTN feels it has inherited a

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responsibility to develop skills through its programmes, encouraging young people to attend school and adopt IT at an early stage to raise the level of interest and education in the telecoms sector for the new generation.

“In 2015, we set up three computer labs in local schools and after seeing firsthand the success from this, we would like to explore other ways to

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In 2015, we set up three computer labs in local schools and after seeing firsthand the success from this, we would like to explore other ways to help the young generation improve their ‘digital literacy’

We want to become your trusted trading partner in your business.

T +971504275338

www.barkageneraltrading.com

help the young generation improve their ‘digital literacy’. This simultaneously provides children who have felt cut off from the rest of the world a way to make the right steps forward in terms of education, and provides the opportunity to get connected with the rest of the world,” he adds.

This programme is in addition to the Company’s continued emphasis on other areas of national concern beyond its traditional sphere of telecoms interests, identifying healthcare, the provision of clean water and other enabling initiatives as crucial areas to be addressed.

Growing local impact

Yet another string to MTN South Sudan’s bow is its training programmes, specifically its active national secondment talent exchange programme. “We are able to borrow professionals from neighbouring countries such as Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa primarily, to help grow the business on both a short and long-term basis,” notes Besiimire.

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launched to the market.

He confirms: “We have ambitious plans to grow the capacities of the organisation from a people point of view. Most of our 200 employees are South Sudanese, however, we continue to rely on external expatriate expertise for the training element.

We are seeing a gradual uptake of key positions by local people, but it is a well-known fact there is a skills shortage in this market which, as a Group, we are trying to combat.

“Ultimately, if we are to align with our Group’s vision, we need to improve While this training provides the the local South Sudanese’s digital business with the right support tools capabilities, skills and exposure to for success, it does not address the need to upskill South Sudanese people. technology. So for every expat that we Therefore, MTN South Sudan has a bring in, we make sure there is a local long-term training programme in place understudy.” which it hopes to grow in time to assist With all of the above elements currently underway, MTN South Sudan in creating a sustainable business environment for the Company in the is doing everything it can to secure the future. Running alongside this are long-term success and sustainability of the leading MTN brand. By making short term-training initiatives that are a concerted effort to keep up and implemented when a new product is

invest in the latest industry trends and strategically working to identify and answer the core needs of its customers, the digital revolution has only just begun for this independent nation.

“Overall, while South Sudan is a country of opportunity it has become a question of time frames. We are taking a realistic and measured approach and continue to review the options available to us, identifying what strategies are best for both the country and its people, and our shareholders,” comments Besiimire.

He concludes: “In this market, you have to be agile enough to respond to the fast-changing environment, but also make the right investments while being mindful of the business terrain you are operating in. So far, the MTN Group’s investments have been incremental to our business success and we continue to maintain an optimistic viewpoint for our future in South Sudan.”

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Today’s Convenience Through

TOMORROW’S Technology

Emtel may be one of the oldest operators in Africa but remains one of the most forward thinking, epitomised by its recent service diversifications and technological enhancements Writer: Matthew Staff Project Manager: Donovan Smith

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or more than a quarter of a century, Emtel has established itself as a leading light in modern and futuristic provision of telecoms services, and continues to thrive within this image to this day with a current drive towards 4G technologies and innovative value-add services.

Established in 1989 as the first telecoms operator in the Southern Hemisphere, the previously Millicomdriven Company has made a name for itself for being the first to the punch; an accolade evident across the launching of 2G, 3G and, more recently, 4G network speeds.

Putting Mauritius on the map from a technological perspective, the Company has since evolved into a onestop shop for ICT solutions offering a

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wide range of products and services across individual, enterprise and residential domains.

“Today, with 4G and FTTB (fibre to the building) services it is one of the most technologically advanced operators in Africa,” the Company states. “Emtel also offers international connectivity solutions via undersea optical fibre and state-of-the-art Tier-3 data centre services and, in June, 2015, launched the first ‘fibre through the air’ (FTTA) of the region, thus providing unlimited internet to the home with fibre-like

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internet access services, where no underground cabling is required.

“With FTTA, Emtel truly becomes today a one-stop shop for the whole family and for the business.”

The ongoing evolution continues via a comprehensive series of investments into the Company’s network infrastructure, as well as its logistics, warehousing and data centre hubs; all to facilitate such diversification of services to the end consumers.

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Emtel innovation

In recent times, as much as $10 million has been spent on data centres, complementing the progression into 4G and significant developments within the enterprise space.

Having such a diverse array of products and services naturally lends

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CREAD

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read is a fully-fledged marketing communications enterprise. We have been unlocking potentials to further enhance brands and businesses for the past 33 years in Mauritius and broader Africa.

With our unique Design Thinking process we transform your business and brands into masterpieces that win the hearts and minds of your audiences.

We have been among the pioneers of the FCBAFRICA network. Present in 25 sub-Saharan African countries, we bring expertise to add value to local businesses.

Our 25 year partnership with Emtel is a proof of our high standard strategic and creative excellence. We pride ourselves to be part of making Emtel a household brand.

T +230 454 6414 E cread@intnet.mu

Emtel is committed to rolling out fibre through the air across Mauritius

igh Unlimited H et n Speed Inter

hed Emtel launc its Airbox fixed broadband vice wireless ser , in Balaclava peeds delivering s bps of up to 30M

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itself to such a plethora of varying consumers, with Emtel subsequently able to be flexible and customise its offering to form the best bespoke option for each customer; especially within the aforementioned business domain.

The inception of a PRI fixed telephony service for businesses kickstarted this initiative back in 2014 and set the tone for the rapid development of the Emtel portfolio that has been witnessed since.

Epitomising this commitment to value-add services is its Airbox product, facilitating unlimited high speed internet, fixed home phone functionality, Wi-Fi, 1GB of email storage capacity, and 24-seven customer care.

Bringing such levels of technology to the table is one thing, but instilling it in as many regions of Mauritius as possible is another, and the Company has gone to great lengths in forming a presence across

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www.fcb.co.za both urban and rural areas of the country; especially through Airbox.

“Emtel launched its Airbox broadband fixed wireless service in Balaclava, delivering speeds of up to 30Mbps,” a report said.

Chief Executive Officer, Shyam Roy continued: “The system overcomes the problem of the slow rollout of fibre across the country. Emtel has been testing its fibre through the air service for a year and 66 percent of the country’s homes are eligible.

“The remainder will be reached in a second phase due to be completed in early 2016. There are three voice and data plans available with speeds ranging from 10-30Mbps.”

Other innovative variations on contemporary tech necessities include Emtel’s own take on cloud technologies, enterprise intranets, M2M functionality and, of course, Emtel Cash; “Another innovation by Emtel which enables you to store, send and receive money using your mobile phone”.

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Maintaining its reputation as a pioneer, arguably its most significant introduction over the past 12 months has been the launch of Facebook mobile; an ongoing and concerted corporate social responsibility initiative being driven across Africa, but completely new to Mauritius prior to Emtel strengthening its role as an enabler and social developer in the country.

Affordable, accessible and available

In view of providing the best products and services across its customer base, Emtel continuously demonstrates its passion in adopting ‘Total Quality’ principles, benchmarked against the very best global standards.

Becoming the first Mauritian Company to achieve ISO 9001 certification by the British Standards Institution, the Company’s pledge to continually improve the effectiveness of its quality management system is expressed through its official quality policy.

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“Emtel is committed to satisfy the needs and expectations of its customers through the provision of efficient, effective and innovative services,” it notes. “Emtel will ensure continual improvements of its quality system in compliance with ISO 9001 requirements.”

Looking forward, it is this platform of internal operational excellence that will enable Emtel to maintain its position at the head of the pack in Mauritius, while carrying through on the promises, visions and missions laid out when the business first began more than 25 years ago.

“Our vision is people enjoying access to their world; a world where mobile and other services are affordable, accessible and available,” the Company says. “As a telecommunication and information service provider

we are committed to offering an efficient, personalised customer service to fully satisfy our customers; creating an environment leading to employee development and satisfaction; building long-term valued relationships with our trading partners; optimising the value of the Company for the benefit of our shareholders; and contributing to the socio-economic development of the Republic of Mauritius.”

Airbox

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RETAIL

CONGRESS

AFRICA

Enabling Retail Entrepreneurs to Accelerate Growth in Africa This year’s Retail Congress welcomed a new range of themes, features and formats, with more than 50 expert speakers providing insight into the continent’s burgeoning retail markets

etail Congress Africa launched in 2013 and, as the first of its kind on the continent, it brought together more than 270 of the most senior retail executives operating in the Pan-African region, as well as game-changing international leaders.

In 2015 it continued its promise to provide a dynamic platform for

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discussion on the critical trends and opportunities in retail across the continent. This year it welcomed a range of new themes, features and formats to help a vast range of attendees connect with like-minded peers and take home valuable insights to inform future strategy.

Dedicated to exploring new trends and tendencies of the market, Retail Congress’ theme for 2015

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was defined as: ‘Driving the pillars of growth: Expansion, Innovation, Operational Excellence and Consumer Knowledge’.

The Congress featured in-depth discussions on key areas for growth such as progressing into new markets, updating mobile and online capabilities, and understanding how to connect with new consumer groups who have more discretionary

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income at their disposal.

Taking place at the luxurious Westin Hotel in the vibrant city of Cape Town, sessions were challenging, powerful and provided actionable outcomes. Each speaker on this year’s programme shared their visions to inspire and to push for innovation.

Retail Congress Africa, 2015 brought together more than 300 of the most senior members from both domestic and international retailer businesses; providing an invaluable opportunity to share ideas, be inspired by 50-plus expert speakers and network with those directing the future of the industry.

As Africa represents the retail growth market of the future with unexploited opportunities for

first-movers, the Congress has long been a platform for problem solving and proactive collaboration, and attendees to this year’s event proved no different in providing revolutionary strategies to reach the new African customer. Attendance at the Congress facilitated the delivery of revolutionary strategies to reach the new African customer.

KEY SPEAKERS • Virgin Active SA • AttAfrica • Spree • Mars South Africa • McDonald’s • Pizza Hut • Massmart • Jaguar Land Rover • Groupon • KFC • Pick n Pay • L’Oreal • The Coca-Cola Company • Nando’s • The Walt Disney Company • Mondelez International

AFRICA OUTLOOK is an official media partner of Retail Congress Africa, 2015 and 2016, while also partnering with the wider World Retail Congress in the coming year. In this month’s edition, we take the chance to profile some of the speakers and attendees from the continent and sector’s premier gathering of experts, with Virgin Active SA, AttAfrica, Spree and Fruit & Veg City all sharing their comprehensive industry insights and personal success stories. Stay tuned over the next 12 months as our partnership continues in this vein, via even more features documenting the market leaders that are masterminding and dictating retail trends across Africa.

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Championing the

Sustainability Agenda Mars Food took the opportunity at Retail Congress Africa 2015 to share its sustainable ambitions for South Africa, and indeed the global Mars footprint Writer: Matthew Staff Project Manager: James Mitchell

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The confectionery, food products and pet food producer is a truly global entity, with brands including Mars, Snickers, Bounty, Whiskers, Pedigree and Uncle Ben’s established household names in each region of operation. In South Africa, the Company is equally prominent through its manufacturing and distribution network, with the

Mars Food products

country one of the more interesting platforms on which to promote more sustainable processes and operational excellence.

The annual gathering at the increasingly significant Retail Congress event once again set the tone for heavyweights like Mars to not just share their own expertise, but to feed off the industry’s potential gamechangers, of all sizes, with a view to enhanced sector prominence in the future.

Having been present in South Africa for 12 years, Mars’ ongoing

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investments into factory optimisation has been award-winning; complementing a general, global knowledge base and making the Company’s future incentives all the more fascinating for peers at Retail Congress Africa 2015.

Triple bottom line

This year’s topic discussed by Mars was ‘Driving a Triple Bottom Line Strategy: Championing the Sustainability Agenda’; an area very much in Mars’ wheelhouse and one which Mars Food’s Supply Chain Director, David Hallett happily addressed as he discussed the Company’s view towards a more efficient future.

“We recognise the immense challenge posed to society by climate change, water scarcity, and deforestation. We are committed to make a difference in tackling them, while continuing to grow as a successful business,” he said.

“We have some important goals in the sustainability space. At Mars our mission is to ‘deliver growth we are proud of’.

“Part of achieving that is to be ‘Sustainable in a Generation’ [and] in the shorter-term, we define that as a 25 percent reduction in our water and energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions.”

With concerted pressure on both these resources in Africa - and South Africa in particular - Mars is already ahead of the game in implementing these targets at its food plant in Cape Town, paving the way for its longerterm ambition and commitment to reduce the Company’s dependence

David Hallett receiving the Productivity SA award for the Western Cape, 2013

on fossil fuel use and to eliminate GHG emissions by 2040.

Hallett continued: “This is certainly going to be a tough challenge in Africa, but Mars has already shown its commitment to step-changing how we provide energy for our plants with the largest ever investment in renewable energy by a global food company.

“Mars invested in a vast wind farm in Texas that effectively provides energy equal to that required by all its North American operations. The scale of this investment demonstrates the Mars family commitment to addressing climate change in a meaningful way.”

Mars also has ambitious targets regarding zero waste to landfill, with two-thirds of its global operations already meeting this demand. In Africa, the resources and facilities to facilitate the same results aren’t readily available, but the Company has once again countered this via a partnership with RE-, a Company dedicated to ethical environment re-engineering.

“We are in the advanced stages of testing with a local cement kiln to use our waste in their energy stream,” Hallett explained. “This is a great area where non-competitive collaboration with other businesses drives the triple bottom line for everyone involved.”

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The sustainability initiatives that Mars has pursued are triple bottom line solutions that not only deliver social and environmental benefits, but deliver business opportunities as well, with enhanced energy efficiencies providing greater freedom to do business from its factories.

“Similarly, our sustainable sourcing solutions ensure a long-term supply of the commodities our business depends on,” Hallett added. “For example, we have committed to sustainably sourcing 100 percent of Mars Food’s rice by 2020 through the adoption of a new global standard for sustainable rice.

“Developed by the Sustainable

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Rice Platform (SRP) – a publicprivate partnership led by the UN Environmental Programme and the International Rice Research Institute – this standard will lead to the adoption of sustainable rice practices in key ricegrowing regions that will reduce water use and greenhouse gas emissions, but also increase farmers’ yields, and thus, their income.

“These strategies are good for the environment and rice farming communities, but they also ensure that Mars Food will continue to have access to the high-quality rice our consumers love in Uncle Ben’s. That’s why Mars Food took a leading role in developing the SRP standard.”

IMPERIAL LOGISTICS

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nique end-to-end solutions the catalyst for client competitiveness

At Imperial, we improve our clients’ competitiveness through customising our experience in outsourced value chain management. Our diverse experience and expansive capabilities extend from procurement to brand activation, and include all the logistics services in between. As a result, Imperial Logistics is the only company that can take materials and products from their original source - via manufacturing - to the end-consumer point of sale. “Get me there; sell my product; build my brand” is the way we describe our integrated, end-to-end value proposition.

Our strategy is fortified by our position as a leading distributor of FMCG, pharmaceuticals, liquor, tobacco and general merchandise products - through which Imperial has the unique capability to “sell my product”. The strategy is further augmented in the brand conscious African market by our brand activation services - the capability to “build my brand” which provides the ability to “pull’ products through the value chain to the end consumer.

We accordingly have a proud track record of building the brands of our consumer products and automotive principals. Imperial’s distributor capabilities, strengthened with orderto-cash and merchandising services, are combined with brand activation and promotion capabilities to offer demanddriven route-to-market solutions to leading consumer brand owners.

With a focus on “feet on the ground”, we have the ability to add significant value to our clients’ brands - whilst contributing to employment creation, training and skills development across Africa.

T +27 11 677 5000 E info@imperial.co.za

www.imperiallogistics.co.za David Hallett - Mars Food Supply Chain Director at the Make the Difference Awards, 2015

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BUSINESS IS ABOUT THE EDGE INSPIRING OUR CLIENTS TO BE MORE

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Five Principles

Mars’ focus on sustainability is inspired by the Company’s Five Principles, which drive business decisions and the work of its associates.

“At Mars Food, our purpose – Better Food Today. A Better World Tomorrow – also drives our work on sustainability, particularly our efforts to map our rice supply chain and deliver 100 percent sustainably-sourced rice by 2020,” Hallett said. “As a private, familyowned business, Mars has the freedom to take a long-term view and invest in innovative and sustainable practices that will enable us to deliver growth we are proud of.

“Through our Five Principles, we believe we have a responsibility to seek mutual solutions to today’s challenges that will provide benefits not only to our business, but also our suppliers, customers, consumers and associates.”

Further to this, Mars has engaged with a wide variety of stakeholders

Through our Five Principles, we believe we have a responsibility to seek mutual solutions to today’s challenges that will provide benefits not only to our business, but also our suppliers, customers, consumers and associates

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Mars Food associates celebrating Heritage day, 2015 Mars Food associates serving in the Shoprite Soup Kitchen

to advance its sustainability initiatives on a global scale; from the UN Environment programme, to key trade associations, government stakeholders, NGOs, and researchers.

“We believe in the power of public/ private partnerships to bring about credible solutions that can have a lasting impact,” Hallett affirmed.

A great place to work

Sustainability isn’t only relevant from an internal perspective, with the aforementioned business partnerships and strategic alliances pivotal to the Company’s formulation of a local influence, despite being a global enterprise.

This same engraining into the local fabric is evident via Mars’ corporate social responsibility efforts, enriching lives in the surrounding communities and once again laying the foundations for a longstanding, reputable presence

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Mars Food is on track to achieve its goal of 100 percent sustainably-sourced rice by 2020

in one of its fastest growing markets.

“One project very close to our heart is the Shoprite Soup Kitchen through which Royco partners with other companies to serve soup on a daily basis to South Africans in need,” Hallett concluded. “To date, we have served well over 20 million cups of soup. Mars Food Africa provides the fortified soup for this initiative and our associates commit to volunteering to

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serve soup in our communities.

“In fact, many Mars associates from around the world are so proud of this initiative, they make it something they want to do when they come on holiday with their families to South Africa and some even insist on paying towards the soup themselves.

“These kinds of activities make me really proud to work at Mars. Mars truly is a great place to work!”

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Entering a market with tremendous potential The recent acquisition of Afripack by Constantia Flexibles represents a continuation of the external growth strategy initiated by the Vienna headquartered group, and that consists of expanding in high growth areas. Afripack is the second largest flexible packaging company in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa and this acquisition will help Constantia operate in a highly attractive market, where middle class population is expanding and becoming more and more brand-conscious. “We are entering a market with tremendous potential. The African market is a very bustling one and strong growth-numbers are expected within the next years”, said Friedrich Humer, EVP Food Emerging Markets at Constantia Flexibles.

Joining forces with Afripack will also allow Constantia leverage the group’s product range and innovation capabilities to service local key customers.

Constantia Flexibles is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of flexible packaging and labels. The group supplies its products to numerous multinational corporations and local market leaders in the food, pet food, pharmaceuticals and beverage industries.

In total Constantia Flexibles has over 3,000 customers worldwide.

Close to 10,000 employees in almost 80 group companies, more than 53 production locations in over 23 countries supply innovative flexible packaging solutions on a global level. The business of Constantia Flexibles is divided into three divisions - Food, Pharma and Labels.

Contact us: T: +27 31 452 1300 E: info@afripack.co.za www.cflex.com

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Better Results Better AND

Growth PCS Group of Companies is striving for multiple successes across multiple sectors, via its multiple continuous improvement strategies; all with consumer satisfaction in mind Writer: Matthew Staff Project Manager: Tom Cullum

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CS Group of Companies has developed into a leading importer, distributor and wholesaler of food and beverage products, and is now seeking enhanced diversification across its business arms to capitalise on an ever-broadening international presence.

Recently celebrating its 50th birthday, the Pee Cee and Sons element of the Sierra Leonean Company has long thrived as a consequence of its key continental and global brand distributor arrangements, ranging across a variety of product categories.

However, a later expansion into the manufacturing of plastic household items, plastic packaging, water tanks and PVC pipe solutions in 2001, via its sister Milla Group SL Ltd branch, has helped to form a much more allencompassing prospect to potential

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Pee Cee van driver

consumers in the region.

“On a business level, PCS Group of Companies puts consumers at the heart of its strategy,” says General Manager, Rajesh Hemnani. “We have continually strived to build brands that have an impact on the daily lifestyles of the average consumer and place extra emphasis on procuring quality products from around the world, working with top level suppliers.

We have been very active with ATL advertising around the country to promote the availability and quality of our products.

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“Anticipating changes in customers’ needs has helped us stay robust in an ever-changing market and we take the time to study market research to get insights on how, where and when products are consumed.”

The Group’s commitment to innovation and willingness to adapt to fluctuating trends has been pivotal throughout the business’s evolution, and remains core to its success today, as PCS looks ahead to even more diversity across its products and services, especially in the newer plastics domain.

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“Our future project plan is to develop and integrate a plastics recycling plant for consumer waste,” says Chief Executive Officer, Mahesh Nandwani. “As of now we have already implemented in-house recycling machines in order to minimise wastage within our plant while we use a combination of virgin material and the recycled pellets of plastic to make other products.

“Wastage and pollution has become a burgeoning problem so there is an increasing need for effective waste disposal and we have taken the first

Mahesh Nandwani, CEO

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inguin is a pioneer and market leader in healthy frozen food products. For more than 50 years, Pinguin has been processing a wide range of freshly harvested produce into fresh frozen products – vegetables, herbs and fruit - for retail, foodservice and industry clients.

Our passionate Pinguin team of almost 1,600 employees grows and processes some 430,000 tonnes of products annually. Ten production sites are strategically located in the most fertile agricultural areas of Europe.

Our fresh frozen products find their way to customers in eighty countries worldwide.

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PCS’ project plan is to develop and integrate a plastics recycling plant for consumer waste

steps by producing garbage bags and garbage bins which are being procured by waste management companies and the city council.”

traditional ethos of gaining maximum outreach for its products, whether that’s from a utilisation perspective or from a geographic footprint and distribution point of view.

Maximising outreach Beginning with the Company’s The immediate positive feedback being food items, “to achieve this, we have received in relation to such additions invested in expanding our fleet of is testament to the strategies being delivery vehicles and we have set up implemented by PCS across its core wholesale distribution outlets across consumer base in Sierra Leone. the country in the past 10 years, in It follows naturally on from its the country’s main cities”, Hemnani

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explains. “This allows us to maximise our outreach. When dealing with perishable items it is critical that the goods are delivered fresh and in optimal condition. So our investment into managing the supply chain from importing until final delivery ensures we achieve these deliverables.”

For the supplementary Milla Group, the same ethos remains, and is evident through numerous investments into machinery allowing for flexible production capacity and, subsequently, bespoke plastic products.

“With that in mind we have made ground in the agricultural sector with seedling bags. We have moved from making up to 3,000 litre water tanks to now making up to 10,000 litre tanks in horizontal and vertical sizes,” Nandwani continues. “Traditionally we made high pressure and low pressure water PVC pipes whereas now we also make pipes that can be used for electrical and network cabling.

“This allows us to reach new

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Oxfam Milla Tank

customer bases and organisations partaking in wide-scale projects.”

With at least an export presence in Liberia and Guinea, as well as Sierra Leone, the need to remain flexible and

adherent to fluctuating regional trends is imperative and is achieved through the continual upgrading of machinery and an increasingly prominent reliance on automation.

A three-layer extrusion machine doubling packaging plastic capacity, an injection moulding machine, and a new roto moulding machine with a capacity of as much as 10,000 litres represent the latest capital expenditures as part of this strategy, and are compounded by an equally vigilant monitoring of the Company’s internal processes.

Nandwani says: “In the past five years we have significantly enhanced our accounting and IT infrastructure which has improved our productivity two-fold.

“Emphasis was put on connectivity between all departments of the organisation to ensure seamless and secure transfer of business information. This reduces our lead time in problem solving and avoids common miscommunications.”

Willingness to improve

The second facet of PCS’ continuous improvement philosophy comprises

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Tirma billboard

the all-important personnel aspect which has been fostered over the years to encourage internal promotion and extensive retention techniques in order to keep hold of the very best and most necessary skills.

“We have fostered a merit-based promotion strategy with the goal to continually train and develop our employees’ skill-sets in different divisions of the Company,” Nandwani affirms. “So no matter where we place our employees, our core capabilities are still intact. We believe a nurturing environment has helped us achieve this longevity in promoting senior managers and incorporating new employees.”

Quarterly appraisals and ongoing training from management down ensures that this promise is fulfilled, consequently instilling a 360 degree perspective in dealing with business situations among its staff members.

A focus on local employment further compounds the Group’s strive for sustainability, and as many as 430

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Milla extrusion machine

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local, skilled artisans now enjoy the incentives and personal progression that PCS provides.

Similar sustainability is emanated across the surrounding region outside of its core operations as well, via an ongoing corporate social responsibility presence and the promotion of its “Water is Life” campaign.

Nandwani explains: “The essence of the campaign is to engage communities on the importance of access to clean water and also adequately preserving and storing water when it is scarce.

“Milla has worked with Unicef and NGOs like Oxfam, MSF, IMC, Plan, Save the Children and WHH. We partook in projects to build communal water taps and we have donated water tanks to these communities so they can preserve clean water. During the

Ebola crisis PCS Group was very active in providing sanitation packages and food baskets to towns across the country that were hit by Ebola.”

Ultimately, what PCS has achieved - and will strive to hone even more prominently in the years to come - is a core, unwavering ethos addressing the needs of its customers, its workforce and its community; all driven by a strong team ethic and, of course, optimum levels of quality and reliability.

“There is professionalism in every task done, and we work to build longterm relationships with all suppliers, vendors and business organisations in a diligent manner to help grow our presence within the market,” Nandwani concludes. “Our constant willingness to improve these business processes thus leads to better results and better growth.”

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PLANS for Big Brands

With an aptitude for continuous internal improvements for the benefit of the customer, JANUS SERVICES has quickly become a household name in the supply of fast-moving, high quality consumer goods Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Sammy Wilkinson

ith a presence in 18 markets across West and Central Africa, JANUS SERVICES is targeting internal improvements - including upgrading the supporting structure of technologies used by the Company - in order to improve efficiencies, drive better customer engagement, and keep up with the demands of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market.

Established in West Africa in 1996, JANUS SERVICES is today considered an instrumental regional trading partner for the supply of foods to the local markets.

Seeing strength in shifting high volumes of a smaller selection of food products led the Company to gradually expand into further African territories, investing heavily in promotion techniques and building a reputation as a trusted supplier of high quality trademarked products such as milk powder, coffee, tea, rice and vegetable oils.

Sunil Samtani, MD As the Founder of JANUS SERVICES, Sunil Lachmandas Samtani has always held JANUS SERVICES close to his heart.

Commencing his career in West Africa in 1982, Samtani decided to purchase the former assets of a Company he had been working closely with for several years; turning these very same operations into JANUS SERVICES in 1996. Since then, the Company has seen the healthy expansion of its activities and presence across West and Central Africa.

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in accordance with the needs of the customer. “We foster a family-like environment which is ingrained in our Company culture and activities, and how we conduct business. As a consequence, we have garnered many longstanding, mutual relationships with suppliers and customers which play a huge role in our day-to-day operations, and we hope that our latest set of investments further strengthens our industry ties,” he further highlights.

Invest for success

JANUS attends numerous international events, including Gulfood 2016

In 2008, JANUS SERVICES opened a new office in the Netherlands due to the country’s well-known status as a commodity trader and exporter into Africa. “Targeting the eventual aim of operating along the entire west coast of Africa, this strategic expansion has better positioned us to reach our own goals, as well as meet the goals of our clients,” says Sunil Lachmandas Samtani, Managing Director (MD) of JANUS SERVICES. Eight years-on and the Company is investing back into the business in 2016, placing an emphasis on technology and enhancing the already substantial role that it plays within the business.

Leveraging the Company’s strong family culture, JANUS SERVICES is committed to providing a good quality product from a good quality source

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Corporate Social Responsibility CSR is considered a core part of JANUS SERVICES’ operations. The Company currently supports the Cancer Society (KWF), Diabetes Fonds, MSF and the Spark-AChange Foundation, in addition to taking part in several local small-scale projects in Holland and abroad; namely Help Line School in Ahmedabad, India and working with a range of elderly homes in The Hague and India.

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Pairing together its expert service delivery methodologies with innovative technologies that support the overall business efficiencies and sustainable production levels, JANUS SERVICES has developed a muchimproved internal software system in recent times, capable of monitoring all business procedures including financial data.

“The all-encompassing software allows us to digitise more of our data than ever before, making us more efficient and allowing our staff to focus more on the customer, and how best to optimise our service offering,” Samtani explains.

The Company’s emphasis on technology also extends to its brand strategy; which has resulted in recent updates to the JANUS SERVICES website - specifically improving its compatibility with mobile devices – and activeness on social media platforms to grow brand awareness while analysing possibilities in new African markets.

“Of course, it is important that we continue innovating our processes and looking for the best technologies to run our operations as smoothly as possible. Health, safety and hygiene are also vital considerations that get our close attention and internal investments in trainings to support these policies are in place,” he further notes.

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WE ARE YOUR

TOTAL TEA SOLUTION.

A very special blend of strength, values and expertise.

www.eswaran.com

eswaranTEA

ESTD 1963

A winning formula to keep customers satisfied and costs competitive

“Ultimately, technology is playing a huge role in the way we conduct our business and, coupling this with our family-orientated mindset, we have a winning formula that keeps our customers satisfied and our business retains its cost-competitiveness.”

Janus Services holds key distribution agreements with: Eswaran Bros Pvt. Ltd. Janus Global Trade Pvt. Ltd. LacPatrick Dairies (NI) Ltd. Remia C.V. TATA Coffee Ltd.

FIRST CARBON NEUTRAL CERTIFIED TEA COMPANY IN THE WORLD

Range expansion

Maintaining a sustainable business offering in the FMCG sector requires careful listening to the customer in order to gain their trust and create a relationship that bears fruit. To stimulate this kind of relationship, JANUS SERVICES is able to call upon its own experience and valuable network of associates spread across Africa, Asia and Europe and learn what the next big thing is that customers are looking for in a food supplier.

“We have demonstrated our familiarity with the market in West and Central Africa. Drawing from this, we have been able to offer our support to local customers, further educating and upskilling local companies to solidify our relationships and willingness to go the extra mile,” Samtani emphasises.

Based on this strong relationship with customers on the ground, JANUS SERVICES now has a much clearer idea of its future direction and ideas of how

International Quality ERA Award

to expand its product range. Equipped with a focus on achieving stability in an increasingly saturated marketplace, the Company is also exploring opportunities in several additional markets when the time is right.

He concludes: “Going forward, it is vital that we remain focused on securing close-knit relationships with our customers, welcoming them into the JANUS SERVICES’ family; while continuing to uphold professionalism and a good track-record throughout our value chain and internal processes in order to remain a prominent figurehead in the FMCG sector.”

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Africa and Beyond M A K I N G

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Kalyan Hospitality Development Ltd is thriving in Togo, in the implementation of its wider Group’s strategies, delivering not just an unrivalled service provision, but a promise of socio-economic development in the process Writer: Matthew Staff Project Manager: Stuart Parker

alyan Group has long believed that its own development goes hand-in-hand with the social and economic development of the country in which it operates, and has subsequently ingrained itself into numerous industries - through a standardised set of philosophies and processes - to assist in the progress of a nation.

Established by current Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ashok Gupta, who brings as much as two decades of international business experience from the global market to the Group, Kalyan has diversified and expanded over the years to cater for the hospitality, shipping, mining, fund management, agriculture and poultry sectors; but hotel development remains one of its key drivers.

Ashok Gupta Chief Executive Officer

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Benefiting from an active presence across not only West Africa, but also Australia, India, Mauritius, Malta and the UAE, the identification of longterm, sustainable projects fits naturally into the wider Group’s ethos of socioeconomic enablement and continues to have a profound influence in Togo, especially.

“Kalyan believes the Company’s growth is connected to the growth of the country and the Group carries responsibility towards the social development of the country where it operates,” emphasises Gupta.

“Kalyan seeks to add value to the countries it operates in, adding to the capital and social growth, making sure the majority of employees are recruited locally, trained and certified to the highest level in their respective fields to assist them in building and promoting their careers and improve their standard of living.”

This business model has thus been applied to Kalyan Hospitality Development Ltd in managing the refurbishment and renovation of Hotel 2 Février in Lome, Togo; an iconic hotel which shall be operated as a five-star development by one of the most prominent groups in Africa, Carlson Rezidor, and is expected to open in the first quarter of 2016.

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Hard work brings success

EQUATE

West Africa is one of Kalyan Hospitality’s most important markets for growth with Togo a focal point among the wider region, providing a platform for Kalyan to implement its progressive and dynamic continuous improvement strategy; embracing innovation, planning, ethics, inspiration and collaborative business relationships.

“Kalyan’s business model for growth provides us an edge to successfully reach greater heights in a competitive business environment and diversify to various markets across the globe without being restricted to any particular geography,” Gupta explains.

“Our focus is always on each business and project, and we believe dedication and hard work brings success, with money just a by-product of each success.

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QUATE is an independent African property and construction consultancy providing managed solutions for clients investing in infrastructure, property and construction. We offer services that combine, to make a measurable difference to the value, cost and time of our clients’ projects.

Our vision is to provide our clients with pioneering property and construction solutions across Africa, working with our passionate people to create sustainable and long-term value.

Focusing on a solutions-driven approach and delivering the best outcomes for our clients, we can support the challenges and opportunities you face throughout the lifecycle of a development, from business and investment strategy at organisational level through to operational efficiency of the final built product.

We offer:

Kalyan’s business model for growth provides us an edge to successfully reach greater heights in a competitive business environment and diversify to various markets across the globe without being restricted to any particular geography

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• Wide-ranging knowledge of infrastructure, buildings and any associated facilities.

Renovation of the historic Hotel 2 Février

“We always make fast but calculated decisions, and if you want to establish a business in the long run, you need to show all the actors involved that there is a common benefit to it. That is the way we are working in Togo. At the end, people are the basis of a longterm growth.”

This is all too evident through the renovation of the historic Hotel 2 Février, the tallest hotel in West Africa, operated under the Radisson Blu brand.

“Beginning in August 2014, this massive renovation project comprises 320 rooms, and 4,000 square metres of conference and meeting space built to top quality standards,” Gupta details. “In three months we put the whole team together, did the audit, submitted our offer and signed a PPP

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• Appreciation of value drivers specific to each sector, including stakeholder needs.

• Our experienced staff collaborate with innovative designers on challenging projects.

• A comprehensive database of relevant cost information for cost planning and management.

• A cost benefit analysis service designed to drive optimum sustainability issues and their contribution to long term strategies.

With our “boutique” focused service offering, we believe that we have differentiated ourselves from our competitors, with a guarantee of active multiple director involvement.

www.equateafrica.com

HOTEL AND RESORT PROJECTS

COST CONSULTANTS

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EQUATE is an independent African property and construction consultancy providing managed solutions for clients investing in infrastructure, property and construction. We offer services that make a measurable difference to the value, cost and time of our clients’ projects.

SERVIC ES W EO F

Our vision is to provide our clients with pioneering property and construction solutions across Africa, working with our passionate people to create sustainable and long-term value.

Changes in lifestyle and living standards mean people expect to have access to adverse range of leisure facilities, be they business, sporting, entertainment or social. Increasingly leisure sector developments are not stand alone projects and across the African continent they are often part of a mixed use development providing/creating a destination for the leisure or business traveller. Subsequently the success of a leisure facility can have a far reaching impact on the surrounding community, economy and society.

EQUATE has extensive knowledge and experience in this sector, that we have captured and packaged in order to provide our clients with the best development advice and solutions.

We understand the value and cost drivers of hotels and are able to assist clients and design teams to develop the most feasible product taking into account capital expenditure, efficiency and income.

C U R R E N T

P R O J E C T S

To find out more, visit our website www.equateafrica.com

Unit C1, Centurion Close 119 Gerhard Street Centurion 0163

PO Box 14577 Lyttleton, Centurion Gauteng, South Africa 0140

info@equateafrica.com T: +27 12 644 1747 F: +27 86 591 9215

E Q U AT E P R O P E R T Y | C O N S T R U C T I O N | S O L U T I O N S

Our solutions-driven approach deliver the best outcomes for our clients. We support the challenges and opportunities our clients face throughout the life-cycle of a development, from the initial investment, through to procurement, construction and contract administration, to successfully deliver the final built product.

With our “boutique” focused service offering, we believe that we have differentiated ourselves from our competitors, with a guarantee of active multiple director involvement.

Each sector has it’s specialist requirements, its function, design, cost and value drivers. We are a sector focused business.

WORLDWIDE WORLD-CLASS HOSPITALITY

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arlson Rezidor’s African portfolio has grown rapidly since the opening of its first hotel in 2000, to 65 hotels in 27 countries comprising 14,300 rooms today. Recognised as the fastest growing hotel company on the continent, with 27 hotels in operation and a further 38 under development, the Company is capitalising on the enormous growth potential driven by fundamental economic factors; including sustained economic growth, favourable demographics, foreign direct investments, natural resources, rapid urbanisation and infrastructure development.

Recognising Africa’s growing potential and the drastic lack of quality hotels in many countries throughout the continent, Carlson Rezidor is accelerating its growth strategy in Africa and aims to add a further 11,000 rooms to the existing 14,300 by the end of 2020.

Andrew McLachlan, Carlson Rezidor’s Vice President for Africa & Indian Ocean Islands explained: “Our strategy is to establish critical mass in two key countries which are Nigeria and South Africa; and proactively secure multi-unit growth in selected countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Angola, Ghana and Algeria)...in addition to exploring multi-hotel deals through various business platforms to exploit opportunities across the select target markets to roll out two new brands, Radisson Red and Quorvus Collection.

Leading pipeline In addition to the seven hotels opened by the Company across Africa in 2015, eight further openings are expected during 2016, among them its flagship Radisson Blu Hotel 2 Février in Lomé, Togo where the Company is delighted to arrive in Togo with its partner Kalyan. “The signing of the Radisson Blu

Hotel 2 Février has further strengthened our network. It will also provide economic and social contributions by becoming a social anchor in the city and providing employment opportunities to its community,” said McLachlan.

The former ‘Hotel du 2 Février’ is the tallest building in Lomé and the tallest hotel in West Africa. This highly visible landmark building enjoys a prime location in the heart of the city on place de l’Indépendance, just seven kilometres away from the international airport. The hotel is currently undergoing a remarkable full renovation.

“We are privileged to be entrusted by Kalyan and the Republic of Togo to operate this landmark hotel which has a great historic importance to the citizens of Togo; it is a landmark and a true jewel,” he added.

Sustainable development Carlson Rezidor aims to establish Radisson Blu as the leading upper upscale brand in Africa - present in capital cities and financial and economic hubs - and to pursue the scaled growth of Park Inn by Radisson in high potential primary and secondary destinations.

McLachlan concludes: “Africa is one of our most important markets for future growth.

We believe in the great potential of this continent and are committed to becoming a key player in the travel and tourism sector.

We want to grow further on the continent together with strong regional partners.”

Africa & Indian Ocean Island Business Development Office T +27 (21) 431 2900 www.carlsonrezidor.com

The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group is one of the world’s largest and most dynamic hotel companies.

It has an expanding portfolio of more than 1,370 hotels in operation and under development, a global footprint covering more than 110 countries and territories, and a powerful set of global brands: Quorvus Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson Red, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson and Country Inns & Suites By Carlson.

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BMS ENGINEERING

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MS Engineering is a French law company with a share capital of 513,800 Euros.

We have been present in Africa for many years with various projects including hotels and offices, with many completed within the civil engineering sector.

We offer our clients a wide spectrum of engineering services ranging from technical advice and assistance to our clients on-site, all preliminary studies such as architectural conception, interior design, technical studies, planning, budget, technical specifications for tender offers and project management.

Three words define our state of mind for all of our projects: Quality - Planning - Budget.

T +33 3 88 68 94 83

Kalyan Shipping Ltd. While the hospitality sector presents numerous opportunities for segmental and wider Group growth in the years to come, it is complemented extensively by its sister subsidiaries; none more so than the everevolving shipping arm.

Licensed to perform dry bulk sea cargo services in Mauritius and beyond, Kalyan Shipping Ltd’s development in the domain is proving every bit as lucrative as its adjacent divisions in bridging the gap between Kalyan Group and new markets and new clients.

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with the Government for 30 years.

“Nobody has executed a project of that size in such a short period of time, and after participating in the African Investment Hospitality Forum in AddisAbaba last September and presenting our project, everybody was amazed.”

Mobilising all energy and resources to make projects happen ahead of all industry timelines and indicators is a Group trait gratefully passed down through its subsidiaries, and is equally prominent in its adjacent poultry

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operations in Togo, as well as its significant palm oil plantation and oil processing project, also addressing a pressing concern in the country.

Gupta notes: “This project will develop a fully-integrated palm oil plantation - across a minimum of 6,000 hectares - and processing unit crushing mill. The project will produce about 2,400 megatonnes of crude palm oil during peak production and has the potential to make Togo self-sufficient and a net exporter of palm oil.”

Social development

While the Company’s focus is largely honed in on Togo at present, the aim is to provide the same quality of service across the ECOWAS region (Economic Community of West African States) in the long-term, with the development strategy based on finding the right assets and sources for development in each country, and on developing the most suitable partners for each project.

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HOTEL 2 FEVRIER RADISSON BLU - LOME KRY TEL - CONA ONOMO HO

Engineering BMS SARL 10 rue des Hérons F- 67960 ENTZHEIM

contact@bms-constructions.fr Tél. : +33 3 88 68 94 83 Fax : +33 3 88 68 95 84

DOSSIER PRÉLIMINAIRE | DOCUMENT NON CONTRACTUEL

“You need to evaluate opportunities, bring in the right consultants, perform top quality full feasibility/technical studies and start thinking about how you will finance your projects well in advance to be able to move fast and perform on a fast-track basis,” Gupta says. “You also need to ensure that there is a benefit to the people, country and region to have the human factor on your side.

“If you bring economic growth without social development you might be successful and make some money but if you want profitable long-term business, you need to establish a strong network and show the people you are here for good; not just in words but by actions and delivering what was promised and agreed.”

Kalyan has achieved just this on the continent, subsequently attracting the attentions of the African Development Bank and a series of potential investors now looking at entering a country or

Interior design

Architecture

MADRID | miguel yuste 12 - 2 | 28 037 |

T +34 91 575 97 60 F +36 91 575 90 59

PARIS

T +33 9 5049 55 66 E info@groupiad.com

Project Site Client Date

| 19 quai saint-michel | 75 005 |

Onomo Conakry Kaloum ONOMO 2014-12-09

Construction is our job and passion

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ARCHITECTURAL DIPLOMACY

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“...here’s to the dreamers, the ones that make the World move forward “ We are honoured to have

been part of this prestigious project .

Warm congratulations to Kalyan Group

Ethnic. technologies Future proof consulting

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region they would have previously avoided.

Gupta continues: “Our goal is to establish a business model in Togo in several fields of activities and to then export that model across the whole of West Africa.

“Most investors might be reluctant venturing into Africa, but Africa is the future. Africa will account for 25 percent of the world population by 2050 and for 50 percent by the end of the century.

“The manpower of the future is in Africa, and plans have to be made to provide jobs to these people.”

This is exactly what Kalyan has been doing in Togo, giving opportunities to local artisans and teaching them how to perform in complicated environments, for the benefit of both the Company and the individual.

“In Africa, local employment is a major issue. If you want to stay in the long run you cannot just come, bring expatriates, make some money and leave. You need to take advantage of the existing skills available locally and

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also develop what is not available,” Gupta emphasises. “For the hotel’s construction, 90 percent of the manpower was sourced locally, which means around 2,000 local people were involved.

“This is the kind of holistic approach of the business, which might not work in some regions, but I can assure you this is the best way to grow in Africa.

You need to develop the business environment and this is obviously linked to human resources.”

How it all began Ashok Gupta’s grandparents had a large number of farmers working on the crops. At one point, famine hit the community and said crops, putting farmers out of work and making existing crops unattainable at the hands of protective landlords. Most landlords sold these crops to the workers for double the price. Mr Gupta’s grandparents, however, decided to support their farmers at that critical time, treating them like their children and opening their storage to them; making crops available for free so the farmers could support their families. His grandparents were among the very few landlords in the area who prospered in the long run, managing to gain gratitude from the farmers who subsequently worked tirelessly to repay the kindness. This same relationship between management and staff members is instilled into Kalyan Group to this day.

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Make history

Kalyan makes sure its employees can grow at a professional level

A dedication to individual enrichment isn’t constrained to the workforce either with Kalyan heavily involved in corporate social responsibility initiatives and the overall development of the communities in which it chooses to operate.

Improving the quality of living, across amenities, electricity, healthcare and education; the organisation from management down understands the importance of total regional progression.

“We create jobs - 2,000 for the hotel’s construction and another 550 for operations - but it is not just about job creation,” Gupta says. “We also train our employees and make sure they can grow at a professional level.

“We told the Togo Minister of Finance at the beginning, ‘We are not only building a hotel, we are building skills and capacities for the future”.”

Free meals to all site workers each day further cements the Company’s role as a personable and reputable business, fostering a positive atmosphere within Kalyan that promises to reap further rewards in the West African region and hospitality sector in general, in the years to come.

Gupta concludes: “We are a Group with a great vision to successfully grow but to also make a difference in people’s lives. We have always followed our aims and turned failure into opportunity. We believe in collaboration and working together to succeed but also believing in your own abilities and never giving up as there is always a way.

“Nobody works as much as we do, and nobody pays so much attention to quality. There is always a clear focus and ability to just launch into projects and take bold steps into new markets.

“Kalyan can ensure you that we will make history in the sector, not only in Africa but also worldwide.”

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African Hospitality SPECIALISTS ZPC Group is capitalising on lucrative hospitality opportunities in West Africa by strengthening partner relationships and bringing its turnkey contractor offering to these new markets Writer: Emily Jarvis • Project Manager: Stuart Parker

emonstrating its total service solution approach to development and construction opportunities throughout Africa over the past 20 years, South Africa-based ZPC Group is currently capitalising on lucrative opportunities in West Africa’s hospitality industry; delivering its top quality products on time, on budget and always aiming to exceed client expectations.

“Our move into West Africa has been beneficial for existing clients operating in the region, while opening

Ben Pretorius CEO & Director of the Board

up doors to engage with new clients,” says Ben Pretorius, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ZPC Group.

“There is definitely tremendous growth happening in this region, which bodes well for us in the future and will form a welcome addition to our project portfolio on the continent.”

ZPC Group is comprised of numerous consultancies, technical and design companies, capable of fulfilling various construction disciplines, all of which combine together to create a turnkey contractor offering - from project execution to final handover and maintenance services - for clients

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Park Inn and Radisson Blu Libreville

who look to benefit from a single point of contact on any given project. “Our key focus is to ensure that we cover all areas and disciplines of the properties we refurbish and construct. The valueadd offering is proving the preferred choice among our clients and enables us to create an individually-tailored solution,” the CEO details.

This business model has resulted in ZPC’s involvement in projects such as the Hôtel 2 Février Radisson Blu Lomé, Beacon Island Resort Hotel in Togo; Sun City The Cabanas Hotel, Sun City Vacation Club and Sun City The Palace Of The Lost City for Sun International South Africa; The Radisson Blu Okoume Palace FiveStar Hotel Libreville and The Park Inn

by Radisson Libreville in Gabon; and Dihlabeng Mall, Bethlehem, South Africa. All of these projects were completed in partnership with some of the world’s most reputable names in the hospitality industry.

GEBERIT GROUP

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he globally operating Geberit Group is a European leader in the field of sanitary products. Geberit operates as an integrated group with a very strong local presence in most European countries, providing unique added value when it comes to sanitary technology and bathroom ceramics.

The production network encompasses 35 production facilities, of which 6 are located overseas.

The Group is headquartered in Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland. With more than 12,000 employees in more than 40 countries, Geberit generates net sales of CHF 2.6 billion. The Geberit shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange; since 2012, the Geberit share has been included in the SMI (Swiss Market Index).

T +41 55 221 62 00 E sales@geberit.com

www.international.geberit.com

ZPC Group is comprised of: Radisson Blu Libreville

• ZPC Hospitality and Renovation Specialists • ZPC Plumbing • ZPC Joinery • ZPC Civils • ZPC Mechanical • ZPC Electrical • Sheqcon: Occupational health and safety consultancy, management systems and auditing, site and food safety, security and skills training Radisson Blu Libreville

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One for all Behind and in front of the wall - your reliable partner for sanitary products throughout Africa

Various products - one source From installation systems behind the wall to WCs or washbasins in front of the wall - Geberit and its ceramic brands offer products for all your sanitary needs. Find out more on our website: → www.international.geberit.com

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Building client relationships

After decades of experience working across the hospitality and retail sectors, ZPC identified a potential gap in the market for hotel refurbishments; with many clients approaching the Company looking for ways to do undertake renovation projects with the help of ZPC. “Clients wanted to upgrade their existing hotels, resorts and other hospitality properties quickly, efficiently and to a high standard for a good price.

“This market niche served as a crucial differentiator in the increasingly saturated construction industry, generating an additional revenue stream,” Pretorius highlights.

Not limiting itself to any one area of expertise, ZPC has also recently engaged with developers for the delivery of healthcare, office space and mixed-use projects.

He adds: “We bring the unique characteristics of the ZPC brand to each of our projects, and we will continue to live by our values to do what we do best. Our status as a preferred contractor in many African countries is a result of our willing involvement of the client at every stage of a project coupled with our vibrant team of fully-trained professionals. This approach has helped to grow ZPC’s presence into new African markets.”

Staff development represents an

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G We bring the unique characteristics of the ZPC brand to each of our projects, and we will continue to live by our values to do what we do best

EZE is one of the most successful providers of building systems for door, windows and safety technology in the world. Integrated planning and compatible products are a key pre-requisite for realising project solutions. GEZE project solutions fulfil the highest requirements when it comes to functionality, quality and design. Prestigious buildings across the world are fitted with GEZE products and solutions.

GEZE South Africa offers the above solutions to partners throughout Africa and in many cases has been responsible for turnkey operations that included the supply of products such as hardware associated with ironmongery, fire doors, automatic doors and revolvers.

T +27 (0) 87 943 3788 E info@geze.co.za

www.geze.co.za

Sun City - Brew Monkey

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Sun City The Cabanas Hotel - Sun International

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ongoing internal investment for ZPC, who understand the importance of having a team of highly motivated and committed staff across the Group.

“ZPC attract the best of the best.

Our culture and DNA cultivates a sense of worth and appreciation among our staff, and we believe this has allowed us to retain the skills that the Group has today,” explains Pretorius.

A large component of its compulsory training is centred around health & safety, as well as building an understanding of ZPC’s core values.

With many opportunities for individual career progression, the Company is proud to have achieved a workforce that is 75 percent local, providing the necessary upskilling of South Africans under the B-BEEE initiative.

Radisson Blu

Currently in contact with developers in East Africa to pursue opportunities on a case-by-case basis - in addition to

ZPC successfully refurbished

898 guest rooms in 2015

its already solid pipeline in West and Southern Africa – ZPC is displaying its limitless capacity when it comes to large-scale hospitality projects.

Pretorius highlights some noteworthy projects: “At present, we are engaged with the refurbishment of two Radisson Blu hotels; namely an impressive 320-room, 50,000

Sun City Vacation Club - Sun International

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square metre ‘upper upscale’ hotel called Lomé in Togo, and another named Libreville in Gabon. We are also refurbishing the Entertainment Centre in Sun City Holiday Club and have a number of existing projects due for completion this year,” says Pretorius.

Completing the prestigious Lomé refurbishment within 12 months has been an exciting challenge for ZPC; one that requires a strong native partner who has knowledge of Togo’s property regulations.

“The Lomé refurbishment project would not be a success without the continued support and commitment of our client, the Kalyan Group, under the leadership of Ashok Gupta. Kalyan Group’s relationship with major stakeholders in Togo has been instrumental in the successful execution of this project, and we will continue to investigate profitable opportunities together in West Africa on the exciting road that lies ahead,” he adds.

Hôtel 2 Février Radisson TOGO

Hôtel 2 Février Radisson TOGO

Long-term partnerships

ZPC Directors signing of share certificates

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Kalyan Group represents just one of ZPC’s numerous strategic partnerships, designed to generate long-term mutual success of Carlson Rezidor’s business plan. “We promote our business partners within ZPC and its divisions, as their efficiency and success ultimately become part of our efficiency and success,” emphasises Pretorius.

Going forward, ZPC will continue to reinforce its turnkey offering in order to better engage with hotel owners who look for a developer who can work to a tight budget and timeline; while also aligning with the wider brand guidelines and standards in accordance with each client’s requirements.

The CEO concludes: “We want to be seen as a Group that can add value to any client’s business plan in order to become the preferred contractor

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Libreville Park Inn and Radisson Blu panoramic

Socially responsible ZPC is committed to a number of causes that aim to better the lives of those less fortunate. This includes activities supporting transport services, healthcare and disability, education and rehabilitation, encouraging skills development and income generation.

for projects throughout Africa.

Leveraging the skills and expertise within the Group, we are able to learn from our partners, take stock and find new ways to improve our service offering to encourage repeat business.

“Harnessing our ‘ZPC DNA’, positive attitude to work, technical knowhow and professional services offering, we aim to expand our footprint and influence to all corners of the African continent.”

“Together with the Association for Persons with Disabilities (APD), the ZPC Group strives to make a lasting difference in the lives of persons living with disabilities. We have uplifted all communities surrounding and those involved in our projects.

Through our skills transfer, training and mentorship strategies, we leave a lasting legacy in the people that we take on, and the greater community,” Pretorius notes.

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Embracing New Urbanism

Based on its award-winning approach to New Urbanism and iconic project achievements in its South African portfolio, Amdec is now looking to grow its business beyond the country’s borders Writer: Emily Jarvis • Project Manager: Stuart Parker

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mdec Property Development has further solidified its reputation as South Africa’s leading developer of new urban lifestyles in recent years, leveraging a strong network of industry relationships to grow opportunities, offering its full-turnkey services and expertise to develop some of the country’s most iconic mixed-use projects.

Since establishment 26 years ago, Amdec’s portfolio now proudly extends across the residential, commercial, business and hotel & hospitality sectors. Currently underway, its latest large-scale new urban developments - most notably the latest phase of Melrose Arch, Yacht Club and Westbrook - aim to integrate urban living, working, shopping and leisure in one place.

“By investing in these larger new urban developments, we are able to keep track of property trends, and use this information to accommodate further expansion in reaction to changing industry trends and popularity,” says Nicholas Stopforth,

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It was this notion which the culturally-significant Melrose Arch was first constructed, representing a postApartheid New Urbanism development in South Africa, with many of the original properties worth almost triple their initial asset value today.

“Our urban precincts essentially address the key challenges and demands of modern suburban living; offering energy efficiency, sustainability, connectivity and providing convenience by drastically reducing

commuter times, among other benefits,” he explains.

Based on the success of New Urbanism, Amdec is now exploring ways to take its expertise to new geographies by forging mutually beneficial business partnerships with those who share the same wealth of construction experience and aptitude for New Urbanism; while on the other hand, remaining focused on the smooth development of its current South African portfolio.

Nicholas Stopforth, MD

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LYT ARCHITECTURE

Current Projects MELROSE ARCH In order to keep up with the unprecedented demand for residential space within the iconic mixed-use Melrose Arch development, Amdec has recently announced a further 234 luxury one and two bedroom apartments - along with a Marriot Hotel, health club and luxury motor retailer - as part of its latest development phase, One on Whiteley.

“We have responded to the market’s needs and with substantial bulk still available, there is plenty of opportunity to expand further,” highlights Stopforth.

Due to be completed by 2017, One on Whiteley is a welcome addition to one of the most quintessential examples of South African New Urbanism today; synonymous with safety, security, amenity and convenience and everything the public needs within walking distance.

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YT Architecture is a diversified design group specializing in the built environment. LYT Architecture seeks to build on its track record of success to lead the way in creative cutting edge design and wealth creation for its clients.

WHO WE ARE While maintaining its position as a leading commercial practice, LYT Architecture remains the most diversified design & architectural practice in South Africa with significant skill & experience in the design and delivery of projects both in South Africa and abroad.

LYT currently employs approximately 100 staff members with the head office based in Johannesburg, a subsidiary practice in Lagos, Nigeria and a regional office in Walmer, Port Elizabeth.

With the evolution of an exceptional team that has been with the practice for many years the pursuit of excellence is a cornerstone of the company’s ethos and sees it in good stead to continue to grow and make a real positive difference to the urban landscape.

WHAT WE DO • Architecture • Interior design • Construction detailing • Graphic design and 3D visualization • Furniture design • Model building • Up-front consulting • Project management and execution.

LYT specialise in a variety of sectors including commercial and retail, education, residential, hospitality & leisure and industrial & mining associated buildings and services.

www.lyt.co.za

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Johannesburg office: 2 nd Floor No.3 Melrose Square Melrose Arch Johannesburg South Africa Tel: +27 061 9700 | email: info@LY T.co.za

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EVERGREEN LIFESTYLES Evergreen Lifestyle is South Africa’s first national retirement brand. With six established villages, and a further 20 in the pipeline, Evergreen boasts a reputation for building and managing exceptional estates.

Several international accolades which include Best Retirement Development in South Africa and Africa attest to the brand’s market dominance.

“Statistics show that people are living longer and working well into their 70’s.

Retirement developments are fairly limited in South Africa, and since we estimate that there will be approximately eight million retirees in South Africa by 2030, we have set a target of 10,000 units by 2020,” says

Cobus Bedeker, Development Director for Evergreen.

Located in some of the most beautiful parts of the country, Evergreen estates boast idyllic parkland atmospheres, with lush gardens with walkways, benches and ponds providing welcome tranquillity.

A wide choice of stylish homes and apartments are available, designed with residents’ comfort and convenience in mind. Villages also offer state-of-the-art community Lifestyle Centres which provide space for residents to relax and enjoy community life.

Organic growth opportunities

Decentralisation has long been a driving force for New Urbanism in South Africa, and given the popularity of New Urbanism opportunities, there are a variety of new investment and expansion opportunities on the horizon for Amdec in the coming year.

“New mixed-use developments will be sought-after on a case-by-case basis and while these projects will largely be a result of organic growth, we are keen to look to the wider continent or abroad and investigate each new interest on its own merits,” Stopforth says.

In support of this, Amdec is able to

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...while these projects will largely be a result of organic growth, we are keen to look to the wider continent or abroad and investigate each new interest on its own merits

leverage its solid industry relationships with hotel operators, service providers and tenants, working closely with them to assess opportunities for growth in new markets. “Developed over the past 26 years in South Africa, our partnership model has been particularly successful in building relationships with internationally-renowned hotel operators such as Marriott and Hilton, and we use this as a platform to generate new business,” he further details.

Amdec prides itself on having a diverse workforce comprised of some of the best individuals for the job at

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hand. Often encouraging individual development via numerous further training policies, the Company has proven time and time again that its teams are right for the job.

“Above all, it is about ensuring quality runs throughout our entire supply chain and the development process, which helps to make certain that the final product stands out from the competition as a unique product, presenting a unique lifestyle offering,

THE YACHT CLUB After the first phase of The Yacht Club’s residential development - comprising 60 apartments - sold out just days after launch last year, Amdec quickly responded to this significant demand and launched the next phase of its expansion, which saw a further 10 apartments brought to market.

Stopforth explains: “The Yacht Club is a unique R1.2 billion mixed-use development strategically positioned adjacent to the V&A Waterfront, a stone’s throw from the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) and on the doorstep of the city’s historic Foreshore.”

Set for completion by the end of 2017, The Yacht Club will include an array of modern, flexible office space, and urban hotel and apartment living; with links to multiple transport systems.

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a secure environment and efficient facilities management services,” Stopforth adds.

WESTBROOK, PORT ELIZABETH

Growing New Urbanism

With many of its current projects due to be well underway this time next year, Amdec hopes to enhance its exposure in several new territories and harness the potential of bringing its New Urbanism expertise to international markets.

Amdec is creating a brand new suburb of Westbrook in Port Elizabeth and remains firmly on course to be the first to deliver its new urban vision to the Nelson Mandela Bay area.

The development of multiple residential clusters, a retirement village, Curro Private School, retail offering, offices and commercial zones will offer residents a relaxed lifestyle within a safe and connected suburb, with all the amenities and services for easy living. Amdec’s vision includes a balance between developed spaces, parklands, open spaces, ponds and watercourses that provide the ultimate urban living experience.

“A year from now, we will be half way through Yacht Club, the next phase of Melrose Arch – One on Whiteley – will be underway, new villages will be under construction at Evergreen, and a further 100-150 residential units out of a potential 3,500 will have been completed at our Westbrook development.

“It is important for us to continually reinforce our project pipeline and expand our horizons. This way, we can build even better industry relationships and strengthen our portfolio,” says Stopforth.

He concludes: “Amdec is a diversified Group that understands the nature of business in South Africa from a lifestyle and occupation perspective, and we try and live by this throughout our developments to remain ahead of the competition in the mixed-use space.”

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TrulyGlobal

Turner & Townsend is not only replicating its global success in Africa, but is instilling a very localised strategy for growth as it aspires to broaden its influence continent-wide by 2020 Writer: Matthew Staff • Project Manager: Stuart Parker

urner & Townsend has spent the past 34 years striking a perfect balance between a replication of its esteemed global business model and an unrivalled adherence to local considerations in Africa, and is now looking to take this ethos to an even wider clientele on the continent as it strives to become a truly pan-African entity.

As part of the 70-year old international professional services Company - boasting more than 4,000 staff, 90 offices and eight regional counterparts around the world - Turner & Townsend’s African operations have gone from strength to strength since inception in 1982, diversifying and expanding to replicate the renowned service provision kick-started in the UK all those years ago.

Focused around the property, infrastructure and natural resource markets in particular, the formerly solely quantity surveying business is now a bow with many strings and specialises in major programme setup, assurance, contract services and information modelling, to name just a few of its service offerings. However, the Company’s market advantage and differentiators derive from far more than simply volume.

“I think it comes down to a number

of things,” says the Company’s Africa Managing Director, Ian Donaldson. “Foremost our clients, the relationships we have with them, and our understanding of them; knowledge built up in our business over the years; and the way we harness and manage that knowledge to their best advantage.

“Secondly, we are very focused on what we know we do well. This is also aided by our independence and our partnership model. It is the people in the business who own it, so we’re not making decisions to keep shareholders happy at the expense of our clients.

“The final facet is quality. The reason why we have so much repeat business and so many strong client relationships is that we are noted for the quality and consistency we deliver.”

Traditionally, over the past four decades, this philosophy and established model has brought palpable success in the SADC region, stemming from its South African base, but for Turner & Townsend to kick on in the years to come, a much more pan-African outlook is now well progressed.

Donaldson continues: “We were very South Africa-orientated for many years but in the past five years we have changed that significantly to have a much more pan-African focus.

“An exciting point at the moment

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nderson Consulting Engineers provides electrical consulting engineering services specialising in commercial, industrial, retail & hotel development projects within the built environment.

We are committed to providing our clients with a personal, reliable and professional engineering design service to best meet the needs of the project.

We specialise in electrical engineering solutions which include medium & low voltage reticulation, power generation and solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.

Our offering provides our clients with a wide range of services from initial feasibility studies, through concept & detailed design, tender documentation, construction site monitoring, cost control, project handover and completion.

T +27 74 647 2931 E office@aceng.co.za

www.aceng.co.za

Cape Town International Convention Centre

is East Africa, across Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia, and we’re really excited about this hub and are putting a lot of time, effort, investment and key staff members into this region.

“Our third hub is West Africa with numerous projects around Ghana and Nigeria and it all goes towards us being one truly global Company.”

Quality and consistency

All told, 18 of Turner & Townsend’s key projects on the continent exist outside of the SADC jurisdiction at present, formulating a footprint conducive to maintaining multinational business relationships with some of the world’s most revered sector operators.

“The brands we work with are big global brands and are key to our business but it’s a bit of a chicken and egg scenario, regarding our international expansion,” explains Donaldson. “It’s fantastic to have those clients waiting in these new

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We have a client list that anybody would be envious of so our service delivery needs to be the same quality and consistency in each African region as they would find in London, Sydney, the US...

countries and is of huge benefit for us when going into new regions to connect with them, but one of the reasons we have gone into those regions to begin with is to be a truly global supplier for those clients.

“We need to be based locally for them in order to understand how to add value to their supply chain. We have a client list that anybody would be envious of so our service delivery needs to be the same quality and consistency in each African region as they would find in London, Sydney, the US or anywhere else.”

The fantastically diverse range of services are enjoyed by the upper echelons of each key industry - mining, energy, property development, manufacturing, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals and finance just scratching the surface - and has led to Turner & Townsend contributing to a vast array of continentally-signficant projects.

King Shaka Airport in Durban,

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Anderson Consulting Engineers provides Electrical Consulting Engineering services specialising in commercial, industrial, retail & hotel development projects within the Built Environment.

We are committed to providing our clients with a personal, reliable and professional engineering design service to best meet the needs of the project. We specialise in electrical engineering solutions which include medium & low voltage reticulation, power generation and solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. Our offering provides our clients with a wide range of services from initial feasibility studies, through concept & detailed design, tender documentation, construction site monitoring, cost control, project handover and completion.

Contact: Mark Anderson Email: office@aceng.co.za Postal Address: Postnet Suite No.207, Private Bag X75, Bryanston, 2021, Johannesburg, South Africa Physical Address: 150 Bryanston Drive, Office Block 2, Bryanston, Sandton, Johannesburg, 2021, South Africa www.aceng.co.za

Mbarara Brewery in Uganda, Black Rhino Horn of Africa fuel pipeline in Ethiopia and Djibouti, numerous mining activities in key commodity sectors and the new High Court in Botswana are just a select few. A strong healthcare portfolio, including work with Aga Khan Health services in Tanzania amongst other operators, as well as an education impetus across the continent with projects such as the University of Johannesburg Soweto Campus Development. Even so, the Company still ensures that it can cater for the sizes of jobs which launched its success at inception.

Donaldson notes: “Yes we have evolved and are involved in hundreds of billion-dollar, complex programmes around the world and that’s how Turner & Townsend has matured, but we haven’t forgotten where we have come from and for many clients we’ll do smaller jobs that may only be of small value.

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we take people and develop them in terms of their careers given the diversity we have. A lot of people join our business in one location or in one service stream and they can then develop their career into different geographies and service streams.”

The international nature of Turner & Townsend also facilitates the opportunity for employees to experience new cultures and offices around the world, while the Company’s supply chain takes on a similar ethos as the business strives to best understand the local conditions it is driving its services into.

Donaldson adds: “In regards to localisation, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is another big focus, and we have introduced a number of initiatives; including our toy library set up in social worker centres, and our involvement with the Childhood Cancer Foundation of South Africa (CHOC), raising funds for the newly completed paediatric oncology unit as well as creating a safe-house for parents of patients.”

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A key facet which has stood Turner & Townsend in such good stead over the years - both in Africa and further afield - is this clear identity and business model that derives from having an independent ownership structure and Localisation the ability to take control of its own This commitment to clients of all sizes mirrors a commitment closer to home future aspirations. and equally prevalent, in the form of its In Africa specifically, this is aided focus on localisation. by the balance of international consistency and local autonomy, Based strongly around the belief making sure that the Company is that it is the Company’s people who targeting the right sectors, providing make the business what it is, the training, development and retention the right solutions, and imparting the strategies geared towards this right services for each client in each philosophy is evident in each region of market.

“It’s about having a core range of operation and once again has a natural knock-on effect on the subsequent services with the ability to be flexible,” levels of service that clients receive.

Donaldson affirms. “Having the “For us, we want people to join for massive global footprint, but having the local agility to make it work in your a career, not a job,” Donaldson says.

“We’re not a hire and fire organisation; neighbourhood.

“It’s all about adding value to the client, regardless of whether it is through a small bespoke intervention or delivery of a massive programme.”

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“From our point of view, we are fortunate that we have a fairly good balance between the property market, the natural resource market (oil & gas and mining) and the infrastructure sector in Africa. On a year-by-year basis they probably each make up a third, more or less.”

This becomes especially significant when one sector is experiencing more challenging periods, like the mining industry is at present, with Turner & Townsend not only able to leverage existing relationships to stay active in a currently insecure market, but to also fall back on its surrounding markets to pick up any of the slack; all of which places the business in the perfect position as it strives towards its next five-year evolution.

“In 1999-2004, our business doubled globally, despite it being largely UKorientated,” Donaldson concludes.

“We then got together in 2004 and wanted to double it again. It wasn’t by fluke, but by design, that this happened. It was a seminal moment for the business and we knew if we carried on doing the right things, then our five-year plans could prove successful for us.

“Our five-year plan at the moment is called Vision 2020, which addresses continued growth and success in Africa and a lot of that is around our panAfrican approach, so in five years time I would expect us to have grown not only in Southern Africa but at a faster pace across the rest of Africa too.

“We will also want to mature and to be recognised as leaders in fields we are currently entering, but with critical mass in these places too.

“We see huge opportunity and potential in Africa and are excited about what we will see over the next five years. We know markets will ebb and flow, but we’re here for the longterm. We’ve had offices in Africa for 34 years already and are hoping that the business will have grown equally over the next 34 years.”

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Pulse of Business The New

Rainbow Junction Development Company has announced the latest in a long line of project developments over the past seven years, in the form of a new R2.5 billion super regional shopping centre Writer: Matthew Staff • Project Manager: Stuart Parker

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ainbow Junction is well on its way to realising its potential of ‘building the capital city to towering heights’, evolving Pretoria’s periphery to levels of infrastructure, grandeur and sustainability previously unseen in the country.

Tasked with achieving these goals is the Rainbow Junction Development Company who has not only been responsible for the ongoing development of the area - situated in the foyer of the city of Tshwane, six kilometres north of Pretoria’s CBD - but has since been trusted with numerous

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government infrastructure project add-ons as the scope and influence of Rainbow Junction gains further national significance.

Dating back to 2001, Rainbow Junction is an ongoing development situated across 140 hectares of mixeduse private-sector land, bringing world-class integration and access to Pretoria via one of the most diverse and eclectic complexes in the country.

“Rainbow Junction provides an exciting and aspirational world-inone for business, living, leisure, and tourism,” the Rainbow Junction Development Company states. “The spectrum of the rainbow is reflected

in this iconic melting pot of diversity, integrated planning, carefully colocated facilities and vast possibilities.

“Rainbow Junction is the new definitive address of the capital city and will lead the way in modern living.

Significantly, the city’s largest multimodal interchange incorporating Bus Rapid Transport is under construction at Rainbow Junction. Rainbow Junction has also been officially classified as a catalytic project within the city’s ‘Zone of Choice’.”

All told, Rainbow Junction stands as R12 billion and 670,000 square metres of vibrant constructed development, bridging traditional trade and the most

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VFV ATTORNEYS

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FV Attorneys is a legal firm that provides a wide range of legal services to its clients. With more than 30 years of experience, our professionals are at the forefront of their various fields of expertise and they constantly provide invaluable input influencing the development of commercial law in South Africa.

Our Philosophy If our advice keeps our clients in business, they will keep us in business.

Together with our clients, this allows us to seek solutions that make business sense while still based on the foundation of the law.

T +27 12 460 8704 E info@vfv.co.za

www.vfv.co.za The development has created as many as 45,000 jobs across the five generations of two families

modern, ecological and sustainable of new-builds to become “the new pulse of business in Africa”.

“The completion of robust and thorough legislative enablement processes coupled with innovative infrastructural delivery solutions heralds the commencement of Rainbow Junction,” the Company’s joint Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), Rosella Dingle and Warrick Fulford affirm.

South African landmark

To date, the development will create as many as 45,000 jobs across the five generations of two families who have happily claimed liability for the ongoing success of the project.

Intrinsic to this success over the years however, has been its non-stop evolution and the yearly continuous improvement and adherence to construction and business trends that are evident across the space.

In recent years, this has been epitomised by the city’s Multi-Modal

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It is great to be part of such an incredible development and to be working with Rainbow Junction Development Company

Interchange including the Rapid Bus transport system, and even more recently, its multi-billion rand mixeduse property megaproject anchored by a new R2.5 billion, 98,000 square metre shopping centre. “[The] super-regional shopping centre is getting unprecedented attention from investors and major developers wanting to co-develop or secure a stake in the groundbreaking [Rainbow Junction] project,” Dingle explained in a recent Company release alongside Gavin Tagg, CEO of Retail Network Services (RNS).

RNS have been brought on board by the developers to lead the leasing on the strategic super-regional shopping centre component, which will be called Rainbow Mall, and both parties are excited about the latest add-on to what is already a recognised pillar of South African business development.

Tagg comments: “It is great to be part of such an incredible development and to be working with Rainbow

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tel: +27 12 460 8704 email: info@vfv.co.za www.vfv.co.za

VFV is a truly South African Law firm with a wealth of experience and specialises in: - Commercial Law and Commercial Transactions - Litigation - Advice on Disputes and Dispute Resolution - Property Transactions and developments - Collections (Debt management, Recoveries and Third Party Liabilities)

Rainbow Junction is set to be the capital city’s beacon property development and a South African landmark too

Junction Development Company. The overall Rainbow Junction megaproject is located on a prized 140 hectare Greenfield site in the capital city and boasts several other competitive advantages, so it is no surprise that the developers are now getting such great interest in the project.”

Dingle adds: “Rainbow Junction is set to be the capital city’s beacon property development and a South African landmark too. With all municipal, environmental and other approvals in place for the anchor Rainbow Mall development, the project is now gaining serious momentum and we are seeing excellent interest from prospective investors and major property developers who either want to secure a stake in the project or the whole development.”

Spearheaded by the Rainbow Junction Development Company, Rainbow Mall is set to become a

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cutting-edge addition to the overall landscape, with construction of the new retail and leisure destination set to begin in early 2016, and culminating in more than 250 retail stores, restaurants, a state-of-the-art cinema complex and an ice rink. Perhaps most importantly though, it is a symbol of the wider area’s commitment to progress as one of the country’s largest mixed-use developments.

Tagg continues: “The mall will dominate the node as well as offer an experience like no other. We are receiving great interest and feedback

We are receiving great interest and feedback from retailers, but are considering our options carefully to bring together the best tenant mix

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from retailers, but are considering our options carefully to bring together the best tenant mix.

“Although the shopping centre is part of a Greenfield development, its great location surrounded by an established market of some two million people and proximity to the CBD means it will attract strong local support as well as visitors from outside the area.”

World-class, integrated and sustainable

Rainbow Junction’s commercial uses will include as much as 165,000 square metres for retail, 170,000 of prime offices, 120,000 for residential projects, and 65,000 for hotel and conferencing facilities.

Further concerted space will also be allocated to educational amenities as

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The super-regional retail mall will be the biggest catalytic development within this megaproject

well as large public open spaces and recreational facilities to ensure that all bases are covered.

From a logistical standpoint, Rainbow Junction has also addressed a series of financial and capacity challenges over the years, facilitating infrastructural development which has, in turn, aided areas of transport, job creation and the local economy as a whole.

“In recent years, the Rainbow Junction Development Company (Pty) Ltd has proactively engaged with the City of Tshwane to find innovative funding and delivery solutions to this conundrum inflicting the development sector country-wide,” a release in 2015 said. “After a protracted period of putting heads together around the table, Rainbow Junction is proud to announce the official approval of a set of initiatives, workshopped with the City at all levels, by which the Development Company will deliver all required infrastructure in support of not only this new mixed-use economic node ... but also servicing the vital Zone of Choice of the capital city.

This will be a world-class, integrated and sustainable mixed-use megaproject, developed with green consciousness and a low carbon footprint in mind. In line with this, Rainbow Junction is a strongly transitorientated development

“This Zone was identified by the City as strategic to economic growth, poverty alleviation and job creation and Rainbow Junction is defined as the

catalytic project driving this growth to the north of the City.”

This unlocking of potential, growth and development in Pretoria is a proud accolade associated with Rainbow Junction, with the past seven years of exponential progress taking the project to the next level.

Fulford concludes: “This will be a world-class, integrated and sustainable mixed-use megaproject, developed with green consciousness and a low carbon footprint in mind. In line with this, Rainbow Junction is a strongly transit-orientated development.

“The mall is the biggest catalytic development within this megaproject, but there are others that we will announce as soon as they are finalised. For instance, exciting talks are progressing with Africa’s first sustainable hotel management group, Verde Hotels, to develop Gauteng’s greenest hotel within the ‘Green Grid’ component of Rainbow Junction.

“This project will have the potential to take over the current status of their flagship hotel property adjacent to Cape Town International Airport, currently hailed as Africa’s greenest hotel.”

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STANDARDS with a Kenyan Flavour

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Planning Interiors is adapting to an ever-broadening demographic of clients and society, bridging the gap between East Africa and global design capabilities Writer: Matthew Staff Project Manager: Stuart Parker lanning Interiors is bridging the gap between global expectations and East African identity as the interior design firm of choice in a region that promises to be the final domain for international business migration.

Taking the decision to fly solo in 2003, following 10 years of operations as a subsidiary of Planning Systems Services, the consultancy’s subsequent 12 year evolution has comprised a diversity and expansion, not only of its service portfolio, but of its sector clientele also; planting the Company in the perfect position to raise the bar for the industry in its native Kenya, and the surrounding region.

Managing Director (MD) and joint owner, Eugene Ngugi explains: “I have participated in international design forums for a number of years and have always found that Africa is grossly underrepresented.

This means that in a lot of ways, Africa is the last frontier when it comes to potential Eugene Ngugi, Managing for investment and Director development.

“The last place to look in terms of these ideas and innovations

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is Africa, and one of my goals is to help put Kenya on the world map as far as interior design is concerned.”

Progressing hand-in-hand with this strategy is the Company’s internal drive to enhance its own capacities and capabilities; an ambition that has been in place ever since it gained independence in 2003, and one that has been all the more necessary through the influx of world-renowned international clients.

Ngugi continues: “While general design trends at the moment are seeing more standardisation and an almost uniform approach to things like clean, modern spaces, we differentiate ourselves by bringing something unique and Kenyan to this, using lots of colours and earthy materials to ensure we carry out projects to international standards, but with a very East African flavour.”

Flexible service

Catalyst Principal Partners Offices, Nairobi

To facilitate such growth over the years, Planning Interiors has adopted a flexible approach to operations, which was initially significant in veering away from the traditional commercial sector focus that proved so prominent as a departmental function, to a more eclectic sector demographic at the turn of the 21st century.

This need was compounded by the advent of enhanced competition in the

Eugene Ngugi and Fatema Esajee Cutting cake during PIL 20th Anniversary in 2014

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It’s important not to just rely on one sector because the amount of work we have is dependent on the economy and trends in these sectors

market and has culminated in only 50 percent of works being conducted in the commercial space now, with hospitality and retail forming a balanced split across the remaining half.

“For us, it is important that we remain flexible because we have clients involved in varying business sectors,” Ngugi says. “Whether it is restaurants, hotels, offices etc, we have to be able to service each client in the way that they choose to venture.

“Complementing this is the increase in the number of international corporates coming into Kenya with their own designs but no way to implement them. Around 30 percent of our work now is helping to implement work designed by others, so it’s about continuously modifying our service provision to accommodate these different needs.”

In turn, this has given what is a relatively young workforce the opportunity to work with

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DRY CONSTRUCTION Address: P.O Box 98764, Mombasa Email: james.n.kihiu@gmail.com Tel: +254 728 666685

WE OFFER BESPOKE BUILDING SERVICES ENGINEERING SERVICES

Building Services Engineers: - Engineering consultancy services - Bespoke project management - Construction management - Building & Asset evaluation BUILDING SERVICES GROUP A4 Tetu Apartments, State Hse. Ave T: +254 (0)20 2729697/ 2694795 E: info@buildingservices-group.com

international associates and hone their own capabilities, as part of Planning Interiors’ strive for enhanced sustainability within the business.

With specifications set to higher standards than previously experienced in the region, the Company is ultimately thriving on this balance between global expectations and developments, as well as diversified local contracts.

Ngugi adds: “It’s important not to just rely on one sector because the amount of work we have is dependent on the economy and trends in these sectors.

“For example, because of the security issues the country was facing a few years ago, the tourism and hospitality industry was significantly affected, which had a knock-on effect on us.

“It’s risky to build a company based on the presumption that you will have business from one sector, and that is

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why we have found a balance between our core team and the ability to work in partnership with other firms across numerous sectors.”

Power of design

Collaboration forms a pivotal component of Planning Interiors’ efforts in general, happily working in tandem with freelance firms and external specialists in order to find the optimum solution for the client while again developing its own young designers through the process.

The utilisation of expatriates has further aided this cause over the years,

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KQ Pride Lounge - Banquette Seating

We have done work for international corporates including the likes of IBM, Microsoft, General Electric, Deloitte and City Bank...

and has formed an overall network capable of carrying out some of the most complex and customised projects for international heavyweights looking to make themselves at home in Kenya.

“We have done work for international corporates including the likes of IBM, Microsoft, General Electric, Deloitte and City Bank, as well as large local companies like Kenya Power and Kenya Commercial Bank,” Ngugi notes. “We have also done work in the restaurant sector for chains like Java Coffee House, as well as alongside international clients in the retail sector and on a number of flagship hotels

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here in Kenya.

“It’s a smorgasbord of international clients looking to establish a presence here, as well as a vast amount of local businesses as well.”

With a tight grip now established at the top of the sector in Kenya - Planning Interiors’ nearest competitors only half the size - the capacity and network that the Company now enjoys stands it in perfect stead as Ngugi edges towards his goal of aligning Kenya with the western world’s design stature.

“What we are now trying to do is become more aggressive in marketing ourselves and raising our profile to

What we are now trying to do is become more aggressive in marketing ourselves and raising our profile...

gain more exposure and keep ahead of the market’s evolution,” the MD concludes. “Over the next few years, this will see us hopefully open up some new divisions internally, while also working alongside local partners to develop an interior design school in order to help young designers meet the future needs of the industry.

“Finally, as part of our guiding strategy in terms of corporate social responsibility, we hope to improve opportunities for the underprivileged and we know we can do this and more in our society through the power of design.”

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Premier P layer in Construction Seychelles’

Allied Builders (Seychelles) Limited continues to bring its everenhancing levels of civil engineering professionalism to some of the most high profile builds in the country Writer: Matthew Staff • Project Manager: Stuart Parker

llied Builders (Seychelles) Limited continues to change the face of construction in Seychelles as its innovative approach to the most exciting and challenging of projects opens the door to more and more opportunities on the island nation.

The privately-owned, familymanaged arm of the wider Kurjibhai Ramji Group (KRGroup) has leveraged its ability to offer highquality construction and property development services for the best part of four decades since its inception in 1980, with its success emanating across the very highest echelons of Seychellois society.

Focusing primarily on civil engineering works - incorporating airports, office buildings, water supply engineering, roads, town planning, hospitals, houses and hotels - the majority of Allied Builders’ work

has come as a result of its affiliation with the country’s Government and Ministries; paving the way for longstanding, sustainable prosperity both in terms of its completed projects, and indeed, the Company’s own internal development.

“Allied Builders (Seychelles) Limited carries the pride of being the most trusted and preferred contractor of the Government of Seychelles since 1980,” the Company affirms. “Today, Allied Builders implements some of the most exciting and challenging projects underway in Seychelles.

“Our projects encompass divergent areas like airports, hotels, irrigation engineering, sewage and wastewater management, roads and town planning, docks and harbour engineering, as well as residential, commercial and corporate constructions.”

While many companies in such an advantageous market position might

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take future success for granted, however, much of Allied Builders’ ongoing progression stems from its refusal to rest on its laurels and the subsequent drive to keep improving with each new venture. This dedication to operational excellence and continuous improvement has also consequently resulted in the Company becoming the first in the Seychelles to receive ISO 9001:2000 certification for the quality of its work.

“Every project we have undertaken has only furthered our capabilities, and we are still learning. To us, this connection between doing and learning is seminal, and leads us to implement projects where we can do more, and learn more,” the Company explains on its website.

“Allied Builders is the most trusted and preferred construction Company in Seychelles and this goodwill is the result of the Company’s efforts and achievements over the years.”

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Sustained quality and performance

Such diverse and entrepreneurial evolution has only been achieved as a result of the dynamic leadership that exists within Allied Builders (Seychelles) Limited and, even higher up, the influence of the Mauritiusbased KRGroup of Companies who oversee a number of operations across real estate, trade, civil engineering, property development and tourism across the region.

“While each organisation in the Group operates independently, the common thread running through us is the shared vision of sustainable development through quality work and community development,” KRGroup states. “This mission has consistently helped us take greater and greater strides towards growth, and has helped us garner the goodwill of clients and partners worldwide.”

Allied Builders has perfectly aligned itself with this vision via the execution

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of technically complex and high value projects across the Seychelles.

For the Government especially, the Company’s capabilities have been clear for all to see and are now evident across numerous landmarks in the country, including: The Cascade Church, Victoria Market; the International Conference Centre, National Council for Children, Palais de Sports, National School of Training & Tourism; the redevelopment of Seychelles International Airport and construction of concrete airstrip; and Victoria Artisanal Port, Beau Vallon Sewerage plant, water storage reservoir and barracks, and extension of Victoria Power Station.

To facilitate such high profile projects, the Company - driven by the wider Group - adheres to a flexible, continuous strategy of internal improvements; thus ensuring that Allied Builders remains ahead of the industry curve, with an internal infrastructure in-keeping with the complexity of builds being undertaken.

The Company continues: “Allied

Builders (Seychelles) Limited realises the importance of sound infrastructure for sustained quality and performance. We are thus equipped with highly efficient, modern and safe infrastructure facilities to achieve our goals: a large warehouse of tools and plants catering to all kinds of projects; a state-of-the-art timber workshop; dedicated fabrication workshops to provide metal works for handrails, grills, casement doors, windows etc; effective communication network ensuring all-time high productivity; and a fleet of different types of vehicles to help us cater efficiently to technical and administrative requirements.

“With these facilities, Allied Builders (Seychelles) Limited is now capable of delivering sophisticated projects like water retaining structures using specialised formwork and has sound expertise in pile driving operations.”

Premier construction

Allied Builders’ role as an active member of the Association for

Allied Builders is equipped with highly efficient, modern and safe infrastructure facilities, including a state-of-the-art timber workshop

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the Construction and Engineering Professionals of Seychelles (ACEPS) - all of its engineers duly certified as such - further enhances the Company’s standing in line with its commitment to maintaining the very highest quality standards and in delivering each project on time and within budget.

This reputation is all the more impressive given the limited geographic scope that the Company has to hand in the Seychelles, with extra responsibility placed on project optimisation in order to attain the few contracts that do become available.

Applied so far across the construction of Cote D’or Hotel, Fregate Island Resort, and through renovation contracts for Indian Ocean Lodge, Denis Island Lodge, Alphonse Hotel Bomamite flooring, and Desroches Island Airport Strip; another large, Government-driven hotel in the pipeline indicates that Allied Builders’ evolution is far from stalling.

Atmosphere Hill Resort, restaurant elevation

Further proof of this is the facilitation of its external success through the internal honing of its workforce, providing on-the-job training to its staff in order to promote strong retention and business sustainability; utilising local resources from both a personnel and supply chain perspective where possible.

“We have a strong team of qualified and experienced engineers to manage our projects. Apart from this, onboard

technical assistance is also ensured with the presence of an able supporting team that has been trained to help our employees perform better,” the Company concludes. “Our professional project management, and efficient resource utilisation aiming at righttime delivery of the project within the budget is our key aspect to be considered as a premier construction Company operating for the past 35 years.”

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Africa’s largest urban land developer and main partner in the Appolonia project in Ghana, Rendeavour, is responding to the social and economic needs of local communities with a world-class offering Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Stuart Parker

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ith representation in 12 of the 25 fastest-growing economies in the world, Rendeavour is capitalising on Africa’s economic transformation and the subsequent urban development opportunities that are currently attracting huge amounts of interest from investors and property developers globally.

Working in partnership with world-class experts, local developers, governments and making concerted efforts to integrate into the local communities, the Group is the name

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behind many of the continent’s most prominent large-scale, mixed-use, mixed-income satellite cities.

“Our developments are designed as integrated live-work-play urban environments, free of the infrastructure deficits of neighbouring city centres. They will act as catalysts for growth along the corridors that connect them to the city,” the Company says on its website.

Economic transformation

Rendeavour is the name behind several key mixed-use landmarks in Africa today, including Tatu City, Kenya; King

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“Rendeavour’s vision goes beyond alleviating what is a self-evident problem; that of stifling urban congestion and a dearth of quality housing and commercial property in Africa...We aim to help create the infrastructure - the living and working spaces, communities, schools and hospitals – that will help sustain and accelerate Africa’s economic growth, meet the aspirations of Africa’s burgeoning middle-classes, and serve

as a means for urban development,” the Company adds.

Proud owners of more than 12,000 hectares of land in key urban growth trajectories of major cities including Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and the DRC, Rendeavour is leading the way in African urban development.

“The opportunity in Africa is greater than anywhere else. This is not just because Africa is different, but because the potential for catch-up and convergence is greater and likely to be fulfilled more rapidly,” explains the Company.

With opportunities abound in Ghana,

where the FDI remains robust and annual GDP is expected to average around seven percent in 2015-2017, Rendeavour is firmly focused on seeing the Appolonia project through to the next phase of development.

Appolonia beginnings

Officially launched by President John Dramani Mahama in July, 2012 as a “fully master-planned, mixed-use and mixed-income urban development in the Greater Accra Metropolitan area”, Appolonia is comprised of residential, retail and other commercial centres including schools, healthcare and the

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relevant social infrastructure, spread over 941 hectares and strategically positioned 30 kilometres from Accra’s CBD. The project is the first private community development of this scale and size to be commenced in Ghana.

“The project’s first residential phase – Nova Ridge – launched in 2015 and has already sold more than 50 percent of its units,” the Company notes. Following the completion of Nova Ridge residential, an open day was held which attracted large crowds from a range of backgrounds, including the Chief and Elders of the Appolonia community, together with their retinues.

Several companies who worked closely with Rendeavour on the project, such as financing companies Ghana Home Loans and HFC Realty, landscape architect Calcos, building architect De Arc and contractors’ Eban and New African Construction Company were also in attendance.

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THE PERFECT LOCATION

The project’s first residential phase launched in 2015

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Wetlands and Riparian Zones Habitat Conservation Zones Central Business District Business Corridor Small Neighbourhood Nodes Large Neighbourhood Nodes Light and Services Industrial High Density Residential Medium Density Residential Low Density Residential

Located between Oyibi and Afienya in Accra, Ghana, City of Light is 12km off the Tetteh-Quarshie to Adenta highway, 13km from Kotoka International Airport and 20km from Tema Harbour, Ghana’s largest port. City of Light is governed by strong development control and estate management guidelines that will enhance the value of properties.

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Appolonia – City of Light takes the due consideration of the current residents in the Appolonia area, ensuring that any impacts are managed and rectified effectively.

Rendeavour comments: “The Company tries, wherever possible, to ensure that human resources from the local community are utilised. An audit of skills has been undertaken and work placement with various contractors occurs where possible.

“As the project progresses, the intention is to put in place a training scheme to ensure that the community can receive long-term benefit from all aspects of the project.”

Building with the community in mind

The Appolonia project has strong ties with Rendeavour’s wider focus on corporate social responsibility, supporting sustainable solutions across education, healthcare and conservation.

“It is vital that the community does not just rely on handouts, but are empowered to be self-sufficient,” says the Company. “A regular consultation exercise with the community allows us to direct resources to where they are most needed.”

With the next phase of development currently underway, by the end of 2016 Rendeavour hopes that

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One of the top local professionaal lighting company’s in Ghana, providing quality lighting products and professional lighting services to our esteemed customers.

Telephone: +233 302 964506 / +233 208112435; 50432007 Email: info@lightingaleltd.com / lightingaleltd@gmail.com www.lightingaleltd.com

Lightingale

The Professional Light People

land values and the demand for land at Appolonia will reach levels that “fully reflect the ‘advancing’ nature of the project”. By then, many areas will have started full construction, including Appolonia’s recently announced second residential development, The Oxford, as well as commencement of construction for Nova Ridge’s individual houses, schools and retail developments.

Nick Langford, Country Head for Rendeavour, remarked on the work done by the team in a recent press release: “This is the culmination of four years of hard work carried out by a dedicated team of real estate professionals, and the delivery of Rendeavour’s mission to create mixed-income, mixed-use developments across Africa. The first building blocks are now being laid for the creation of this high quality urban development with superior infrastructure.”

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Banking Victoria Commercial Bank has overcome a challenging end to 2015 by maintaining the pivotal relationships, core workforce and proactive approach to capital investments that have proved so successful over its history Writer: Matthew Staff Project Manager: Callum Philp

ictoria Commercial Bank (VCB) has built upon a successful 2014 with an even more prosperous 2015 as it continues to capitalise on the positive reputation constructed within Kenya’s finance industry.

Consistently ranked within the top three institutions in the sector and country among its peer group over the past half a decade, expansion and continuous improvement are two philosophies deeply ingrained into the fabric of the Company, and have been ever since the organisation’s inception in 1987.

A consistent leadership and management model has further aided the smooth organic evolution ever since, and Chief Executive Officer, Yogesh Pattni has been there to witness it all.

“Following the start of our operations, we converted to being a fully-fledged commercial bank in 1992, offering all the banking services that come with being a commercial bank, and we have grown over the past 29 years to now have three branches, with an intention to open a fourth branch next year, and a workforce close to 60 people,” he noted back at the start of 2015.

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KENYA COMMERCE EXCHANGE SERVICE BUREAU

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enya Commerce Exchange Service Bureau is a certified SWIFT bureau offering the complete range of SWIFT services, and more than 100 banks across Africa have outsourced their SWIFT requirements to KENEX. Our team of experienced and certified engineers, coupled with our multi-site infrastructure, decade-long operational experience and value-added services are the answer to all your needs.

Our range of services includes SWIFT connectivity on shared platforms, remote gateway services and both live and business continuity management.

Our latest offering is SWIFT connectivity using cloud services for small & medium banks and micro-finance institutions.

KENEX’s software division is specialised in finance related solutions and we are well equipped to respond to any request to add to your productivity.

Victoria Fortis branch entrance

...the Kenya Commerce Exchange Services Bureau Ltd has gone a long way in aiding VCB’s development; via its broad range of software solutions and services...

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“Out of the 43 operational licensed banks in the country, we may only be around the 25th biggest but we have been ranked as the leading bank for several years in our peer group.”

Regarding the past 12 months of progression, he enthused: “The year 2015 has been largely successful with most objectives being realised and being met in spite of the difficult environment and the banking difficulties experienced in the last quarter of the year.

“We launched the VCB Master Card credit card towards the end of last year and look towards expanding our market share now in 2016. We are also looking into enhancing our internet banking platform and providing greater and more versatile services online.”

Fitting in with VCB’s longstanding philosophies, 2015 has epitomised the Company’s ability to provide tailor-made solutions and products in

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With our SWIFT Standard Operating Practise accreditation as your assurance of our quality and availability, we can offer peace of mind with our fully managed services.

T +254 20 4445354/56/60 E kenex@kenexnbi.com

www.kenexnbi.com

Solutions for borderless banking

Kenya Commerce Exchange Service Bureau is the certified SWIFT bureau that offers the complete range of the SWIFT services, eliminating the need for in-house SWIFT installation and expertise, serving 100+ banks in 15 countries.

Our solutions include: • KS-SCAN sanctions screening solutions, integrated with SAA/SAE • KPrinter document management system • SWIFT integration and messaging solutions • Anti-money laundering solutions for enterprises • Asset liability management solutions for financial institutions • Biometrics based access control and monitoring systems • ERP solutions for small enterprises • Cheque truncation and clearing solutions • Secure electronic payment systems For details of these and more solutions visit our website: www.kenexnbi.com

Contact us on; Fortis Tower, 7th Floor P.O. Box 14639-00800 WoodVale Grove Nairobi Phone: +254 20 4445354/56/60 Email: kenex@kenexnbi.com

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accordance with consumer demand, market gaps and industry fluctuations; an initiative that will also be evident across the Company’s 2016 goals which embrace technological enhancements, manpower development and improved customer service levels.

High level of service

“These investments are expected to bring in cost benefits which will result in reduced cost of business for our clients,” Pattni says in regards to the latest phase of a 29-year development which has incorporated methodical organic growth and careful monitoring of each of its branches.

Always avoiding the lure of spreading its operations too thin, the focus has always been on optimisation of its existing outlets, introducing new branches after careful deliberation.

A third was subsequently unveiled in 2014, with a fourth still earmarked for 2016; addressing societal demands in more affluent areas.

PJ DAVE GROUP

T The industry is going through a transformation in that the regulations and enforcements are becoming much more enhanced

he PJ Dave Group is a familyowned cut-flower business that grows and exports cut roses to customers around the world.

Initially beginning with the growing of vegetables, we expanded to growing roses in 1998 and we have enhanced our name and respect through continued excellence in the global market.

As a leading brand for more than a decade, our companies are located in idyllic landscapes across Kenya.

Our product range includes growing over 32 varieties of both medium and T hybrid roses and reaching out to markets throughout the world whilst also selling our range of unique, vibrant and highly popular flowers through auctions in the Netherlands.

We continue to experiment, innovate and regularly update our range of flowers so that we remain in competitive demand with our global markets.

Our growth has been achieved through heavy investment in high-end technologies, combined with a trained, skilled and experienced workforce of thousands of workers spread out over 135 hectares of greenhouses.

Affiliations The Group is officially listed with the Kenya Flower Council as a silver member and MPS – ABC, thus maintaining our standards in the floriculture industry.

Outlook PJ Dave Group is one of Kenya’s leading growers and packers of high-quality roses with a specific focus to serve our loyal customers who recognise us as one of the foremost brands to do business with. Our customer-care is personalised, swift and thorough, which is what sets us apart from both local and international contemporaries in the industry.

T +254 787 635 491 / +254 736 870 989 E marketing@pjdave.com

www.pjdave.com Yogesh Pattni, Chief Executive Officer of Victoria Commercial Bank

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grows and exports THE PJ DAVE GROUP

cut Roses

TO CUSTOMERS AROUND THE WORLD.

Our range of unique, vibrant and highly popular flowers come in various head size and lengths (from 4.5 cm head to 6.5 cms) – with globally recognised names such as; Ace Pink, Alison, Athena, Bellevue, Bellerose, Burgundy, Candlelight, Deep Purple, Dekora, Good Times, Julischka, LaBelle, Madam Red, Mariyo, Memory, Moonwalk, Nightingale, Pink Flame, Pink Rhodos, Proud, Red Ribbon, Revival, Rhodos, Roseberry, Senorita, Salambo, Tamara, Tropical Amazon, Utopia, Vanilla Sky and Wedding Bell.

PJ DAVE GROUP, PO Box 18436-00500, Nairobi, Kenya Mobile: +254 787 635 491/+254 736 870 989 Email: marketing@pjdave.com Skype: PJDaveMarketing www.pjdave.com

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MALPLAST INDUSRTIES LTD

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alplast Industries Limited is a leading manufacturer of rigid plastic packaging (PET & HDPE) used in a variety of industries, and our products range from 60ml to 20 litres in volume.

One of our key value additions is in our bespoke products starting from customised moulding to printing, to suit our customers’ specific needs.

Having grown to one of the key plastic packaging companies in East and Central Africa, Malplast Industries enjoys a large percentage share of the market in the production of P.E.T and HDPE Bottles packaging in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic packaging across sub-Saharan Africa.

T +254 20 20 16 993/4

www.malplast.co.ke Victoria Commercial Bank tailors its service offering in accordance with client requirements

“We currently have three branches and the demographics of our clients remain the same,” Pattni notes. “VCB’s focus within Kenya is still on Nairobi while reaching out into other towns as well, and while we are still considered a small sized bank, we are still one of the top performing institutions with a high level of service and a good asset portfolio.”

Continuous improvement and ongoing investments are of course a staple requirement in any successful business, but in the same way that VCB tailors its services in line with client requirements, it also tailors its expenditures in line with market trends.

Pattni continues: “The industry is going through a transformation in that the regulations and enforcements are becoming much more enhanced.

“This is a good measure for the general public but requires much more structure and controls from institutions.

As an institution we have developed

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ALAN DICK AND COMPANY

VCB’s focus within Kenya is still on Nairobi while reaching out into other towns as well, and while we are still considered a small sized bank, we are still one of the top performing institutions with a high level of service and a good asset portfolio

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lan Dick and Company (East Africa), as an affiliate of the larger Alan Dick Group, are proud to be one of the oldest and largest telecommunications design and build companies in Kenya.

Meeting the needs of service providers throughout the whole East African region (Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Sudan), our core business activity is turnkey site builds for regional operators, more than 1,700 Macro BTS sites rolled out across Kenya alone since the mid-2000’s.

We also offer services in the Broadcasting sector, supplying masts and carrying out installation of antennaes and transmitters.

T +254 20 374281 F +254 37 44586 E sales@alandick.co.ke

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For all your packaging solutions

PET Packaging Alcoholic Beverages Non-Alcoholic Beverages Pharmaceuticals Edible Oils Lubricant Oils Cosmetics HDPE Packaging Edible Oils Lubricant Oils Cosmetics Pharmaceuticals Dairy Products Food & Beverages Paints Chemicals

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Malplast Industries Limited Off Maasai Road | Mombasa Road P. O. Box 10849 - 00400, Nairobi. Kenya Phone: (254) 20-20 16 99 3/4 www.malplast.co.ke

OUR SERVICES • Full Turnkey Design and Installation of GSM sites, indoor solutions, radio, transmission and main switching rooms

TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN AND BUILD CONTRACTORS

• Steel tower structures both self supporting and guyed for heights from 3meters to 300meters

We are proud to be one of the oldest and largest telecommunications design and build companies in Kenya.

• Equipment shelters, power equipment, generators and fuel tanks, feeders and accessories • Repeater solutions for indoor and outdoor application.

ALAN DICK AND COMPANY EAST AFRICA LIMITED

Tel: (+254) 20 3742821, Fax: (+254) 37 44586 Email : sales@alandick.co.ke

Address: Alan Dick & Company (East Africa) Ltd, Opp. Museum Hill Centre, Muthithi Road. P.O Box 12907 - 00100 GPO

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various policies and measures to ensure that we comply with all aspects of the regulations but at the same time we are able to meet client needs within the confines of the law.

“We also periodically educate our clients on a one-on-one basis about the changes that take place and what they need to do to be within the law. This adds value to them as well.”

Improved performance

Facilitating a positive and progressive experience for clients at the back-end of VCB’s product offering is a series of internal and structural developments taking place behind the scenes; initially epitomised by the technological advancements and investments being carried out, but cemented by the relationships enjoyed at all levels throughout the business.

Primarily, this addresses the personnel side of the Bank’s operations, as Pattni says: “We have expanded our

We have expanded our workforce from three people to more than 60 and each and every member of staff are highly valued, highly motivated and greatly encouraged

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workforce from three people to more than 60 and each and every member of staff are highly valued, highly motivated and greatly encouraged.

“They are trained and often encouraged to work in teams and take up challenges to improve the performance of the Bank, and training workshops take place right from board level to junior staff.”

VCB subsequently enjoys a very low

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level of staff turnover and has become a natural employer of choice among individuals looking to break into the attractive finance industry, as Kenya’s economy continues to flourish.

Inevitably, being reputed for a strong personable culture is vital in a sector that relies so heavily on human interaction between staff and customers, and the same positive relationships are seen through the formulation of strategic business partnerships too.

The likes of Alan Dick Ltd, Malplast Industries, Simba Technologies and PJ Dave Group have all enjoyed extensive and longstanding partnerships with the Bank, while the Kenya Commerce Exchange Services Bureau Ltd has gone a long way in aiding VCB’s development; via its broad range of software solutions and services to facilitate the latter’s connection to SWIFT (the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication).

Providing Banks with; Core Banking Solution Internet/Mobile Business Intelligence Operational Excellence (Workflow) Smart Branch (Unmanned Branch) Customer Relationship Security Threat Protection

Email: info@simbatech.biz Website: www.simbatech.biz

Held in high esteem

Furthering the human element even more concertedly, the Bank’s ethos in regards to corporate social responsibility is equally prevalent; its Victoria Commercial Bank Charitable Trust acting as a standalone entity in addressing areas of malnourishment, homelessness, education and healthcare.

“VCB continues to play its part in assisting lesser fortunate members of society,” Pattni emphasises. “A recent project that members of staff have taken up is to mentor young boys where in the recent past, much emphasis has been given to girls. The Bank’s charitable trust, together with staff members, will be mentoring young boys to show them the right path and how to be responsible citizens.

“We have also contributed towards a cancer hospital which will provide subsidised treatment, and in cases

The Bank continues to be held in high esteem by its client base and shareholders and, in spite of a difficult last quarter in 2015, VCB’s clients maintained their loyalty

where patients cannot pay, treatments right up to operations will be provided free-of-charge. This is in conjunction with many other donors and wellwishers.”

Becoming renowned for responsible development and community involvement can only stand VCB in good stead across the business-related facets of its ongoing evolution, and the goal remains in 2016 to engrain itself further into the mid-tier banking fraternity.

Pattni concludes: “In the years to come, I’d like to see the Bank move into more of a mid-tier sized grouping, but all the while retaining the status of being one of the best managed institutions within the industry.

“The Bank continues to be held in high esteem by its client base and shareholders and, in spite of a difficult last quarter in 2015, VCB’s clients maintained their loyalty. Furthermore, the Bank continues to have one of the best asset books in the industry with a zero non-performing loan book.”

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Natural Alternative THE

positioning as being the sole natural gas reticulation business in Gauteng; providing uninterrupted supply of energy to place it among the most reliable suppliers in the sector.

Moving away from fossil fuels and into renewable energy in the mid2000s, the subsequent success that the business has achieved has derived largely from strategic partnerships and has had a profound influence across numerous sectors; including Writer: Matthew Staff industrial, power generation, domestic households, central water heating, Project Manager: Eddie Clinton commercial restaurants, multigoli Gas has monitored, dwellings and even hospitals.

While its overall footprint is adapted to and led the restricted by its licence within way across the the Greater Johannesburg energy and gas Metropolitan Area, Egoli Gas’ sector over the subsequent reputation in that past decade, becoming a region has become all significant player in South the more prevalent, Africa’s natural gas servicing more than evolution.

7,500 consumers across As one of the most its aforementioned prominent needs customer base in the emanating their way process. into all sectors of “Our commitment to society, the Companies an energy efficient, low behind industry carbon lifestyle ensures progression can easily an uninterrupted flow go unnoticed in the of natural gas ready to background, but Egoli’s use when it’s needed, willingness to move with safely,” the Company’s the times, and to find Managing Director (MD), optimum, contemporary Shepherd Shonhiwa, Shepherd Shonhiwa solutions has led the Managing Director states. “The product is Company to its current

Egoli Gas’ origins can be traced back more than 100 years, but that doesn’t stop the Company in its current guise keeping up with the very latest in energy trends for the benefit of Johannesburg

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A global communications partner & world-class cellular network.

One of South Africa’s leading Cellular and Data Service Providers.

MTN provides this service through an extensive infrastructure network that includes not only communication channels, but also physical buildings that house the network and data equipment that makes the cellular and data service possible. The data and cellular service is power intensive and MTN actively finds new energy efficient solutions to deal with the increase in power consumption due to

the dramatic rise in demand for data and cellular communication.

In itself, using any phone to contact a person instead of driving to meet the person, reduce the universal Carbon Footprint. One of the objectives of MTN is to become the preferred cellular and data provider of all South Africans while reducing energy cost and the actual carbon footprint of South Africa.

Reducing our carbon footprint First ever natural gas tri-generation plant that powers a data centre.

The tri-generation plant at the MTN Innovation Hub, JHB is capable of generating 2MW electricity and reclaiming heat to generate cooling.

Egoli gas is responsible for the supply and distribution of natural gas to site

Fairlands, South Africa www.mtn.co.za

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Gas used to be manufactured in the 1800s from this building, before the conversion to methane-rich natural gases in the 2000s

Egoli Gas silo tanks are still in use today

Benefits [from the rebranding] included changing from supply of hydrogen-rich gas to natural gas, diversifying our customer base, and developing a cadre of skilled management with sharp focus on customer service, business efficiency and safety of operations environmentally-friendly, safe, reliable and energy efficient natural gas.”

Via its 1,200 kilometre pipeline network, Egoli Gas’ saturation within Johannesburg is filtered from an initial acquisition of natural gas from Sasol before strategic storage and controlling of the product occurs prior to its reticulation across the city.

“We at Egoli Gas partner with our clients to find energy saving solutions that meet the requirements of any home or business,” the Company says. “Our natural gas is a convenient,

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easily tapped and cost-effective energy source and is used in a wide range of applications by domestic, hospitality, central water heating and industrial consumers.”

Best practice

With business operations dating back as far as 1892 - when an initial 30 metre gas pipeline was first installed in the city - the Company’s evolution in the decades that have followed have mirrored a general industry evolution, adopting some of the most pressing trends affecting society and global energy usage.

Culminating in 1999 when the Egoli Gas consortium was formed - known as Metro Gas - a further development 10 years’ later saw the Company progressing from being a City Council utility department to a private sector business and underwent a major corporate rebranding.

Later, “during 2004 and 2005, the entire pipeline network, as well

MTN South Africa

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TN South Africa forms part of the MTN Group, a multinational telecommunications operator that boasts more than 229.2 million subscribers across its markets in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East.

However, it has also invested in the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), a fibre optic cable system that links South Africa and the east coast of Africa to Europe, to further improve network redundancy.

In 2011, MTN rolled out the largest network infrastructure development project in the history of the company.

This has increased its 2nd generation (2G) network coverage to 98.6 percent of the country’s population. In addition, the EDGE and 3rd generation sites of MTN South Africa covers close to 65 percent of the population thereby enabling better call and data connectivity.

In December 2012, MTN South Africa reaffirmed its technology leadership by announcing the commercial launch of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in Gauteng. The pilot was the largest LTE rollout of its scale in Africa and spanned the business hub of Gauteng and Durban’s surrounding areas, with more than 2,200 sites. The operator has expanded its LTE network investment and now includes sites in Cape Town, Bloemfontein, and Port Elizabeth with more regions planned throughout the year.

MTN has successfully migrated various voice bearer interfaces to internet protocol, thereby improving scalability and network simplicity. It has also invested a significant amount of capital in building its own backbone and transmission infrastructure. As a company dedicated on bringing its customers a world-class internet experience, it has invested substantially in submarine cables to improve broadband capacity.

MTN is also the single biggest investor in the West Africa Cable System (WACS), a submarine cable that links South Africa and the west coast of Africa to Europe.

MTN remains a proud sponsor of other properties in the sports, music and lifestyle space. The telecommunications company will continue the relationships with various entities such as the MTN8 tournament, Bloemfontein Celtic Football Club (football), MTN Joyous Celebration and Mafikizolo (music and lifestyle), etc.

www.mtn.co.za

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Egoli Gas soccer team vs the management team

as approximately 35,000 individual gas-fired pieces of equipment, were successfully converted from hydrogenrich coal-based gas to methane-rich, natural gas due to the changed specification of gas by the supplier”, Shonhiwa recalls.

“Benefits [from the rebranding] included changing from supply of hydrogen-rich gas to natural gas, diversifying our customer base, and developing a cadre of skilled management with sharp focus on customer service, business efficiency and safety of operations.”

Projects undertaken since that moment, and especially from 2005 onwards, have revolved around honing and optimising this change in methodology, as well as rationalising the network to discard old non-users and in streamlining a new user base.

Key contracts were subsequently attained in power generation, public hospital boilers and the commercial

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space, earmarking Egoli Gas as a provider built on integrity and, most importantly, safety.

“Natural gas safety is always our highest priority,” the Company emphasises. “At Egoli Gas, strict natural gas safety standards in accordance to national and international standards are adhered to.

“We conduct scheduled leak detection surveys of our complete pipeline network beyond the minimum requirements and strive to implement best practice wherever possible. Regular risk assessments and audits are conducted to ensure constant compliance to standards and legislation.”

World-class reticulation

Egoli Gas re-instatements

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To facilitate such a rapidly changing and developing sector, Egoli Gas’ internal structure - under the guidance of 100 percent owner, Reatile Group - is continuously upgraded and

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improved through a series of capital expenditures; recently comprising the introduction of a Scada system to aid in gas flow monitoring as well as the pressure and integrity of a pipeline network from one central point.

A new pipeline construction has also been implemented in western Johannesburg, while the Company has additionally divided its entire network into 43 supply sectors in order to improve safety standards once more, and to localise pipeline management.

As a 100 percent wholly-owned black Company, the business’ employment profile is equally meticulous in terms of its make-up, reflecting the demographic of the society in which it operates.

“Egoli Gas has a healthy spread of skilled and semi-skilled staff across the board and significant investment is put into skills training and development of its staff,” Shonhiwa emphasises.

The same local commitment is also displayed across the Company’s supply chain, the MD adds: “Egoli Gas is a one-product business from one predominant supplier, while efficiencies are improved by entering into business partnerships, both horizontally and vertically, within the gas value chain where necessary.”

All of these facets fit into Egoli Gas’ ultimate array of goals and values which incorporate fairness, honesty, transparency, care and respect - across both its employees and its everexpanding customer base - standing the business in great stead for the next exciting phase of its sector-driven development.

“Our vision is to be a dynamic, world-class natural gas reticulation Company, expanding rapidly into the Johannesburg area and providing exciting opportunities for all stakeholders,” the Company states.

The MD adds: “In three - five years, Egoli Gas will have doubled the size of this business and will be reticulating gas in other, neighbouring metropolitan areas.”

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CLAASSEN AURET (PTY) LTD is a professional consulting electrical/electronic engineers company geared to serving the needs of a rapidly changing South Africa. Although based in Gauteng and Western Cape we undertake assignments throughout South Africa and Africa.

The Company provides a comprehensive range of general electrical, electronic installations and ground breaking consulting engineering services in the alternative energy field, such as Quad and Tri-Gen as well as bio-fuels generation.

8 Handel Road, Ormonde, Johannesburg Telephone: +27 11 496 3101 Facsimile: +27 11 496 3120 E-mail: drawings@cai.co.za

Egoli Gas’ annual fun walk is a marketing strategy that is designed to help expand the Company’s customer base.

“Staff are divided into colour groups and have to come up with a team name and then ‘WE HIT THE STREETS OF JOZI’.

This marketing strategy is one way of expanding our pipeline,” the Company says.

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Hillcrest Private Hospital is expanding its facilities with future development and sustainability in mind as 2016 shapes up to be every bit as challenging and rewarding as the past 12 months Writer: Matthew Staff • Project Manager: Eddie Clinton

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and Care four-pronged approach has reaped dividends for Hillcrest Private Hospital over the past 12 months as the ongoing development, diversification and expansion of the building’s facilities maintained, and even gathered further momentum.

With key goals encompassing a revised recruitment drive, an enhancement in quality and a more structured leadership hierarchy, the Hospital’s improvements in 2015 have subsequently paved the way

for a new injection of targets in 2016, with continuous improvement a necessity, rather than a choice.

“The main goals for 2015 were divided into four key areas,” explains Hospital Manager, Glenn de Villiers. “Firstly we wanted to recruit specialists to supplement or expand our service offering, and secondly we wanted to drive a holistic quality approach to nursing which ensured a positive patient experience.

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Hillcrest was recognised as a Discovery Health Top 20 Private Hospital in 2015

“Thirdly we wanted to ensure that, at a leadership level, we had the correct structure to enhance our vision of a quality service and lastly we wanted to grow our business for future development and sustainability.

“In reviewing this, we have done well in the past 12 months, as we have added specialists and increased our service offering. We were rated by our Discovery patients as being in the top 20 hospitals in South Africa and we have restructured our nursing division by appointing two Deputy Nursing Managers to maintain our nursing standards to a growing patient base.”

The Hospital continues to show yearon-year growth at double-digit levels in terms of patient volume, making this positive internal infrastructure development all the more pivotal, while additions to the offering including a new pre-admission clinic has further refined the service at hand.

De Villiers adds: “National Renal Care has also opened up a 14 bed unit,

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We were rated by our patients as being in the top 20 hospitals in South Africa by Discovery and we have restructured our nursing division by appointing two Deputy Nursing Managers

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which provides a holistic service to renal patients, while the establishment of the new nursing structure and expansion to the Neonatal ICU has focused our approach in driving quality and achieving better patient outcomes.

“Due to the fact that the healthcare environment is competitive and it’s fairly easy to replicate buildings and equipment, our critical differentiating factor is in our supporting specialists and the level of quality and care that is provided to patients.”

T-Systems: delivering future healthcare solutions today Access to quality healthcare is essential to economic growth and stability, however, the South African healthcare sector faces a number of challenges including skills shortages, complex, disparate systems and inefficient manual processes. Information Technology (IT) can resolve many of these challenges, enabling more integrated, efficient back-end services, seamless flow of information and improved healthcare service delivery in a digitised environment.

Future solutions today T-Systems South Africa is working to address the need for effective healthcare systems with their innovative healthcare solution based on SAP technology. The elements covered in the solution include patient administration, billing, clinical records and care with a single patient index; integration between hospitals and pharmacies to ensure accurate dispensing; stock and materials management for cost recovery from healthcare funders; employee self-help platforms that provide staff with access to information and processes; and operational insight based on real-time information, supporting better decision making. The offering also includes integration with third-party partners such as medical aids, banks and switching houses.

There are at least three state of the art healthcare facilities in Kwazulu-Natal, leveraging the SAP Business All-in-One healthcare solution from T-Systems to provide world-class healthcare services to its patients. The result is a highly digitised healthcare facility with a fully integrated end-to-end patient lifecycle. Key business benefits include pervasive access to real-time information, enabling timely, fact-based decision-making, as well as enhanced management of variable costs and optimised admission processes. Furthermore, group reporting across hospitals provides deeper insight and visibility into the financial performance and operations of the business.

“Real-time billing, improved collaboration between the hospital, medical aids, radiology department, retail pharmacies and hospital entities enable faster financial month-end closures and optimised debtor days. In addition, employee satisfaction is improved through better access to information and enhanced internal communication. It boosts efficiencies and delivers cost savings,” says Johann Joubert, Sales Manager at T-Systems Africa.

The 2016 T-Systems Healthcare vision “Building on the success of the T-Systems SAP Healthcare offering, we are constantly improving our solutions to create further incremental business value to Healthcare Professionals and enhance the patient experience,” says Peter Mills, Head of Systems Integration Sales at T-Systems South Africa.

“T-Systems South Africa is evaluating global healthcare solutions for localisation to drive the early adoption of new technologies in the African market. These include accident and emergency resource management, mobility and personalised healthcare offerings. The organisation is also focusing on the integration between clinical and non-clinical systems such as wearable devices, as well as machine-to-machine (M2M) data integration to mobile applications and patient clinical records,” he adds.

The 2016 T-Systems Healthcare vision is addressing the challenges faced by healthcare facilities today through a combination of technology, innovation, skills and experience, extending services in new, innovative ways to the African market.

T-Systems South Africa (Pty) Ltd International Business Gateway New Road, Midrand 1685 T +27 11 254 7400 www.t-systems.co.za

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Continuous education

The consequential commitment to continuous quality and care that is achieved is another key differentiator, and the Hospital has had to balance this dedication with its need to meet ever-growing capacity requirements with the future in mind.

Occupancy has grown 14 percent year-on-year while theatre cases have also escalated by 20 percent over the same period.

“These are all indications that the Hospital is showing good growth versus the previous year, despite the fact that new private hospitals have opened in 2015,” de Villiers notes.

As a result, an improvement of facilities, as well as simply an expansion, has occurred with the quality of care still far more pivotal than the quantity of care services on offer.

The Hospital Manager continues: “During 2015, the centralised management structure was dissolved and brought back to a hospital level, to allow for better patient interaction and coordination.

“A number of suites were also refurbished to cater for the needs of practising specialists and new equipment was purchased for surgeons in theatre.”

As with any business or establishment expansion, however, the challenge in not only adding to and improving the existing service, but integrating it into the traditional values, is never an easy one to overcome; and this has proven to be an especially prominent concern for Hillcrest amid the past year of progress.

“One of the key challenges is to ensure that the hospital recruits the correct staff with the same attitude and ethos to quality and patient outcomes,” de Villiers affirms. “Hence, one of the key drivers is to make Hillcrest Private Hospital an employer of choice.

“A number of initiatives have been launched during 2015 to ensure that management provides a positive environment for staff to work in.

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Operating theatre equipped with state-of-the-art machinery

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These include our Employee Forum, Professional Nurses Forum, ‘Town Hall’ meetings, and our open door policy to all senior managers.

“The Hospital has also embarked on an aggressive policy to ensure that continuous education is provided to staff, to ensure that their skills are upto-date with current trends.”

For the hospital, the key differentiators are our supporting doctors, the quality of the staff that we employ and the level of quality and service that we deliver to our patients

Positive outcomes

All-told, Hillcrest’s workforce has expanded by a sizable 11 percent over the past 12 months, and the Hospital’s commitment to personnel development is certainly not confined to the walls of the building either, as its corporate social responsibility facet evolves in equally prominent fashion.

“For Hillcrest Private Hospital, it is important from a director and management perspective that we involve and participate in the community,” de Villiers explains.

“During the past year, the Hospital has been involved in numerous projects, including: a Santa Shoe Box

Hillcrest is to continue building on its key differentiators to further improve the level of service delivered to patients

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Charity Christmas drive to provide clothing and stationery to rural underprivileged children; a Winter warmth drive, collecting clothing for the underprivileged; a breast cancer drive; the Sunflower fund – a bone marrow donor organisation – supporting their yearly bandana drive; and free community screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar.”

Close affinities with local schools to nurture the next generation of healthcare professionals also integrates smoothly into the Hospital’s overall ethos, which, unsurprisingly, places quality care at the centre of all

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initiatives and investments.

“For the hospital, the key differentiators are our supporting doctors, the quality of the staff that we employ and the level of quality and service that we deliver to our patients,” de Villiers concludes. “The year of 2016 will be one of great change for Hillcrest, as the hospital gears itself for the development of a vascular theatre, provision of a catheterisation laboratory and the provision of more medical and surgical beds.

“However the fundamental ethos of the business will continue to remain the same. A focus on delivery of quality care and positive outcomes for patients remains our top priority.

“Linked to this is the need to ensure that, as a hospital, we are still responsive to the needs of our doctors that support the Hospital and to the needs of the community in which we operate.”

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BBF Safety Group is to enter 2016 with a plan to further diversify its revenue stream and geographic reach in order to continue on its impressively rapid growth path Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Joe Palliser

BF Safety Group (Pty) Ltd merges some of the most respected, family-owned safety footwear manufacturers in South Africa together; namely Beier Safety Footwear (Pty) Ltd, Bagshaw Footwear, United Frams and Wayne.

During the course of the past 14 months, the Group has sought to diversify its portfolio and attract new customers from a broader range of sectors across the industry.

Equipped with this renewed focus, the BBF Safety Group has its eye keenly focused on the latest industry trends to remain ahead in the safety footwear sector, and to capitalise on the growing demand for high quality products, made with industry-leading technology.

“Today, our combined experience in safety footwear encompasses more than 200 years and we are proud to offer some of the most recognised and trusted brands in sub-Saharan Africa; including Bova, Frams, Fuel, Lemaitre, Sisi, Inyati and Wayne,” states Silvio Ceriani, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the BBF Safety Group.

Operating from its four manufacturing facilities in Durban, Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg, the BBF Safety Group is in the process of acquiring new machinery to not only grow its production capabilities, but continue to innovate and explore the possibilities of opening up the Company’s revenue streams across its

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Today, our combined experience in safety footwear encompasses more than 200 years and we are proud to offer some of the most recognised and trusted brands in sub-Saharan Africa...

Silvio Ceriani, Group CEO

select markets and industries, with a continued focus on safety products.

New year, new focus

In alignment with its objective of continuous improvement, the BBF Safety Group will begin 2016 with a key member of staff who will look closely at the right opportunities for the Company to develop in 2016 and beyond. “We have recently hired Taygan Govinden as the new Business Development Manager to lead potential business-changing ideas and research how best to remain competitive in the safety industry,” says Silvio.

Backtracking to its investments this year, the BBF Safety Group has appointed new distributors in the Middle East which Group Export Manager, Tven Heyer is confident will pave the way for additional growth in 2016. “From our perspective, the overriding focus is really in three

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key areas; namely appointing new distributors in key markets, expanding our footprint in new markets across the globe, and improving our own operational efficiencies to positively impact our level of service; which is largely thanks to the addition of further personnel to our exports team.

This will certainly assist with building strong and focused relationships with both our new and existing distributors across the globe.”

Tven adds: “It’s key that we continue to grow our reputation across new markets and the resulting strengthened export network will provide us with significant growth potential. In Africa, we will be growing our already-reputable presence in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania. In addition, Australasia and America present a welcome challenge as markets with excellent export potential to add to our already comprehensive distribution portfolio.”

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Bagshaw Team at the Big Walk for Cancer

Order your complete product & supply needs from ONE SOURCE. We guarantee prompt service, excellent quality & competitive pricing. Our extensive inventory allows same day shipping on nearly all products.

East Asian Import & Export CC 5 Baumann Road, Queensmead Industrial Park, Durban, 4093, South Africa P O Box 39492, Queensburgh, 4070, Durban, South Africa Tel: +27 31 464 6590 Email:ashwinj@telkomsa.net

Established in 2006, East Asian Import & Export CC is a Durban based company specialising in the sales, supply and service of shoe machines, accessories and attachments. From the outset we saw the need to specialise in spare parts and accessories and today we are proud to say that we are able to supply spare parts for almost 95% of machines in current use.

We also supply an array of knives, grinding wheels, leather skiving machine spare parts and consumables, sewing and shoe machine needles and awls, polishing brushes and mops, splitting machine blades.

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Professional approach

Currently, South Africa is marred by a high unemployment rate, with recent figures reported at highs of approximately 25.5 percent. In the manufacturing sector in particular, there has to be a fine balance between implementing the latest machinery which is often semi or fully automated - and developing a previously unskilled labour force. The BBF Safety Group continues to demonstrate its commitment to the Government’s drive to create employment by subscribing to the BEE initiative and opting for predominantly semiautomated manufacturing processes.

Silvio explains: “We are very much on-board with the BEE initiative; something which is both a welcome challenge to uphold and helps us to create a locally-rooted, sustainable and locally-relevant approach to business in South Africa. Moreover, this is something that makes us competitive and we are proud of our commitment to local empowerment.”

“Supporting this is our in-house training, including emphasis on better educating our stakeholders on the processes and products from the BBF Safety Group. We make sure that every supplier partnership we uphold is sustainable for both parties in the longterm. For example, we work closely with our distributors as they play such a vital role in the day-to-day business operations,” he adds.

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The theme of growing sustainably is deeply ingrained in the BBF Safety Group’s plans for the new year, comprising a whole host of ways to diversify its revenue stream across the safety footwear sector. “Next year, our investments in new equipment will see our production capacity accelerate and open up new market sectors,” says Silvio.

Tven adds: “In terms of exports, we will always keep a close eye on potential markets abroad and how to expand into these countries sustainably. Furthermore,

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“Next year, our investments in new equipment will see our production capacity accelerate and open up new market sectors” - Silvio Cerani, Group CEO

it is our balance of experienced people who have remained with us during the merger, combined with our longstanding stakeholder relationships, which will assist us on our mission to provide people with safety footwear across the globe.”

The CEO concludes: “By balancing growth with a sustainable business model, we have been able to drive our continuous improvement objective forward and bring the best safety footwear brands to an increasing number of industries across the continent in the short space of just a few years.”

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emaining solvent despite facing a global decline in the international price of rubber (SICOM) and steadily increasing operational costs, Ghana Rubber Estates (GREL) has placed a concerted focus on strategic ways to improve efficiencies and increase production for minimal cost in order to maintain its competitive position in a toughening market.

“2015 was a difficult year, so we have been concentrating on lowering the cost of production while maintaining our high level of quality to meet our sales commitments,” explains Lionel Barre, Managing Director of GREL. Proud of its locally-recognised status as a truly Ghanaian Company embedded in the country’s industry since 1957 and led by Barre who has brought his extensive history in the international natural rubber and agri-business sectors to Ghana - GREL is well experienced in handling fluctuating rubber prices and the many ways to adapt to keep its head above water.

Continued consolidation

After gaining support from the Government of Ghana and private interest from various tyre companies to rehabilitate Ghana’s natural rubber plantations in the 1990s and early 2000s, GREL has grown to a size of more than 20,000 hectares of estates today, with phase five of its outgrowers project nearing completion.

“We have more than 40,000 hectares of outgrower rubber trees planted and are working to extend our activities to the western, central and Ashanti regions, and have most recently expanded into the eastern region,” says Barre.

Not only has GREL been expanding the amount of land managed by outgrowers, but the Company has been replanting and extending its own estates as part of a €25 million investment.

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Staying Flexible

Ghana Rubber Estates has identified the current rubber price decline as the opportune time to build on key differentiators and enhance its product offering to better serve its customers Writer: Emily Jarvis • Project Manager: Joe Palliser

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Locally ingrained Corporate social responsibility remains a core activity for GREL and its integration within the local community, even with the international rubber price remaining unfavourable. “Despite this, we have remained committed to ensure that we support the local communities in which we operate. €300,000 was spent on CSR projects in 2015, with a focus on infrastructure projects such as school classrooms, community centre, and construction of KVIP; as well as a keen interest in water projects,” details Barre.

Management Daily of Performance

GREL is to implement an industrial tool called Management Daily of For now, we are focusing our investment on Performance (MDP), designed to upgrading our electricity infrastructure and the provide much needed support in monitoring efficiencies across the water treatment station to enable the factory to settle board and maintaining zero production its capacity optimisation needed by the end of 2016 downtime.

“Essentially, MDP will become a crucial cost-saving tool that will monitor everything from production, In support of this, GREL has more quality, delivery, energy consumption, maintenance and health & safety than doubled its factory capacity since aspects of our production. This will help 2012 and is now able to produce more us to further improve our delivery and than 45,000 tonnes a year at peak capacity. simplify how we can keep an eye on all He summarises: “To cope with of these factors,” Barre highlights.

GREL’s ambitious development the declining price of rubber and to strategy sees the Company reinvest achieve return on these investments, 80 percent of its profits back into we have to work closely with our customers and become more flexible the business in its bid to cement to facilitate their needs. We now have its indigenous reputation. He further details: “There are a lot of a specialised grade of rubber that we possibilities for expansion in Ghana, can easily adapt to suit the customer.

Tapping process especially in the country’s central and “We hope this new product will help to stabilise our production capacities electricity infrastructure and the water eastern regions. We are already well following the expansions we have treatment station to enable the factory established in the western region, so to settle its capacity optimisation have begun to develop into new parts carried out. For now, we are focusing needed by the end of 2016.” of the country in the longer term.” our investment on upgrading our

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He concludes: “Even though the rubber price has marred growth, we have to remember that it is not just our business, but the whole industry that has been affected. Therefore, we have to continue to identify ways to differentiate ourselves from the competition; we have done so by obtaining the ISO 9001:2008 quality management systems certification, as well as implementing several new techniques in the field and the factory. The crisis has proved a good opportunity to build on our productivity and efficiency through the introduction of new tools like MDP and new machinery, and the subsequent training this requires.

“Much the same as last year, consumers will continue to look towards Africa for the supply of rubber; and maintaining our high quality products, facilities and network of partners will go a long way to achieving a leading position in the market when the market inevitably recovers.”

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STRATEGIC Acquisition Leveraging the global non-alcoholic beverage giant’s unified vision to capture an even bigger market share, East and Southern Africa have presented enormous growth opportunities for Coca-Cola Beverages Africa Writer: Emily Jarvis • Project Manager: Josh Hyland

ith a global beverage portfolio comprised of more than 20, one billion-dollar brands, The Coca-Cola Company is taking all the right steps to capture the enormous growth opportunities available in the non-alcoholic ready-todrink beverage industry worldwide.

After the announcement of an agreement to combine its European businesses into a new company called Coca-Cola European Partners Plc in August, 2015 – becoming the world’s largest independent Coca-Cola bottler based on net revenues – the globally prominent bottling Company has been aggressively driving productivity and streamlining the business to accelerate growth across all its countries of operation.

In Africa, Coca-Cola Sabco has also benefitted from this Groupwide vision, with preparations well underway to combine its non-alcoholic ready-to-drink

beverages and bottle operations with SABMiller Plc and Gutsche Family Investments (GFI, majority shareholders in Coca-Cola Sabco) in East and Southern Africa. The new bottler, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, will serve 12 high-growth countries accounting for approximately 40 percent of all Coca-Cola beverage volumes in Africa.

“A combined Coca-Cola bottling operation is further evidence of our commitment to Africa, and our firm belief in the tremendous growth prospects that the continent offers,” the Chairman and CEO of The CocaCola Company, Muhtar Kent said in a statement at the time of the announcement. “As one of the top 10 largest Coca-Cola bottling partners worldwide, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa can leverage the scale, resources, capability and efficiency needed to accelerate Coca-Cola growth and contribute to the economic and social prosperity of African communities.”

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Coca-Cola Sabco Mozambique

With an estimated consumer base of 24 million people, Coca-Cola Sabco Mozambique has been increasing its production capabilities by stabilising its distribution network and investing in state-of-the-art equipment.

For the past few years, the Mozambican economy has been experiencing a prosperous GDP growth of between seven and eight percent; this is of course having a positive impact on businesses in the country, helping to provide much needed support to local infrastructures. Sabco, the South African-based flagship bottler for CocaCola’s African operations, has reaped the benefits and invested heavily in further developing its operations in Mozambique.

Coca-Cola Sabco’s three manufacturing plants are strategically placed throughout Mozambique; with Nampula serving the north, Chimoio

Coca-Cola Sabco Mozambique has increased its production capabilities by stabilising its distribution network

Coca-Cola Sabco’s three manufacturing plants are strategically placed throughout Mozambique; with Nampula serving the north, Chimoio serving central regions and Maputo the South

Mozambique is renowned for its upbeat atmosphere, friendly and welcoming people, overflowing markets and stunning beaches

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serving central regions and Maputo the South. In relation to the changing nature of the beverage market in the country, Coca-Cola has a growing team of sales developers who undergo continuous on-the-job training in the field to push the brand forward.

As a globally-recognised brand, Coca-Cola represents quality around the world and the drink is seen as a premium brand on the African continent, particularly in Mozambique where the Coca-Cola Sabco Country Manager, Simon Everest, alluded to the vast possibilities up ahead to grow the brand. In a previous interview with Africa Outlook, he highlighted: “In general, Africa offers significant growth potential for non-alcoholic beverage manufacturing and this is down to a rise in disposable income. The advantage of buying a Coke is that wherever you are in the world, the ingredients and the label is the same. It is a truly global brand, and people like to be seen holding a drink that is recognised the world over.”

Leveraging technology convergence THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM of a company often has components supplied by multiple vendors that prove difficult to integrate. This environment regularly leaves the business operation with the dilemma of “too much data, not enough information”. Meaningful operational and strategic information is difficult to compile and therefore not available timeously for effective decisionmaking.

In a recent project, Sunstone and a global bottling company identified the need for a real-time, holistic view of the distribution operation and a more scientific approach to planning and route execution.

Some of the questions that arose were: - What is the optimal fleet size required?

- Do we need to hire in external fleet during peak periods?

- How do we sequence deliveries to minimise cost?

The solution needed to be appropriate in a dynamic environment with seasonal demand variations, rising fuel and transportrelated costs, an increasingly competitive market, scarce IT and planning skill sets, and increasing customer service demands. To this end, a set of fully integrated route-to-market distribution tools were implemented: - A fleet route optimisation and scheduling application (FLO) - Advanced Telemetry (Sunstone Telematics) - A distribution execution and KPI dashboard (ControlHub) The implementation process began by consulting with business to set up and customize the planning and routing systems taking into account the constraints of the

operational environment. The system aided in reducing travel distances and resource requirements by generating feasible and efficient daily route plans. This was accomplished while maintaining customer service demands. Minimal interruptions were experienced when integrating to their existing ERP system. Advanced telemetry devices were installed in the fleet to provide real time visibility of vehicle activity and driver behaviour scorecards.

To actualize the benefit of the route planning and telemetry systems, the data needed to be integrated and presented in real-time to the operational and strategic business units in a relevant and actionable way. The ControlHub was implemented to fulfil this need by providing a live ‘planned vs. actual’ view of distribution operations, intuitively providing numerous KPI’s, such as planned vs. actual distance, route adherence, customer hit rate, and depot departure/arrival times.

This gave management a birds-eye view of the delivery progress, with visual maps and graphs, and automated debrief reports.

Thus, distribution operation visibility has been increased throughout the organisation with a unified KPI measurement tool, it has encouraged a constructively competitive atmosphere at all levels: depot, region and country.

Sunstone provides a holistic fleet analytics tool set which affords businesses the opportunity to measure, monitor, predict and adapt to realise genuine cost savings.

T +27 11 482 4768/+27 71 015 0894 E sales@sunstonels.com www.sunstonelogisticsystems.com

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Africa represents a market with significant growth potential, with a fast-growing population underpinned by rising personal disposable income and increasing per capita consumption.

With more than 30 bottling plants and 14,000 employees, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa is to become the largest Coca Cola bottler on the continent; equipped with the scale, complementary capabilities and resources to capture and accelerate top-line growth. As a result, the newly formed African bottler will be able to free up additional capital to further develop its best operating practices and invest in production, sales, distribution and marketing to benefit from growing demand and to drive profitability.

In a transaction to be completed in two phases, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa will bring together SABMiller’s South African soft drinks bottling

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businesses, Amalgamated Beverage Industries (ABI) and Appletiser, and its soft drink bottling businesses in eight other African countries, in a process that will see Phase I of the merger through the first six-nine months.

“Soft drinks are an important element of our growth strategy. This transaction increases our exposure to the total beverage market in Africa. The opportunity is significant, with favourable demographics and economic development pointing to excellent growth prospects,” said Alan Clark, SABMiller Chief Executive at the time of the announcement in late 2014.

“This also signifies a strengthening of our strategic relationship with The Coca-Cola Company,” he added.

As part of the transaction, The Coca-Cola Company will also acquire SABMiller’s Appletiser brands on a worldwide basis, and acquire or hold licensed rights to a further 19 non-alcoholic ready-to-drink brands

Coca-Cola Beverages Africa is set to become the largest Coca-Cola bottler on the continent

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Soft drinks are an important element of our growth strategy. This transaction increases our exposure to the total beverage market in Africa

B

arclays Africa Group Limited has around 150 years of presence in the region as its first branch was established in Egypt in 1864. Barclays has been present in Mozambique since 2002, when Absa acquired an 80% stake in a local bank, Banco Austral. Barclays Bank Mozambique has become a major bank in the country, serving more than 270,000 customers across the country through a network of 43 branches, which include three corporate business centres in Maputo, Beira and Nampula.

Barclays Bank Mozambique is a subsidiary of Barclays Africa Group Limited (BAGL) and listed in JSE limited.

BAGL is owned by Barclays Bank Plc, with 62.3% of shares and by several other public shareholders, which compose the remaining 37.7%. Barclays was recently capitalised to the extent of US$ 120mln. This has improved balance sheet strength and position in the market to absorb high value transactions.

Barclays and Coca Cola in Mozambique Barclays Mozambique’s relationship with Coca Cola has begun in 2013.

The relationship has continued to grow and further cemented by mutual understanding of the needs and capabilities from both sides alike. Barclays has bilateral financing

arrangements with the Coca cola and also indirect through its Barclays At Work services. This offer focuses on the welfare of the employees, and aims to empower them financially. Overall, the Bank takes its banking offer to the work place of the employees, as they get access to exclusive financial solutions, reduced fees and lower interest rates, when it comes to financing their personal projects. For the employer this is also of great benefit as it minimizes interruptions in the day to day activities in their work environment, and reduces the impact some HR departments feel from constant company loans towards their workers.

Barclays has also a great commitment towards Citizenship, as its biggest goal as a brand and as a company is to be able to focus on shared growth, teaching both communities and companies on how to improve their financial management skills and knowledge on actually starting and running a company, as well as managing their assets and liabilities.

This financial institution has also proudly worked hand in hand with Coca Cola in activities that impact the local communities in a positive way.

Highlights from such partnerships include a “Charity Ride� in November

2014, where Barclays Mozambique organized the “Charity Ride” for the disadvantaged and abandoned children, sheltered by the sisters of the São José de Lhanguene church, in Chamanculo. Coca Cola sponsored the event by providing soft drinks for the participants and the children’s’ shelter.

In 2015, Luisa Diogo, Mozambique’s former Prime Minister, and current President of the Board at Barclays Mozambique, chaired a forum with Coca Cola’s female staff on “Women empowerment and leadership”.

What are Barclays’ goals for this year?

Accordingly to Rui Barros, the CEO of Barclays Bank in Mozambique, in his recent interview for The Business Year magazine, “We aspire to be the best bank in Mozambique, not the largest. It is important to know how we measure ourselves, and not just focus on the current market challenges. We want to establish our presence as a truly local, regional, and global bank, as we understand this country and

believe we offer added value services at the same quality or in some cases unique, comparative to our local competitors. We are proud to say that a big percentage of the people who currently work with us have more than 25 years in the Bank, bringing with them the experience from the former BPD and Banco Austral, which Barclays took over in 2002. The fact that we are part of Barclays Africa Group is also a great asset for our customers, as it is one of the largest financial institutions on the continent and it is present in 13 different countries, truly understanding Africa. We can leverage a lot from the knowledge about specific sectors and markets, where we have been operating outside Mozambique. Ultimately we are a global brand with offices all around the world, giving us the required connectivity to work with Global Corporate Customers.

We really want to make 2016 the year in which we consolidate this ambition for Corporate and Investment Banking, for Commercial Clients, and for Premier and Prestige Clients.”

Competitive Differentiators: The “Go-to” Banking partner across Africa: Why Barclays: • Strong Regional Commitment • Africa is key to Barclays Global Strategy • Long track record and experience • Fully Local, Global operating Model • Globally coordinated coverage model • Committed Product investment Plan • Upgrading connectivity channels across internet, SWIFT and H2H solutions • Leading innovation drive (through mobile and cash-less banking) • Award winning franchise • One of the most respected banks in Africa • Regularly win Awards recognizing devotion to customer service/Product quality Key value added offer: • Global and Regional coverage team to coordinate all Africa requirements • Facilitation of interactions with Central Banks in all our Markets • Access to leading macro-economic research/Economists • Ability to support geographical expansion into countries across Africa given growing Barclays presence

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in Africa and in Latin America, for an approximate cash consideration of US$260 million.

This will be achieved in phases during the transaction and includes the contribution of SABMiller’s Coca-Cola bottling franchise (ABI) and Appletiser bottling business in South Africa, together with its soft drinks businesses in Comoros and Mayotte, as well as its water businesses in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.

SABMiller will retain ownership of its non-alcoholic malt beverages in Africa and Latin America and will retain its Coca-Cola franchises in El Salvador and Honduras.

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On full completion of the proposed merger, shareholdings in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa will be SABMiller: 57%, Gutsche Family Investments 31.7% and The Coca-Cola Company 11.3%.

Moreover, GFI’s bottling interests in Coca-Cola Sabco, including its South African bottler, Coca Cola Fortune, and its bottling operations in six other African countries - namely Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and Uganda - are also included in the strategic deal to capitalise on the continent’s growing middle class and rising consumption per capita.

Phil Gutsche, Chairman of Gutsche Family Investments (GFI) and future Chairman of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, further stated: “Our family sees this merger as an important and logical step to enable Coca-Cola Beverages Africa to optimise the opportunities for development in the rapidly-evolving Africa beverage market. We are very excited about the opportunity and are totally committed to ensuring that Coca-Cola Sabco’s distinctive culture is successfully integrated with that of our new partners in order to create an even more successful business in the future.”

The merger will also comprise The Coca-Cola Company’s South African soft drinks businesses in the form of Coca-Cola Canners, Valpré and Coca-Cola Shanduka Beverages, with the newly formed Coca-Cola Beverages Africa initially producing and distributing Coca-Cola beverages in nine key countries, namely; South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Namibia, Comoros and Mayotte.

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ECOBANK Ecobank at a glance Our dual purpose is to build a world-class pan-African bank and to contribute to the economic development and financial integration of Africa.

We operate as ‘One Bank’ across 36 African countries with common branding, standards, processes and technology to provide a consistent and reliable customer experience.

We provide wholesale, retail, investment and transactional banking services to governments, financial institutions, multinationals, local companies, SMEs and individuals.

We believe we have a responsibility to be socially relevant to the communities that we serve.

Ecobank and Coca Cola Partnership Ecobank provides a Value Chain Collections Solution, which is used by distributors/ merchants to make payments directly to their suppliers account on delivery of the goods. The VCCS platform is the most efficient and secure way for payments and collections and can be fully integrated with the companies and management system.

In markets where most transactions hare handled in cash, the VCCS has been primarily developed to simplify collection.

The traditional ‘POS’ terminal is being replaced with an EMV/PCI certified PinPad and an off the shelf application for smartphones.

Benefits: • Merchants can make payment directly to supplier/corporate account on delivery.

• Payment is authorized and transferred to supplier/corporate account immediately – no delayed settlement.

• Cash handling and the associated issues are removed from the process.

• Payments to supplier/corporate can be allocated to merchant “account”.

• Company can automate reconciliation as an electronic confirmation (in agreed format) can be sent as soon as each transaction is processed • Easy and convenient to use.

• Supports financial transactions with Ecobank debit card.

CORPORATE AND INVESTMENT BANKING

Only Ecobank gives you The Network Advantage Translate | Transact | Transform

Translating our local knowledge into business opportunity. Transacting swiftly and securely across 36 countries. Transforming Africa’s economies with landmark deals. That’s what we call THE NETWORK ADVANTAGE. For a corporate and investment bank that gives you the network advantage, talk to Ecobank.

ecobank.com

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During Phase II of the merger, which is expected to be completed 12-18 months after Phase I, SABMiller intends to include its Swaziland soft drinks business and those of its listed subsidiaries in Botswana and Zambia in the merger; subject to agreement in due course with those subsidiaries and the requisite regulatory and shareholder approvals.

The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation

With a shared vision, extensive experience of operating in African markets, and long-term commitment to the continent, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa will be strongly positioned to offer consumers greater choice, broader availability and better value.

Meanwhile, the new bottler will continue the shareholders’ strong commitment to the economic and social development of the communities it serves, which includes providing access to clean water,

STANDARD BANK

With a shared vision, extensive experience of operating in African markets, and longterm commitment to the continent, CocaCola Beverages Africa will be strongly positioned to offer consumers greater choice

T

he Corporate and Investment Banking division of Standard Bank provides a full range of services to support the banking, finance, trading and advisory needs of corporate clients and institutions.

We have evolved continuously in order to provide clients with seamless banking solutions across a range of corporate and investment banking products and services. By maintaining a diversified earnings stream across key business areas, we are able to meet both the needs of our clients and maintain a steady performance as the top-rated bank in South Africa and further afield.

We pride ourselves on being the leading bank in our chosen markets, driven by a commitment to outstanding customer service and state-of-the-art systems and technology.

Our corporate structure ensures that we are able to provide customised products and services to both established customers as well as newer, entrepreneurial companies. By focusing on personalised solutions and ongoing financial product development, we are committed to delivering solutions that support our clients’ success where it matters most.

We are deeply committed to Mozambique and to the transformation of our country and its economy. We believe in supporting social and cultural development by sponsoring and actively participating in projects that uplift our nation.

As part of the Standard Bank Group we have a vast reach with a strong presence throughout Africa, around the world.

www.standardbank.com/cib Coca-Cola Beverages Africa will offer consumers greater choice, broader availability and better value

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“When will that shipment be cleared out of the harbour?”

“It’s on the highway.”

5

5

Best FX services in Africa

Best transactional bank for financial institutions in Africa

Goods waiting for clearance, are goods not being sold.

To keep things moving along, we’ve introduced advanced systems to streamline the clearance of payment to your foreign supply partners. That’s why we’re here. That’s what we do. Whatever your opportunities or challenges, we have the local insight and on-the-ground expertise to meet them with you. Let us be your partner for growth on this continent we call home. standardbank.com/cib

Corporate and Investment Banking Also trading as Stanbic Bank

Authorised Financial services and registered credit provider (NCRCP15).

The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited (Reg. No. 1962/000738/06). Moving Forward is a trademark of The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited. SBSA–212904

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supporting women’s economic empowerment and promoting wellbeing.

One such set of activities which received extended investment last year included the Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN). Announced at the seventh World Water Forum by Ahmet Bozer, Executive Vice President and President of Coca-Cola International, The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation (TCCAF), pledged an additional US$35 million to support Pan-African safe water access and sanitation programmes for four million more people by 2020.

The new funding builds on an original RAIN commitment of US$30 million to bring safe water access to two million people across the African continent by the end of 2015 made at the fifth World Water Forum in Istanbul in 2009. Taking the total funding to US$75 million will help to improve the lives of more than a total of six million Africans through access to safe water,

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Through the RAIN programme expansion, TCCAF and its partners will work to improve safe water access for six million Africans...

sanitation and hygiene (WASH) by 2020.

Today, with more than 140 partners, RAIN is a public-private partnership led by TCCAF whose programmes currently empower 2,000 communities through WASH programmes in 37 African countries. The expansion builds on the strong progress RAIN has made toward its goal of improving safe water access for two million people across Africa; a goal the programme is on track to achieve by the end of 2015.

“Through the RAIN programme expansion, TCCAF and its partners will work to improve safe water access for six million Africans; economically empower up to 250,000 women and youth; promote health and hygiene in thousands of communities, schools, and health centres; and return up to 18.5 billion litres of water to nature and communities,” commented the Company.

RAIN and its partners announced

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that’s second to none” • Project evaluation and estimation

Forklift truck rentals CONTACT US NOW AND LET US TAKE CARE OF YOUR FORK LIFTS. Rua da Mozal Parcela 7807/35, Beleluane

Rental, sales, spare parts and maintenance plans for all makes of fork lifts.

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Distribution centre concerned primarily with the Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN)

• Tender design, documentation & adjudication • Contract documentation • Detailed design and documentation • Site supervision • Project management T: +27 41 581 3210 E: rigo@structuralsolutions.co.za

programmes that will protect watersheds, provide sustainable safe water access and create new opportunities for women and youth entrepreneurs in Africa by the end of 2020.

Dr Susan Mboya, President of The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation added: “Our commitment to the wellbeing of African communities is unwavering.

Through the efforts of RAIN, we are reinforcing the incredible progress made to date with our many partners and are pledging to do even more.

As we begin work in this era of new commitments, we must continue the progress made from the Millennium Development Goals to set these economies up for success.

“Through programmes and partnerships focused on safe water access, women’s economic empowerment, job creation and community wellbeing we are investing in the future progress and prosperity of the African people and economy.”

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By strengthening its core product offering and leveraging the support of the wider Chryso Group, a.b.e. Construction Chemicals is hoping add further stability to its market share Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Joe Palliser

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.b.e. Construction Chemicals (a.b.e.) is making inroads into Africa despite facing an increasingly saturated market. Having launched several new products in 2015 as part of a wider growth strategy, aimed at diversifying its revenue streams by offering more solutions to its customers, the Company has significantly increased its market share in sub-Saharan Africa by widening the reach of its export division.

Established in 1939 as a supplier of bitumen to municipalities in Kwa-ZuluNatal, a.b.e. has grown in terms of both its size and product offering over the years; becoming a major supplier of specialised construction products to the building, civil engineering and building maintenance industries through an efficient branch network that secures a direct supply of product to its customers.

Manufacturing out of its facilities in Boksburg, Johannesburg and Isipingo,

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Durban, a.b.e. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Chryso Group, a leading international supplier of concrete and cement admixtures.

“Chryso’s South African division has invested heavily in plant infrastructure and new technologies, as well as technical training and customer support which a.b.e can leverage to further enhance its position in the market and add value for its customers,” says the Company on its website.

Entering 2016, a.b.e. is to continue improving its internal processes through investment in further upgrades to its production facilities

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Sustainable BUILDING REVOLUTION CONTRIBUTING TO THE

and via innovative research and development programmes; while utilising its existing supplier channels to introduce these new products to the market which further support its vision for the future.

Product performance

With the addition of a Chryso office in Kenya last year, designed to support the development of both a.b.e. and Chryso East Africa, a.b.e. has begun strengthening its business in Mozambique and Zambia by employing a team of dedicated sales staff to support the Company’s traditional distribution channels.

Moreover, a.b.e. also began a move into other parts of Africa, eyeing opportunities in the emerging markets such as Angola, and the more lucrative market in Nigeria.

Norman Seymore, CEO of both a.b.e. and Chryso reflected on a.b.e.’s current performance in a recent press release: “a.b.e.’s Polyurea segment now supplies products that complete our product offering in waterproofing,

flooring and coatings, while the various other segments of our operations also generally performed well; particularly in the flooring sector where growth surpassed budget expectations.”

Committed to a continuous growth pattern in the face of increased competition, a.b.e.’s unique combination of Chryso’s traditional activities in the field of cement and concrete additives and the construction systems offered by a.b.e., provide a complete product solution for the construction industry. “a.b.e. is also continuing to invest in expansion and improved manufacturing plants. Further capital expenditure projects for both the Boksburg liquid and powder plant have already started, and the Isipingo plant also invested in new packaging lines in 2015,” he added.

In line with these facility improvements comes a whole host of investment in a.b.e.’s corporate structure, designed to better position the Company to capitalise on opportunities across sub-Saharan

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The a.b.e. product range • Waterproofing • Flooring • Specialised adhesives • Silicone and sealants • Concrete repair products • Roofing products • Polyurea high performance coating systems

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Africa. One example of this is the creation of Product Segment Forums which replace the Company’s traditional Product Manager roles.

“The new Forums are made up of staff representing the retail, construction, technical and marketing departments to ensure that all areas of the Company are represented,” the Company explained.

Sustainability

a.b.e. is equally committed to sustaining Chryso Group’s sustainability policy, comprising seven values across the areas of economic, environmental and social commitments that can have an impact on each country of operation.

In an effort to improve labour stability and investor confidence in Africa’s construction industry, a.b.e. is able to access Chryso Group’s training programmes and expertise; with the CEO stating that “training is one aspect of our business that is absolutely non-

a.b.e. hopes to capitalise on the long-awaited rollout of projects for the South African Government’s National Development Plan

Supported by a network of branches and distributors...a.b.e. is now better positioned to capitalise on new markets and new customers

Improving labour stability and investor confidence in Africa’s construction industry

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negotiable”.

Backed by the relevant health and safety certifications, a.b.e.

Construction Chemicals now hold an ISO9001 accreditation at its Boksburg, Isipingo and Mount Edgecombe factories and offices; with the more recent aim to obtain OSHAS18001 at all of its branches.

“We are committed to the health and safety of our employees and to

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Crest Chemicals is a leading chemical broker with a well established distribution network. Representing world leading manufactures in various industry sectors including: cement additives, surface hardeners, admixtures, sealants, primers, undercoats, ceramics additives, curing compounds and grouts.

Because we understand the impact that our contribution can make we are committed to performance excellence together with innovative partners in to the chemical industry, creating VALUE for our customers.

T: +27 (0) 11 254 3300 E: info@crestchem.co.za www.crestchem.co.za Physical Address: 247 15th Road, Randjespark, Midrand, South Africa

a.b.e. Construction Chemicals now hold an ISO9001 accreditation at its Boksburg, Isipingo and Mount Edgecombe factories and offices

Staff members from all departments make up the Company’s Forums

BETTER TOGETHER…

sustainable construction practices, as evident in the Group’s recent product launches as well as its improvements at manufacturing sites, where significant measures have been introduced to reduce the impact of production processes on the environment,” Seymore noted.

With these new certifications, a.b.e. hopes to capitalise on the longawaited rollout of projects for the South African Government’s National Development Plan (NDP). Launched in 2015, the NDP was predicted to have a major positive impact on the entire construction industry, with the hopes that investor confidence will continue to rise alongside this in the country.

The Company concluded: “Supported by a network of branches and distributors throughout South Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands, a.b.e. is now better positioned to capitalise on new markets and new customers.”

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Soaring Heights TO NEW

Ethiopian Airlines continues to receive the acclaim of the surrounding industry, as it goes further than any African operator in bridging the continent to the rest of the world Writer: Matthew Staff• Project Manager: Tom Cullum

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s the largest and most profitable airline in Africa, it should perhaps come as no surprise to see the rapid expansion enjoyed by Ethiopian Airlines over the past 12 months, but the Pan-African global carrier has exceeded industry expectations and soared to new heights in 2015 to ensure it is not just the biggest, but the best.

Embracing not just network enhancements, but also a careful acknowledgement of improved internal procedures, the culminating

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service offered across 91 destinations, five continents and 230 daily departures has led to numerous awards and widespread, international acclaim.

Surpassing previously pioneering continental competitors in the process, Ethiopian Airlines’ seemingly constant broadening of its destination network has been a large driver behind the plaudits, both ‘nearby’ to other African nations, and to the wider world.

Both Cape Town and Durban have been added to its previously sole South African representation in

Johannesburg, while Goma in the DRC, Gaborone in Botswana and Yaoundé in Cameroon formed its domestic expansion strategy over the course of 2015.

Meanwhile, Addis-Ababa was brought closer and more speedily than ever before to the likes of Tokyo in Japan, Manila in the Philippines, Sao Paolo in Brazil and Dublin in Ireland; complementing arguably its most significant foray which took the Company further into the US. Los Angeles was ticked off in mid2015 and is now in the process of

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being joined by the re-launch of a New York service in 2016.

“Preparations are being finalised to launch a service to JFK Airport by the end of June, 2016 as Ethiopian’s network will once again provide a vital link between New York and Africa,” the Company confirmed at the turn of the year. “Ethiopian will be deploying the most modern aircraft in the world on this flight, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which not only offers unparalleled onboard comfort to passengers, but is also the world’s most environmentally friendly aircraft with its lower fuel usage and noise emissions.”

Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Tewolde GebreMariam said: “We

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are thrilled to resume our service to New York, our fourth destination in the Americas. New York is one of the world’s most economically powerful cities and including it in our everexpanding network will play a critical role in the expansion of trade, tourism and investment between the fast growing continent of Africa and the United States.”

Expansion strategy

To facilitate such levels of expansion, there has inevitably been vast improvements made to the Ethiopian Airlines fleet also as it looks to ensure that it has the quality as well as quantity of flights within its portfolio.

To this end, 2015 witnessed a firm purchase agreement with Bombardier Commercial Aircraft for two additional

Q Series

CRJ Series

C Series

Ingenuity in Flight.

Bombardier, and the Evolution of Mobility, are trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries. Š2016 Bombardier Inc. All rights reserved.

r its subsidiaries. ©2016 Bombardier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bombardier C Series Aircraft Another Choice for African Airlines African airlines have been enjoying success with their growing fleets of Bombardier Q400 turboprop and CRJ jet aircraft for many years, and now the allnew C Series single-aisle mainline aircraft offers opportunities for carriers to extend their reach further into new markets requiring more than 100 seats but less than 170 or 180 seats.

“Africa has much room for growth in airline service in many areas and the C Series aircraft, which is designed to deliver unparalleled economic advantage to airlines, presents exciting, new opportunities for single-aisle aircraft operations that will enhance service in these areas,” said John Kassis, Vice President, Sales, the Middle East and Africa, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft.

“The C Series aircraft operates very well in hot and high environments while offering a fuel burn that has a 20 per cent advantage over in-production aircraft and up to a 10 per cent advantage over re-engined aircraft. And in Africa, where the price of fuel is about 20 per cent above the world average, that is a very significant operating cost advantage.

“Added to that, the C Series airliner is the quietest commercial jet in production, and has been designed with passenger comfort very much in mind,” added Mr. Kassis.

Following a comprehensive and rigorous testing program, the CS100 airliner – the smaller C Series aircraft model – received its Type Certification from Transport Canada in December 2015. This paves the way for the CS100 aircraft to enter service with launch operator SWISS in the second quarter of 2016. SWISS’ first aircraft is structurally complete and the airline’s crews are training at Bombardier’s facility in Mirabel, Québec.

African airlines have been generating a steadily growing regional airline network with the current generation of economical Bombardier Q Series turboprops and CRJ regional jets that dominate the 50- to 100seat segment on the continent.

Ethiopian Airlines has led this aggressive movement with its fleet of Q400 turboprops, including the first dual-class ones on the continent. In December 2015, Ethiopian placed an order for two more Q400 aircraft to bring its fleet of the turboprops to 19.

An aircraft like the Q400 with its combination of range, payload, passenger comfort and the ability to handle highaltitude, hot-weather airports is critical for Ethiopian to keep its leadership position in the market.

“Through our strategic partnerships with ASKY Airlines in Togo and Malawian Airlines in Malawi, the Q400 aircraft has played a vital role in providing convenient connections as well as increasing frequencies to support air travel growth in Africa,” said Ethiopian Airlines’ Chief Executive Officer, Tewolde Gebremarium.

Ethiopian Airlines has won Airline Reliability Performance Awards from Bombardier for five years in a row.

Mr. Kassis pointed out that other airlines in Africa have also chosen Bombardier aircraft to upgrade their fleets.

“RwandAir, for example, replaced a smaller Q Series turboprop with the Q400 to expand the airline’s market base in East Africa,” he said. “The CRJ900 regional jet replaced the smaller CRJ200 and provided business class service to West Africa. This flexibility has provided RwandAir with the ability to feed more regional domestic passengers into its larger aircraft.”

Air Côte d’Ivoire is another airline that leveraged the Q400 to replace older, less-efficient jets that no longer met its objectives. The Q400 enabled the airline to restart services within the country while expanding its reach throughout the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region, helping to solidify co-operation within ECOWAS while carrying traffic to Abidjan to connect with international air services to the rest of Africa and Europe.

Arik Air is an exception. When it began operations in 2007, it had no fleet to upgrade or replace. It began its flying with one new CRJ900 regional jet, the first new

commercial aircraft seen on the Nigerian registry for more than 20 years. Today, it flies CRJ900 and CRJ1000 jets and Q400 turboprops on its domestic and regional routes and feeds traffic to its larger jet aircraft for its growing international operations.

Mr. Kassis noted that there is now also a combi version of the Q400 aircraft that offers various configurations and new opportunities for African carriers. The layout providing the greatest payload capability can carry up to 9,000 pounds (4,082 kg) of cargo in weight and up to 1,150 cubic feet (32 cubic metres) in volume. In this version, the Q400 combi can carry 52 passengers at 32-inch (81.3 cm) seat pitch and 58 at 29 inches (73.7 cm). The Class C cargo compartment meets the latest standards. The first Q400 combi aircraft was recently delivered to Ryukyu Air of Okinawa, Japan.

Africa’s aviation infrastructure presents some challenges for airline operators, but with their excellent hot-weather and high-altitude capabilities, as well as their short or unpaved runway performance, Bombardier commercial aircraft can safely handle many of these.

The improvement of aviation safety through training is a very high priority at Bombardier and the company’s customer

services team works diligently to provide service around the clock to operators.

“We take pride in the quality of our training programs for pilots, technicians, flight attendants and support staff,” said Todd Young, Vice President and General Manager, Customer Services, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “Our customers receive training packages tailored to meet their regulatory authorities’ requirements.

We have field service support and ongoing technical training, and regional forums and safety working groups share information among the operators of our aircraft.”

Bombardier has steadily increased its support footprint in Africa over the last five years through various direct and indirect means. A Regional Support Office (RSO) and spare parts depot are co-located in Johannesburg, and Authorized Service Facilities (ASFs), operated by South African Express Airways and Ethiopian Airlines are located in Johannesburg and Addis Ababa respectively.

Bombardier’s support focus remains steadfast on meeting the challenges faced by African operators. The support network, which has already been proven with operators of CRJ and Q Series aircraft across Africa, will further enhance the advantages to be derived from the C Series aircraft’s new technologies and efficiencies.

Bombardier C Series aircraft doing water ingestion testing at Bombardier’s facility in Mirabel, Quebec.

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Ethiopian is growing both its fleet and network around the world

a vital role in availing convenient connections, as well as increasing frequencies to support air travel growth in Africa and successfully create a missing link.

“The Q400 aircraft is also our core fleet to our domestic and regional destinations, thereby ensuring excellent passenger experience, operational flexibility and economics.”

Ethiopian Airlines joined Bombardier’s global network of Authorised Service Facilities (ASFs) for commercial aircraft in 2013 and performs line and heavy maintenance on Q400 aircraft at its facilities at Bole International Airport in Addis-Ababa.

“The Q400 turboprop continues to make impressive headway in Africa and has proven its ruggedness and reliability in challenging operational environments where it’s hot, and high capability, jet-like speed and high rate of climb are significant assets,” said Fred Cromer, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “Some 69 Q400 aircraft are now in service with more than 20 operators on the continent, and we are delighted with Ethiopian Airlines’ continuing growth and impressive use of the aircraft to satisfy a wide variety of market requirements.”

Q400 turboprop airliners; bringing the airline’s Q400 fleet to a total of 19; the largest in Africa.

Valued at approximately $63 million, GebreMariam expressed his delight at the acquisition: “We are continuously working to have the right fleet with agility, optimal range, load and passenger comfort which is critical for us to keep our leadership position in the market.

“The Q400 aircraft continues to be an integral part of our expansion strategy in Africa. Through our strategic partnerships with ASKY Airlines in Togo and Malawian Airlines in Malawi, the Q400 airliner has played

Renowned for its breaking of parameters and evolution of the wider industry, Ethiopian Airlines broke arguably its most significant barrier yet in November, 2015 as it initiated the continent’s first ever all-woman functioned flight.

Taking place between Addis-Ababa and Bangkok, the historic flight was aimed at crystallising Ethiopian corporate conviction of ‘Women Empowerment for a Sustainable Growth’, and comprised not just the pilots, but also an entirely female deck crew and executives on board.

On-ground flight preparations were also conducted exclusively by females,

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Best Airline in Africa

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incorporating cabin operations, airport operations, flight dispatcher, load controller, ramp operations, on-board logistics, aviation safety and security, ticket offices, catering, air traffic controllers and even the global call centre.

“It is a great honour for us to have competent women aviation professionals at Ethiopian in every aspect of the aviation field, which portrays Ethiopian as a gender

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responsive organisation that strives to pursue its underlying stance of being an equal opportunity employer.

“We are very proud of their achievements and contributions and it is our sincere belief that this will continue with an enhanced magnitude and passion to sustain Ethiopian on its fast growth trajectory.

“Above all, this is an ample opportunity to inspire young African female students to believe in their

dreams and embark to fill the skill gap for aviation professionals.”

GebreMarian has subsequently been awarded with the ‘Most Gender Focused CEO’ award from the Leading Women of Africa, setting the tone for a series of accolades directed towards Ethiopian Airline in recent times; ‘Africa Best Employer Brand’ just one more trophy to add to its cabinet.

The ‘APEX Passenger Choice Award’, ‘CAPA Airline of the Year Award’ and ‘AFRAA Airline of the Year Award’ further cement the Airline’s position at the head of African air travel for the years to come.

“Having also been recognised as ‘Best Airline to Africa’ for a second year in a row, and ‘Best Airline in Africa’ by one of the most prominent travel magazines in the US, in December, 2015, I am very pleased to receive these awards on behalf of the more than 9,000 strong men and women colleagues at Ethiopian Airlines and I congratulate them for this achievement.”

Barrack Obama will be able to fly Ethiopian more often as a result of the airline’s enhanced links to the US

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C O P C O

Z A M B I A

Lasting Relationships in a

Challenging Market

Atlas Copco has perfected a healthy balance of sustainability and innovation practices, two vital investment areas that have seen the Company remain a leading mining equipment figurehead in Zambia Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Eddie Clinton

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aving supported the mining and related industries in Zambia for more than 60 years, Atlas Copco has remained true to its Group ethos of providing innovative products, services and solutions that encourage sustainable productivity for a costeffective price.

Leveraging its internationallyrenowned status to keep abreast of the latest technological advances, the Company recently released its free underground app in Zambia, providing extensive access to the Group’s vast range of drilling

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consumables, mining & rock excavation equipment, compressors and information on related aftermarket support and services to an array of longstanding customers.

With innovation representing one of Atlas Copco’s core values, the app is a powerful tool for daily business use that can be delivered through tablet or smartphone, while boosting efficiencies of sales teams on the ground.

The Company’s deep-rooted influence in Zambia has, in recent years, been affected by economic, industry and regional challenges, the need to react to market changes quickly remains key to standing out from otherwise saturated market conditions.

Atlas Copco Zambia’s Former Regional General Manager (GM), Daniel Banister explained previously: “Back in 2014, we had to address our

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We are very much resultsdriven and committed to that culture, making sure we not only tackle our own inefficiencies but work with our customers...to make the whole supply chain more costeffective

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internal inefficiencies to adapt to the current levels of business in the region.

“There was a significant drop over the past two years in Zambia in regards to customers purchasing equipment, but a strong focus on the aftermarket services side. We therefore looked at our organisation and how it needed to adapt to fit this level of business.”

By the end of 2014, Banister and his team had achieved this diversification,

and the same flexible emphasis is now being placed on further business progression in 2015.

“We are very much results-driven and committed to that culture, making sure we not only tackle our own inefficiencies but work with our customers; providing them with solutions to make the whole supply chain more cost-effective in times like this,” he continued.

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A T L A S

C O P C O

Z A M B I A

Customer is key

This collaborative effort between service provider and customer is one that has been significant to Atlas Copco’s development in Zambia over the years, ensuring that the Company’s core values of interaction, commitment and innovation serve the diverse needs of its customers; facilitating the development of new and improved solutions released on a continual basis.

The need to find these differentiators is even more prominent given the saturation of the market in a copper-reliant country like Zambia.

In order to do this, Atlas Copco has placed a strong emphasis on strengthening its service offering over the past four years to give it a competitive edge; including the provision of an upgrade to its training facilities in Chingola.

We aim to offer a very safe and healthy working environment here in Zambia. This runs throughout Atlas Copco...

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Pioneering innovations becoming of the leadin

The training centre incorporates specific simulators for underground drilling, while new component testing equipment was also introduced at the start of 2015. Again, all of these investments were made with the end customer in mind.

In Zambia, the Company is proud to be exceeding the mandatory 45 hours of training; investing heavily in staff progression via elearning and technical

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courses spanning all facets of the business including marketing, sales, administration and other key positions.

Moreover, 70 percent of training is delivered “in the field”, which helps develop a product understanding that is locally relevant.

Safety philosophy

Health & safety is a core facet of Atlas Copco’s continuous improvement

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strategy being embedded in all new initiatives and products, with it consequently being a major selling point in attaining new business.

Banister added: “Our new SmartROC D65 surface drill has been trialled with one of our customers at their mining site, using a higher level of automation to enable safer and more cost efficient operations, and this has been extremely well received.”

Similarly, all of the Company’s equipment is designed and manufactured with the highest levels of safety in mind, and this philosophy begins within the production process itself and is ingrained in its workforce.

“We aim to offer a very safe and healthy working environment here in Zambia. This runs throughout Atlas Copco, where we measure the number of incidents and accidents as a Group and actively seek to ensure that these numbers are reduced over time,” Banister commented.

Daily reviews of previous incidents and accidents culminate in action plans being drawn up to improve the working conditions moving forward, again epitomising the vigilance of the business when it comes to maintaining best practices across the board; including the same commitment to areas of corporate social responsibility.

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Speciality Emergency Services Ltd (SES) is a medical assistance and emergency services company with extensive experience in evacuation and in-counrtry services within Sub-Saharan Africa.

Based in Zambia | Operating in Lusaka, Livingstone, Kitwe and Solwezi with a base to open in Ndola at the end of 2015.

Head Office | Office 2, Sandy’s Creation, Kafue Road, Lusaka Telephone | 737 Sales | info@ses-zambia.com General | media@ses-zambia.com www.ses-zambia.com

giving healthcare a human touch

Lasting relationships

Atlas Copco Zambia has struck a healthy balance between instilling a local emphasis into its workforce and leveraging an international supply chain

From an internal perspective, Atlas Copco Zambia has struck a healthy balance between instilling a local emphasis into its workforce and leveraging an international supply chain.

Throughout it all though, the business has maintained its entrepreneurship; most recently restructuring its workforce to redistribute personnel who would be better suited within its supply chain rather than directly working for the Company itself. Not only has this strategy kept important personnel in employment, but it has also spread the Atlas Copco ethos directly into the value chain.

With a new Acting General Manager at the helm, Atlas Copco Zambia is to continue building lasting relationships with its customers, while developing the most relevant and innovative solutions that stand the Company head and shoulders above the competition.

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ELECRAMA

2016

E V E N T

F O C U S

ELECRAMA 2016 ELECRAMA is India’s premier show in the electrical sector and is the world’s largest confluence of the power transmission and distribution (T&D) industry

HELD BIENNIALLY SINCE 1990 in India, the 11th edition of ELECRAMA, held in 2014, hosted 970 exhibitors from the country and across the world, attracting 100,000+ footfalls into the exhibition. 2016’s event is expected to be even bigger, scheduled to take place from February 13-17 at BIEC, Bangalore, India.

In the past two decades, ELECRAMA has featured some of the biggest names in the global electrical T&D industry, serving as the perfect launch vehicle to introduce the latest products and technology to the electrical sector. ELECRAMA showcases products and technology through the entire voltage spectrum, from 220 V to 1,200 kV, conforming to global standards and specifications.

A large number of business and technology partnerships are also formulated during the five-day period, making the event an important date on the calendar.

Visitors comprise a wide spectrum

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of industry stakeholders, manufacturers and suppliers, offering an international framework for display, discussions and deliberations; while providing a platform to interface with key customer segments including private and public transmission and distribution utilities, EPCs, consultants and specifiers, members of the government and policy makers.

The event will also bring together global thought-leaders in the electrical transmission and distribution sector, consisting of industry leaders, engineering professionals and technologists, professionals and academia, and more; through high power panel discussions, premier conferences, technical workshops, tutorials and seminars held concurrently with the exhibition.

ELECRAMA will also host international diplomatic and trade visitor delegations, including those countries who are leading the way in the electrical manufacturing industry.

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EVENT

DETAILS

WHEN: 13-17 February, 2016 WHERE: BIEC, Bangalore, India REGISTER: http://elecrama.com

AFRICA

ENERGY

INDABA

E V E N T

F O C U S

VIPs attending Africa Energy Indaba attest to big energy opportunities on the continent

AFRICA ENERGY INDABA 2016 CONFERENCES INCLUDE: 3rd IPP & PPA Conference 8th Africa Energy Indaba Conference Africa Gas Forum World Bank Global Tracking Framework Report Launch 3rd IFC ESCO Conference World Energy Council Scenarios & Resources Workshops

AFRICA ENERGY INDABA is bringing together global and regional energy industry leaders and experts to attend the 8th annual event, kicking off in Johannesburg on the 16th February, 2016.

Africa’s premier energy event continues to grow its line-up of stellar global and regional rainmakers who are unlocking Africa’s energy opportunities and shaping the next two decades of Africa’s economic horizons. Dozens of senior executives and 11 African energy ministers have confirmed their attendance to date.

The high level status of speakers attending reflects the big investment opportunities in the spotlight on the continent and the importance that the Africa Energy Indaba plays in setting the African energy agenda for the future.

The two-day conference programme provides extensive insight on how investors, governments, and

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corporates can come together to improve energy access across the continent, explore new energy resource opportunities, evaluate how to mitigate risks associated with investing in the energy sector, and identify the critical partnerships for ensuring the development and future sustainability of Africa’s energy industries.

The Africa Energy Indaba is the World Energy Council (WEC) African regional event and receives global recognition as the foremost event for energy professionals from across the globe and those in Africa wanting access to the growing African energy sector.

The 2016 Africa Energy Indaba will be held on the 16 - 17 February in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa. The event comprises a number of conferences and an exhibition to showcase energy products and services to meet Africa’s energy demands.

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2nd Women in Energy Conference

E V E N T

D E TA I L S

WHEN: 16-17 February, 2016 For sustainable energy.

WHERE: Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg CONTACT: info@energyindaba.co.za REGISTER: www.africaenergyindaba.com

SIDE EVENTS INCLUD

For sustainable energy.

SIDE EVENTS INCLUDE: For sustainable energy.

For sustainable energy.

MINING

INDABA

E V E N T

F O C U S

Mining Indaba™ invests resources to enable more access to Africa’s most attractive mining opportunities

AS THE CONVENER of the largest gathering of mining executives in Africa, Mining Indaba has invested a significant amount of resources to ensure that investors and deal-makers can easily access and maximise on the connections and opportunities at the 2016 Investing in African Mining Indaba on 8-11 February in Cape Town. Upgrades to the 2016 event include extended conference and exhibition hours, an enhanced investor programme, remodelling of the conference agenda, and more specialised networking opportunities to an already robust deal-making platform.

Amongst the many interesting suggestions received from the 2015 delegates, the Mining Indaba placed significant investment where the delegates could leverage maximum opportunity.

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”We’re committed to delivering the best possible experience for all our delegates,” said Mining Indaba Managing Director, Jonathan Moore.

“We are confident that our investment of time and resources will enable our delegates and sponsors to augment their ability to make the necessary connections and access the critical information to guide their deal-making process.”

In 2015, Mining Indaba began a multi-phased transformation that included the launch of a high-touch investor programme and the first steps to recalibrating the conference agenda to incorporate a more holistic perspective on investing in Africa and its mining sector. The remodelled agenda incorporates multivariate views from global investors, an inside

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perspective on the macro-investment climate in Africa, and a new approach to the corporate mining presentations.

These agenda enhancements combined with the extended conference and exhibitor hours, will provide a more comprehensive educational and networking experience for the delegates.

As the continent’s largest mining event, it will once again host the largest contingency of mining corporates, official African and non/African government delegations, and the most internationally diversified assortment of investors and deal-makers with a common interest in African mining. To learn more about Mining Indaba and early registration savings opportunities visit www.MiningIndaba.com or send an enquiry to info@miningindaba.com

E V E N T

D E TA I L S

WHEN: 8-11 February, 2016 WHERE: Cape Town, South Africa CONTACT: info@miningindaba.com REGISTER: www.miningindaba.com

PRESENTING THE 2016 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

TENDAI BITI

DR. HARRY G. BROADMAN

MAKHTAR DIOP

ROBERT FRIEDLAND

Former Finance Minister Government of Zimbabwe

Director, Council on Global Enterprise and Emerging Markets and Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute Johns Hopkins University

Vice President, Africa World Bank Group

Executive Chairman and Founder

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.

DR. ANIL K. GUPTA

NAMRATA THAPAR

H.E. MOSEBENZI JOSEPH ZWANE

Michael Dingman Chair in Global Strategy & Entrepreneurship Smith School of Business, The University of Maryland

Global Head of Mining International Finance Corporation

Minister of Mineral Resources Republic of South Africa

REGISTER TODAY!

Register before 5 Feb 2016 and SAVE AN ADDITIONAL ÂŁ100 on your new individual delegate registration. Mention the required offer code PAAO for discount.

www.m i n i n g i n d a ba .com

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