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SLR Consulting is diversifying its business in order to secure sustainable returns
COPPERBELT 94 Copperbelt Energy Corporation Plc (CEC) is an emerging independent power generating company
MTN Uganda 30 MTN Uganda is a name you can trust to always be there for your telecommunication needs
INVESTMENT
PROFILE 22 Africa Outlook takes an inside look at Zambia’s business and investment potential ETERNA PLC 84 Eterna continue to push boundaries with their innovation, high level of performance and strong principles
AFRICA OUTOOK ISSUE 14 ALSO THIS ISSUE: BUSINESS CONNEXION | KUMI HOSPITAL | NATIONAL REAL ESTATE | rms
W E l c o M E the Passion Behind the Products
eDiTORiAl
many of the companies we have interviewed in this issue have expressed that the driving force in their job is passion. having a passion for the job you do and the industry you work in can really make the difference to a company’s survival during lean times. our lead interview is with mtn Uganda’s Chief Marketing Officer, ernst Fonternel. the article makes for interesting reading as the company have consistently been at the forefront of expansion and technological advancement in the communications industry and show no signs of slowing down. Through their flagship mobile-commerce MobileMoney, MTN Uganda have made financial transactions truly portable and hassle free. this issue also features an interview with andre nienaber, Ceo of Reinforcing mesh solutions (Rms), a company who have been the backbone of building in southern africa, continuing to expand and develop their practices and ensuring they remain true market leaders and innovators in creating solutions for the construction industry. on Page 62 we speak with wilco du toit of national Real estate about how the south african company have become industry trailblazers, utilising staff training and the latest technology to benefit their company and their clients. also in this issue, we interview Charles okula of kumi hospital. Based in uganda, this hospital has been voted the second best hospital in the drug management programme in 2013, which is an impressive achievement. at the front of our magazine, we have the final instalment of our mBa focus in the form of an article written by Professor walter Baets, director of uCt graduate school of Business, and an investment profile on Zambia which showcases some of the amazing investment opportunities the country has to offer. With an estimated 45 per cent of the total water resources in the Southern Africa Sub-Region, Zambia has massive irrigation Matt Bone farming potential. Editor, Outlook Publishing “The only way to do great work is to love what you do” – steve Jobs
editor: matt Bone matthew.bone@outlookpublishing.com Sub-editor: emily Jarvis emily.jarvis@outlookpublishing.com
PRODuCTiOn Production Manager: daniel george daniel.george@outlookpublishing.com MAGAZINE DESIGN: optic Juice ltd martin mitchell | alex Cole | nick Bond | katherine Robinson
BuSineSS Sales Director: nick norris nick.norris@outlookpublishing.com Sales Manager: eddie Clinton eddie.clinton@outlookpublishing.com Projects Director: James mitchell james.mitchell@outlookpublishing.com Senior Project Manager: arron Rampling arron.rampling@outlookpublishing.com Project Managers: Ben wigger ben.wigger@outlookpublishing.com Callum Philp callum.philp@outlookpublishing.com donovan smith donovan.smith@outlookpublishing.com sheridan halls sheridan.halls@outlookpublishing.com stuart shirra stuart.shirra@outlookpublishing.com tom Cullum tom.cullum@outlookpublishing.com
ACCOunTS Finance Manager: suzanne welsh suzanne.welsh@outlookpublishing.com Office Administrator: donna Redpath donna.redpath@outlookpublishing.com iMAgeS: thinkstock DigiTAl & iT: hamit saka HelPDeSk: James lemay
OuTlOOk PuBliSHing Managing Director: Ben weaver ben.weaver@outlookpublishing.com Chairman: mark weaver COnTACT Africa Outlook / uk 22 wensum street, norwich, uk, nR3 1hy Sales: +44 (0) 1603 559 145 editorial: +44 (0) 1603 559 152 Fax: +44 (0) 1603 559 553 Africa Outlook / SA the Colosseum, First Floor, Century way, Century City, Cape Town, 7441 Tel: +27 (0) 21 527 0053 Subscriptions Tel: +44 (0)1603 559 152 matthew.bone@outlookpublishing.com
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In this issue of Africa Outlook...
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NEWS
All the latest top stories across the month from Africa
MASTERCARD SURVEY Online Shopping Security in the Spotlight
MasterCard share with us their mobile commerce survey results
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AFRICA’S TOP BUSINESS SCHOOLS The Rise of the MBA
Part two: An interview with Walter Baets, Director of UCT Graduate School
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TRAVEL AND TOURISM The Best Holiday Destinations in Africa Part Two
In the second of a three part series, we take a closer look at the best holiday destinations Africa has to offer
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TECHNOLOGY Mahindra Comviva Evolves the Mobile Music Ecosystem in Africa
Mahindra Comviva are revolutionising the digital music market in Africa
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INVESTMENT PROFILE Zambia
Africa Outlook takes an inside look at Zambia’s business and investment potential
SHOWCASING LEADING COMPANIES Tell us your story and we’ll tell the world
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HELLERMANN TYTON Manufacturing Tyton
R E S O U R C E S
Hellermann Tyton continue to raise their game to hold onto their outstanding reputation for quality
C O N S T R U C T I O N
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T E C H N O L O G Y
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MTN UGANDA A Mobile Revolution
MTN Uganda is a name you can trust to always be there for your telecommunication needs
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NATIONAL REAL ESTATE The Real Estate Deal
NRE are well placed to ensure their market leader status for the foreseeable future
AMS PROPERTIES High Class Living
AMS have seen great success in the niche luxury housing market in Africa
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L O G I S T I C S
BUSINESS CONNEXION Connecting Nigeria
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Business Connexion Nigeria have been delivering industry-leading solutions across multiple sectors for over 5 years
MANUFACTURING
ADB AIRFIELD SOLUTIONS Ensuring a Smooth Take-off
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Africa Outlook speaks to the multi-national company ADB Airfield Solutions
RMS Steel Determination
RMS are looking towards the future with a clear vision, to ensure they remain market leaders
Eterna continue to push boundaries with their innovation, high level of performance and strong principles
COPPERBELT ENERGY A Network in Power
Copperbelt Energy Corporation Plc (CEC) is an emerging independent power generating company
SLR CONSULTING Diversifying Consultancy
By diversifying their business, SLR Consulting hope to improve client relationships on a global scale
AMP CONTROL Amped on Safety
Ampcontrol’s business is multi-faceted and located across several continents, including Southern Africa
H E A L T H C A R E
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ETERNA PLC Energy Entrepreneurs
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MSC LOGISTICS Innovative Shipping and Logistics
KUMI HOSPITAL Compassion and Commitment to the Poor: Kumi Hospital Beating the Odds
Despite the building suffering a total collapse, Kumi Hospital has rebuilt itself as one of the finest hospitals in Uganda
MSC Logistics provide an insight into their unique approach to the shipping world
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EVENTS
Outlook highlights the upcoming events across the continent
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e x h i b i t i o n s Totally Concrete Expo Introduces New Building and Construction Technology to Africa ot only does 2014 mark a time of growth for Africa, but also a time of distinct development for the cement, concrete and construction industries. Growth markets are anticipated across Sub-Saharan Africa, spurring rapid infrastructure development and the construction business opportunities that come with it. With myriad building and construction projects underway, the prospect of high returns from project tenders is bringing thousands of industry stakeholders to the Totally Concrete Expo. The delivery of timely and sustainable infrastructure in Africa requires effective industry collaboration both domestically and across borders, next generation building technology, and innovative materials. Historically, it has been a very real challenge to complete construction projects on budget and on time in Africa and the injection of new practices and technologies is vital to fasttrack development. Many of the latest innovations in engineering and building technologies are arriving in Africa for the first time at Totally Concrete Expo, taking place from 26 to 28 May in Johannesburg, South Africa. Industry growth estimates have sky-rocketed and it is now estimated that US $940 million will be invested into the cement industries of South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe alone
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by 2018. New cement plants are also being built in a number of other African countries. HappyGirl Buthelezi, Head of Business Development at PPC South Africa will outline how PPC is helping build Africa to the apex of its economic potential through its cement plant construction projects in the Sub-Saharan region and Eng. Wolfram Schmidt from the BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing in Germany will share findings from the first ever Africa-wide cement competency testing programme. Totally Concrete Expo provides a crystal clear picture of where the industry is headed, recognising that next generation tools and technology are required to enhance the local and regional built environment. Clem Sunter, Chair of the Anglo American Chairman’s Fund and renowned conversational model strategist, will deliver the keynote address and Daniel Silke, leading political analyst and futurist, will give a presentation that sets the stage for shaping the future of Africa and defining the role that the construction industry will play therein.
For more information, visit: www.totallyconcrete.co.za Incorporating both strategic and technical elements, Totally Concrete has practical tools and techniques for all professionals active in the construction sector. Stakeholders from over 40 countries worldwide will have an opportunity to access cutting edge technology as it arrives for the first time on African soil. Totally Concrete is endorsed by over 60 industry associations and sponsored by PPC, Lafarge, AfriSam, CCS, PMSA and Nyeleti Consulting. Martin S. Owuor, First Secretary of the High Commission of Kenya, says of the event, “Totally Concrete is very informative and very important at this critical time when Africa is trying to improve infrastructure necessary for development.” Totally Concrete is the only all things cement, concrete and construction event in Africa that provides the entire industry ecosystem with the tools and solutions needed to manage projects of all sizes and ensure their delivery on time and on budget.
www.totallyconcrete.co.za
go to www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com/news for all of the latest news from africa
B u s i n e ss
Saab expands its African footprint Defence and security company Saab opens an office in Botswana. Saab is expanding its presence on the African continent and has recently opened an office in Gaborone, Botswana to further this goal. Saab, with its focus on military defence and civil security, has always made it clear that one of the company’s main goals is to grow and break into the Sub-Saharan region. With the growing economy in Africa this expansion has been made all the more important. This is also in line with Saab’s establishment of its ‘Market Area Concept’ which consolidates the markets in which the company is active. Jerker Ahlqvist, who will be heading up the Saab office in Botswana explains: “With the establishment of the market areas, Saab is expanding on all continents. With the growing economies in many countries in Africa there is a growing demand for defence and security products – and hence, a demand for Saab products.” Saab is now represented in South Africa, Kenya and Botswana in SubSaharan Africa and is looking at other African countries to have Saab representation. “Botswana has been selected as the third country to open an office in due to its transparent business environment and solid business opportunities for various products in the Saab portfolio,” says Ahlqvist. Ahlqvist explains that the office in Botswana has primarily been established to provide a hub for Saab to increase its presence to market its products and to play a role in further strengthening the relationship between Sweden and Botswana.
T e ch n o l o g y
Helios Towers Africa Achieves OSHAS 18001 Milestone Helios Towers Africa (HTA), the leading, independent telecoms towers company in Africa, with operations in Ghana, Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo (“DRC”), has achieved the internationally recognised OSHAS 18001 standard in the DRC. This achievement completes a clean sweep for HTA making it the first and only OSHAS 18001 certified tower company in each of its existing markets. This milestone demonstrates HTA’s commitment to customer service and quality in delivery. All operations have earned the right to display the coveted OSHAS 18001 certification mark to demonstrate its conformance to the standard following the certification of both Helios Towers Tanzania and Helios Towers Ghana by SGS as well as Bureau Veritas’ certification of Helios Towers DRC. HTA’s demonstration of product and service reliability and process controls also underpins its ability to offer lower operational costs for its customers. OHSAS 18001 was first introduced in 1999 and requires organisations to assess their risk and implement an effective occupational health and safety management system to promote a safe and healthy working environment. Certified organisations are committed to continuous improvement and are
assessed annually to ensure progress is being maintained. Chuck Green, CEO of Helios Towers Africa said: “We are particularly pleased to have achieved the OSHAS 18001 certification in all of our existing markets as it underlines our commitment to our customers and our focus on quality of service. We are the first and only OSHAS 18001 certified company in each of our markets.” The benefits of registration to the OSHAS 18001 standard include: Demonstrating that a risk based approach is taken to the management of Health and Safety Streamlining an organisation’s procedures Bringing consistency to an organisation’s service delivery Reducing cost and rework Improving an organisation’s management practices Enhanced status Competitive advantage Lower insurance premiums
For more information, visit: www.heliostowersafrica.com
www.saabgroup.com
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e x h i b i t i o n s Government Officials Navigate Africa’s US $2 Trillion Economy at Totally Concrete Expo frican governments are taking steps to ease the cost of doing business on the continent as global demand for African commodities continues to drive infrastructure development. Across the continent, governments scramble to supply the support and investment needed for businesses to grow, with particular emphasis on the mining and construction industries. Today, both the mining and the construction industries are at the forefront of this growth in Africa, the former providing valuable natural resources and the latter providing the infrastructure required for extraction, processing and moving significant volumes to market. And doing business in Africa gets even easier in 2014. From Lagos to Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg, public works and housing officials, large contractors, investors, engineering experts and internationally renowned architects are convening at the Totally Concrete Expo held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa from 26 to 28 May 2014 to attend the exclusive Navigating Africa seminar. Africa’s population is projected to grow to 2 billion by 2050, making Africa home to the world’s largest workforce. With an economy estimated at US $2 trillion, about a third of Africa’s 54 countries enjoy annual GDP growth of more than 6%. Oil discoveries have boosted GDP in Nigeria and Uganda, abundant mineral reserves continue to be discovered, and 60% of the
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world’s uncultivated arable land is still located in Africa. To match the commodities drive, the creation of more competitive regulatory environments aims to improve investor confidence. Just last year Senegal launched a vast programme of reforms to create a more competitive business environment and enable private sector participation in the nation’s economic development. As the world gears up to take advantage of the opportunities presented by Africa’s high growth markets, Totally Concrete introduces the Navigating Africa seminar to bring together Africa’s leading visionaries and construction industry magnates and map out the promise of the future. “Totally Concrete represents hard work and high motivation that is building international professional bridges across the African continent and beyond,” says Professor Danladi Slim Matawal, Director General and CEO of the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBBRI). Eng. Saliu Lawal, National Chairman of the Nigeria Institute of Civil Engineers (NICE), HE Vincent Karega, High Commissioner of the Embassy of Rwanda in South Africa and Eng. and
Daniel Manduku, CEO of Kenya’s National Construction Authority, are amidst the government officials who will be there to facilitate access to construction business opportunities in their respective countries. The Navigating Africa seminar headlines internationally renowned African economists including Lullu Krugel, Senior Economist at KPMG South Africa and Nicky Weimar, Senior Economist at Nedbank Group, South Africa. Experts such as visionaries Daniel Silke and Chris Hart, Chief Strategist of Investment Solutions, prepare the concrete and construction industries for the Africa of tomorrow by unpacking the opportunities provided by growth and demographics on Africa’s road to prosperity. Endorsed by over 60 industry associations and sponsored by PPC, Lafarge, AfriSam, CCS, PMSA, Reimer, WBHO and Nyeleti Consulting, Totally Concrete is the only all things cement, concrete and construction event in Africa that facilitates doing construction business and grants access to the people and solutions needed to succeed in Africa’s lucrative growth markets.
go to www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com/news for all of the latest news from africa
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Martin Engineering Names Zambian Distributor n a move designed to broaden the availability of high-performance bulk material handling technologies in Southern Africa, Martin Engineering RSA has named Fluid Base Industries as its fullservice distributor in Zambia. Fluid Base will be a source for all Martin Engineering RSA products and services throughout the country, including conveyor belt cleaners, transfer point solutions, flow aids, safety products and training, belt support products, silo cleaning and other field services. The companies will primarily serve customers involved in mining and material processing applications, as well as the cement and oil industries. To minimise delivery times, Fluid Base will stock a wide range of Martin Engineering products and repair parts at its locations in Kitwe and Chilanga, which are strategically located near many of the major mining projects. “This agreement will help us broaden our presence in Africa and create a customer base in the key commercial regions in Zambia,” observed Martin Engineering RSA Sales Manager Mark Jarrett. “The companies here prefer doing business with local suppliers,” he explained. “We’ve had many interactions with Fluid Base in the past, and they are one of the few distributors capable of representing the Martin Engineering brand with the level of technical expertise to ensure outstanding product support and service.” Fluid Base was formed in Zambia in 1997, initially focused on providing repair parts and services to the mining industry. The company is structured around a small group of technically-qualified individuals who
deliver leading-edge components and expert service, including fabrication, installation and training. “Our established contacts in the mining sector and other industries will help us introduce innovative technologies to improve the productivity and safety of bulk handling operations,” said Operating Director Fanuel Banda. “The current levels of activity are bringing new opportunities, but with them come new challenges. That’s where we are targeting our efforts: helping bulk handling operations achieve greater efficiency and environmental stewardship.” Banda is a 35-year veteran of the Zambian mining industry, with ten-year stints at two multinational firms, including a position as General Manager of Operations, in charge of mining equipment, spares procurement and maintenance. “Mr. Banda and his colleagues are wellrecognised and respected throughout Zambia for their experience, strong technical acumen and business integrity,” Jarrett continued. “They also bring an excellent understanding of local and regional markets and customs, facilitating good communication and fostering positive customer relationships.”
For more information, visit: www.martin-eng.co.za Jarrett has been working with Zambian mining companies and distributors for the last twelve years, and he finds excellent market potential and opportunities for service. “It can be difficult to gain entry into this market,” he admitted. “But after observing the Fluid Base staff over the years, we feel confident that the company has the skills and collective mindset to help us develop a strong presence here, earning customer recognition and loyalty as we go. They have the ability to seamlessly integrate Martin Engineering products into customer operations, as well as the technical training to support them.” Since 1944, Martin Engineering has developed innovative products and services for solids handling applications around the world. The company attributes its success to the design of field-proven, cost-effective solutions for “real-life” problems. Martin Engineering products are designed for tough industrial conditions, engineered for simplicity, safety and efficiency, and built to allow easy maintenance. Call +27 13 656 5135. Global representatives for Martin Engineering can be found at www.martin-eng.com/rep-finder.
go to www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com/news for all of the latest news from africa
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TE C HNO L O G Y NET1 MOBILE SOLUTIONS AND SUPA PESA BRING ADVANCE AIRTIME TO MALAWI outh Africa-based Net1 Mobile Solutions (“N1MS”), a business unit of Net 1 UEPS Technologies, Inc. together with its long-time partner Supa Pesa, has expanded its Advance Airtime African footprint with the launch of TeleKom Networks Malawi (“TNM”) Airtime Credit service, Pasavute. Pasavute, which means ‘no worries’ in Chichewa, allows subscribers of TNM to purchase airtime in advance and pay the face value of the airtime voucher at a later stage. A subscriber can purchase one airtime voucher at a time and is charged a service fee per airtime voucher purchased. TNM Chief Commercial Officer, Charles Kamoto says: “Pasavute has been designed to provide flexibility and convenience to TNM’s prepaid customers whenever and wherever they run out of money for talk time. We believe in ensuring that our customers are taken care of, and that is why we have brought them Pasavute, giving our customers access to airtime when and where they need it most.” The service is available via the USSD and SMS channels provided by TNM, and both channels are free services to the customer. The TNM subscriber is only charged a service fee when purchasing an airtime loan. “A key feature of the service is the pre-qualification and scoring engine which allows TNM to evaluate whether a customer qualifies for a loan or not,” says Philip Belamant, Managing
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Director of Net1 Mobile Solutions. To calculate the risk profile and advance airtime value that a subscriber will qualify for, the Advance Airtime Server (“AAS”) system analyses and processes subscriber historical usage data to generate a qualifying score. “A subscriber will only be provided with a loan that they can afford based on previous usage patterns,” Belamant added. “The service N1MS is providing is built around a double opt-in, so we ensure that the customer first selects and then confirms their purchase with all costs provided up front. We believe this is a strong differentiator for our service, as we don’t want subscribers borrowing airtime credit which they cannot afford to repay. This puts unnecessary financial pressure on both customers and on the mobile network,” concluded Belamant. How it works: A customer can purchase an airtime credit by dialling *600# from their TNM Malawi mobile phone. A customer is then presented with the airtime loans which they have qualified to receive. The customer will only be able to purchase a loan that they qualify
For more info visit: www.net1. com and www.superpesa.com for, based on their historical airtime usage. For each loan purchased a fixed service fee is charged. When the customer tops-up with new airtime again the service will deduct their outstanding loan amount from the airtime amount. N1MS partnered with Supa Pesa, a rapidly growing African mobile marketing and VAS company, to make this product a successful reality. Managing Director of Supa Pesa, Harm Fourie says: “We are confident that this exciting service will boost TNM’s airtime sales as customers now have access to airtime at any time, regardless of their location or the availability of airtime vendors. This is the ultimate product for convenience.” N1MS is making waves in the technology and ICT industry with other relevant technological solutions such as Virtual Top Up, Mobile Virtual Card and FIHRST Salary Distribution. Furthermore, N1MS’ MarkitShare, a ground-breaking real-estate industry resource, was awarded the “Best Android Enterprise Application” at the MTN Business App of the year awards in 2013.
go to www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com/news for all of the latest news from africa
e x h i b i t i o n s PPC Aligns with Totally Concrete to Increase Emerging Market Revenue in Africa ement and concrete companies are facing increasing competition in the South African market and are now targeting growth opportunities throughout Sub-Saharan countries. Demand on the sub-continent is estimated to be around 40 million tonnes and PPC has set its sights on capturing some of that market. As Africa’s cement industry leaders look to conquer the larger African marketplace, Totally Concrete provides a unique gateway into doing construction business across the continent’s high growth and high risk markets. Incorporating both strategic and technical elements, Totally Concrete has practical tools and techniques for all professionals interested in the production or use of cement and concrete. Stakeholders from over 40 countries worldwide will have an opportunity to access cuttingedge technology as it arrives on African soil. PPC, the Platinum sponsor of Totally Concrete 2014, has eight manufacturing plants in South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe and is busy with the construction of cement plants in three other African countries, Ethiopia, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as part of its Sub-Sahara African expansion strategy. The
cement company plans to earn 40% of its revenues outside of South Africa by 2017. PPC has also recently announced that they will enter the Algerian cement market. This is part of the group’s strategy under the leadership of Mr Ketso Gordhan, CEO since January 2013. “We had great success and feedback from last year’s event. This platform allows delegates access to state-of-the-art technologies and highlights creative uses for cement and concrete,” says Richard Tomes, Managing Director of PPC Cement South Africa. Totally Concrete not only provides a channel for construction business development by new entrants in the African marketplace, but also offers practical insight into managing daily operations in the African context. Highlights of the conference are: a presentation by Wouter Trollip, Project Manager from Consolidated General Minerals (CGM) in Mozambique on the requirements and obstacles to building a cement
plant in Africa and Brett Botha, Lead Principal for Infrastructure at Nedbank Group South Africa who will educate participants on proven exit strategies for high growth and high risk markets. Clem Sunter, Scenario Planner and renowned conversational model strategist, will deliver the keynote address. Daniel Silke, leading political analyst and futurist, will give a presentation that sets the stage for shaping the future of Africa and defining the role that the construction industry will play therein. Totally Concrete is endorsed by over 60 industry associations and is sponsored by PPC, Lafarge, AfriSam, CCS, PMSA, Reimer, WBHO and Nyeleti Consulting. Totally Concrete is the only all things cement, concrete and construction event in Africa that provides the entire industry with the tools and solutions to navigate Africa’s high growth markets and ensure returns on investment on projects of all sizes.
go to www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com/news for all of the latest news from africa
go to www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com/news for all of the latest news from africa
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M a S T E r c a r d
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online shopping securiTy in The
Spotlight say they have made at least one purchase online in the last three months and a significant 87% of those reported being very or extremely satisfied with their experience. “Consumers want to shop online but they are still nervous about doing so,” says Philip Panaino, division President, masterCard, south africa, “This year’s survey confirms that mandating 3d secure payment card he latest masterCard, authentication, like masterCard online shopping Behaviour study reveals secureCode™, is an important measure to ensure the sustainability of south that 90% of South Africa’s e-commerce industry.” african respondents 3d secure adds an additional layer of cite the availability of secure payment authentication between the cardholder facilities as critical when shopping and their card issuer, reducing the online. Concern around the safety of online transactions was the reason 42% risk of fraudulent online transactions. gave for not shopping online in the last Merchants benefit too - in the event that a card is used without permission, three months, up 4% from last year. liability shifts away from the retailer. when asked how online shopping Retaining a human element in the could be improved, just over half purchasing process also contributes (53%) of the respondents suggest to reassuring consumers, as the visible, explicit assurance that their majority (82%) of respondents stated transactions are secure, while 52% that customer service via online recommend ‘protection against chat or telephone is important when unscrupulous websites’. a further shopping online. 48% suggest guarantees by financial “online retailers must remember transaction companies or banks that that South Africa has a larger-thanwebsites are safe. ever base of inexperienced Internet despite this seemingly negative users who have never shopped online sentiment towards online shopping, before, thanks to improved access to over two thirds (69%) of respondents
overall online shopping experience more likely to influence purchase than product price
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smart mobile devices and increasingly affordable broadband services,” says arthur goldstuck, managing director of world wide worx. “these users are still familiarising themselves with using the Internet regularly to socialise, communicate and browse for information, so some initial apprehension regarding online shopping is to be expected.” “as the new user base gains experience and confidence in online activities, their inclination to shop should convert into a regular online shopping habit. to aid this conversion, smart online retailers should recognise the value in educating first-time customers about the security measures put in place within their online stores.” Now in its fifth year, the annual online shopping Behaviour study, which serves as a benchmark of consumers’ propensity to shop online, was conducted in 11 countries across africa and the middle east between November 2013 and January 2014. the south african study surveyed banked south africans aged between 18 and 64 who access the Internet at least once a week. The survey and its accompanying reports do not represent MasterCard’s financial performance. Considering the overall online shopping experience, 90% surveyed
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are influenced by convenient payment methods, 87% by quickly-completed transactions and 86% will return to a site offering low or no additional delivery chargers. Pricing, still an important consideration, was mentioned by 89% of respondents last year, compared to 85% this year. “this year’s research indicates that the overall online shopping experience – including convenience, security, good exchange policy, speedy transacting and so on - leads to purchasing decisions. this makes it clear that retailers must consider more than just the pricing of their products,” says Panaino. the survey further reveals that the south african e-commerce industry is growing as only 24% of local online spend was on foreign shopping sites, down from 27% the previous year and 33% in 2012. while preference for kalahari declined somewhat from 47% to 35%, it remains South Africa’s favourite online store. Local e-tailer TAKEALOT enjoyed the greatest increase in consumer preference, as 11% shop most frequently from this store, an increase of 4% from last year’s study. “the products that consumers are buying suggest that online shopping is becoming increasingly mainstream, which also bodes well for local retailers,” says goldstuck. “no longer is online shopping confined to books and DVDs, plane tickets and apps.” Consumers purchasing groceries (38%), clothing (34%) and personal care (20%) brands online increased by 7%, 8% and 6% respectively, with the number of visits to these sites averaging at two per week. “the increases are encouraging as shopping for goods in these categories is more complex. selecting clothing, for example, requires trust in the retailers’ garment and sizing descriptions,” says goldstuck. “It is likely that more time is spent on these sites per visit, so retailers have a greater opportunity to engage with their consumers and ensure positive shopping experiences.” the number of respondents feeling that online shopping is costly has declined 13% in 2012 to just 9% in 2013, while only 3% find e-commerce sites difficult to navigate. this, says goldstuck, further suggests that online retailers are succeeding in making online shopping a compelling alternative to physical stores. “when contemplating the future of online shopping in South Africa, and given that 96% of consumers who own a mobile phone access the Internet this way, it is unsurprising that mobile shopping is attracting tremendous interest,” he says.
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2014 MASTeRCARD Online SHOPPing BeHAviOuR STuDy
Online SHOPPing in SOuTH AFRiCA
say secure payment facilities are critical when shopping online.
are satisfied with their online shopping experience.
shopped via their mobile device, or intend to in the next six months.
have made at least one purchase online in the last three months.
of south africa’s online spend is on a foreign site.
The annual MasterCard Online Shopping Behaviour Study serves as a benchmark of consumers’ propensity to shop online. This year, the study was conducted in 11 countries across Africa and the Middle East between November 2013 and January 2014, and surveyed banked consumers aged between 18 and 64 who access the Internet at least once a week.
the study found that 33% of those accessing the Internet via mobile phone intend to shop using their device or have already done so, a jump of 9% from 2012. the likelihood of shopping online using a computer or tablet, or at a physical store, instead of a mobile phone, has declined by an average of 5%. the most popular items purchased by those who’ve made a purchase using their phone in the last three months include mobile phone apps, music downloads, movie tickets, computer software and coupon/ deal site offers. “mobile phones are still used frequently to research products and compare prices before purchase in a physical store, but there is a marked
increase in the use of mobile banking apps, digital wallets and in-app shopping which indicates increased comfort with the technology,” says goldstuck. “It is an exciting and challenging time for south africa’s online retailers. In an increasingly competitive environment, it is not enough to offer low prices and comply with minimum security standards. local shoppers want a holistically positive experience,” says Panaino. “while they are demanding, they are also enthusiastic about shopping online, so retailers successfully fulfilling shoppers’ needs are likely to enjoy a loyal customer base for years to come.”
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Professor walter Baets, director of uCt graduate school of Business, discusses how the school is preparing the mBa curriculum to meet demands of modern education systems Writer Prof Walter Baets
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n mBa, or a master of Business administration, has become one of the most sought after qualifications in the corporate sector over the last 25 years. It can be the difference between you getting a top end job or not. however, it comes at a steep price. the average price of obtaining an mBa is us$110,000. so the big question for young professionals in africa is: Is there real value in spending two additional years of intense schooling? It is expensive and demanding and it has lofty entry requirements, but it can be the basis from which becoming an executive in high profile companies is achieved. africa has strived to be comparable to the rest of the world in terms of offering top end degrees
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and qualifications, in both universities and business schools. the Financial times, in its executive education Rankings for 2012, included 5 African business schools. In the second part of our mBa special, Professor walter Baets, director of the uCt graduate school of Business, discusses new research that shows an mBa continues to be a ticket to increased earning power and senior roles but that the demand for sustainable and responsible management education is growing. the business of mBas is still booming, both in south africa and globally. the evidence available points to the fact that the degree is still widely seen an investment that brings value to a graduate throughout their career.
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the latest research from the graduate management admission Council (GMAC) shows that 92% of 2012 business school graduates found employment within three months of graduation and 76% of international employers surveyed said they planned to hire mBas in 2013. Recent research by the association of mBas (amBa), conducted among 1000 graduates in 75 countries, paints a similarly rosy picture, demonstrating that the mBa continues to open doors to more senior roles and increased earning power. the 2012 research shows that the average salary of mBa graduates from AMBA-accredited business schools now stands at over R1 120 000.00 annually, a 7% increase on the reported salaries in 2010. this is good news for business schools. But while the amBa research suggests that the mBa remains relevant, it also points to another trend that not all business schools may be able to respond to fast enough. while earning power remains an important concern, one in five MBA graduates in the survey stated that sustainable or responsible management insights are the most important thing they want from their mBa. the numbers are even higher closer to home. a survey of 2103 class of mBas at the uCt gsB revealed that 60%
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indicated that sustainability and social innovation and entrepreneurship, which is seen as a response to sustainability imperatives, was a key concern. these numbers don’t come out of nowhere. sustainability has become an important business goal worldwide. the 2010 accenture and united nations global Compact survey of 766 Ceos reported that 93% saw sustainability as important to their companies’ future success. alongside this, 81% of the Ceos surveyed stated that sustainability issues were ‘fully embedded’ into their companies’ strategy and operations, with many extending this focus to their subsidiaries and supply chains. For emerging economies, the need is even greater. africa needs leaders who can take organisations and rapidly advance them, without destroying social and environmental capital in the process. the number of mBas with such skills doesn’t come close to matching the need, so business schools have some ground to make up here. the task of ensuring that business leaders and professionals have the skills they need to take their companies forward into a sustainable economy is potentially the most pressing challenge that business schools are likely to face over the next few years. the awareness is there but the ambiguity of the actual skills that
business schools need to teach in sustainable business education makes matters more difficult. In preparing an mBa curriculum to meet these demands, business schools must go beyond the concept of ‘sustainable’ business education and talk about ‘inclusive business’: business with a wider positive impact. at the same time business schools need to foster in students a mindset that is flexible and responsive so that they can deal with complexity, uncertainty and inequality inherent in the world today. the leadership qualities that businesses today are seeking can be taught. But for the most part they have to be taught practically. Business schools need to put students in small groups and have them work through leadership tasks collaboratively; taking their own experiences and applying them, while at the same time drawing on the expertise of the faculty available. there are a handful of business schools making progress in this direction. the Inspirational guide for the Implementation of Principles for Responsible management education, an initiative of the united nations global Compact, published last year, highlights 64 schools around the world leading the way in this regard. the gsB is in there for its social Innovation lab, a stream of the gsB mBa run by Bertha Centre for social Innovation and entrepreneurship, which offers an integrated platform that threads together teaching, field work and design thinking around social innovation. the amBa and other research shows that there are many mBas who want to apply their talent and creativity to the way the world is run. the responsibility lies with business schools to use the mBa and other programmes to give them the insights and capabilities to build better organisations. If we do not do this as business schools, we risk becoming irrelevant – and the mBa too will lose its lustre.
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Over issues 12 to 15, we will be taking a closer look at the tourism highlights in the continent, examining the best holiday destinations africa has to offer Writer Emily Jarvis iven the size and diverse offering of africa as a continent, the country offers plenty of destinations for all kinds of people. as the second biggest continent in the world, africa boasts an expansive landscape and formidable animal life and it is arguably the best land for any ambitious photographer. this being said, this destination is far less popular with British and european travellers when compared to visits to the united states, latin america and australasia. In part two of three, africa outlook takes a look at some of africa’s best holiday destinations on offer in this unique continent.
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ZAMBIA
Zambia is home to the world’s most majestic waterfall, Victoria Falls (Mosioa-Tunya, also known as The cloud that thunders), located between Zambia and Zimbabwe in Southern Africa. This spectacle was reportedly first seen by a European when Scotsman, David Livingstone, journeyed here in 1855. This 108 metre high cascade was once recorded to be flowing at 12,800 cubic metres per second, double the flow of Nigeria’s falls. The spray is so impressive from the various look-out points, that it feels like you are in the middle of a torrential rainstorm. In Lower Zambezi, canoeing safaris offer tourists the chance to see hippos, elephants and other animals coming to the rivers and tributaries to drink. Those with an interest in fishing can also be accommodated at various lodges on the banks of the river. the southern Cross can be seen in a few vantage points in the southern hemisphere. what better way to enjoy the iconic formation in the night sky then to see it on open-air safari across Luangwa. The constellation has appeared in various cultures in various ways, not least with a reference in the australian national anthem.
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KENYA
when you start searching for african safari, the term “Big Five” is used to refer to the five large animals – lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and Cape buffalo - the term was coined by big game hunters. during the dry season from July to october, masai mara is the place to be. nowhere else can you watch the annual migration of over a million wildebeest, the Big Five animals and more, all from a hot-air balloon; as GoAfrica state, “the mara is as close to ‘out of africa’ you can get.” this unparalleled spectacle is one of many huge draws for tourists. what’s more, there are several horse riding tours that bring you up close with wildlife. travellers can gallop alongside zebras in the masai mara, who cover up to 100km in a week. you’ll travel with a team of grooms, chefs, waiters and camp hands across a multitude of terrains from the south eastern savannah plains to the Chyulu hills. lake nakuru national Park is home to one million resident flamingos, providing one of the country’s most unforgettable sights. this spot has become known as the greatest bird spectacle in the world, with vibrant pink as far as the eye can see.
solio Reserve, located in the valley between the dramatic slopes of mount kenya and the rolling peaks of the aberdare mountains, is home to around 250 black and white rhino. It is considered the best place to see this increasingly endangered species in its natural habitat. If you wish to walk around these marvellous lands, there are walking safaris available in all of the matthews mountain ranges. here, you can learn the traditional methods of tracking game. the walks are led by indigenous samburu and ndorobo warriors as well as professional guides. accompanied with luxury tent accommodation, this creates the perfect five-star safari experience. the geographical beauty at the great Rift Valley runs through kenya from north to south. the valley contains the Cherangani hills and a chain of volcanoes, some of which are still active. For those with an archaeological interest, the tugen hills to the west of lake Baringo contain fossils preserved in laval flows from between 14 to 4 million years ago. the relics of many hominids, ancestors of humans, were found here.
LIBYA
Home to the world-class Jamahiriya Museum –one of the finest collections of classical art in the mediterranean – libya and its impressive medina are at the centre of many interesting landscapes. outside of town, you can visit the rock carvings of wadi methkandoush and akarus, a mountain range known for its luscious red sand and extraordinary rock formations. there are Roman archaeological sites all over libya, leptis magna is a Roman city at the heart of this beauty, with a stunning location on the shores of the mediterranean in north africa.
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For those adventurers out there, the remote location of the omo River Region should peak your interest. the area is only accessible by 4 wheel-drive, meaning that traditional customs and beliefs are very much intact. as there are more than 50 tribes inhabiting this area, it is advisable to join a tour since it is difficult to get around on your own, in turn, enhancing your understanding of the different cultures.
EGYPT
the most famous structures and locations in egypt are the Pyramids of giza, the sphinx and the rural settlements winding around the river nile. the giza Pyramids are located just outside of Cairo, representing one of the greatest architectural feats by man as the last surviving member of the seven wonders of the world, built more than 5000 years ago. The Pyramid of king Cheops was built around 2650 BC from 2.5 million blocks of limestone, with the sides oriented exactly to the north, south, east and west. the Chephren pyramid, built by Cheops’ son, is similar in size and incorporates the entrances to a burial chamber, which still contains the large granite sarcophagus of king Chephren (khafre). the pyramid of mycerinus is a smaller pyramid than these two, and all three are surrounded by other smaller pyramids and dozens of tombs
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for those with a keen ancient egyptian history interest. the colossal temple of the sphinx is on the way to egypt’s Valley temple of King Chephren, known as Abu al-Hol in arabic aka Father of Terror. the body of a lion with a human head is a 70 metre long, 20 metre high structure, as tall as a six-story apartment block. although the sphinx has been thought of as female, many scholars believe the face is that of king Chephren. those with an eye for photography cannot miss out on a boat ride down the River nile, ideally on a romantic felucca, rather than a crowded tourist boat. the highlight of the tour is the Valley of the kings, a series of monumental statues and the magnificent Kom Ombo Temple, north of aswan on the east bank. this is a relic of one of the world’s most ancient civilisations on record.
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CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
Cape town is the highlight of any trip to southern africa. the natural beauty of the landscape makes it one of the most photogenic cities in the world. the city boasts beautiful beaches as well as the impressive table mountain right in the heart of the city, with impressive world class restaurants and wines also on offer. Cape Town is one of the most culturally diverse cities in africa, with a reputation for social tolerance. Cable car rides are available at the top of the mesa, giving great views, fantastic sunrises and sunsets which make for great photos.
TANZANIA
Zanzibar is one of africa’s top destinations, boasting a fascinating history and incredible sandy beaches. Just off the coast of tanzania in the Indian ocean, Zanzibar is a natural trading centre, famous for its spices. Arabic influences are abundant throughout the country, especially in stone town, one of the island’s biggest attractions. a unesCo world heritage site, stone town boasts beautiful traditional houses, narrow alleyways, a sultan’s palace and many architecturally stunning mosques. Perhaps the most famous of all mountains, mount kilimanjaro has earned its name over the years as one of the best
destinations for adventure and hiking enthusiasts. as the world’s tallest free-standing mountain, standing at 19,340 feet (5896m), kilimanjaro takes around 6 days to conquer. the tourist appeal for this mountain is that no special climbing equipment or expertise are needed, just practical clothing and footwear on a fit and healthy person. the great migration of more than a million wildebeest can also be observed in tanzania, as the animals move from ngorongoro in January, up through the serengeti around June, ending up in kenya’s masai mara around september, before their journey south begins once again.
WE CONTINUE OUR SEARCH FOR HOLIDAY DESTINATIONS IN THE NEXT ISSUE...
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M A H I N D R A
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Mahindra Comviva:
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THE MOBILE MUSIC ECOSYSTEM IN AFRICA
he music industry is witnessing dynamic changes and consumption patterns are shifting, driven by the increasing adoption of smartphones. The digital music market grew by around 9% in 2012 and is expected to grow by $9 billion worldwide in 2014. Strong growth is driven by the expansion of international and regional music brands as well as active Smartphone growth in Africa, South East Asia and India, all topping 20% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR). Mahindra Comviva are revolutionising the digital music market in Africa, by not only providing a superior technology platform for end users, but also managing the operator’s complete roster of music and infotainment services. Their business and marketing expertise enables mobile service providers to optimise cost structures, widen the subscriber base and ultimately, accelerate revenue growth. Mahindra Comviva are one of the largest content aggregators in Africa;
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offering an extensive digital music portfolio that comprises video, voice and text. They have collaborated with 85+ content partners, including local and international content providers/copyright bodies/local artists and production houses. These extensive partnership networks allow the company to track the local content in every country they operate in. Currently, the company owns the rights to over 190K unique music tracks in the African, Arabic and international categories, and offers multiple genres including hip hop, pop, inspirational, rumba, hip life, football chants, gospel, jazz, rock, reggae and retro in more than 36 + local African languages. Mahindra Comviva’s first-of-a-kind infotainment portal is powered by its recommendation and analytics engine, which recommends content based on the end user’s profile and consumption patterns. To drive adoption, the company have developed innovative micro charging propositions tailored to
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spend patterns of multiple-segments. Consumers who cannot afford a full services bouquet have the option to opt for a daily or a biweekly infotainment pack. Mahindra Comviva differentiates itself from its competitors by offering billing via mobile money and mobile wallet services, in addition to online payment solutions. This method has proved to be extremely effective as a large percentage of the African population does not own bank accounts. As per the latest report by Ovum, digital sales in the Middle East and Africa are growing at nearly 20% CAGR with impressive figures for smartphone and mobile payments in Africa in particular, growing at over 40% and 70% respectively, laying solid foundations for the future growth of digital music. The future of digital music will be based on enhanced engagement, 360 degree music experience and addressing the needs of price sensitive markets. Localised and customised content will play a greater role in enticing consumers.
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obile self-service apps present a good method of improving customer experience, while shifting support from high cost channels to lower cost channels. While mobile self service apps are often explored in the context of high smartphone penetration markets in Asia, North America and Western Europe, there is an untapped opportunity for mobile self-service applications in the emerging markets of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Communication Service Providers (CSPs) have entered a new era of technology-enabled consumer power. Until recently, consumers predominantly used their devices to access operator’s voice and data services. Today, a large segment of consumers own smart devices and are increasingly comfortable using third party applications and social media in their day-to-day lives, which is making them ever-more informed, influential and impatient. They are exposed to a broad range of services and are quick to
make comparisons. If displeased, these consumers are quick to voice their discontent on social media channels or take their business elsewhere. An ability to effectively manage customers’ heightened services expectations is critical for CSPs to remain competitive. Significantly, the same technologies that give customers so much power also make it easier for CSPs to reach out and provide a qualitatively superior experience to customers. Data-enabled feature phones and the new generation of Smartphones have opened a new channel of communication between operators and users. CSPs can proactively engage with customers using the same device that customers use every day to communicate, obtain information, exchange reviews and purchase products. A self-service strategy is integral to the CSPs objective to preserve and grow
relationships with the customer by delivering an optimised service experience. Conventionally, self-service solutions enable and empower end-users to solve their own problems. Most selfservice channels are designed to address post-purchase queries such as service provisioning, service usage charge or service not working, thereby allowing support organisations to gain efficiencies through reduced incident and request workload. A self care app provides CSPs a branded presence on the customer’s mobile device and a means to engage consumers across the service lifecycle. Mahindra Comviva’s Unified SelfCare solution enables operators to create better customer interaction systems by leveraging the different channels - SMS, USSD, clients, WAP and Web - ensuring customers receive same information whilst meeting their expectations for anytime, anywhere access to self care services. Unified Self-Care solution enables operators to consolidate infrastructure across channels, lowering TCO of self-care, whilst enabling delivery of a consistent and seamless self-care experience. CSPs need self-service apps that can be downloaded and installed on the feature or Smartphone, or hosted and optimised for those devices, and so allow customers to access and resolve issues on the go. CSPs will also need to educate their customers how to use the mobile self-service apps and then entice them to use it by showing the benefits of self service for example; the convenience, time saved, and access to extra benefits.
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Zambia africa outlook takes an inside look at Zambia’s investment potential Writer Emily Jarvis Source: UNCTAD
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www.theiguides.org
ambia, named after the Zambezi River, is a landlocked Sub-Saharan country of about 12.6 million people. The total land surface area is 752,614 square kilometres and shares borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, the United Republic of Tanzania to the northeast, Malawi to the east, Mozambique to the south-east, and Zimbabwe to the south, Botswana and Namibia to the south-west, Angola to the west. The population is composed of more than 70 Bantu-speaking ethnic groups of which the largest and politically most influential is the Bemba comprising 18 per cent of the population. Other groups include the Tonga, Nyanja, Kaonda, Lozi, Lunda and Luvale. English is the official language used for education, commerce, and law. With close to 40 per cent of the population living in a few urban zones where most employment opportunities are found, Zambia is one of the most highly urbanised countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Report of 2010, Zambia ranked 150 out of 182 countries with data. Mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains, Zambia has both temperate and subtropical ecosystems with temperatures ranging from 15 to 33 degrees Celsius. The country has abundant natural resources including arable land, water, forest and mineral resources. With 35 per cent of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region’s water resources found in Zambia, there is an enormous potential for increased irrigated agriculture and hydroelectric power production. Natural attractions are in abundance including pristine landscape and diverse wildlife and game reserves with over 3,000 different species in the ecosystem.
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New farming blocks have been opened in order to lure in both local and international investors”
A Welcome Investment Environment
land-linked country. The establishment of a single Free trade area (Fta) comprising 26 countries of Comesa, In addition to its welcoming business eaC and sadC in 2012 resulted in an environment, Zambia’s additional attractions as an investment destination even larger market that is attractive for investors and conducive for largeinclude its strategic location in a scale production. dynamic region, including serving as Zambia is a peaceful and politically a land-linked transit hub to its eight stable country. Since 1991, political neighbouring countries, its stable transfer of power has been conducted political and social environment through multi-party elections. and its untapped and yet-to-be the country is generally safe and, explored resource endowments and unlike some of its neighbours, it opportunities. sharing borders with has not experienced coups, civil eight countries in the southern africa wars or prolonged misgovernance. sub region which are also members It also enjoys a free press and has of the south african development Community (sadC) means easier access an active civil society, with almost every sector of the society and the to these countries’ markets. It is also a member of the wider Common market economy having some representative for eastern and southern african states groupings. as much of the investments so far have been in the mining (COMESA) comprising 19 members. sector, there remains a number of supported by regional cooperation vastly untapped opportunities still projects, such as the most recent awaiting development, particularly North-South Corridor project, which in agriculture production and agrilinks the port of dar es salaam business, tourism, manufacturing and (united Republic of tanzania) to the energy sectors. Copperbelt (Zambia) and through to the southern ports of south africa, a Investment Opportunities more fluid movement of goods and people resulting from improvements in with vast reserves of copper and road and rail travel along this corridor cobalt, the mining sector offers real strategically positions Zambia as a potential for growth and further
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expansion. home to 6 per cent of the world’s copper reserves, Zambia also boasts of precious stones such as emeralds, amethyst, aquamarine, gold and diamonds, among others. Zambia has the second largest deposit of the world’s best emeralds comprising 20 per cent of the world supply. deposits of marble, granite, ferrous metals, clay, limestone, iron and phosphate also remain underexploited Zambia has 752,000 square kilometres of landmass, 58 per cent of which is arable. Currently, however, only 14 per cent of the arable land is under cultivation indicating the potential for further development in this area. new farming blocks have been opened in order to lure in both local and international investors to use already surveyed land for cultivation and agro-business purposes. Among the non-traditional crops with potential, which have also been prioritized for investments include cotton, coffee, tobacco, sugarcane, pineapples, cashew nuts, cassava and other horticultural and floricultural crops. Currently, 70 per cent of cut flowers are exported to the netherlands and 30 per cent to south africa. there is potential to expand distribution to new
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markets, including the united states. most of Zambia’s horticulture exports are directed to the united kingdom and south africa. there are opportunities to engage in agro-processing and move up the value-chain. Such investments through joint ventures are particularly welcome. agriculture is predominantly rain-fed and therefore, the sector’s performance is mostly determined by rainfall patterns. the irrigation potential is estimated at 430,000 hectares of which only 100,000 hectares is currently developed, mostly by large-scale commercial enterprises. With an estimated 45 per cent of the total water resources in the southern Africa Sub-Region, Zambia has massive irrigation farming potential and the government encourages investment opportunities here as well. Zambia’s tourism potential lies in its vast natural resources, most of which are pristine and unexploited and cater to a diverse and broad range of interests, including varied sceneries, wilderness and wildlife, adventure activities, diverse culture and national heritage. although known mainly for the world famous Victoria Falls, a unesCo world heritage site, Zambia boasts
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of many other attractions including 19 national parks and 34 game management areas covering over 22.4 million hectares. Zambia’s wildlife estate is one of the largest in the sub-region, with wildlife protected areas occupying about 40 per cent of the country’s land surface area. there is scope for development of private wildlife estates given the availability of land in communal areas. the country is also in the process of developing and at the same time encouraging investments in the northern part of the country which is endowed with pristine natural attractions such as waterfalls, lakes, hot springs and offers possibilities for conventional game drives as well. With 40 per cent of water resources in the southern africa sub region found in Zambia, hydropower generation is identified among the country’s investment potentials. with a potential estimated at 6,000 mw and high demand for power in the neighbouring countries, the opportunity in this subsector is enormous both in electricity generation and transmission. the government is encouraging private sector participation through public-
private partnership (PPP) initiatives. several rehabilitation projects are already on-going, including the Kafue gorge lower hydro Project (600 mw generation capacity), the Itezhi-tezhi project (120 mw generation capacity) and the kariba north Bank expansion project (360 mw generation capacity). In addition, investments in the construction of mini-hydro power plants are welcomed, especially for supply of electricity to un-serviced rural areas and far-flung villages thereby enabling and supporting more productive activities there, including agriculture and agribusiness activities of smes.
Investment Trends Since the 1990s, FDI has come to play an increasing role in Zambia’s economy, contributing to increased capital inflows and investment, rehabilitating the copper industry and boosting the production and export of non-traditional products and services as well. FDI inflows have seen a steady increase over the years, averaging $651 million for the period 2002 to 2009 with a peak in 2007 at $1,324 million, a 115 per cent increase compared to the 2006 figures. The
FDI has come to play an increasing role in Zambia’s economy, contributing to increased capital inflows and investment”
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majority of these investments were directed to mining. Investment pledges continue to rise, with total investment pledges by ZDA-licensed companies for 2008 reaching $10,405 million, 95 per cent of which is FDI. Zambia is also attracting investments from countries other than its traditional partners. China and India are among the notable examples of countries which have, in recent years invested in large-scale projects either through public-private partnerships (PPP) or joint ventures. Zambia’s first Multi-facility Economic Zone (MFEZ) – the Chambishi MultiFacility economic Zone located in the Copperbelt region - was developed by Chinese investors. when in full operation, it is expected to host over 60 companies and generate investments of $900 million over a five-year period.
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Prospects and Challenges
Zambia has taken significant steps to improve the business environment in the past five years, including the creation of the Zda as an investment facilitator, streamlining of business registration procedures and awarding of generous incentives both fiscal and non-fiscal to prospective investors. It is also opening its doors to non-traditional investment sources including China and India. all of these efforts are slowly bearing fruit and the prospects are indeed bright as the country demonstrates its strong determination to sustain the reforms it has started. the challenge is to attract more investments in sectors other than mining. and there are real opportunities in the tourism, agrobusiness and manufacturing sectors. Economic diversification has been a goal and rightly so considering
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how the price of copper has affected the country’s export earnings in the last two years. the government is committed to addressing outstanding business concerns, including cumbersome licensing procedures, poor infrastructure, inadequate human resources, low productivity and restrictive labour laws. It is doing so through the PsRdP and various regulatory and legislative improvements. on the whole, a country such as Zambia must not be overlooked by any investor interested in establishing a foothold in this region. the country has a stable government, bountiful resources and a strategic geographical location which can serve as a landlinked transit hub to South-eastern Africa, thus offering ready access to the estimated 400 million people in the Comesa region alone.
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Guided by the overall vision of transforming Zambia into a middle-income-country by 2030, the Zambian Government aims to promote economic diversification to ensure a broad-based and sustained economic growth that would help lift the majority of its people out of poverty. While copper production and its by-products are the lifeblood of the country, there is an increasing realisation of the urgency to further develop other sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and tourism and enhance their contribution to the economy. Measures are being put in place towards this end, such as increasing the availability of land for farm production through the opening of farm blocks (see section
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on agriculture) for medium and largescale farming and the promotion of other tourist destinations coupled with further enhancing the attractiveness of the Livingstone area (see section on tourism). The argument for diversification has become even more prominent with the global economic crisis bringing the price of copper down by more than 30 per cent $2,811 per metric ton in December 2008 from a record high of $8,985 in July 2008. The mining sector, however, remains the key driver of the Zambian economy, with the sector growing by 13 per cent in 2009 and copper production rising to about 662,000 metric tons from 575,000 in 2008. This has been attributed to improved copper prices (amid improved inflation rates) coupled with the commencement of production at Lumwana Copper Mine and the
expansion and rehabilitation of other existing mines. Other sectors have seen upward growth trends as well, including agriculture, which was estimated to grow by 5 per cent in 2009, compared to 1.9 per cent growth in 2008 and the construction sector, which is projected to grow by 10 per cent largely on account of increased public and commercial infrastructure investments and high demand for housing. Among the sectors most hit by the crisis include the tourism sector which saw a sharp decline in tourist visits to national parks at 23 per cent. The sector’s projected decline in 2009 was 15 per cent but was expected to rebound in 2010 from the spill-over effects of the World Cup in South Africa. To find out more, visit: www.theiguides.org
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L e a d i n g C o m p a n i e s frica outlook is a leading business to business publication that promotes and showcases the leading companies on the Continent. The digital and print publications are aimed at boardroom and hands on decision-makers in a wide range of industries, reaching over 135,000 business executives every month. With over 11,000 unique visitors to our website on a weekly basis africa outlook is the platform to promote your business success. each month we feature leading companies and business executives by profiling their operations in their own words. Covering all aspects from supply chain, investments and developments, best practice, innovation, growth plans and future project and products we aim to promote all that is good about industry, economy and business. producing business profiles across all sectors and regions of africa we give companies the opportunity to tell their story to our readers.
Emily Jarvis Sub-Editor
w w w . a f r i c a o u t l o o k m a g . c o m
If you want to enjoy the exposure and coverage we can offer please feel free to contact me and we can discuss the opportunity at length. Tell us your story and we’ll tell the world.
emily.jarvis@outlookpublishing.com
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with the continued success of mtn uganda’s services and a loyal customer base, the future looks increasingly bright for the company Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Donovan Smith
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tn uganda launched their commercial services in uganda in October 1998 and has seen its market share rise every year since. today, MTN’s share stands at 55.3% in a highly competitive market of 6 players. through a commitment to a positive customer experience and the development of innovative products, mtn has grown to become the leading telecommunications company in uganda, currently serving in excess of 9.7 million customers. ernst Fonternel, Chief marketing Officer for MTN Uganda has overseen the latest surge of new strategies and policies being put in place within the company, that are heralding a new dawn in mobile technology and services. “mtn uganda has always strived to be the market leader in all aspects of our business. we pride ourselves in giving our customers state-of-the-art technology at their fingertips, no matter where they live in the country. It is a new dawn for ugandan telecommunications and we are proud to be leading the way,� Fonternel explains.
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Innovation and Drive
MTN Uganda is renowned for its innovation and ambition to be the first to market life-changing telecommunication and IT solutions as Fonternel explains: “In 2008, we launched the first mobile money service in Uganda with tremendous success while we also revolutionised access to information by heavily investing in our data services. In 2013, MTN launched 4G LTE which together with our national 3G+ and 2G coverage guarantees our customers internet access in over 80% of the total addressable Ugandan market. With MTN 4G LTE, our customers get the fastest internet with speeds of up to 100Mbps. We are aiming to be a driving force behind Uganda’s continued transformation, through telecommunications and ICT innovations. We are leading the delivery of a bold new digital world through a concerted drive to innovate and launch solutions that will make our customers lives a whole lot brighter.” Currently, 2.6 million MTN subscribers use the internet, the majority of which are set up on bundles that are offered in daily, weekly and monthly packages, and
with 4G becoming more commonplace in the country, there is expected to be a rise of new data users in the next 12 months due to faster speeds and an enhanced user experience. MTN Uganda has installed over 3200km of fibre optic cable with the goal of laying a further 500km by the end of 2014, which makes MTN one of the biggest fibre optic networks in Uganda. It’s worth noting that MTN built Africa’s first fibre-to-thedoor network, which demonstrated the company’s commitment to get customers online. MTN has seen the need for high speed data grow rapidly over the last 12 months and MTN Uganda has ensured that they are ready to facilitate this need. “The Fibre Optic Line we have installed allows us to provide a wide range of telecommunication services, including voice and fax, but more importantly, high speed data and broadband. High speed data networks are essential to allow corporate businesses and individuals to take advantage of the new technological boom in Uganda,” Fonternel cites and goes on to say that “MTN want Uganda to have the same data speeds as Europe.”
CHANNEL IT GROUP
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hannel IT Group is a diverse group of companies that plays a major role in bringing
infrastructure, technologies and services to emerging markets that shape the way people live, work, learn and socialise and is Africa’s largest independent distributor of mobile network solutions. From the inception of the company in Nigeria in 2003, we have evolved into a diverse group active in the fields of IT, Telecom Infrastructure, Mobile Value Added Services and Supplies & Engineering Services for the Power industry. Channel IT Group addresses the key challenges and issues that companies have in the African telecom industry. We combine the best suppliers and operators under one umbrella in order to effectively deliver our services and financial guarantees to consumers. Channel IT Group has developed a platform that allows customers to use their SMS to update their social media and receive updates via ordinary mobile messaging services, with over 75,000 already subscribed. With regional head offices in Dubai and Lagos, and through several branches and partnerships across the region, we bring products and services developed by our Innovation Center and by leading global vendors to markets in Africa, Middle East and Asia. Tel +971 (0)4 3679584 Fax +971 (0)4 3624541
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ENABLING BETTER LIVES
Regional Head Office: Europe, Africa (excl. West Africa), Middle East and Asia, Channel IT (EMEA) FZ-LLC, Building 11 Office G-05, Dubai Internet City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Tel: +971 (0)4 3679584 | Fax: +971 (0)4 3624541 | www.channelit-group.com www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
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We pride ourselves in giving our customers state-of-the-art technology at their fingertips”
mtn mobile money mtN mobilemoney is an electronic wallet service that enables customers to send and receive money anywhere in uganda using their phones. the service provides a fast, secure, affordable and convenient way to send money to anyone on their mobile phone anywhere in uganda no matter the network. mtN uganda are driving forward this service in the strong belief that it will become the preferred method of secure payments for person to person and across businesses. “mobile money has been a revolutionary service offered by mtN to its customers. Being able to send and receive money with just your phone has changed the way money is exchanged in uganda. No longer do you have to go to a bank or financial institution for simple cash withdrawals or deposits, you can now send money on the go 24 hours a day, and if you wish to take out the money from your virtual wallet, you can do that as well,” says Fonternel, who continues by saying, “with over 20,000 mtN mobile money agents across uganda, customers can retrieve their money quickly and easily.”
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mtN e mob nd mone ile p with hone y to any d , of th raw cas h at e 20 any ,000 mtN on a in ug mobile m uthorise e d anda oney agen Buy ts airtim som eone e for yo u and conv else dire rself or c e tly nien Pay tly yo conv ur utilit y e imm niently bills with edia te re Pay sults for g oods from an a ran ge o d servic f bus e iness s es
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What’s cooking in Africa? We’ll tell you For a most complete & accurate look at Africa, talk to Ipsos in Uganda. We have a solid presence across Africa to give continental insights. Contact us now...
We’ll connect you to the continent
Ipsos Uganda, Plot 32 Nakasero Road. P.O. Box 21571 Kampala. Tel: +256 414 237990/1. www.ipsos.com www.aFRICaoutlookmag.Com 35
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Huawei Technologies Summarise what Huawei Technologies’ do and where are you based?
Huawei is the leading global ICT solutions provider and a 315th of the Fortune Global 500 companies. Through our dedication to customer-centric innovation and strong partnerships, Huawei has established end-to-end capabilities across carrier networks, enterprise and consumer markets by providing competitive solutions and services. Huawei cooperates with 45 of the world’s top 50 carriers, our services have been deployed in 170 countries plus, serving more than onethird of the world’s population. Huawei has 157,000+ employees worldwide with 70,000+ of these in Research and Development, which occupies almost half of the total number. Huawei invests more than 10% of its total sales revenue into Research and Development every year, and in 2013, the figure was 14%. Huawei Technologies Co Ltd is based in China, Longgang District Shenzhen City.
What are Huawei Technologies’ core values?
Our core values are deeply rooted in every aspect of our business. They are the internal driving force for the company and are our commitments to the eco system. These include; customers first, dedication, continuous improvement, openness and initiative, integrity and team work.
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Radoslaw Kedzia, Managing Director
How are you involved with MTN Uganda?
As strategic partners, Huawei and MTN started cooperation early in 2003 in areas such as transmission, metropolitan area network, data core network, site energy solutions, 2G, 3G, 4G and LTE solutions. Huawei has also supported MTN who have become the leading operator in Uganda both in voice and data market through the launch of 3G in 2010 and 4G LTE in 2013. Huawei also interacts actively with MTN for CSR. In 2012 and 2013, Huawei partnered with MTN for the annual MTN Kampala marathon under the themes ‘Run for Life’ and ‘Run For Water’ with all proceeds going towards providing clean water to people of Kiryandongo and Karamoja in north eastern Uganda respectively.
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3rd Floor, Rwenzori Towers, Plot 6, Nakasero Road | P.O.Box 25686, Kampala, Uganda | www.huawei.com
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Investing in the Country
Over the last 15 years, MTN Uganda has continually invested into the country’s telecommunication infrastructure, with US$140 million in just the last two years alone, being pumped back into the community and country. This level of continued commitment to both Corporate Social Responsibility and Uganda’s ICT needs has won it plaudits from consumers and government alike. MTN Uganda are not stopping there though. To facilitate the need for a strong telecommunications infrastructure, the company has adopted a wireless approach to providing telecommunications services to the Ugandan market, which has already seen consumers reaping the benefits of wireless access. “With the lack of good roads and power grids in the country, we have thought about how we can help those living in rural areas gain access to the same quality communication services as those living in the big cities. We began rolling out wireless network coverage in these areas and now cover in excess of 90% of the population, providing services in over 150 towns and villages across Uganda,” Fonternel states.
We have thought about how we can help those living in rural areas gain access to the same quality communication services as those living in the big cities”
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SOLITON TELMEC Soliton has emerged as a leading player in the ICT industry. Quality, value, trust and dedication to our customers is the cornerstone of our business. All Soliton services are known for reliability, performance and cost efficiency in their specific applications and carry quality assurance to international standards. Our focus is building and maintaining the required infrastructure to enable individuals, businesses and communities access the Internet and related information and communication resources. Soliton undertakes the construction and support of infrastructure for service providers offering services to the public, governmental institutions for their own use or for the public as well as Enterprise networks. Tel +254 724 652222 Email info@soliton.co.ke
www.soliton.co.ke
Customer Care
We want our customer experience to be second to none, so that the user feels that everything has been done to make them welcome”
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Consumer experience is one of the main priorities of MTN Uganda. The company regularly opens forums on Facebook and other social media in order to listen to customer feedback. This customer feedback has been listened to by MTN Uganda and acted upon as Fonternel explains: “When customers wanted us to have more service centres that dealt with their problems and queries first time, we listened and created our 24/7 call centres. We want our customer experience to be second to none, so that the user feels that everything has been done to make them feel welcome.” MTN Uganda offers customer care services in 7 languages for customers who call the help line, and has the biggest number of Customer Service Centres in Uganda working extended opening hours.
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BICS BICS delivers best-in-class international wholesale solutions to any communication service provider worldwide. The company has its headquarters in Brussels and offices located on all continents. Through its Mosaic portfolio, a comprehensive, flexible and innovative suite of solutions, BICS has been servicing the African market for over 15 years now. African operators have been able to rely on BICS’ extensive and fully owned network and its range of innovative wholesale solutions designed to meet the communication needs of the region. Thanks to a successful consolidation strategy and a continuing focus on technological advancement and innovation, BICS has achieved a worldleading position in the international Voice and Mobile Data markets. For more information check www.bics.com or contact Clémentine Fournier, Regional Vice President Africa, at clementine.fournier@bics.com.
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RoamFast
Managed RIM Connectivity
Mobile IP VAS
MMS Transit
Instant Roaming
Business Class Voice
SMS Transit
Wholesale Bandwidth
LTE
FraudGuard
Signalling
Signalling First Class Mobile Voice
OC Roaming
Signalling VAS
Voice VAS
SMART Webvision
IPX Voice
3GRX
IPX Transport
Wavelength
3G Video Telephony
IPX Access
First Class VoIP
Carrier Ethernet
IP Transit Simbox Detection
enabling & empowering mobility BICS delivers best-in-class international wholesale solutions to any communication service provider worldwide. Through its Mosaic portfolio, a comprehensive, flexible and innovative suite of solutions designed to be used individually, or collectively, BICS meets the existing and future requirements of the global telecoms industry. BICS’ headquarter is located in Brussels with regional offices in Bern, Madrid, Dubai, New York and Singapore. We also have a satellite office in Beijing and local representation in Accra, Cape Town, Miami, Montevideo, Nairobi and Toronto. Our team continuously strives to provide our customers with the highest levels of quality, reliability and interoperability enabling them to maximise their end-user value. With our successful consolidation strategy, and a continuing focus on technological advancement and innovation, we have achieved a world-leading position in the international Voice and Mobile Data markets. For more information, please visit: www.bics.com
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business to business Solutions
with a brand name as strong and globally placed as mtN, the company has seen a sharp rise in the number of businesses looking to utilise their solutions available. whether it be bulk bill payments or data centres, mtN uganda has become the go-to company for enterprise solutions of both big and small companies. “we don’t just sell basic business components such as call centres or data handling, we offer complete business solutions encompassing various capabilities including cloud services and web data hosting among others. we are the only company in Uganda to offer a truly global redundancy system, so that in case of a complete data centre failure, the customer’s on line operations site can be rerouted to a different data centre and will continue accessing services normally,” Fonternel remarks.
ericSSon South aFrica
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n the future, everything that benefits from a connection will be connected. People, business and society will use the networks in novel ways, resulting in new possibilities and changing the world we live in - The Networked Society.
MTN Uganda has become the go-to company for enterprise solutions of both big and small”
we, together with our customers, are making this happen. In uganda, Ericsson has partnered with mtN to change people’s lives through projects like Connect to learn and Refugees united. This partnership reflects over 20 year’s engagement in africa with a common goal, to enrich lives. leveraging such partnerships, we will continue driving the use of ICt in addressing our world’s major concerns. South africa: 148 kelvin Drive|woodmead|Parklands 2121|Johannesburg – 730|South africa tel +27 11 844 2000 uganda: lm Ericsson International aB|Plot 24B, Akii-Bua Road|Naka Kampala|Uganda tel +256 312 21 5000
britam
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ritish-American Investment Company limited is a leading financial services group in the country offering a wide range of Insurance and asset management services to individuals, small businesses, corporations and government entities. The Group has a long-heritage, providing financial services since 1920. Companies within the group have been successful in providing investment products & services and are market leaders in their respective jurisdiction. the uganda operation was established in November, 2010. BRItam is committed to providing clients with great service and competent financial expertise to help them meet their financial goals.
Ernst Fonternel with representatives from Kenya Airways
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tel +256 417702600 / 414236815 email britam@britam.co.ug
www.britam.co.ug
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Providing ďŹ nancial solutions for you every step of the way...
Britam EA
Head office: Britam Centre, Mara/Ragati Road Junction, Upper hill Phone: +254-20-2833000/+254-0703094000 | Email: info@britam.co.ke | www.britam.co.ke KENYA | UGANDA | SOUTH SUDAN | RWANDA
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Britam EA
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MTN
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We are looking at building bigger and more advanced data centres for business to business usage�
A Successful Strategy With the continuing success story of MTN Uganda, the future looks increasingly bright for the company. In 2013, the company was voted the 3rd most trusted financial institution in Uganda, beating banks and financial companies. This is even more impressive when you consider that they are predominantly a mobile communications company. Fonternel is confident that over the coming year MTN Uganda will push forward with new and innovative ways to further its services: “We believe that the next twelve months will be very positive for MTN Uganda. We will continue to drive our products and services forward with customers telling us what they want our focus to be on. On the side of MTN Business, we are looking at building bigger and more advanced data centres for business to business usage, in short, we will continue to listen to our customers and ensure that MTN Uganda continues to be the service provider that delivers a bold new digital world for customers.�
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Connecting
Nigeria With a focus on delivering the Connective IntelligenceTM value proposition, Business Connexion are bringing cloud computing to Nigeria Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Donovan Smith
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he diverse and vibrant Nigerian economy presents a range of opportunities for the delivery of world-class Information and Communication Technology solutions. One such company that benefits from this is Business Connexion, who have successfully delivered industry-leading solutions to the financial services, academic, telecommunications, SMB, public sector as well as oil and gas sectors for over five years. Focused on delivering the Connective IntelligenceTM value proposition, the company has over 7000 members of staff, who pride themselves on flexibility, teamwork and cross-skilling. Connective Intelligence™ is about connecting the world’s most advanced information and communication technology (ICT) products, services and solutions, and merging them with the skills and experience of some of the world’s best-qualified individuals, to provide simple, affordable solutions to Africa and the world. With this approach, Business Connexion Nigeria has the capability to successfully implement substantial projects while maintaining close relationships built on mutual valuecreation. “To date, the Nigeria office has delivered projects including data centres, wireless networks, cabling infrastructures and more,” explains Ian McAlpine, Managing Director of Business Connexion Nigeria. The company holds partnerships with major vendors including Cisco, Avaya, Microsoft, IBM, HP, Systimax and NetApp, underpinning Business Connexion’s presence with access to expertise and resources for the design, delivery and support of elegant solutions to complex business problems. “Our team represents solid service delivery and is armed with new age technologies. It was only a year ago
that we launched our cloud services in Nigeria, and what a year it has been as it has yielded impressive results.”
“To enrich communities by making the impossible possible, through technology”
With excellent service delivery in mind, Business Connexion are able to offer unique propositions to the market including cloud computing, which is one of the services that place the company in a leading position. “We pride ourselves on our service delivery, dependability and performance and we are renowned for our provision of high quality, high performance solutions,” McAlpine states. When asked what makes the company unique, McAlpine explained how having business-related engagements with their customers has helped them stand out: “We are not a technology company that sells technology for technology’s sake. We have strategic engagements with customers where we discuss business value; we make sure that we meet the needs and wants of our clients.” With one of the biggest SAP competencies in the continent - over 250 SAP practitioners – Business Connexion are well-positioned in the technology industry. The Nigerian arm of the business saw a 68 per cent growth in top line revenue in the last financial year and McAlpine was keen to pin down the reason for this great success: “With healthy profits, we have seen a steady growth. In the last two years, we have been focussed on changing our strategy, such as bringing in these cloud solutions and buying a new company with Managed Print Service capabilities exclusively through Canon, establishing the services component of our business, and placing further focus on our sales team.” Establishing this link with Canon has allowed Business Connexion to provide managed
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services for printing, in turn, allowing them to increase their local business. “We now have 140 staff in Nigeria, whereas, two years ago we only had 28,” cites McAlpine. This four-fold increase is a result of the new services Business Connexion have implemented.
“There is always some volatility in this market” With the Central Bank of Nigeria governor being suspended earlier this month, there is some political volatility that could have affected the Nigerian economy. Consequently, there have been strategic initiatives that are being driven by the Central Bank that could feel the strain of this development. Challenges that McAlpine discussed with us include a lack of infrastructure around power generation and continuity: “Privatising the electricity power supply has been a big challenge, so has broadband penetration. People are certainly looking for strong political leadership to drive a lot of the initiatives [from an economic perspective] into fruition.” This being said, McAlpine also highlighted that there seem to be plans being formulated quite rapidly to address the aforementioned issues. “I think people are attracted to this market because of the size of the populous. However, I think the challenge lies in how you realise the benefit out of this. This means you have got to be focussed on what the needs of the market are to identify a sweet spot in the market.” Business Connexion are eagerly waiting to see what impact the new broadband plan will have on increasing broadband penetration in Nigeria, which would of course have a significant impact. “We are expecting a significant boom in cloud computing. With this technology being a brand new concept in Nigeria, some level of apprehension will prevail, but this will quickly dissipate
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as the concept is better understood,” says McAlpine. When it comes to staff and training, Business Connexion recognise that it is not simply about obtaining people with the skills and training needed to fulfil a job description, it is equally as important to employ people who are the right culture fit for the Nigerian culture. “People tend to be quite protective of their skills in order to obtain the best jobs to enhance their career. Whilst we understand this, we invest quite heavily in training our staff. Cloud computing is a new concept in Africa, and indeed on a global level, so we need to train people in these new areas anyway; in turn, we up-skill the industry.”
“It’s all about concept and applicability” As a multinational company, Business Connexion are able to operate on a global level. With a key focus on up-skilling their staff by creating an environment that is conducive for creativity and productivity, McAlpine is convinced that his team will continue to innovate and subsequently prosper in the technology sector: “Our focus is beyond just the provision of technology, but providing value to, and growth of communities and skills.”
Business Connexion
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usiness connexion nigeria was recently granted a place in the new cisco Winner’s circle, which recognizes and rewards cisco partner sales representatives who are the best among cisco’s partner plus partners. this means as a cisco Winner’s circle partner, Business connexion nigeria has achieved elite, top-performer status. cisco partner plus accelerates partner’s business with mid-size customers. this unique partner-led selling approach helps them uncover new deals by boosting their performance throughout the sales cycle. partner Led is cisco’s go to market approach for the midmarket segment. cisco provides comprehensive resources and investments to help all its partners win business.
philosophy rewards partners with increased incentives as they add value to their cisco business,” commented Dare ogunlade, general manager for cisco nigeria and english speaking West africa. ian mcalpine, Business connexion nigeria managing Director also commented “i am delighted for the recognition, and i am really excited about what it means for Business connexion as we continue to make strides in the ict sector in nigeria. this award is testament of our hard work and partner synergies”.
the cisco commitment to partners’ success has been core to our company philosophy since its inception. for nearly two decades now, cisco has been offering the world’s leading networking certification and “i am pleased that cisco has recognised specialization programs that can enable Business connexion’s impact on their partners to solve their customers’ most drive for working partnerships with ict important business issues. as they grow initiatives in nigeria, and particularly delighted to recognise them as a member their businesses around architectures, solutions, and services, cisco can help of cisco’s exclusive partner team. We partners increase their reward and believe that our partner’s success is profit opportunities. ours, and that is why we have the cisco channel partner program, that focuses on a partner’s ability to deliver intelligent networks and technology architectures built on integrated products, services, Tel +234 1 4489060-69 and software platforms. the program Fax +234 1 4489060 offers training in the latest cisco solutions www.bcx.com.ng and architectures in addition to valuable branding resources. our value-based
reinforcing anD mesh soluTions (rms)
Steel D e T e r m i n aT i o n Rms have become a nationally recognised industry leader of steel reinforcing and welded mesh fabric Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Tom Cullum
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hen it comes to building a successful business within the construction industry in south africa, you need several key ingredients: dedication, industry knowledge, vision and most importantly, a high quality product that meets the needs of the market. Reinforcing & Mesh Solutions (RMS) fit that bill perfectly. since their inception in 2002, with just one base of operations in Johannesburg, Rms have grown into a nationally recognised industry leader of steel reinforcing and welded mesh fabric. andré nienaber, managing director of Rms, has overseen the company’s steady growth since 2012 and the company now has 11 operation centres under his watchful eye across south africa, including outlets in Johannesburg, Cape town, durban, Port elizabeth, lephalale and Rustenburg. with 39 years in the rebar industry, nienaber certainly knows what it takes to make it in this highly competitive industry: “we always strive to ensure that we are constantly competitive in the market and to maximise this, we must be visible in as many cities across south africa as we can. after all, our presence in a city gives prospective clients an opportunity to come and speak with us about projects and potential dealings,” mr nienaber cites.
“Training is crucial” one of the bigger problems in the construction industry is a shortage of the skilled workers available. south africa has one of the biggest construction markets in southern africa and yet it still relies on skilled workers from both neighbouring countries and foreign
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shores. In order to combat this shortage, RMS have implemented a training platform for workers that will teach and train them in all aspects of steel reinforcing and mesh solutions. “We train our new workers in-house, in the various capabilities of the company. Strong training is crucial to the future of the company. If we do not have a workforce capable of performing at the highest level, then we cannot be market leaders. Our training is mainly undertaken in Johannesburg, as it is one of the biggest facilities we have,” Nienaber continues: “We train, on average, 8 workers at a time in order to strike a balance between coaches and the students.”
A Flat Market The current economic climate has been felt particularly hard in Africa and even more so in the construction industry. With a severe lack of investment from the government or foreign companies, major construction projects have almost come to a standstill, while companies wait for the economy to pick up again. Nienaber has his own thoughts on the current lull in the workflow: “The government are not spending any money on civil and industrial projects and we are beginning to feel it across the sector. With upcoming elections there is
SA Steelworks SA Steelworks is a division of the SA Metal Group. SA Metal Group is one of South Africa’s largest and most technologically advanced recyclers of scrap metal with operations in the Western Cape and Gauteng. The company’s focus is on manufacturing high quality products from scrap steel, copper, brass and zinc wherever possible, rather than exporting the scrap metal. The company continually installs the latest vehicles and processing equipment. SA Steelworks melts and refines clean reduced pieces of scrap steel in its environmentally-friendly electric induction furnaces, then casts it into steel billets which are rolled into highest quality steel reinforcing bar and coil for the domestic construction industry. All production is tested for chemical composition, tensile strength and all other mechanical properties to ensure that it complies with SABS standards. SA Steelworks steel reinforcing bar and coil is accepted and trusted by all leading steel reinforcing contractors in South Africa. Tel (021) 3805800 Email jimmy@sasteelworks.co.za
www.sametal.co.za
Strong training is crucial to the future of the company. If we do not have a workforce capable of performing at the highest level, then we cannot be market leaders”
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a feeling that nothing will happen until a new government is in place or the incumbent is reconfirmed. however, there has been investment, albeit relatively small, from foreign companies and we are beginning to see small shoots of recovery, but it will be at least 1-2 years before we really see any difference in the market and the number of projects being tendered for.� the second problem facing construction has been general worker strikes. south africa has seen several big union and worker strikes in recent months which has had a huge impact on the time taken for a project to be completed. labour unions are refusing to back down until demands for pay and working hours are met and this has led to a stalemate. despite the disruption this has caused in the sector, Rms has managed to successfully continue work on two major projects: the kusile Power Plant, which has been ongoing for the last two years and the mall of africa, which has been a more recent project, but both of which are high profile, multi-billion rand developments.
Supply and Demand Construction projects require very specific materials and equipment on a project by project basis. Rms have a strong supplier list comprising of both local and international companies. “we mainly work with three major local suppliers, ArcelorMittal, Scaw Metals and SA Metal. we have been working alongside these companies for a number of years and our relationships with them are very good. we believe in transparent and open dialogue between us and our suppliers, so that if any query should arise we can quickly deal with it in a professional manner,� nienaber explains, taking pride in this mutually beneficial approach to business.
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There are times however, when niche materials or a particular quantity of steel is required and RMS will have to import from abroad as Nienaber describes: “There are instances when we will need a large quantity of a specific material or steel compound, which our local suppliers do not have to hand, we will then source out a reputable supplier. We always ensure that the reputation of that supplier is the highest possible, as we ensure all our materials are the best standard available.”
5 Year Plan With RMS always looking towards the future with a clear vision, Nienaber is determined to ensure
We have begun to look at potential expansion to the neighbouring countries in Africa”
that the company is doing all it can to remain a market leader. “The company has been growing at a steady rate over the last two years and we have taken on more projects during that time. What we don’t want to do is stop expanding and continue to take on bigger projects and workloads. We have begun to look at potential expansion to the neighbouring countries in Africa; but that will bring with it new hurdles to overcome, the biggest being a different language. This is realistically a five year plan for us, as it will take careful consideration in research and project risk in order for us to really maximise the potential markets there.”
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with a huge range of products and a reputation for innovation, quality and great customer service hellermanntyton are a leading edge organisation in manufacturing and distribution in the southern african electrical industry Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Tom Cullum
ith managing director Rod dewing at the helm in south africa, hellermanntyton operates with a very customer-centric focus, working hard as a team to understand and appreciate the value of their customers. “our corporate culture is what sets us aside from many of our competitors. we see every customer as important and as a result we have been able to maintain a long list of very loyal customers,” cites dewing. headquartering in Johannesburg, hellermanntyton is a subsidiary of the hellermanntyton group PlC comprised of 35 business units worldwide. with the local focus being on the manufacturing of cable tubing, cable ties, cable marking products and the supply of a vast array of other cable accessories, test instruments and tools, the company has established a comprehensive footprint country-wide to ensure that stocks of products are readily available to customers. this has been achieved through the establishment of a network of stocking branch offices in Cape Town, Durban and Port elizabeth and the deployment of regional sales operatives in mpumalanga, the north eastern Cape, Free state and namibia. with a name that is synonymous with very high quality, hellermanntyton is always looking for new ways to innovate. “local customers are able to identify with our international image and the value-add that comes from doing business with a global organisation,” says dewing, proud of the fact hellermanntyton are part of a worldwide company, but still maintains its african roots. dewing explains how a winning aspect of the business is the choice to employ local people: “this allows us to identify with the culture and
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We see every customer as important and as a result we have been able to maintain a long list of very loyal customers”
consequent relationships that we create and can build on locally. however, the overall image that we project is one of an internationally recognised business.” another aspect that places them at the forefront in their industry is the quality of their products. “we have a diverse and innovative product range with over 6500 stocked lines and access to a further 5000 catalogue items. although we appreciate we are not the cheapest in the market – we are price setters not price followers – people identify with this and the consensus is that they get good bang for their buck,” explains dewing. Furthermore, as the south african arm of hellermanntyton has been in operation since 1966, it has stood the test of time in an ever-changing business landscape. “throughout this time, we have been synonymous with the electrical industry, which is a clear indicator to customers that we are a good, stable business to work with.”
Obtaining Qualified Staff dewing explained a big challenge on a local level is finding skilled staff: “we have seen a substantial loss of technical skills in the country. In my opinion, there has not been enough emphasis from government and training institutions to try and encourage people to study in engineering disciplines and get appropriate technical qualifications. It has been largely left to individual private sector industries to drive training forward.” as a result of this, hellermanntyton have set the training of their staff and customers as top priority. additionally, with the speed of technological advances over the last decade, staff need to be updated and re-trained as Dewing remarked: “It is not simply a case of an electrician being able to change a light bulb for example; these people
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Rod Dewing, Managing Director
ASSURING YOU QUALITY & SERVICE! ITALPAC extrudes both virgin and recycled polyethylene in clear, tinted and opaque colours. We manufacture a wide range of standard stocklines as well as custom products.
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need to be appropriately trained in all new technologies coming to our industry. We are constantly focused on achieving the right formula for staff development and advancement.” In light of these initiatives, HellermannTyton are planning to supply products into many new high-tech projects earmarked for the local electrical industry. One such opportunity is the renewable energy market that is only beginning to take hold in South Africa: “We would like to secure business in this sector as the phases of this massive infrastructure project continue to be rolled out in the country over the next 6 to 7 years,” Dewing emphasises.
“Supply chain is central to our market leader status” As a result of the sheer number of line and catalogue items HellermannTyton offer, it is crucial they maintain the
right stock levels and keep their prices competitive as Dewing affirms: “This is super critical. The majority of the products we sell are not unique to HellermannTyton, these are products that competitors and in particular the Chinese, find very easy to copy and make,” he continues: “What differentiates us from our competitors is the fact that we carry the stock, we can get to the customer quicker than the competitors can and generally speaking, we offer an attractive price, which makes the all-round package for the customer really special.” China are no doubt an increasing threat to the manufacturing industry in SA, but HellermannTyton are well aware and are adjusting their strategies accordingly in order to combat the competition.
Value-Added Service In recent times HellermannTyton have seen success come from
specifying their product’s features and benefits directly to end-users. “We are more than just distributors; we operate as a hub of knowledge for the products available in the market. We show them our product against our competitor’s product, giving a value-added service for our broader base of distribution partners,” Dewing adds: “We have a basket of products on offer and want to be the one stop shop for customers. We hope they will come to us instead of shopping in multiple places. Our broad offering is another factor that has secured good success for us.” HellermannTyton’s business is growing at a steady rate in what is recognised as a subdued business climate in South Africa, suggesting that the company will continue to hold its outstanding reputation for supplying quality products and service well into the future.
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with short and long term plans in place and a technology system that is quickly becoming the cornerstone of the company, nRe are well placed to retain their market leader status for the foreseeable future Writer Matt Bone Project Manager James Mitchell
ince 1933, National Real estate (nRe), based in Bloemfontein, have been in operation and owned by the du toit family, who still manage the company’s day to day operations. Brothers Francois, md, and wilco du toit are the driving force behind the company’s massive expansion over the last 9 years. In 2005 the company moved to new premises with a staff compliment of 46 and an annual turnover of R9.1 million. today the company has a staff of over 100, a turnover of R52 million per annum and is thriving in a market that has been very turbulent in recent years. wilco du toit, special Projects director of nRe, has overseen much of the major changes nRe have made and believes it was all down
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to one significant change: Technology. over the last few years nRe have invested R600 million in It upgrades in order to ensure that the company has the latest innovations in portfolio management software. “when I joined the company in 2005, we did not have a system in place to handle big numbers of accounts and house portfolios, one person could only realistically manage about 300 accounts and this was difficult to keep track of. We began to look at new systems and together with Propsys, who designed a piece of new software for us, we created a property management system that revolutionised how we managed our business. now our account managers can keep track of 3000 accounts,” he explains.
Highly Trained Staff In any industry, a company will try to hire the best workers possible, however sometimes that is not always possible due to skilled worker shortages or rival companies looking for new staff as well. Du Toit has seen these skills shortages become an increasingly hard area of the market and decided to take a different approach to his staff. “We always make sure our staff are trained to the highest level possible. we have exams for our staff created by the University of Freestate’s accounting Professor, so that those who passed the test were highly competent and well versed in the capabilities needed in this competitive industry,” says du toit. There is more to the staff than just entrance exams, nRe have a people management strategy of empowerment in place. this has proved to be a highly beneficial and effective way of managing the company employees. “we want to make sure that every member of staff feels as if they actually help run the company and are not simply workers. each one of our department
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managers are encouraged to run their respective departments as if the business was their own. we want our staff to understand that they are the most important assets and without them our company would not be where it is today,” remarks Du Toit, clearly showing that his staff are quintessential to the company’s achievements and industry status.
A lull in the Market with south africa still reeling from the economic downturn and global recession, one of the biggest markets to be hit by this was property and housing. Banks have stopped offering 100 per cent mortgages in favour of lower offerings and in some cases have ceased loaning money to first time buyers. there was a small rise in the housing market in 2012-13 but current trends have shown that the average household in south africa has less ‘disposable income’ than in previous years and subsequently buyers have not been as active. the other side of the housing market is in the form of rental properties, which has remained steady over the last 5 years but is also seeing a slowdown in the number of properties being rented out. national Real estate have avoided losing business during this lull by looking across borders to the north, and are busy expanding their commercial and housing portfolio in Botswana, namibia and Zimbabwe in order to ensure the company maintains its role as a market leader. “with the market in south africa becoming stagnant again after a brief resurgence in the sector, we have been looking cross-border into our neighbouring countries in order to tap into the housing markets there. It has proven to be a great move indeed as we have seen a rise in our sales figures and property numbers on our books have grown steadily. however, you cannot just walk into Botswana
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or namibia and start working; we took our time in crafting our image and rolling out the nRe brand across the areas. this approach enabled us to establish ourselves in the market and gave the countries a chance to see that we are a company who does business the correct way,” du toit cites, highlighting the importance of market research and careful company expansion.
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The Long Term Plan one of the biggest factors in national Real estate’s success has been their ability to look past the short term profits and create long term adaptable plans as du toit commented: “long term planning is very important at NRE, we look at factors affecting our markets currently and factor these into our short term plans, 6 months at most. we then look towards options and potential factors which could become game changers in a year or two and formulate our plan with this in mind. of course plans can change and not being flexible in our approach would be foolish, so we always maintain a degree of adaptability in our preparations. this is really where our success lies, in being able to adapt and change our long term visions to make use of market trends and future market forces.”
A Positive Future With confidence beginning to seep back into the housing market in south africa, nRe are beginning to see positive signs of growth and sales. It is nowhere near the level it has been at, but from a tiny acorn, grows a mighty oak tree and Du Toit is confident that the housing market will grow much the same way: “there is a new positivity in the market, with buyers beginning to purchase houses again. agricultural properties have seen a surge in buyers interest, with visionary farmers buying up large plots of land for their existing
We do not just offer you a house or a plot of land, we offer you a home and a new future and this is what drives us”
businesses, allowing them to expand and make use of the growing agribusiness sector in southern africa,” he said and added “Food is the biggest commodity right now and it’s big business for everyone.” with short and long term plans in place and a technology system that is quickly becoming the cornerstone of the company, nRe are well placed to ensure their market leader status for the foreseeable future and du toit is convinced that the passion nRe has for what they do is evident in every transaction they make: “we are very proud of the success we have achieved. of course, technology and planning come into play a great deal but it is the company’s passion for the markets that really sets us apart. We do not just offer you a house or a plot of land, we offer you a home and a new future and this is what drives us and why every day is a new chance to show just how much this industry means to us.”
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AMS develop truly unique constructions with style, quality and award-winning service at the heart of all they do Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Arron Rampling
amily-run business AMS Properties Ltd has grown from strength to strength over the last 20 years in Kenya. Now the company are a pioneer in the property industry, with a reputation for investment, integrity, quality finishes and on-time delivery. With brothers Rupen and Ronal Samani at the helm, the AMS brand is well respected in the market, recently acquiring Superbrand status in East Africa, becoming the first real estate company with this award in Kenya. AMS have completed in excess of 5,000,000 square feet residential, commercial and industrial projects, with thousands of sub-contractors at their side. “We give the best quality in all the properties we construct, providing innovative designs and concepts. We strive to be the first to bring new ideas to the market,” explains Rupen, one of the company directors. The company aim to create trends and design a building that is unique, which of course is a key factor to attracting business in such a niche market as upper-middle class to luxury constructions. “We believe in creating a brand that will be recognised globally. So whenever we launch a project, everyone knows it will be of an incredibly high standard and be an innovative design and concept unique to that building,” says Rupen.
The Niche Luxury Construction Market To achieve such projects, it requires a serious amount of inspiration, and Rupen is excited by this idea: “We search the world to get ideas to see what is popular and think about how we can implement it in Kenya; essentially, to figure out where the next hotspot in Nairobi is.” Out of this ethos came a multitude of projects, including the new Five Star Meadows upper-middle class residential
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construction; a gated community on 20 acres of land, comprising of 116 villas complete with leisure facilities. “the Five star meadows project is unique in the sense that nothing else was like this development in the area,” Rupen reasons. kenya is not normally known for its luxury housing market, but as a result of the lack of super high-end luxury housing, ams are trying to fill this niche: “Our current project called one general mathenge is the most luxury development we have ever done. With 43 apartments on 3 acres of land, such a low density of residential construction is unheard of here in kenya.” each apartment will cost between US$ 750,000 and
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Investing in foreign designers has brought new ideas to the table and although sometimes more expensive, they produce good results”
us$2 million, making them the most expensive apartments in east and Central africa. with the demand for luxury and high end housing in kenya on the rise, a niche market of customers are looking for property in secure, gated communities, which is an area Rupen says ams have seen the most success due to their reputation for delivering innovative and high quality properties.
“no one building is designed the same” Recently, ams have started using architects and consultants from the us, uk and south africa. “Investing in foreign designers has brought
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new ideas to the table and although sometimes more expensive, they produce good results,” Rupen states. Furthermore, Rupen would like the company to become the biggest real estate developer in the region. In order to do this, ams would need to secure private equity and real estate fund, amongst possible foreign investors looking to secure a foothold in kenya. the company are currently exploring this avenue, but are yet to commit to anything. “sorting these funds would really help us go in that direction,” affirms Rupen. over the last few months, ams have been working with european consultants to source for their luxury projects in kenya as Rupen explained: “you can get very good deals for some of the best fixtures and fittings and as a result of this decision, we now have an entire department dedicated finding European products.”
Securing Investment and Funding In kenya, interest rates are currently high and are known to fluctuate significantly. this is one of the challenges that ams have to combat with all their residential, commercial and industrial developments. “Plus, with only 20,000 mortgages outstanding in Kenya in the entire population of 43 million, access to mortgages is difficult for us. high interest rates and
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the cost of construction to finance amongst other issues have created barriers to investment in kenya,” Rupen added and went on to further highlight a final challenge: “land has also become expensive in Nairobi, costing US$5-6 million an acre in some parts. nevertheless, we are working through these challenges, and continue to do well.”
Onwards and upwards ams are in the process of recruiting more personnel to fulfil senior project management and construction management roles, shifting their company focus to a strategic approach. “we have a strong desire to become Pan-East African, we are already invested in doing projects in uganda and Rwanda; currently securing a good team of personnel to take care of the daily operations in order for us to shift our focus onto expansion,” Rupen emphasises. It is clear that AMS have a commitment to their staff. “we are a family run business, with a good mixture of corporate and personal staffing structures within the company.” with 10 ongoing projects being designed by architects across the globe, ams develop truly unique constructions, with style, quality and award-winning service at the heart of all they do.
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ADB AirďŹ eld Solutions ensure that airports around the world maintain a high standard in both construction and technology products Writers Emily Jarvis and Matt Bone Project Manager Nick Norris
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DB Airfield Solutions (Pty) Ltd is the South African registered entity of the multinational ADB Airfield Solutions, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The parent company manufactures airfield lighting equipment in Belgium, China, and USA. The South African based part of the company is responsible for projects and sales in sub-Saharan Africa, headquartering in Rivonia, Johannesburg. With a team of 50 direct and contract workers and revenue of R180 million, ADB have been providing vital solutions for airports for over 65 years. Nel Kotze, the Chief Operating Officer for ADB Southern Africa, explains what sets them apart from other airfield construction companies: “ADB serve a niche and specialized market with full turnkey solutions that revolve around all the
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electrical and electronic aspects for a modern runway. Our strength lies in not only providing high quality equipment but also in offering the full project to the client providing end to end, integrated and sustainable solutions for visual guidance; this includes design and advice, project management, installation, commissioning and maintenance.” ADB have formed a strong focus on technology, quality, processes and people, powering a series of innovations ranging from individual light control and monitoring systems to advanced surface movement ground control systems; and from the first LED airfield lights to runway incursion systems. “Every aspect of our business is attuned toward innovation from ideation and execution to delivery. This is reflected in our well-defined Idea Management and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) processes, our
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strong R&D focus and efficient global supply chain,” Kotze cites. The main scope of activities is for the supply and installation of various ADB products which include Airfield Ground lighting (AGL), Control systems for Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) to control the AGL, Automated Weather Observation Systems (AWOS) for use next to runways and Instrument Landing Systems (ILS). More technical still are the surveillance systems such as surface movement radar, multilateration systems for ATC to track aircrafts en-route in conjunction with secondary radar and Terminal building equipment such as baggage handling systems, flight info displays and security equipment. “In addition to these services, we also supply electrical and power backup systems for airports, which is critical for safe and reliable airfield operations,” says Kotze.
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MaJor proJEcTS capE ToWN rUNWay rEfUrBiShMENT (agl systems) pr o j ec t c o m p l e t e d 2 0 1 3 The ADB Airfield Ground Lighting portion is R30m which is part of the overall runway resurfacing project worth R180m done by Civil company Power Construction the client, airports Company south africa, while planning a new runway for Cape Town Intl Airport within the next 5 years, had to maintain its current runway to ICao standards during this time. Cape town is the only runway in south africa with a Cat3 rating on its approach from the south. during the construction period the airport operated on Cat1 meaning more aircraft diversions due to inclement weather occurred. adB was tasked with returning the status to Cat3 by June 28, 2013 which adB successfully executed. the installation involved: Permanently installed illuminated runway closure crosses controlled from the tower. 213 new led runway centre line lights that can be switched according to the landing direction. 180 new LED touch-down zone lights. 100 new ADB high-intensity LED runway edge light (eRel) 120 new led taxiway centre line lights for use on the runway turnouts. 180km of new secondary cable to the lights. 54km of new primary cable in certain areas of the runway. Refurbishment of transformer manholes.
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MaJor proJEcTS gEorgE rUNWay diSplacEMENT aNd aUToMaTEd WEaThEr oBSErVaTioN SySTEM ( a gl sy st em s and aW oS) r 1 1 m p ro j ec t c u rrent ly o ngo i ng The ADB Airfield Ground Lighting portion is R11m which is part of the overall runway resurfacing and displacement project worth R70m done by a civil company Concor Road and earth works. due to an accident involving an airlink aircraft overshooting the runway and ending up on a public road, aCsa, decided to move the runway longitudinally by 120m to ensure compliance of the Resa (Runway end safety area). the awos system is also being replaced with Vaisala’s (Finland) latest avimet software and sensors to measure cloud height, visibility, runway visual range (RVR), temperature, pressure, wind, solar radiation, etc. this is to ensure aviators are provided with the widest and most accurate data for safe operations. the system also populates data to the world-wide METAR system so all aviators with an interest in the current weather at george airport has access to this. adB is also installing red stop bar lights which are interlocked with green lead-on lights which safely controls access to the runway and prevents runway incursions. The apron floodlighting was replaced with new LED lighting panels for uniform and glare free illumination of the apron to the required ICao lux levels
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In the last five years, ADB has emerged as a preferred agl partner for Civil aviation authority of Botswana with the successful completion of four major agl modernization projects at key international airports. these include sir seretse khama International airport (sskIa), maun International airport, kasane International airport and Francistown International airport. adB has delivered agl, signs, aglCs systems, apron floodlighting and LED lighting, power equipment, as well as automated weather observation systems.
An Innovative Team “every innovation starts with a winning idea. at adB, we realize the need to nurture ideas from our employees so we can truly realize their value and help our customers.
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a simple and practical Ideas management program encourages our sales teams to present their ideas on new products or suggest improvements to existing products, and highlight its potential benefits to customers. Ideas are evaluated by a cross-functional global panel of experts and those with potential are explored further, and if feasible, integrated into our product vision and roadmaps. a strong Product lifecycle management (Plm) process forms the foundation of our product vision, design, production and delivery. every new product we bring to the market satisfies customers’ needs in terms of performance, reliability and affordability, and corresponds to the quality we as a company have set forward.” - Nel Kotze, COO
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many clients do not wish to work with a lot of subcontractors, so a single contractor is hired to manage a project and then subsequently appoints additional subcontractors, who then coordinate the entire project. this is commonplace in african industry and adB have made project management and oversight a key faculty. as with any project undertaken in any industry, there can always be aspects that require specialised knowledge or skills that a company may not have. adB use such specialist subcontractors in order to get a project finished. “We are a specialist company but there are times that we need an even more specialist service, after all we are not expert in every aspect of the industry. we then sub contract a professional firm with excellent reputation to help us with this service request. But all the time adB manages the project and all processes from start to finish to ensure our name and reputation are always maintained at the highest level by all our subcontractors,” kotze explains.
PeRFeCT AiRPORT SOluTiOnS The PTS Airfield Ground Lighting e-Learning System (In cooperation with Perfect Airport Solutions) Airfield Ground Lighting (AGL/AFL) training has, until now, been limited to bespoke classroom or practical training(s) provided by various companies or organisations. The PTS e-Learning system brings together the various types of agl/aFl training(s) within a competency management system and is accessible on-line wherever you are in the world. all you need is access to the web, a laptop or tablet and it is available to you following appropriate registration and log-in.
George High-mast Project
Fluctuating Rates with the rate of exchange between the euro and local currencies fluctuating on a daily basis, ADB have developed a systematic approach to cover the volatile financial climate with its clients. “We negotiate a contract with clients and subcontractors that make provision for adjustment of our local currency invoice to the prevailing exchange rate. not all customers accept this negotiation, so we organise forward cover and we can additionally attach an extra payment clause should prices vary radically.” kotze cites, and is keen to point out that normally “our clients are happy to have this security in place with regard to the finances.”
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there are variety of platforms, development tools, frameworks and delivery mechanisms out there and our open architecture, moodle based agl/ aFl training system has been exclusively developed to allow you a cross-platform delivery and blends available technology to best serve your training needs.
keith Costall Tel +44 7584 900802
www.perfectairportsolutions.com
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Establishing Long Term Relationships
The key to a good business model is having strong and beneficial working relationships with your suppliers and clients. ADB have such a business model and Kotze is proud of how the relationships that he has overseen has been carefully nurtured: “We are attempting to establish ourselves as the long term partner of airport authorities. We believe that a relationship based on honesty and guaranteed quality is mutually beneficial for all parties involved. We have a number of suppliers who have been working alongside us for a number of years and likewise airports who continually request our services based on outstanding previous work,� he cites.
Demand for Investment in African Airports There is a need for greater investment in African airports
We believe that a relationship based on honesty and guaranteed quality is mutually beneficial for all parties involved�
to improve safety, reliability and availability of airside infrastructure. Projects are, however, taking many years to get off the ground due to several reasons including political change, infrastructure costs and a lack of investment in the country. The main challenges lie in convincing Governments and companies to invest greater amounts in the upkeep, expansion and renovation of the airports in order to cope with this influx. The main challenges lie in a more positive outlook connected with the rapid growth of the African continent and investment necessity has been seen in countries such as Zambia and Botswana; where Governments and foreign investors have injected much needed capital into aviation projects. South Africa will hopefully begin to see further investment based growth in the aviation industries in the coming 12 months.
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innovative shipping AND logisTics
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after receiving the prestigious diamond arrow award for being the top shipping line in the kwaZulu natal province in 2011, msC are in a position of strong growth Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Nick Norris
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editerranean shipping Company south africa (msC), through its innovative, flexible and unique approach to shipping, has continued to grow during and beyond the first decade of the new democratic south africa. the company which was founded in 1978 with the introduction of the Europesouth africa service, has grown to become one of the biggest users of the south african ports. msC are one of the leading shipping companies in the world. With its large fleet of container vessels, the company has grown rapidly to include other major trade routes linking south africa directly with europe, uk, usa, asia, middle east, Indian ocean Islands, madagascar and mozambique. the success of the msC is evident in its phenomenal growth over the past decade that can only be attributed to its Quality management systems (Qms), which aim to consistently improve upon service levels within the shipping community and its willingness to initiate change to meet the requirements of clients and principals. In 2011, the msC Chicago made her much anticipated entrance into durban. with a length of 336 metres and carry capacity of 9178 teus, it was the biggest container ship to ever call at a south african port. MSC has invested significantly in the acquisition of its own characteristic office buildings which have become landmark buildings in durban, Johannesburg, Cape town, Port elizabeth and Pretoria. they provide an unparalleled service network via dedicated own-offices throughout the world and remains a truly independent and private company, able to respond quickly to market changes and implement long term plans, without unnecessary interference or delay.
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MSC Port Elizabeth Offices
Special attention was paid to the restoration of the MSC Port Elizabeth offices as this was an existing national monument when it was acquired by MSC. A special feature of this building is the stained glass window that adorns the entrance. It was designed by the chairman and depicts the periods of shipping over the centuries. It is aptly named the Millennium Window. The restored building was officially opened in 2004. Other business diversifications have been the creation of a container depot company and an intermodal/landside logistics company, which together helps provide the one stop service MSC South Africa is becoming well-known for. The depots are situated in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Rosslyn. The Rosslyn depot in Pretoria has its own rail siding and is of particular benefit to the motor industry, easing access to their manufacturing plants. The Uitenhage depot in Port Elizabeth is situated in the Nelson Mandela Bay Logistics Park and is strategically situated very close to a large global motor manufacturer. The newest depot is situated in the Industrial Development Zone in East London. Another venture that has been hugely successful is the technical division, which was expanded in 1998 to include a world class, full scale engine repair and maintenance facility which is fronted by a team of highly trained Italian and South African engineers.
Ensuring Quality to Meet Client Requirements In order to expedite and control the path of progress of MSC South Africa, Chief Executive Captain Salvatore Sarno has authorised the implementation of ISO9001:2000 as the model for MSCO’s Quality Management Systems. The company’s objectives to achieve quality are to improve upon its service level within
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the shipping community, and to always be prepared to initiate change to meet their client’s requirements. “To ensure that those objectives are met on an ongoing basis, my management colleagues and I are committed to the maintenance and improvement of our Quality Management System, including its inherent structures and disciplines, and ensuring that the system is understood at all levels of our organisation, adhered to by all relevant staff,” states Sarno on the company website. MSC also hold B-BBEE certificates for the shipping, depots and logistics arm. MSC Logistics, the intermodal arm of MSC South Africa, has a longstanding contractual relationship with Transnet Freight Rail (TFR), who are the service provider of the rail corridors in South Africa. This well established relationship translates into a major benefit to MSC’s clients as they can offer very competitive rates, very good transit times between ports and inland rail terminals, and they provide up to date tracking through their electronic connections with TFR’s computer systems. Furthermore, MSC Logistics has the same beneficial relationship with other major rail service providers in neighbouring countries.
Reefer Services MSC operates a successful reefer cargo division, shipping temperature controlled commodities such as fruit, fish and meat to a number of destinations. They have a large fleet of reefer equipment in both twenty and forty foot capacities as well as open doors and open sides. MSC further offer controlled atmosphere and specialised protocol shipments. Besides the adequate number of plug points on the vessels, they also have a sufficient supply of plug points at their depots. The reefer markets are starting to grow in East and West Africa, and are already well
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Roadhog Trailers
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oadhog Trailers are known for their durability, strength and quality and are a popular choice among transporters. In addition to our manufacturing facility, we offer customers a full after sales service centre for the maintenance and repair of all types of trailers. Roadhog Trailers provides the transport industry with rugged industrial, commercial and agricultural trailers that are ‘carrying the load into the future’. Roadhog Trailers ultimate aim is to become South Africa’s leading industrial, commercial and agricultural trailer manufacturer and the preferred supplier to a wide range of blue chip customers. 20 Wiltshire Road, Mariann Industrial Estate, 3610 P.O. Box 41549, Rossburgh, 4072 Tel +27 (0)31 791 0021 Email sales@roadhogtt.co.za
www.roadhogtt.co.za
To ensure that those objectives are met on an ongoing basis, my management colleagues and I are committed to the maintenance and improvement of our Quality Management System”
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established in the UK, Middle East, Mediterranean and the USA. The reefer division is maintained by an experienced team of reefer personnel made up of trained help desk clerks, booking clerks and certified technicians to ensure that the logistics and loading process see a smooth transition. MSC’s emphasis is to maintain the cold chain throughout the voyage so as to preserve the goods on board. They also offer a ‘door to door’ type service between the export growers and the port. By keeping the transit time to a minimum, they are able to extend the life of the product and improve the shippers/receivers overall experience with MSC. All the offices are supported by a reefer repair facility that is able to maintain electronic, mechanical and structural components. Additionally, they provide a mobile team of specialists to advice on onsite queries. Their overall reefer service is continued by the MSC offices at the ports of discharge. In 2011, MSC were recognised for another decoration by PMR Africa, receiving the prestigious Diamond Arrow Award for being the top shipping line in the KwaZulu Natal province, earning a commendable 4.25 per cent out of a possible 5 per cent score.
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Energy e nT r e p r e n eu r s
In their 25th year, Eterna continue to push boundaries with their innovation, high level of performance and strong principles, accompanying their vision to be an energy company that delivers exceptional value Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Sheridan Halls
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RESOURCES
terna was incorporated on the 13th of January 1989 as Eterna Oil & Gas Limited and commenced business in 1991. The company was re-registered as a public limited company in 1997. In a bid to carve a niche as a manufacturer and marketer of reliable, efficient and high quality lubricants and oil products, Eterna established a technical trading relationship with Castrol BP in 1991 – the pioneers in global lubricant technology and specialty chemicals. This relationship gave rise to a distributorship agreement and an exclusive right to import and market Castrol products in Nigeria and the ECOWAS sub-region. Eterna have significantly expanded their retail network in coastal areas in order to enhance cash flows and profitability with the following acquisitions: A coastal tank farm in Lagos with a capacity of 34 million litres An aviation fuel depot at the Bill Clinton Drive, within the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja Development of a coastal storage facility in Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State to serve the petroleum products needs of the Eastern and Southern markets Roll-out of several filling stations across the country Eterna engage in the manufacturing and sale of lubricating oils and petrochemicals; importation and bulk/retail sale of petroleum products including PMS, AGO, LPFO, base oils, bitumen and export of lubricants/fuels; bunkering, gas distribution and marketing LPG and NG; offshore and onshore oil services; gas processing; equipment supply services and other engineering and technical services for the energy sector.
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PETROCAM TRADING (PTY) LTD
MR SHIRAZ GANY 18TH FLOOR,SANDTON OFFICE TOWERS CORNER 5TH STR.AND RIVONIA ROAD SANDHURST EXT.3 SANDTON 2146, SOUTH AFRICA
PETROCAM TRADING (NIG.) LTD MR PATRICK ILO 195B JIDE OKI STREET, OFF LIGALI AYORINDE STREET, VICTORIA ISLAND LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA
Mobile: +2348160812359 | Email: patrick@petrocam.co.za
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Fuel Stations the underlying philosophy of eterna’s retail business is value for money and loyalty rewards. with pumps that are calibrated to highest industry standards, the station attendants are honest and customer-friendly and their stations are safe and accessible. the integrity of eterna’s pumps is now widely acknowledged and continues to attract customers. the company have embarked on strategies to ensure that they remain visible as a retail outlet business. eterna have bounced back from a zero level, to ownership of 12 retail sites, 3 in Abuja, 4 in Lagos, 1 in kaduna, 1 in Port harcourt, 1 in enugu and ongoing project development in Ijebu-Ode and Ibadan. On the 13th of september 2008, they commissioned and opened their flagship petrol filling station located at gidado Idris district, Wuye Abuja. It is a one-stop-shop filling station that houses, amongst other things, a banking hall, an eatery, a shopping mall, a cyber café and atm.
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lube Blending Plant
Sails were chosen as our symbol because sailing is about harnessing natural resources for movement and the adventure of crossing borders”
eterna’s high grade lubricants are blended at their plant in sagamu, ogun state. the plant occupies a sprawling land mass of almost five hectares along the lagos/Ibadan expressway. It is the third plant in africa to exclusively manufacture Castrol products and the only one to cater for the west african markets. the plant houses a state-of the-art laboratory with hi-tech equipments which has ensured that the usual Castrol international quality standard is maintained.
Petroleum Storage Terminals In order to register their presence as an oil marketing company to be reckoned with, eterna recently acquired a 30 million-litre facility for storing petroleum products at the Ibru Jetty, Ibafon, apapa. they also acquired an aviation tank farm along Bill Clinton drive at the nnamdi azikwe Internal airport, abuja, to meet the demands of the aviation industry.
Petrocam Trading (Pty) Ltd
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Petroleum Traders - Energy in Motion
etrocam Trading (Pty) Ltd, established in 2004, is an entity focused on commodity trading in Africa. Since inception, Petrocam have developed invaluable and competitive experience in operating in developing countries and has cemented its ability to facilitate trade in emerging and developing markets, relating to African import and export flows of commodities.
We believe that skills development, leadership opportunities and an emphasis on quality service delivery form the core of an organisation’s ability to grow and prosper. We place great emphasis on up-skilling our staff facilitating the continuous promotion and development of employees within the organization which encourages employees to continue to learn and invest in themselves and the company.
Petrocam have established offices in both South Africa and Nigeria, with satellite operations in Ghana and Kenya and we have an ambitious expansion strategy in place and we believe in investing in the countries in which we operate to enhance skills development and infrastructure investment.
Petrocam is committed to corporate social responsibility initiatives. Petrocam believes that with its own growth and success, the local community will benefit.
We provide flexible trading solutions to accommodate the requirements of suppliers, buyers and financial institutions by efficiently pooling together industry experience and resources to offer full turnkey supply and logistics solutions for commodity trading in Africa. We facilitate petroleum trading from a risk management perspective by taking charge of the delivery of products to customer’s tank farms and warehouses using our “Cradle to the Grave” approach, mitigating the risks end to end throughout the supply chain.
Further to this, we participate in several community development projects independently or in partnership with non-profit organisations on a continuous basis investing in community centres, Enterprise and Entrepreneurial Skills Development programmes, education and welfare for orphans and the underprivileged persons, youth development programs and disaster relief projects wherever a crisis may exist.
Tel +2348160812359 Email patrick@petrocam.co.za www.petrocam.co.za
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Our Corporate Identity
The unveiling of their new logo in 2005 marked yet another significant milestone in management’s ongoing drive towards re-engineering and repositioning Eterna to deliver exceptional value to their stakeholders. The change in logo is a manifestation of change across the company, affecting Eterna’s focus, drive and performance. The three sails of Eterna’s logo represent the planned integration in the oil sector. “Sails were chosen as our symbol because sailing is about harnessing natural resources for movement and the adventure of crossing borders. There is a sense of freedom and timelessness which comes with sailing and which reflects aspects of the Eterna spirit,” the website states. The border around the logo conveys the stability that Eterna now has; a company which has had experiences from which it has drawn, resulting in a stronger, bettergrounded company. The yellow, orange and green colours of the logo demonstrate the energy and vision of the company as well as representing its concern for the environment. “The company name is written using a type face which is attractive, yet simple. The use of a small ‘e’ for Eterna shows the youthful, innovative and informal company that we like to think of ourselves as.”
Corporate Commitments Today’s business processes emphasise the need for best practice, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility play key roles in ensuring that Eterna’s activities live up to the expectations of their stakeholders. The company maintain a robust Community Affairs, Safety, Health, Environment and Security Policy (CASHES) that meets international standards.
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Elite-Fles Hoses Nig Ltd
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lite-Fles Hoses Nig Ltd is an associate, authorized and exclusive sole distributor for the products and services procured through Gutteling BV Composite Hoses Netherlands in the territory of Nigeria and Africa. Our young and highly sophisticated company is unique in her flexibility, production and high quality approach. Our range of products includes more than 200 different types of composite hoses, and we develop and manufacture any specific type of composite hose through the back up of our manufacturer Gutteling BV Composite Hoses Netherlands. Our vision is to become a world class and lending service provider to oil and gas companies for Gutteling composite hoses in Africa. Tel (234) 803 468-0642 Email info@elitehose.com
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Carbon and Fuels Ltd
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arbon and Fuels Ltd is a niche petroleum marketing company in Nigeria with bias for lubricants (lubrication technology), special products and greases. The company’s main market focus is to ensure that its customers break into frontiers never before attained. This is mainly achieved by producing/ supplying quality products required while also ensuring that the customers get their marketing/sales activities sharpened up by assisting them in terms of training, market tips and market knowledge. The company has positioned itself with an aim to meet the energy needs of the society, in ways that are economically, socially and environmentally viable, now and in the future. Tel +234 8033012703 Email carbonsandfuels@ymail.com
www.carbonandfuels.com
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lOgiSTiQ XPeDiTORS logistiQ xpeditors limited (lxglobal) is a leading logistics company with offices in Lagos, Port Harcourt and abuja, nigeria. our services include Freight Forwarding, Customs Brokerage, Import & export handling, transportation and managed warehousing, supporting all sectors of the nigerian economy. we are committed to providing professional, time-defined and customised services tailored to meet the specific needs of our clients thus allowing them to concentrate on their core business activities. lxglobal is the nigeria agent to expeditors Inc of washington which gives us access to a global network with a presence in over 180 countries including major oil and energy hubs like dubai, houston, singapore and Brazil. Tel +234 1 2121328/9 Email info@lxglobal.com
www.LXGlobal.com “we ensure high standards of corporate governance, transparency and fairness in all our dealings because we believe that strong corporate governance is a key factor in creating shareholder value and maintaining our investors’ confidence,” says the website. “We recognise the growing demand of good governance on our brand and we are not ignorant of the statutory and regulatory requirements for publicly quoted companies in nigeria. we operate in compliance with the duties and responsibilities as provided in the Code of Corporate governance relevant in nigeria.” Furthermore, the company have set up an internal control and audit department to ensure that the risks facing the company are correctly assessed, evaluated and managed to combat the possibilities of adverse exposure. By maintaining the services of a health management outfit, Eterna
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have ensured that there is adequate security for their personnel, client representatives and third parties at all of their work sites and premises, with an insurance policy covering against liability. as a result, eterna are able to create a safe and peaceful working environment, ensuring that all sub-contractors perform their work in accordance with their Cashes policy.
Sustainable Investments as responsible corporate citizens, the company recognise on their website that they cannot conduct business in isolation from the society: “we know that our industry permeates all sectors, thus, we place considerable emphasis on investment strategies that are beneficial to the society at large.” moreover, in carrying out their operations, eterna strive to eliminate adverse effects or impact their work has on the environment: “we are embarking on sustainable investments
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in cleaner energy products such as gas, solar power and bio-fuels to complement the global efforts to reduce emissions and damage to the environment. Research and development is fundamental to our industry. we shall continue to invest in scientific approaches to ensure that we produce the best quality, at affordable prices.” with a vision to be an energy company that delivers exceptional value, eterna continue to push boundaries with their innovation, high level of performance and strong principles.
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• GLOBAL OCEAN & AIRFREIGHT • CUSTOMS CLEARANCE • MANAGED WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTION • CONSULTING SERVICES
Ground Floor, Mandilas Building Annex, 35 Simpson Street Lagos Island 101231, NIGERIA Tel: +234 1 212 1328/9 | Email: info@LXGlobal.com | www.lxglobal.com
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Power A Network in
CEC like to play a role in observing and shaping the present and future business environment for the benefit of the company, its customers and its suppliers Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Ben Wigger
opperbelt Energy Corporation Plc (CEC) is an emerging independent power generating company, well positioned as a developer of energy including optic fibre based telecoms infrastructure in Africa. With a control centre on the Copperbelt, the company operate and maintain a network comprising transmission, distribution and generation assets. Their assets comprise of an emergency power generation capacity of 80MW, transmission and distribution network of around 1,000 km of overhead power lines, 41 high voltage substations and electricity network carrying capacity in excess of 700MW. CEC operate an interconnector with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), through which power is wheeled to Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. CEC is member of the Southern African power pool and is listed on the Lusaka Stock Exchange, accounting for over 50 per cent of power consumed in Zambia. CEC is a member of SAPP and is an independent power transmission and quality electricity distribution company with interests in Zambia and SubSaharan Africa, including fibre based telecommunications. As a developer of energy infrastructure in Africa, CEC is respected in the region for its skills in designing and operating transmission systems and its status as an emerging independent power generating company. CEC sponsor local top flight football club Power Dynamos and are always looking for more ways to invest in the team.
Shaping the Present and Future Business Environment With over 50 years of experience in supplying power to the Copperbelt mines and boasting around 520km of optic fibre on power lines, CEC
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AlBA POweR
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lba Power is the leading global independent for the provision of dedicated support services, to the aeroderivative gas turbine, power turbine, controls and rotating equipment markets, helping customers reduce costs by providing high quality overhauls, repairs, spare parts and field services for mechanical and existing controls support, as well as contractual long term service agreements.
like to play a role in observing and shaping the present and future business environment for the benefit of the company, its customers and its suppliers to develop strategic partnerships with technical and financial resources to realise a shared vision of energy infrastructure development in Zambia and the surrounding territories. the company’s core business is driven by the expansion of mining activities by CeC’s existing mine customers; connection of new mines and other mining related businesses currently in the planning stages; mining-fuelled growth of CeC’s domestic wheeling in the form of domestic, industrial and commercial loads on the Copperbelt and power trading factors involving the company’s international interconnector between Zambia and the dRC.
At the Centre of the grid network a number of countries in southern africa have interconnected power grids that enable power to flow. Zambia is at the centre of this
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we also specialise in supplying new packages- Alternator or Compressor drive- whilst developing and delivering upgrades to existing technology through controls, retrofits and tailor made design solutions for total package support from intake to exhaust.
CEC is respected in the region for its skills in designing and operating transmission systems and its status as an emerging independent power generating company”
our global customer base has been built up through industry track record, exceptional customer relationships and customer referral, as a result of our continued focus on flexibility and 24-hour service provision. This has been supported by industry award recognition and achieved through our commitment to pursue operational initiatives that maximise the availability, reliability and cost-effectiveness of its gas turbine support operations, including exchange and lease options. With a Head Office in Scotland, base in houston, us and a global client team, we employ over 55 experts committed to leading industry excellence through product knowledge, technical ability and customer service. we have an impeccable track record and excellent levels of customer satisfaction and industry referral, testament to our vision and ambition to always exceed our customers’ expectations. Tel +44(0) 7435 313732 Email calum.melhuish@albapower.com
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CEC’s future growth strategy is based on identifying opportunities in Africa and seeking concessions to develop generation and transmission projects that will have a positive impact in Zambia”
interconnected grid network, and new transmission and generation projects, therefore, have both a national and regional impact. there are, however, two fundamental challenges that face the region as a whole. the first relates to a shortage of generation to meet demand and the second, to the limited capacity of the transmission network in southern africa that prevents power from flowing within the region to the extent necessary to alleviate imbalances between demand and supply within different countries. CeC’s strategy is to grow and diversify its business by pursuing viable opportunities in the energy and telecommunication sectors by developing strategic partnerships with technical and financial resources to realise a shared vision of energy infrastructure development in Zambia and the surrounding territories. CeC’s future growth strategy is based on identifying opportunities in africa and seeking concessions to develop generation and transmission projects that will have a positive impact in Zambia and the region.
STANBIC BANK ZAMBIA
Moving forward with an African emerging markets bank stanbic Bank Zambia is part of the standard Bank group, africa’s largest bank by assets. The Group has direct, on-the-ground representation in 20 african countries with almost 560 branches and 1,223 atms in africa, making it one of the largest banking networks on the continent. It provides global connections backed by deep insights into the countries where it operates. stanbic Bank Zambia provides the full spectrum of financial services. It’s Corporate and Investment Banking division serves a wide range of requirements for banking, finance, trading, investment, risk management and advisory services. CIB has the expertise that is focused on industry sectors most relevant to emerging markets and has strong offerings in mining and metals; power and infrastructure; agribusiness; telecommunications and media and financial institutions. stanbic Bank’s Personal and Business Banking unit offers banking and other financial services to individuals and small-to-medium enterprises. This unit serves the increasing need among africa’s small business and individual customers for banking products that can meet their shifting expectations and growing wealth. Stanbic Bank Zambia Plot No. 2375 addis ababa drive P O Box 31955 lusaka, Zambia Tel +260 211 370000 – 18
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Kabompo Hydro Power Project
the kabompo hydro Power project, located in mwinilunga district of Zambia’s North-Western Province, was awarded to a CEC-led consortium by the Zambian government in 2008 and marks the company’s first hydroelectric power generation venture. the proposed project at an estimated cost of US$215 million, is an underground power station of 40MW generation capacity with annual output of 135 GWh. A transmission line of 35 kilometres at 132kV will be constructed to join the national grid at kalumbila mine. this project is a great way for CeC to expand its network to be able to effectively meet their customer’s power needs. Benefits associated include alleviation of national power shortage and increased security of future power supplies, creation of jobs and economic empowerment and capacity building for local populations. among the other projects CeC are investing in are biomass, biomass gasification and solar developments. key milestones to date include: Feasibility study completion for construction of transmission lines for evacuation of hydro power in luapula, katanga and Copperbelt provinces; granting of conditional approval of environmental Impact statement (eIs); Initialling of engineering, Procurement and Construction (ePC) contract with preferred contractor – sinohydro Corporation limited of China; Completion of lidaR laser survey of luapula River and catchment area to provide topographical information; Incorporation of CEC-Kabompo Hydro Power limited; Commencement of government negotiations through the Office for Promoting Private Power Investments (oPPPI); Final draft of Concession agreement; Relevant environmental and social approvals submitted to Zema for review.
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SANS 780:2009 AND ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED
MANUFACTURING • Manufacture and repair of distribution and power transformers up to 75 MVA • Manufacture of SF6 gas insulated switchgear (GIS) (11kV and 33kV voltages) • Manufacture of concrete poles PROJECTS • EPC substation projects up to 330kV • EPC lines up to 132 kV TRANSPORT • Abnormal load handling and rigging up to 200 Tonnes • Mobile crane hire RETAIL RE • One stop retail shop for electricity end use equipment and hardware ZESA Enterprises' vision is to provide high quality products and services to the power industry, mining and agriculture sectors. Guaranteeing a satisfactory return on investment and assuring you success is our motto. NO.1 HARARE DRIVE, CNR WILLOWVALE ROAD / NEW ARDBENNIE ROAD P.O BOX HR 8726, HARARE, ZIMBABWE TEL: +263 (4) 666710, +263 (4) 666784, +263 (4) 666787, +263 (4) 661216 FAX: +263 (4) 669250, +263 (4) 664458 EMAIL: MARKETING@ZENT.CO.ZW WWW.ZESAENTERPRISES.CO.ZW
Safety, Health and Environment Safety remains a priority for CEC after they performed 2.98 million man-hours without a power system lost time accident in 2012, which demonstrates an improved performance for this critical area of concern. “We are dedicated to the pursuit of an excellent SHE culture across the business,” the website states. The company hold toolbox safety talks before any work is undertaken on the system which enables them to address task-specific safety concerns. During these talks, any risks or hazards associated with the task are identified and remedial measures put in place before work can commence. CEC also facilitate radio call in programmes, school quizzes and visibility tours and inspections. Promoting the good health of employees remains a key priority for CEC and the company have ensured that medical facilities are available and accessible for employees and their registered dependents. “Our wellness centre is managed by a Welfare Officer who is charged with the responsibility of coordinating the health programmes for CEC employees, their families and the community,” according to their website. CEC have a well-developed HIV/AIDS policy (launched in 2002). Key activities include awareness and prevention programmes to provide information to staff and their families about the various aspects of HIV and AIDS and encouraging behavioural change through workplace and community peer
education. They remain committed to providing anti-retroviral drugs to their employees and eligible dependents that require them in order to improve their well-being. Under the Global Development Alliance (GDA-Mining) partnership, the company work with Comprehensive HIV/ AIDS Management Programme (CHAMP), to implement workplace as well as community HIV/AIDS programmes. CEC continues with its roll back malaria programme, teaming up with other institutions during the district rollback back malaria campaign, which involves spraying of homes, and in the case of CEC – offices, in most parts of Kitwe. “We recognise that we benefit from good environmental stewardship and we are committed to implementing good environmental practices, continual improvement in environmental performance and to manage our activities in a manner consistent with our environmental obligations, both legally and morally,” one of the company Directors affirms on the company website. CEC encourages its employees to volunteer, as they continue to invest in local communities, conducting their business as a good corporate citizen in a way that helps protect the environment and demonstrates good stewardship of the country’s natural resources. Finally, CEC remains committed to a diverse work force, ensuring an inclusive environment where all employees can contribute their best.
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LR is an independent and employeecontrolled international environmental consultancy that has a reputation for providing high quality tailored services with an expanding network of offices in Africa, Australasia, Europe, and North America. SLR provides multi-disciplinary advice on a wide range of strategic and site specific environmental and sustainability issues. In particular, SLR specialises in the oil and gas, mining, energy, waste management, planning and development, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors. African Managing Director, Brandon Stobart, says that the strategy for the development of the company is based on organic growth, augmented by the selective acquisition of high calibre companies to strengthen and extend technical and geographical coverage. He stated that for SLR to get involved with Africa Outlook in doing a feature article is part of a coordinated growth and marketing strategy.
SLR provides multi-disciplinary advice from in-house experts on a wide range of strategic and site-specific environmental and sustainability issues Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Nick Norris
“One team approach” With 100 employees across Africa and 1000 globally, SLR has seen great business development, some strategic highs and improved performance in recent years. SLR is one of a handful of environmental consultancies that draws on knowledge and insight from across the globe and across multiple sectors. “It is our ‘one team approach’ across the globe that has been fundamental to SLR’s success and our people, coupled with long standing client relationships that are our most notable strengths.”
Recent Developments and Projects The African environmental assessment offering has recently been strengthened by the successful
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acquisition of Synergistics Environmental Services. Although 2013 presented some market-related challenges, SLR continued to grow its offering and was involved in a range of interesting projects in Africa across various sectors. In Namibia, Mozambique and the DRC, a combination of environmental assessment, social assessment, relocation planning, permitting, geohydrology, hydrology, closure and tailings engineering services were provided to Swakop Uranium for its Husab uranium project, to Auroch Minerals for its Manica gold project and to Banro for its Namoya gold project respectively. These services were focussed on the development of the mines and related linear infrastructure including the access roads, the power supply lines and the water supply lines. In South Africa the sector spread is broader. Recent projects include an assessment of the impact of deploying carbon capture and storage on national priorities other than climate change; environmental impact assessments for the licensing of EnviroServ’s waste treatment facilities at Holfontein (Gauteng), Shongweni (Durban) and Aloes (Port Elizabeth); an EIA for a Municipal Solid Waste to Energy Plant at Chloorkop (Gauteng) which will convert waste to electrical energy; and EIA work for Afro Energy in the Coal Bed Methane gas exploration space.
Working Life Goes On Being a global company, SLR has access to an international team which enables the blending of local and international skills as required by individual projects. Although there can be local up-skilling challenges in parts of Africa, Mr Stobart is keen to highlight that SLR
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Scientific Aquatic Services
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cientific Aquatic Services was initiated in 2003 as a specialist consulting firm focusing on aquatic resource management. Clients began requesting related studies and SAS expanded through employing professional consultants with relevant expertise and experience including botanists, zoologists, aquatic ecologists, wetland ecologists and landscape architects. SAS currently employs 15 full time scientists and a compliment of technical and administrative support staff providing the capacity to undertake numerous, large and diversified projects in an integrated fashion throughout Africa. SAS is founded on providing outstanding service that goes beyond meeting requirements by incorporating practical experience and sound academic knowledge into all projects, ensuring requirements are met to standards set by legislation, government authorities, international best practice and client policy. Tel (+27) 11 616 7893
www.sasenvironmental.co.za
has been successful in attracting and retaining great people: “Finding the sufficient number of skilled staff in busy times and conversely, finding sufficient projects in quiet times is an ongoing challenge in the consulting industry, but this is made easier through SLR’s ‘one global team’ approach.” Despite tough market conditions, work still continues through this time. “Key drivers in the environmental market continue to be legislation, the high cost of natural resources - which drives development spending on new assets and remediation of existing assets - new technologies such as shale gas and coal bed methane, security of energy supply in the context of the green agenda, reputational issues, and the limited availability of experienced environmental people in the market,” explains Stobart.
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The SLR Approach to Diversification
If you want to be successful in Africa, there is no doubt that using local skills is critical to achieve success”
“We are diversifying the regions in which we operate on the one hand, and on the other we are continuing to develop our service offerings across sectors. Where mining was a traditional strength in Africa, growth into energy, oil and gas and waste work are all examples of our successful diversification.”
“Local partnering is critical to success” Mr Stobart is keen to draw attention to the benefit of local skills: “If you want to be successful in Africa, there is no doubt that using local skills is critical to achieve success. As different regions require different specialisms, we always work to find the right local skills.” To illustrate this, South African based Francois van Heerden recently won the best technical paper award at
the International Mine and Waste Conference and staff member Ntsako Baloyi has been elected as President of the IAIA in South Africa. SLR plan to use this model in order to continue to grow in their respective sectors and consequently grow their presence in new regions in Africa.
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Ampcontrol’s customer driven technology solutions are redefining mining industry expectations and leading safety in over nine countries Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Tom Cullum
he Ampcontrol story is one full of twists and turns. Since the company’s inception in Australia over forty years ago, they’ve grown into one of the world’s leading privately owned electrical engineering companies. Whether it’s building the world’s first 11,000 volt longwall system in Australia, monitoring tunnelling machines deep under Hong Kong, or powering mines in the heart of Siberia, they’ve built their name on the back of supplying innovative solutions that enable their customers to maintain efficient, reliable and profitable operations. Yet amongst the technological firsts, awards, impressive growth and global reach, is a company founded on simple yet rock solid foundations. A philosophy of anything is possible has meant Ampcontrol’s customer driven technology solutions are redefining industry expectations and leading safety in over nine countries. Strengthened by their vertically integrated structure, Ampcontrol’s technology and innovation base underpins the company’s internal supply chain. From customised engineering to the fabrication and manufacture of product suited to the most hazardous environments, Ampcontrol are able to support customers every step of the way. Along with the solutions they offer, Ampcontrol’s business is multi-faceted and located across several continents, including Southern Africa. “Ampcontrol’s move into South Africa was part of a strategic plan to bring well established products and solutions to the African mining markets. Not only do we offer our customers products that are driven by safety and productivity, we manufacture good quality and extremely reliable products that meet SABS and other
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international standards,” explains Edwin Bauer, Managing Director of Ampcontrol Africa. Ampcontrol are focussed on improving mine safety and delivering innovative, quality solutions, giving them a competitive edge over other local companies. “We are confident in our ability to help our customers change the state of play within their industries and we are confident because we trust our products. To believe anything is possible is also about having confidence that the best you can do for your customer is make sure your solution reliably does what it is supposed to: Keep people safe and support productive operations,” cites Bauer.
The Merging of Industry Giants in Africa Ampcontrol’s entry into South Africa was via two companies that share more than thirty years of operations: Fermlec (who produced flame proofing equipment and refurbishment of underground flameproof switchgear), and Magnalec (the makers of power and distribution transformers). Ampcontrol acquired both companies and has worked to bring them together under the single strong brand and culture of Ampcontrol. In more recent demonstration of Ampcontrol’s long term commitment to the region, the two factories were merged into one at a new 7500m2 factory in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg. “This brand new factory boasts new production lines, we procured new machines and we have recently commissioned our fully automated foil winding machine, which will allow us to build different kinds of transformers such as aluminium-based transformers and larger sized products,” said Edwin of the recent expansion. Ampcontrol have larger cranes at the new site, which will allow them to further expand their product range.
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“with our new factory, we have a much bigger capability of producing higher volumes, so we will be spending time on increasing our volumes of product and implementing a double shift system, whereby double the amount of products will come off the manufacturing line.” this shift in manufacturing focus is testament to Ampcontrol’s confidence in the African mining market and most significantly, the unique offering it has with its range of advanced electrical technologies and equipment. the next 12 months will see the business continue to build on its local and national brand with attendance at south africa’s largest mining exhibition, the electra mining show, where ampcontrol’s innovative technologies will be on display.
Product Successes last year, ampcontrol developed new flameproof switchgear trailers
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With our new factory, we have a much bigger capability of producing higher volumes, so we will be spending time on increasing our volumes of product and implementing a double shift system”
and mini substations for companies such as sasol. apart from traditional electrical equipment, technologies for hazardous area operations such as safer transformers, gas detection and communications are ampcontrol’s specialty areas. “ampcontrol’s advanced technologies, including conveyor isolation systems, which are widely used in australia, but not seen in south africa’s mines until now, are a great opportunity for our customers to benefit in terms of improved production and safety,” claims Bauer.
“we see Africa as an untapped region” over the next two decades, Bauer recognises that africa promises to be one of the biggest growth areas in the world: “there is now more emphasis around safety and quality; people aren’t just accepting the standard product any more. this is where we come in. we’re looking to lead the
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Edwin Bauer, Managing Director
way in driving safer industry wide practices in South Africa by offering our unique and specialist equipment to create a safer workplace.” We see Africa as an untapped region, mainly because of the lack of infrastructure and skills development in labour forces,” he concluded. Recently, Ampcontrol created a Broad Based Empowerment Trust as part of their BEE initiative. “We have focussed the entire initiative around skills development for our own people and an apprentice training school, which will be opening in the near future.” This school will create quality trades people, boiler makers, welders, electricians and the like, as the company recognise there is a shortage for qualified trades people. It is hoped that this initiative will empower trades people with knowledge of international practices and work methods that will inevitably be of value to customers as they
We’re looking to lead the way in driving safer industry wide practices in South Africa by offering our unique and specialist equipment to create a safer workplace”
can be assured that their products are being developed by trained and competent staff. As the business continues to ramp up operations, it remains focused on getting the foundations right. Maintaining an impressive site safety record is high amongst this, as well as implementing new manufacturing techniques which drive internal efficiencies. Investing in their workforce is also top of mind for Ampcontrol Africa, with the Broad Based Empowerment Trust promising to set new standards in how employees are trained at the local factory. With an ongoing commitment to delivering industry with the latest technologies, the future is certainly looking bright for this local success story. You can visit Ampcontrol and experience their game-changing technologies first hand at Electra Mining Show, 15 – 19 September.
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Kumi Hospital is prospering, in terms of patient numbers, infrastructure and training the new generation of doctors and nurses Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Eddie Clinton
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umi Hospital has now established itself as a preferred destination for the poor, for those who have not been reached, as a centre for hope, healing and wholeness. With an annual budget of USh$2.2 billion, 170 permanent staff and a range of soon-to-be qualified medical trainees, Kumi Hospital was voted the second best hospital in the drug management programme in 2013, boasting one of the top laboratories in the country and is one of the top customers for the procurement of drugs from Joint Medical Store. We were fortunate enough to interview the hospital’s administrator, Charles Okula, who explained the difficult history that
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The hospital board are to introduce a compassionate fund for those who cannot afford healthcare”
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Kumi has faced over the last century, and the future plans that the hospital is working on to maintain its high status in Uganda.
The Origins of Kumi Hospital Kumi Hospital is a Private Not for Profit (PNFP) facility located in eastern Uganda, 300 km from Kampala. It is a rural hospital, which transformed from a leprosy centre to a general hospital in 1997. The hospital was founded by the Church Missionary Society in 1929 as a leprosarium in response to the need for specialised work among leprosy patients. Dr. Wiggins recognised this in 1927 after Sir Albert Cook had already treated many leprosy patients in 1909. For many leprosy sufferers then, Kumi Leprosy Centre became the
We take in students that have finished their A-levels and train them for three years in nursing”
only place where they could live in a community without being rejected, despised and discriminated against. The disease leprosy then had a high social stigma, very deforming and had no hope of a cure. The only available treatment was a hydnocarpus oil injection (chulmoogra oil), an old Indian remedy. A clinical improvement was only attained in Tuberculoid leprosy but was only a temporary improvement in Lepromatous leprosy. In the 1950’s the Sulphones were introduced and the treatment became easier, several leprosy treatment villages were built with the help of the local administrations of Teso, Lango, Bukedi, Sebei, Acholi and Karamoja.
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In 1952, a Leprosy Assistants Training school was started to train leprosy assistants. In the seventies, with the change of attitude, a move was made to stop segregation. leprosy treatment villages were closed and leprosy control was integrated into the medical service. In 1983 the cure for leprosy was found to be multi drug therapy (mdt). over the years the leprosy centre provided much noted care for Leprosy sufferers, treatment and rehabilitation. The years 1985 – 1992 were years of conflict, which engulfed the Teso region. The hospital suffered total collapse both in infrastructure and services due to the war. By the end of the war in 1992, the hospital lay in a sorry state, vandalised and turned into a camp for IDP’s. The water-carrying infrastructure was also vandalised and so was the farm that was looted of over 1000 cattle. the hospital still bears the scars and the legacy of that dark period.
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SPIKE INVESTMENTS LTD OPERATORS OF SHELL KUMI SERVICE STATION
PETROL | OIL | LUBRICANTS | TYRES | TUBES | ENGINE TUNE UP & CHECKING FOR TRAVEL | CAR WASHING TEL: 0772 465886 / 0773 712365 | PO BOX 628 SOROTI Since 1997, Kumi Leprosy Centre by resolutions of the board transformed to a General Hospital now known as Kumi Hospital. The hospital has since then undergone major structural redevelopment, including the upgrading of facilities and infrastructure. To date, the hospital has grown to a 350-bed capacity providing a wide range of integrated services including medical, surgical, rehabilitative, primary health care, community based rehabilitation programmes and other specialised services such as AMREF Flying Doctor service offers VVF repairs and reconstructive surgery. The Hospital also maintains a referral status for leprosy and TB in Eastern Uganda.
Kumi Hospital Nursing and Midwifery Training School
Staff with a specialised skill set are notoriously difficult to find in the healthcare industry, and Kumi Hospital
The guest house is located within the hospital premises and provides a safe and secure environment for our up and coming students”
is no exception to this challenge. Therefore, the hospital is developing a training school on site as Okula explains: “We take in students that have finished their A-levels and train them for three years in nursing. After their first year, students begin practical training on the wards, this helps reduce the pressure on staff whilst providing key learning for our interns.” Kumi Hospital has also entered into an agreement with a local university to start a medical school. “We were approached by Kumi University through the Ministry of Health and National Council for Higher Education, who inspected our facilities and were extremely confident that our hospital was of a satisfactory level for training purposes. As a result, we have entered into a memorandum of understanding and the plans are due to come into fruition over the next year,” Okula cites. Furthermore, the hospital’s guest house provides a convenient campus-
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like accommodation for the medical students training at Kumi Hospital. “The guest house is located within the hospital premises and provides a safe and secure environment for our up and coming students,” Okula adds.
Efficient Operations
We were approached by Kumi University through the Ministry of Health and National Council for Higher Education, who inspected our facilities and were extremely confident that our hospital was of a satisfactory level for training purposes”
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With a clear focus on patient care, Kumi Hospital successfully treats 50,000 patients annually and seeks a more productive use of the surrounding farmland in order to generate an income to help those below the poverty line receive medical care. “The hospital stands on an 1100 hectare piece of land, which used to be thriving farmland. The Leprosy Centre had earlier established the farm in order to generate an income, with which costs of running medical work are highly subsidised.” Okula proudly told us. Together with development partners from Holland, work has started to revitalise the farm to its former status. In addition, the hospital board are to introduce a compassionate fund for those who cannot afford healthcare. Other growth plans include improved internet connectivity in order to be able to keep up with telemedicine trends, build a more modern medical ward capable of accommodating 60 patients and improve their water pumping capacity. Currently, Kumi Hospital pumps their own water from the local lake, Lake Bisina, and they have their own micro water treatment plant in the hospital to ensure they have a reliable water supply. Furthermore, the hospital has recently invested in pre-paid metre machines in order to make energy usage more efficient. This way, energy is paid for before the staff even use it. With an array of future improvements and developments to further the patient reach of the hospital, Kumi Hospital is prospering, both in terms of patient numbers and training the new generation of doctors and nurses.
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PRIO (U) LIMITED Civil and Building Contractors
Civil engineering | Buildings & Carpentry |Roads and Bridges Water projects | Mechanical works | Electrical | Plumbing and many other construction installation activities... Charles Okula, hospital administrator
Plot No. 23, Soroti Road, P.O. Box 322, Kumi Tel: 256-776-961688 Email: priougandalimited@gmail.com
CONTACT US
REGIN DIAGNOSTICS PO Box 2035, Mbale, Uganda Tel: 00256 772 950 207 Email: ejokub@yahoo.com OR regindiag@gmail.com
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5th Eastern Africa Oil, Gas and energy interContinental Hotel nairobi kenya
28-30 april 2014
www.petro21.com/events/?id=851
Africa utility week
International Convention Centre Convention Square 1 lower long Street Cape Town South Africa
13-14 may 2014
www.african-utility-week.com
Totally Concrete expo Sandton Convention Centre Johannesburg South Africa
27-28 may 2014 www.totallyconcrete.co.za
ilTM Africa
International Convention Centre Convention Square 1 lower long Street Cape Town South Africa
28-30 may 2014 www.iltm.com
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Roofing Africa
Tech4Africa
26-27 June 2014
9-10 ocTober 2014
Mining Business and Investment Conference eastern Africa 2014
Africa Oil & gas expo
international Conference Centre Harambee Ave nairobi kenya www.roofingafricaexpo.com
Safari park hotel nairobi kenya
16 - 17 ocTober 2014
Focus Rooms Sunninghill, Sandton gauteng Johannesburg www.tech4africa.com
Sandton Convention Centre Johannesburg South Africa
9-10 ocTober 2014 www.africaoilexpo.com
www.mbieastafrica.com/
4th Annual enhancing Customer Experience, loyalty and Retention in Telecoms venue to be announced Johannesburg South Africa
4-5 augusT 2014 www.fextons.com
electra Mining expo
nasrec expo Centre Johannesburg South Africa
15-19 sepTember 2014 www.electramining.co.za
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4th Mining Business and Investment Conference (MBI) Safari Park Hotel nairobi kenya
16-17 ocTober 2014 www.mbieastafrica.com
21st Africa Oil week: Africa Upstream
Cape Town International Convention Centre Cape Town South Africa
3-7 noVember 2014 www.petro21.com/events/?id=873
Published on Apr 25, 2014
Essential reading for those who want to keep up to date with African business
