Africa Outlook Issue 2

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Ghana: one of Africa’s fastest growing economies

Base Titanium

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Kenya’s extractive industries attract attention

Paramount Trailers 40

Stefanutti Stocks Botswana 68

Leaving the competition Trailing

Fairscape Precinct to “open doors in 2014”

Hillcrest Private Hospital

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Quality healthcare driven by a strong, customercentric focus

AFRICA OUTOOK ISSUE 02 ALSO T H IS ISSUE : B r o l l G h a n a | B i g B a n g ! T h e o r y | S a f M e d | R O - A L C o n s t r u c t i o n

W E L C O M E Investing in Ghana, Kenya’s extractive industries and Namibia’s property market... this edition of Africa Outlook has it all.

Editorial Editor: Ian Armitage ian.armitage@outlookpublishing.com Production Manager: Clare Durrant clare.durrant@outlookpublishing.com

Business

Over the past decade Africa has been the second-fastest growing economy in the world, with GDP accelerating more than five percent a year on average.

The continent is increasingly being taken more seriously as an investment and business destination, but in many sectors, a window of opportunity does still remain open for establishing an early mover advantage.

This month we look at investment opportunities in oil-producing Ghana, Namibia’s property market and bring you a fascinating insight into Base Resources’ Kwale Mineral Sands Project in Kenya.

With a front-ended production profile over a 13-year mine life, the project is tipped to contribute some $300 million to the government of Kenya in direct tax and royalty payments. It is massive.

We also talk to Tanzanian entrepreneur Emelda Mwamanga, the founder of the country’s first lifestyle magazine Bang!, look at the expansion of commercial trailer manufacturer Paramount Trailers, and we look at the impact the recent farmworkers strikes have had on Oak Valley Estates, one of the largest deciduous fruit production units in South Africa.

Ian Armitage Editor, Outlook Publishing

Sales Director: Nick Norris nick.norris@outlookpublishing.com Sales: Eddie Clinton eddie.clinton@outlookpublishing.com Sales: Donovan Smith donovan.smith@outlookpublishing.com Projects Director: James Mitchell james.mitchell@outlookpublishing.com Project Managers: Debbie Clark debbie.clark@outlookpublishing.com Stuart Platt stuart.platt@outlookpublishing.com Stuart Shirra stuart.shirra@outlookpublishing.com Eleanor Watson eleanor.watson@outlookpublishing.com

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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 559 551 Editorial: +44 (0) 1603 559 144 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 559 144 ian.armitage@outlookpublishing.com

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We’ve much, much more inside.

Enjoy the magazine.

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C O N T E N T S 06

NEWS All the latest news from across Africa I n v es t in Ghana

08 Black Star Rising

Oil producing Ghana is one of Africa’s fastest growing economies FINANCE

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Troubled lending

TransUnion’s latest Consumer Credit Index shows South African consumer credit health continues to deteriorate B u siness

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Big Bang! Theory

Emelda Mwamanga is the founder of Tanzania’s first lifestyle magazine Bang!

Mining

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Kenya’s extractive in d u s t ries at t r a c t at t en t i o n Inside Base Resources’ Kwale Mineral Sands Project

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O re ins p iring A look at iron ore miner African Minerals Limited’s flagship Tonkolili mine in Sierra Leone

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ENERGY Winds of change Africa Outlook talks to green energy specialist Jasandra Nyker, CEO of independent power producer BioTherm Energy

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Manufacturing

Property

Ta king to t h e skies As Africa continues to grow so do its airports.

Keeping it in the family A look at National Real Estate in Bloemfontein

L e a v ing t h e competition t r a iling With construction of a new production facility underway this is an exciting time for Paramount Trailers

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Healthcare S u rgic a l s t eel SafMed offers a range of products and services designed to help customers do their jobs more safely, effectively and efficiently

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h illcres t p ri v a t e Hillcrest Private Hospital provides quality healthcare driven by a strong, customer-centric focus

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Construction Fa irsc a p e Precinc t to “ o p en d o o rs in 2 0 1 4 ” Africa Outlook talks to Tim Stow, GM of Stefanutti Stocks Botswana

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M o bile t elec o m s in Afric a Africa’s telecoms boom has RO-AL purring

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Finance A O N B enfiel d Demand for insurance and reinsurance continues to grow quickly in Africa

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Supply Chain Property

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Broll Ghana Q&A with Broll Ghana’s CEO Kofi Ampong

M a x i m ising your p r o p er t y ’ s p o t en t i a l Broll Namibia aims to maximize “your property’s potential” says Managing Director Marco Wenk

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W a s t e m a n se t s a ggressi v e gr o w t h t a rge t Wasteman Group offers specialist waste removal and disposal services to all sectors of the South African market

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FOOD & DRINK Fa r m w o rker s p ring Oak Valley Estate’s Anthony RawboneViljoen talks diversification, award-winning wines and the farmworkers strike

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K F C s p re a d s i t s wings Africa Outlook talks to Bruce Layzell, KFC General Manager New African Markets, about the firm’s growth across the continent and particularly in Nigeria

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Lo cal government Ekurhuleni’s aerotropolis set for take off Key to Ekurhuleni Municipality’s 2055 Growth and Development Strategy is the aerotropolis masterplan

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R ising fr o m t h e a s h es Like a phoenix from the flames the Msunduzi Municipality has risen from the ashes

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Travel

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Into the wild Wilderness announces reshuffle, targets African growth EVENTS Events from across Africa

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N E W S News

South Africa to lose UK aid by 2015 The UK will stop sending direct aid to South Africa in 2015, ending a policy that has been in place for more than 20 years.

The UK currently sends £19 million worth of aid per year.

Current projects will still be funded but bilateral aid will now end.

The relationship will change to one of “mutual co-operation and trade” rather than focus development.

“South Africa has made enormous progress over the past two decades, to the extent that it is now the region’s economic powerhouse and Britain’s biggest trading partner in Africa,” the UK’s International Development Secretary Justine Greening announced at a conference of African ministers and business

leaders in London. “I have agreed with my South African counterparts that South Africa is now in a position to fund its own development.

“It is right that our relationship changes to one of mutual co-operation and trade.”

Greening’s comments are at odds with South Africa, with its Department of International Relations and Cooperation saying there had been no “proper consultations” about the move.

B u s i ness

SAA appoints new CEO South African Airways (SAA) has appointed Monwabisi Kalawe as its CEO designate.

“The Board worked tirelessly to find a suitable leader who will lead by example and stabilise the internal environment whilst working towards ensuring good corporate governance within the airline,” said Dudu Myeni, acting Chairperson of the SAA Board of Directors, announcing the appointment. “Mr Kalawe will also lead SAA, as a strategic national asset, towards contributing to the socio-economic development of the country and the continent.”

Kalawe began his career at state-owned Eskom before joining Nestle South Africa for a few years and then returning to Eskom for three years.

He also worked at Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) for six years before leading Total Facilities Management Company (TFMC) as Chief Operating Officer and Denel as CEO. He was then Country MD of Compass Group for five years, before becoming Executive Chairperson.

SAA recently finalised a code-share agreement with India’s Jet Airways. South Africa’s government last year agreed to guarantee R5 billion in loans for the troubled national airline over the next two years.

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“The South African government has noted with regret the unilateral announcement by the government of the United Kingdom regarding the termination of the Official Development Aid to South Africa as from the year 2015,” it said in a statement. “This is such a major decision with far reaching implications on the projects that are currently running and it is tantamount to redefining our relationship. Ordinarily, the UK government should have informed the government of South Africa through official diplomatic channels of their intentions and allowed for proper consultations to take place, and the modalities of the announcement agreed on.

“We are looking forward to the SA/UK bilateral forum later this year to clear up this matter among others.”

B u s i ness

Samsung to open Kenya assembly plant Korean electronics giant Samsung is set to open a television, laptop and printers assembly plant in Kenya by end of year and use it as a launch pad to the region.

According to a Business Daily report the plant is initially expected to employ 900 people directly and more than 1,000 in its supply and marketing chains besides “enhancing the transfer of knowledge”.

Samsung already has African plants in South Africa, Sudan and Senegal and recently announced plans to build a facility in Addis Ababa to serve the Ethiopian market.

“Samsung will initially ship in equipment parts or panels and assemble then here but will later move to the next stage of molding the body covers locally,” said Robert Ngeru, Samsung’s chief operating officer in East Africa.

go to www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com/news for all of the latest news from africa

B u s i ness

Distell buys Scottish whisky distiller South African drinks giant Distell has brought Scottish whisky distiller Burn Stewart Distillers Limited for R2.2 billion (£160 million).

Distell signed a binding agreement with Burn Stewart owners CL World Brands Ltd and Angostura Ltd for the East Kilbride-based business, it said in a statement.

Burn Stewart operates three distilleries and produces the Tobermory and Black Bottle brands.

“The strategic purchase of the fully integrated producer of both Blended and Single Malt Whiskies will allow Distell to capitalise on the continuing global growth in Whisky consumption and give it access to scarce blended and single malt stocks from prime whiskyproducing regions in Scotland, while also enhancing its global footprint,” Distell said.

The deal follows an equal-partner venture established in 2007, in which Distell and Burn Stewart co-owned and marketed three Scotch Whiskies - Bunnahabhain, Black Bottle and Scottish Leader - in sub-Saharan Africa.

Scottish Leader is the biggest brand in Burn Stewart’s portfolio.

T r a ve l

Lonrho, easyGroup to open first ‘easyHotel’ in Africa British entrepreneur and Easyjet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou is expanding his orange hotels brand to Africa, with a budget property in Johannesburg developed with FTSE-listed conglomerate Lonrho. ‘easyHotel by Lonrho’ on De Korte Street will offer 60 bedrooms across seven floors.

The budget hotel is the first site to be developed under a 20-year franchise agreement between Lonrho and easyHotel.com, which allows for 50 hotels to be opened by 2016.

There are 15 easyHotels owned

by Sir Stelios’s easyGroup, including seven in London. easyHotel is the latest addition to the Lonrho Hotels portfolio, joining the Hotel Cardoso Maputo, Leopard Rock Hotel & Championship Golf Course - Mutare, Grand Karavia - Lubumbashi, Grand Hotel Kinshasa and Lansmore Masa Square - Gaborone. “easyHotel is all about simple comfort and great value, so I’m delighted to open our first African hotel in Johannesburg,” Sir Stelios said in a statement. “The city has a wealth of attractions for leisure and business visitors and this new easyHotel will allow them to enjoy the best of Johannesburg, without the expense. I’m confident that easyHotel fans will soon be putting South Africa on their destinations wish list. I look forward to working closely with Lonrho as we bring quality, valuefor-money services to Africa.”

Finance

Nigeria’s Zenith Bank lists on LSE Nigeria’s Zenith Bank has listed $850 million worth of its ordinary shares on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

The bank said it listed the shares as global depository receipts (GDRs) at $6.80 each.

In an email statement, the bank said one GDR represents 50 ordinary shares.

JP Morgan is the depository bank, while Citi is the custodian.

Zenith listed 125 million GDRs which will trade on the LSE’s International Order Book, the world’s largest and most liquid GDR market.

The company’s market capitalisation at listing was $4.24 billion.

“Zenith Bank’s listing highlights London’s leading role in supporting Nigeria’s burgeoning financial sector,” Ibukun Adebayo, Head of Primary Markets, Africa at London Stock Exchange, said. “Three major Nigerian banks have listed in London demonstrating UK and international investors’ appetite for exposure to this fast growing and increasingly diverse economy.”

Zenith Bank is the third Nigerian Bank to list GDRs in London following Guaranty Trust Bank and Diamond Bank.

Zenith said in October the listing was aimed at improving liquidity in its stock rather than raising capital.

go to www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com/news for all of the latest news from africa

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b l a c k

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Oil producing Ghana is one of Africa’s fastest growing economies. Africa Outlook takes a closer look at its business and investment potential.

Writer Ian Armitage

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i n v est

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t was the first place in sub-Saharan Africa where Europeans arrived to trade - in gold, later in slaves – and today Ghana provides investors access to a regional market of over 250 million people.

It is the world’s second largest cocoa producer, one of the continent’s fastest growing economies, a lower middle-income country, and an is oil producer, with sound macroeconomic management. Ghana has a lot going for it.

“Its $35 billion economy, the secondbiggest in West Africa, is forecast to grow by just over eight percent this year, and its democracy is widely praised,” one investor who wished to remain anonymous told me. He explained that, opportunity-wise, “everyone is focused on the oil”.

Last month, opening the 17th Offshore Conference on Oil and Gas Deepwater Exploration in Ghana, Ghanaian Minister for Energy and Petroleum Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah called on investors to take advantage of Ghana’s oil and gas opportunities and “conductive environment”. The minister argued that the West African country, which commenced oil production late 2010, offered a politically stable and financially competitive environment for investment. “A sound foundation for competitiveness has been laid specifically in improving the living standards, economic growth, competitive corporate taxes, legal framework and fiscal policy,” he said, adding that ultimately such investments should be to the “benefit of the people of Ghana and the investors”.

Tullow, a company which has become Europe’s number one oil and gas independent thanks to developments in 16 sub-Saharan countries says the Tweneboa, Enyenra, Ntomme (TEN) cluster of fields could be processing some 80,000 barrels

g h a n a

a day initially once it gets Ghanaian government approval.

It is mindblowing.

But the real story in Ghana isn’t oil though, at least not solely. The real story is Ghana’s GDP growth.

International investors are keen to get a slice of the action.

Ghana attracted $5.6 billion worth of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2012 according to the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC).

“For companies and investors looking for long-term sustainable growth, we are in no doubt that the time to act on the Africa opportunity is now,” Ajen Sita, Africa Managing Partner at Ernst & Young says. “Now is the time to invest in understanding markets, identifying partners, developing opportunities, configuring industries, building brands and establishing local credibility.”

In March, Microsoft’s Senior Vice President in-charge of Corporate Business, Ali Faramawy, helped launch a project that has been dubbed “Hope City”, a multi-million dollar ICT Park near the capital Accra. The park will have housing, ICT, recreation and business resources. Investors, which include Ghana’s government and ICT pioneer RLG Communications, hope it will make Ghana “globally competitive”.

“What we are trying to do here is to develop the apps [applications] from scratch,” RLG Communications CEO Roland Agambire told the BBC. “This will enable us to have the biggest assembling plant in the world to assemble various products - over one million within a day,” he said.

The private sector is spearheading the project. “Government has led growth since independence with all the major investments... The time has come for the private sector to take over,” Ghana’s President John Mahama said at the project’s launch. “We can see that already in several sectors, including ICT [information, communications and technology] and telecom.”

Ike Duker, Executive Chairman Tullow Ghana Ltd and Group Advisor Africa Business; Aidan Heavey, Chief Executive Tullow Oil plc; Niall Quinn, Director of International Development Sunderland AFC and Tutu Agyare, Non-executive Director Tullow Oil plc, at the launch of ‘Invest in Africa”

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b l a c k

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Retail boom

SABMiller plc announces the launch of the first ever commercial-scale cassava-based beer ‘Impala’. These images show fields of cassava in Mozambique, with the root harvested from the ground

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As Ghana’s economy expands, the middle class population is expected to increase and demand for one-stop shopping centres to buy things like dresses, food, and other households items is going to rise.

Investors are taking note here also.

West Hills Mall, 60 percent owned by South Africa’s Atterbury Property Developments, will be Accra’s biggest shopping centre.

It is the fund’s second investment in a retail site in Ghana and, if reports are to be believed, international brands like Edgars, Foschini and Ocean Basket, which have traditionally stayed away from West Africa are said to be lined up.

Construction has begun, with WBHO Ghana appointed as main contractor. It will open in October 2014.

“Ghana is benefiting from a new emerging middle class. Accra is the hub of retail in the country, yet modern shopping malls still represent a small proportion of Accra’s retail market,” James Ehlers, Managing Director of Atterbury Property Developments, says. “West Hills Mall will bring top national and international retailers to this increasingly sophisticated consumer market.”

According to British Banking giant Barclays – which announced its African operations are to merge with South Africa’s Absa to create Barclays Absa Group - British retailers are particularly keen to explore opportunities in Africa.

According its own research, almost a quarter of British retailers said Africa would be the “new retail growth story” in the next decade, with first mover advantage (33 percent) considered to be the most important consideration when expanding.

The survey asked British retailers about their attitudes towards international expansion.

“Africa remains one of the final frontiers for retail, but the recent acquisition of South Africa’s Massmart shows how seriously global retailers are now taking the continent,” Barclays said.

Just 21 percent of the surveyed retailers currently generate sales on the continent.

“Of those which do, more than half (53 percent) say South Africa is their top market,” Barclays said. “When asked where in Africa they would consider expanding in future, South Africa remained the number one choice with 18 percent.”

Ghana and Kenya were next on the list, with six percent and four percent respectively.

The reasons given for this interest was Africa’s burgeoning middle class followed by the take up of mobile technology.

“Many of the trends which have driven the economic development of emerging economies in Asia and South America are beginning to take hold in Africa,” says Richard Lowe, Head of Retail & Wholesale at Barclays. “Its rapidly expanding middle class increasingly need goods and services which cannot be catered for domestically, providing a golden opportunity for internationally-minded retailers. This is a truly ‘ground floor’ moment in many African economies.”

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Mark Bowman, Managing Director of SABMiller Africa, says. “The launch of Eagle in Ghana ticks both Ghana is benefiting these boxes. from a new emerging “Eagle is aimed at attracting middle class. Accra is the low-income consumers away from illicit alcohol. This is a virtuous hub of retail in the country, circle: smallholder cassava farmers yet modern shopping have a guaranteed market for malls still represent a small their crop, which is then used to make consistently high quality, proportion of Accra’s retail affordable beer for consumers; and market. West Hills Mall the government realises increased will bring top national and revenues as people trade up into formal, taxable alcohol consumption.” international retailers to this Ghana is also next in line for Rand increasingly sophisticated Merchant Bank (RMB) which is looking consumer market” to build a permanent franchise in the country, having done something similar in Nigeria.

“RMB will look to build its franchise in Ghana. We are currently James Ehlers, very active ... in a number of sectors.

Managing This is being done on a “fly-in, flyDirector, out” basis, and RMB would prefer Atterbury Property to build a permanent presence in Developments Ghana,” RMB CEO Allan Pullinger told Business Day. Last year, FirstRand bought a 75 percent stake in Merchant Bank Ghana, On the hops giving its units First National Bank and RMB a platform to roll out their Global brewing giant SABMiller is also products and services. keen to tap into Ghana’s growth.

It isn’t the only bank looking at It recently launched a cassava Ghana and local players are also beer in Ghana, a move it says will eyeing expansion. Indeed, one of “increase choice” for low-income the best ways to tap into Africa’s consumers and the beer will be high-growth economies without brewed by local subsidiary Accra exposing yourself to excessive risk is Brewery Limited (ABL) under the by investing in a well-managed, local brand name ‘Eagle’. bank. Ghana’s banks have enjoyed SABMiller said it “builds on” a purple patch in recent years due the success of the world’s first to a combination of rapid economic commercially made cassava growth and tight fiscal policy. beer‚ Impala‚ which it unveiled in Of course Ghana’s mining Mozambique 18 months ago. opportunities are well documented “Part of our strategy across too and its mining industry has Africa is to make high quality beer seen continued steady growth which is affordable for low-income over the past five or six years. The consumers while simultaneously industry contributes significantly to creating opportunities for smallholder farmers in our markets,” government revenue year in year out.

With gold prices soaring, gold production has contributed significantly to growth in the country’s mining industry. Ghana is Africa’s second largest gold producer after South Africa and is has been a huge lure for foreign investors.

There are currently a lot of players in the gold mining industry including heavyweights like Gold Fields.

There are numerous other mining operators in Ghana such as Azumah Resources and Perseus Mining, who have also “upped the ante” in terms of developments and contributions in the industry.

Away from mining, there are also opportunities in Ghana’s power industry and the new CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Mawuena Dumor Trebah, has been out on the campaign trail of late, seeking strategic investment opportunities in the country’s quest to solve the current power crisis.

She is touring the United States, United Kingdom and France to promote her new-Ghana agenda to potential investors.

Mrs Trebah told Joy News her outfit will ensure a win-win situation between foreign investors and the country taking into consideration technology transfer and local skills development among others.

She indicated that efforts are being made by government through power providers to ensure that enough power is generated to meet demand.

“We have the luxury now of having the International investor communities recognise that if they are seeking an opportunity for the first time on the African continent the first test case may potentially be in Ghana,” she said.

Ghana, it seems, is a country on the up and up and a land of opportunity.

To learn more visit www.gipcghana.com

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t r a ns u n i on

Troubled lending The latest TransUnion Consumer Credit Index shows South African consumer credit health continues to deteriorate.

Writer Ian Armitage

redit information giant TransUnion’s latest Consumer Credit Index (CCI) carries what has become a common warning to lenders and households in South Africa – beware the dangers of using credit to fund short-term consumption.

The CCI declined again in Q1 2013, hitting 44.4, down from 49.4 in Q4 2012.

It reflects a clear deterioration in consumer credit health, says TransUnion CEO Geoff Miller.

“There is a marked increase in consumer loan impairment rates and rising pressures on household cash flows and budgets. The CCI declined for two reasons. First, the

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number of accounts three-months in arrears increased 10 percent year-over-year, so there are more consumers that are unable to service their outstanding debt. Second, although overall inflation is trending at six percent, fuel, food, electricity, and school fees are up double-digit figures year-over-year and consumers are being stretched.

“From an arrears perspective some of the contributors were the Q4 strikes in the mining and agricultural sectors and also the level of unsecured lending having grown double-digit for the last 24-36 months. The result is that some of those consumers that were a little over budget are now struggling to pay their bills.”

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There is a marked increase in consumer loan impairment rates and rising pressures on household cash flows and budgets”

f i n a nce

The figures are concerning; the increase is a similar increase to that experienced between 2007 and 2008.

“While the actual number of impaired accounts remains some way below the distressed levels of 2009, it is clear that they are now rising quite rapidly,” Miller says. “Overall growth remains sluggish, GDP figures are continually revised down and South Africa is not growing as fast as it possibly could. Obviously what has happened in Europe has an impact on that.

I think the employment situation continues to remain muted. The number of jobs is relatively flat and if you take into account all the wildcat strikes you then have a number of consumers that are not employed and thus aren’t getting paid.”

Official data released by Statistics SA in February 2013 showed that almost 70,000 jobs were lost in the fourth quarter of 2012, while Adcorp, an employment agency headquartered in Johannesburg, estimated that about 40,000 formal sector job losses were sustained in January 2013.

“I don’t think there is a credit bubble however we are in a period of stress and we expect that the current situation is going to continue for at least the next couple of quarters,” Miller says. “We don’t think it will get a whole lot worse but we don’t expect it to get a whole lot better either.

“As mentioned, the loan impairment rate is high.

However, I don’t think there is a danger of getting back to 2009 levels. For that to happen, the index would have to fall considerably. My general feeling is that it won’t get worse but I don’t see a boom; I think South Africa will be bouncing around in a period of stress for the next 12 to 18 months.

“The deterioration in credit health is however a clear signal of rising financial stress levels and that credit providers need to remain prudent.”

Excessive borrowing and lending could easily begin to push more consumers into a position of budget distress.

“If you look at unsecured lending, overall it’s still very small relative to the total credit outstanding,” Miller explains. “On a typical balance sheet, unsecured lending is about four to six percent, and the amount outstanding isn’t of too much concern but I do think there are certain lenders more focused on the unsecured space that are certainly under more stress than others. I also think, when we talked to our customers in Q3 and Q4 last year, they’ve already started to tighten their credit policy. Consumer demand for credit is still very high, but the number of consumer’s actually gaining credit is decreasing.

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t r a ns u n i on

Credit institutions are tightening up their credit policy too. We would Geoff Miller, expect delinquencies to Regional President remain high but we don’t of TransUnion Africa foresee a total disaster.

“The headwinds for consumers are strong though and there will be persistent pressure on monthly household budgets. They will have a hard time paying their bills.”

So why do consumers opt for easy credit? Precisely that – it is easy.

“Unsecured credit is appealing to consumers because of the ease of which it can be obtained,” Miller says. “But the interest rates on unsecured loans are very high and then there are fees and surcharges on top of that. It is appealing to the lender because they can make a lot of money on unsecured lending. Plus, with Basel III and the capital requirements that are coming on board in the next couple of years, having those shorter term loans is more attractive when lenders are looking at reserve ratios and the required capital that they need. In all, unsecured lending is attractive.

“But there is a mismatch between borrowing and consumer health. There are a number of consumers in South Africa that are in a difficult space.”

Miller wants consumers to help themselves.

“Consumers can be more proactive in managing their credit and their debt,” he says. “We would advocate that consumers get a free copy of their credit report (www.mytransunion.co.za) – they are entitled to a free report once a year. We would always encourage consumers to get a copy and understand what is contained in it.

“My second recommendation would be for consumers to be very cautious when taking out additional credit, given the stresses in the economy. I think lenders have already started tightening up their credit policies and they’re going to be fairly stringent moving forward. But I think the consumer needs to understand what they can and can’t afford. That is the most critical element.”

Mr Miller was recently appointed to the role of Regional President of TransUnion Africa, following Edward Khoury’s retirement at the end of December 2012.

He has been instrumental in growing the South African credit bureau business and launching key

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initiatives, such as the TransUnion Consumer Credit Index.

“My previous role was focused on our Credit Bureau solutions here in South Africa,” he says. “We have extensive operations in the rest of Africa and some adjacent businesses which I am now responsible for. We are looking to expand. You see all the major players, Standard Bank, Barclays/Absa, Nedbank and FNB, all looking to the rest of Africa and we are looking to support our customers as they grow and expand their operations.

“Our other goal is continuing to support our customers here in South Africa through advanced analytics enabling technology.

We aim to be more than just a data provider to our customers by bringing them solutions that meet their business needs.”

He’s excited for the future. “There is definitely long-term opportunity in Africa.”

To learn more visit www.transunion.co.za.

REACH NEW

HEIGHTS Africa Outlook is a fantastic platform to share success stories and find ways of growing your business in Africa. To discuss your options contact Ben Weaver ben.weaver@outlookpublishing.com

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BIG

BA N G !

T H E O R Y

Big Theory Africa Outlook talks to Tanzanian entrepreneur Emelda Mwamanga the founder of the country’s first lifestyle magazine Bang!

Writer Ian Armitage

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n 2002, without any experience in journalism, Emelda Mwamanga started Tanzania’s first lifestyle magazine, Bang!

She had returned home from South Africa shortly after completing a degree in Industrial, Organisational and Labour Studies at the University of Cape Town and was working for Coca Cola Tanzania as a human resource officer when she decided to launch a magazine “on the side”.

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With starting capital of $3,000 which she had saved from her job and a working space in her father’s office, she set off.

Mrs Mwamanga says she had no idea how successful the magazine would be or how long it would last, but was determined to make a success of it.

Her company, Relim Entertainment Ltd, now employs 10 people full-time and has an annual turnover of around $250,000.

She wants to expand as we found out during a recent chat...

BU S I N E S S

Emelda, where does your story start?

When was Bang! born?

I decided to launch Bang! Magazine in 2002 when I was working for Coca Cola. I was in charge of the company’s newsletter and I thought that I could also manage to publish a lifestyle magazine.

Bang! Magazine was actually launched in April of 2004. I registered my company Relim Entertainment Ltd in 2003.

for advertising space and we managed to break even.

When did you start enjoying success with Bang!?

Although we had challenges in the beginning, we still had few people who believed in the magazine from the get go. I remember when the first issue was at the newsstands and people thought it was a magazine from Nairobi. It was the first time people saw a local magazine What motivated you? of great quality. So for me I enjoyed its I guess curiosity, and my interest in media. Also, the friends that I had at that success from the first issue, but business wise, we started to see success after time believed in my ideas and agreed the three years of hard working. I had to work with me and that fuelled me to to quit my job at Coca-Cola and work full pursue my dream. time for the magazine.

Was it a difficult decision to take?

Were you always convinced the It was not at that time. I believed in myself and managed to convince friends magazine would be a success?

For me the success was to be able to to work for me with no money. It was fun and adventurous. Mind you, I had no start a lifestyle magazine. I did not think of how long I was going to continue background in media/journalism. I just publishing the magazine or how much had passion for TV and magazines. money I would make. I wanted to create what I had imagined and make Did you get any help? a difference. In time I came to learn My father believed in my ideas and he gave me his blessings. Then he gave me about the business side and of course I was convinced that it was going to be a working space in his office. I used my a success. money to buy the computer and I took a loan from the bank and also I used my Has your father offered you any advice? savings and managed to pay printing Yes all the time. He inspired me and costs. I started with $3000. always encouraged me to continue pursuing my dream. There were times I Was the first issue a success? wanted to stop publishing the magazine No, it was a flop. There were many because of business challenges but my grammatical errors, the layout and father encouraged me never to stop. design looked like an album instead of a magazine. We offered companies free adverts because it was difficult to Bang! is an interesting name. What get any company to advertise as there does it stand for? And what is the secret behind its success? was no lifestyle magazine before like Bang! Stands for ‘Believe And Never Bang! Magazine.

Give up’ and our secret is just that believing; that never give up attitude, When was it that you realised you’d hard work and of course prayers. tapped into a niche?

I believe without God’s blessings After three years of continuously publishing the magazine. We realised we nothing can stand. So I always pray for had a huge following and people started favours and I work hard and I never to subscribe, advertisers started to book give up!

Emelda Mwamanga, founder, Relim Entertainment Ltd

Your dream now is to expand Bang!?

Yes, that is my dream and vision.

First under my company, Relim Entertainment Ltd, we are going to publish more magazine titles.

A few years ago we introduced Bang! Star, which was a magazine for teenagers, but we had to stop.

Now we are planning to re-launch it. Apart from that we are planning to publish magazines for other organisations. Currently Bang!

Magazine is distributed in Tanzania and few copies are sent to Kenya and Uganda. We are planning to circulate in all the East African countries as well as West Africa and central Africa.

That’s my dream.

To learn more about Emelda and Bang! Magazine visit http:// bangmagazineblog.blogspot.co.uk/ and when next in Tanzania, Kenya or Uganda be sure to pick up a copy.

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Kenya’s extractive industries

attract The sheer size and potential of Base Resources’ Kwale Mineral Sands Project in Kenya is impressive and it is tipped to be a “globally significant” producer, with a front-ended production profile over a 13-year mine life.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager Debbie Clark

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n January construction of Base Resources’ Kwale Mineral Sand Project passed the half way mark and it is now more than 70 percent complete, with production on track for the second half of this year.

The first bulk shipments of product are expected in December and key offtake arrangements are in place.

“It is safe to say that development is well advanced and on schedule,” says Joe Schwarz, general manager for external affairs and development, who explained that Kwale is poised to become a “globally significant” producer, with a front-ended production profile over a 13-year mine life. “It is estimated it will go on to contribute some $300 million to the government of Kenya in direct tax and royalty payments,” he says.

The project offers Kenya “immediate growth potential” with its development expected to contribute significantly to driving economic growth in various industries including energy, construction, transportation and finance.

“Kwale was first initiated by Canadian explorer Tiomin Resources in the mid-90s,” says Schwarz. “They carried out the initial exploration, environmental, re-settlement and feasibility work but after several years of advancing the project they suffered a series of setbacks until, in July 2010, they sold the project assets to Base Resources.”

From there, says Schwarz - and with the backing of the Kenyan government - Base Resources registered a whollyowned Kenyan subsidiary, Base Titanium and immediately went about preparations to develop the project by updating the feasibility study and raising over $300 million in debt and equity to finance project development.

The Kwale Project is Base’s first and Kenya’s flagship mining development.

We have signed up contracts for over 70 percent of the production over the first five years of production to a number of clients around the world. A significant customer is DuPont in the US. There are a number of others in Japan, China, and elsewhere”

Joe Schwarz, general manager for external affairs and development Building up the dam embankment

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Installation of equipment at the Mine Site substation

Mineral storage shed and load out facility at the Port

“The project was officially launched in late 2011,” Schwarz explains.

“How is it progressing? Well, from a construction perspective we started building the access road in November 2011 and the other infrastructure packages commenced from January through to April 2012. The project has been broken down into a number of discreet and independent infrastructure packages. These comprise the process plants, which account for half the project value, and a number of supporting infrastructure components – a marine terminal for mineral exports with a storage shed, wharf and ship loaders; a 14km 132kV transmission line and substation supplying power to the mine site; the eight million cubic metre Mukurumudzi Dam as the primary water resource for the project; a tailings storage facility, the 8km all weather mine access road; and “shared facilities” – the contractors’ camp, catering, temporary power, water, fuel and other support facilities. Beyond that we have “owner’s projects”, which comprises procurement of the mobile mining fleet and the dozer trap mining unit, construction of the borefield as a supplementary water supply, and preparing for the operational phase.”

The road is now complete as is the permanent power supply.

“We’ll be exporting three products - ilmenite, zircon and rutile,” says Schwarz. “Those three products are typically sold under a long-term offtake contracts. We have signed up contracts for over

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70 percent of the production over the first five years to a number of clients around the world. A significant customer is DuPont in the US. There are a number of others in Japan, China, and elsewhere.”

“We shall be mining and processing high grade zones first, initially producing 330,000 tonnes of ilmenite, 80,000 tonnes of rutile and 30,000 tonnes of zircon annually. That reduces in later years when we get into the lower grade zones.”

To date, the project has helped create significant employment and other economic opportunities for local communities. And more is expected. Kwale and Base Titanium are very much viewed as a “flagship” that will attract further investment into an industry sector that, despite remaining neglected and dormant for a considerable period of time, is now experiencing a ground swell of interest.

The government has supported the project throughout. Because of the scale of the project it agreed to enter into an investment agreement that provides a number of concessionary terms.

“This is a significant project for Kenya in an industry that is still in its infancy,” says Schwarz.

Kwale Mineral Sands Project Building the foundations

1

~ EMPLOYMENT

EXPORT GROWTH

COMMUNITY INVESTMENT

1,200 positions created during construction, 350 once in full operation.

Ilmenite, rutile & zircon production is expected to triple Kenya’s mineral sector export earnings.

US$600,000 already invested in education, local access roads, health facilities & water supply.

Just south of Mombasa, Kenya’s first modern, large-scale mining project is taking shape. It is set to contribute to the area’s economic and social growth as well as deliver an estimated US$350 million to the Kenyan economy through taxes and royalties over the mine’s 13 year life.

Construction of Base Titanium’s Kwale Mineral Sands Project is now 64% complete and the project is on schedule for commissioning and first production by the end of 2013.

This is just the start. Through Kwale, Base Titanium is building the foundations to develop Kenya’s mineral sector into a rapidly expanding contributor to the national economy.

%

Expected growth in Kenya’s GDP

www.basetitanium.com +254 (0)732 900 888 info@basetitanium.com Base Titanium (Pty) Ltd is a subsidiary of ASX Listed Base Resources Ltd BSE

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“The investment agreement was negotiated with government several years ago under the previous owners and the purpose of an investment agreement is to provide stability for the project. You need those to be able to get a project of this size off the ground successfully, especially where it hasn’t been done before.”

According to government estimates, minerals and mining contribute just 0.7 percent of Kenya’s GDP and in terms of total export revenues it is less than two percent.

The growth potential is massive.

“Kwale is a bit of a kick-start for the sector,” says Schwarz. “Mining was something that was seldom talked about in the context of Kenya, certainly not before this, but it does underline its importance for the future. Now there is a lot of talk about mining and it is really on account of this project and the publicity and hype created around it. Not only that, but oil has now come into the picture too.

We are really on the threshold of the extractives industry taking off. If you look at the way the new government has been structured you can see the emphasis has now been placed on the development of extractives. We had 42 ministries previously and minerals were lumped in with environment.

Now we have 18 ministries, but mining has been given its own ministry as has energy and oil. So it is clear the new government recognises the importance of mining and other extractives as the engine for rapid growth and an increasingly significant contributor to the economy. You’ll find it pretty hard to expand mature sectors of the economy. It is a slow gradual process. But mining and oil have the potential to grow very, very quickly from a near zero base.

“And yes, we are a barometer, a flagship and a potential catalyst for serious investment in Kenya’s mining and oil and gas industry.

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Construction of the Process Plant – Aerial View

Construction of the Process Plant

Mining was something that was seldom talked about in the context of Kenya, certainly not before this, but it does underline its importance for the future. Now there is a lot of talk about mining and it is really on account of this project and the publicity and hype created around it”

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The water dam spillway

Construction of initial impoundment at the tailings storage dam

Right now minerals contribute slightly over half a percent of GDP and less than 100 million US dollars a year in export revenues. So you can see there is huge potential to increase those numbers. This project alone, just Kwale, will triple mineral sector exports to promote it to fourth place on the export league table behind the traditional big three – tea, horticulture and floriculture, and tourism.”

According to Schwarz, the project will not be subject to local equity laws.

“They will not be applied to Base’s Kwale Special Mining Lease because it cannot be applied retroactively to rights granted under the legislation of the day,” he says. “The local equity law is something that came out in October last year. We also believe it is contrary to Kenyan policy in general when it comes to investment and property rights. While it is law, we believe that the new government will review it as part of the overhaul of the current mining act with dates back to 1940 – from that you can deduce that it is fairly archaic. What we need is a holistic policy debate to inform the upcoming new legislation. Arbitrarily issuing surprise regulations undermines investor confidence. But I believe the new government will look at it pragmatically to balance the interests of foreign and local investors and communities.”

Kwale is the tip of the iceberg far as Base’s East African ambitions go. Base Titanium is also eyeing potential projects further north on Kenya’s coast. The firm said it has begun exploration in three sites and several additional targets present a range of potential development opportunities.

“We do have exploration licenses for other mineral sands properties,” says Schwarz. “Clearly, though, our focus right now is on developing Kwale. We need to get it up and running first. Once it is in operation we will start looking to identify the next project. We intend to build a significant mining industry; not just in Kenya but in East Africa, not necessarily restricted to a particular country or countries. We are looking at building a long-term presence; not just to deplete Kwale and leave.

That’s not what we are about. We are here for the long haul and are looking at being the premier mining company in Kenya and beyond.”

The Kwale mine is estimated to have 140 million tonnes of reserves.

To learn more visit www.basetitanium.com.

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A f r i c a n

M i ne r a ls

L t d

Or e

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Africa Outlook looks at iron ore miner African Minerals Ltd’s flagship Tonkolili mine in Sierra Leone.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager Ben Weaver

re owners have described West Africa as the new frontier and the quest for its iron-ore resources has driven a railway and mining boom worth an estimated $25 billion. So many discoveries have been made in the region that it has been described as the new Pilbara, after the massive iron ore fields in Western Australia.

Aim-listed African Minerals Ltd’s (AML) Tonkolili mine in the Sula Mountain range in Sierra Leone sits on top of one of West Africa’s largest iron ore deposits.

The firm, founded by entrepreneur Frank Timis as Sierra Leone Diamond Company, spent seven years exploring the deposit before confirming the presence of a world-class magnetite iron ore deposit in 2009. The Londonbased company signed a 99-year lease with the government of Sierra Leone to rehabilitate the 74km 1067mmgauge railway from the port of Pepel to the old mine at Marampa and build a 126km extension to a new iron-ore mine at Tonkolili.

It began production just 14 months after the mining permit was issued and the first ore trains ran in November 2011.

The second phase “will entail the development of a new purpose built port at Tagrin Point. The new port will have the ability to load Cape Size vessels alongside the quay and avoid the costs of using transhipment vessels. At the mine a new major concentrator will be built, producing 30Mtpa of high grade hematite concentrate. This phase will be capable of supporting this expanded production for around 15 years, at a cash cost estimated to be around $21/t,” AML’s website says, adding, “The flagship project comprises the Tonkolili iron ore deposit and additional associated 200km rail and port infrastructure in central Sierra Leone. Tonkolili currently has

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Images courtesy of African Minerals Limited

a JORC compliant ore resource of 12.8Bnt which extends over a combined strike length of 30km, and includes a substantial Direct Shipping Ore and Saprolite mineral resource overlying a very large magnetite orebody.”

AML announced recently plans to produce the equivalent of 20Mt of iron ore a year by the end of Q2 2013. It said it expected a surge in output this year as it continued to ramp up production and forecast production of 15Mt to 18Mt at Tonkolili in 2013.

The mine produced 5.1Mt last year.

“While significant progress was made in 2012, delays in construction and commissioning of the wet process plant, and the prolonged and severe 2012 wet season, impacted operations resulting in the exporting of 4.3Mt of material, below our revised 5Mt target,” AML said in a statement, adding that adjusted operating loss narrowed to $27.9 million in 2012 from $35.6 million a year earlier.

“2012 has been an important year for AML, a year which has been characterised by the strengthening of the team, a major investment from SISG, the continued ramp up of production and a significant de-risking of the next phase of the project, now with the brownfield development at Pepel, which will result in a material reduction in capital expenditure,” said CEO Keith Calder, the former chief executive of Western Coal who replaced Alan Watling who unexpectedly quit the miner last May. “The progress we have made in 2012 and early 2013, in installing physical production capacity and strengthening our leadership capability, position us well to achieve our sustainable production target of 20Mtpa during Q2 2013.

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The second phase will entail the development of a new purpose built port at Tagrin Point. The new port will have the ability to load Cape Size vessels“

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Global Expert to the Mining and Metals Sector

A f r i c a n

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“We have made good progress with value engineering and optimisation in our Tonkolili mine expansion strategy. While our strategy regarding the mine and plant is mostly unchanged, we have now decided to leverage our existing rail and port infrastructure at Pepel to achieve the expanded export tonnage. This will significantly reduce capital costs, and de-risk the project’s delivery, whilst at the same time reducing social and environmental impacts. This approach will provide a significantly better value, capital efficiency and risk proposition for all of our stakeholders.”

African Minerals, which faced a short-term funding crunch late last year and reworked its finances to meet working capital needs at that time, said it expected to be cashflow positive on a sustainable basis during the second quarter.

“After a tough 2012, where shares were changing hands for as much as 590p in February, but by November they had dropped to 225p, things are

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2012 has been an important year for AML, a year which has been characterised by the strengthening of the team, a major investment from SISG, the continued ramp up of production and a significant de-risking of the next phase of the project, now with the brownfield development at Pepel, which will result in a material reduction in capital expenditure”

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The Tonkolili project has a mine life of over 60 years

Images courtesy of African Minerals Limited

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looking up AML,” a London-based analyst told Africa Outlook.

In February, the miner announced that it had secured potential funds for the next stage of its expansion plans at Tonkolili.

It announced two new financing deals with the Standard Bank of South Africa.

The firm announced a $250 million secured loan facility, structured to be able to be increased to fund further expansion to 35mtpa.

It also unveiled a corporate revolving facility of $100 million for general corporate purposes, replacing a $100 million amortising standby facility of which $80 million is currently outstanding, providing $20 million of additional liquidity.

“I am delighted to report that the facilities that we outlined in December have now been approved, and am especially pleased that Standard Bank continues to be a cornerstone lender,” said Miguel Perry, CFO of African Minerals. “These facilities provide us with incremental financial flexibility through the project ramp up period, as well as a potential source of funding for the next phase of our expansion to 35mtpa.”

African Minerals’ $1.2 billion refurbishment of the former Marampa mining railway and port in Sierra Leone was completed at light-speed, which indicates the pressure miners are under to get their ore to market.

Last year African Minerals sold 25 percent of the Tonkolili project to Shandong Iron & Steel Group for $1.5 billion. Shandong has the rights to take 9.8 million tonnes of African Minerals’ iron ore production and the deal underlines China’s continuing appetite for African commodities.

“The Chinese government are going to announce their infrastructure going forward in the next few months and I’m comfortable that there’s strong demand,” the company told the Financial Times.

AML’s new CEO has certainly made an impact.

He has brought a new spirit of dynamism and management expertise as the company repositions itself to restore shareholder confidence and boost its iron operations in Sierra Leone – a country the company is helping to transform.

The Tonkolili project has a mine life of over 60 years.

To learn more visit www.african-minerals.com.

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E ne r g y

Winds of

change

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Africa Outlook talks to green energy specialist Jasandra Nyker, CEO of independent power producer BioTherm Energy.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager James Mitchell

outh Africa’s energy problems have been well documented and recent issues with the Medupi power station and its operating system, and the impasse between Exarro and striking workers, has ignited fears about winter power shortages and possible blackouts.

Brian Dames, Eskom’s chief executive, has admitted concerns with respect to Medupi and it is clear South Africa is in desperate need of more energy after a decade in which Eskom’s pleas for investment in generation capacity were ignored. It has led to renewed calls for a broadening of the energy portfolio to include more flexible energy sources such as renewables.

The government is already taking action and in November 2012, it signed the first round of agreements with independent power producers.

In total, 28 projects are underway involving an estimated R47 billion in new investments, with those approved in the bid process’s second round to turn sod later in the year.

The first round projects will see an initial 1,4000 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy added to South

The engineering and construction contractor on these projects is Juwi Solar and according to Nyker, both solar facilities will comprise about 43,000 photovoltaic solar modules”

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Africa’s energy mix by 2014. Bids for a third round have to be placed with the Department of Energy by August 2013.

“It is all part of the Department of Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan, through which it has planned the transformation of SA’s energy mix to 2030,” says Jasandra Nyker, CEO of South African independent power producer BioTherm Energy.

“We won three projects in that first round. They are two solar photovoltaic projects - the 10 MW Konkoonsies solar energy facility and the 10 MW Aries solar energy facility - and one wind project, the 27 MW Dassiesklip wind energy facility. Both Solar facilities are located in the Northern Cape on 20ha parcels of land. The Aries solar facility is located close to Kenhardt while the Konkoonsies solar facility is located close to Pofadder.”

The engineering and construction contractor on these projects is Juwi Solar and according to Nyker, both solar facilities will comprise about 43,000 photovoltaic solar modules. The Dassiesklip wind facility is being constructed on an area of 350ha, located 5km west of Caledon, in the Western Cape. The facility encompasses nine 3 MW wind turbine generators and will be built

by Group five and Iberdrola, while the turbines are being supplied

by Sinovel, Nyker says.

“The wind and two solar facilities will produce a total combined output of 47 MW,” she explains. “Both solar projects have

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expansion capacity, supporting our strategy to initially construct smaller-sized projects with a shorter timeframe to commercial operation and focusing long-term on larger-scale projects.”

The wind project will be completed by January 2014 and the solar projects will be completed by December this year. Funding was secured thanks to a R1 billion commitment from leading offshore energy-focused private-equity group Denham Capital, which is BioTherm’s anchor equity investor, as well as debt funding from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), Standard Bank and Nedbank. The IDC has also signed up to fund the empowerment and local community trusts that are shareholders in the projects.

“South Africa is currently heavily reliant on coal and as a result, we are in the top ten carbon emitters in the world,” Nyker notes. “I think we’re doing right from an environmental perspective for the country by going down the renewable road, but more importantly, it is necessary to diversify your energy mix because the energy shortfall is well documented. Renewables are modular, quick to

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Jasandra Nyker, BioTherm CEO

Preferred bidder selection and financial close for these three projects not only reinforces BioTherm’s position within South Africa’s renewable energy industry but will also be a catalyst for our future growth”

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deploy and have a significant role to play and a bright future within the South African energy mix.”

According to the government’s Integrated Resource Plan, a 20-year projection on electricity supply and demand, about 42 percent of electricity generated in South Africa, about 17.8GW will be required to come from renewable resources by 2030.

“It is a fantastic opportunity and in the long-term we are focusing on larger-scale projects,” Nyker says.

“Preferred bidder selection and financial close for these three projects not only reinforces BioTherm’s position within South Africa’s renewable energy industry but will also be a catalyst for our future growth.”

Johannesburg-based BioTherm Energy has a large portfolio of renewable energy projects not only in South Africa but in the rest of Africa.

Nyker notes that future expansion

is likely. “We’re planning to bid for future rounds of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Programme in South Africa and we will also continue to adopt an acquisitive growth strategy, which will complement our greenfield development strategy. It’s essential for us to diversify and our strategy is to be sub-Saharan focused.

We think that the opportunities are right for renewables on the African continent and we want to take advantage of that.”

BioTherm is closely aligned with the national goals of expanding the role of renewable energy in the South African energy mix. It sees wind and solar power not just as energy sources but as an integral part in ensuring that the economic, environmental and social aims of the country are met.

To learn more visit www.biothermenergy.com.

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ADB

A i r f i el d

S ol u t i ons

S o u t h e r n

Taking to the

As Africa continues to grow, so do its airports. ADB Airfield Solutions Southern Africa’s CEO Manfred Oettl tells us more.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager Nick Norris

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A f r i c a

m a n u f a ct u r i n g

he African continent has ambitious growth and expansion plans. A key part of that is creating new airports, expanding current airports and professionalising the existing ones. In a world where airport safety remains a priority and runway incursion accidents are on the rise, technologies such as airfield lighting systems, precision approach and landing systems, surface movement radars, and visual docking guidance systems are imperative for ensuring airport safety.

This is where ADB Airfield Solutions comes in, playing a major role through its comprehensive and internationally certified product range of safety solutions and management systems. The company’s integrated solutions such as Advanced Surface Movement Guidance & Control Systems (A-SMGCS) include products and services to ensure safety from landing to take off, covering LED runway and taxiway lights, guidance signs and microprocessor controlled constant current regulators.

“We have an innovative portfolio ranging from design and development, installation, maintenance and consulting to training,” says ADB’s Southern African CEO Manfred Oettl.

“We’re well aware of the potential in Africa for our business and our solutions support airport operations and enable them improve their performance and reliability.”

Worldwide, ADB’s solutions have been successfully integrated across 2,000 civil and military airports and heliports.

The company was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Johannesburg. ADB Airfield Solutions (PTY) Ltd operates as a subsidiary of ADB BVBA. “There will be a lot of growth in the region, and ADB is ideally situated for this,” adds Oettl. “By integrating the various ADB offices worldwide, we can then achieve a better understanding of the client’s needs, and offer them the service they require.”

ADB was recently selected to assist in the modernisation of the runway at Cape Town International Airport, helping to improve energy efficiency and ease of maintenance. “We’re upgrading the CATIII Airfield ground lighting at the airport,” Oettl explains.

“The project is vital for an airport which is a gateway for millions of passengers coming to Cape Town.”

The company will supply and install its new High Intensity AD Lights for the runway centreline, touchdown and taxiway centreline, the new High Intensity EREL LED runway edge lights as well as runway closure crosses, which are part of its “green” energyefficient LED lighting portfolio.

The new Runway closure markers will allow easier airfield lighting maintenance by allowing the airport staff to close commercial operations on the runway when needed. The scope includes commissioning services and the relocation of AGL manholes to 50 metres from the runway edge.

“Cape Town International Airport is by far one of Africa’s busiest airports and since the runway will continue to support air traffic during the course of the upgrade, this project demands impeccable standards of quality,” Christian Onselaere, CEO of ADB, said in a recent press release. “We are honoured that Airports Company South Africa, a long-standing partner, values the proficiency of our personnel and trusts our ability to implement this project flawlessly.”

The project is scheduled to be completed in July 2013. “It showcases our capabilities nicely,” says Oettl. “We have an end-to-end approach to enhancing runway safety and take a complete view of an airport’s and our customerfirst philosophy inspires us to look at ways in which we can deliver a solution that effectively tackles the challenges our customers face.”

The aim now is to grow the business.

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ADB

A i r f i el d

S ol u t i ons

S o u t h e r n

A f r i c a

The world’s leading airfield lighting technology company

“Our target is to grow the business - in 2013 and beyond - by 30 percent annually. We will invest in training our current team to be able to manage our ever-widening portfolio and we will employ additional highly specialised people in order to sustain our current high standards of service.

“ADB’s exposure in the SADC region, Nigeria and Kenya is already very good, with an installed base in most of these countries of around 60 percent, this is improving all the time, and ADB has always had a good reputation in the region.

“We are looking especially to grow in Angola, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi and I feel that Africa is an exciting market to work in, even with all the challenges of funding, distances and the wide cultural differences.

“There is a clear need for African countries to improve their safety records, as well improve the first impression made to tourists and investors, by making their national gateways more appealing. It’s where we come in. Africa is a vast continent with lots of challenges and transportation is one of them. The improvement of the air transport industry, and therefore the airports, will be necessary for governments, to allow access to various mineral and industries, as well as to improve the welfare of their people by improving travel opportunities.”

ADB’s history dates back to 1920 when Adrien de Backer started manufacturing electrical resistors and transformers before moving into the business of theatre lights and control panels in 1925. The company continues to push the envelope and is set for a very bright future (if you’ll excuse the pun?).

To learn more visit www.adb-airfieldsolutions.com.

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Proud to be supporting ADB Airfield Solutions with Classroom/On Site Training & E-Learning Solutions covering all areas of Airfield Lighting standards, applications, design, installation & operations 8, Eu Tong Sen Street #12-82, The Central, Clarke Quay, Singapore 059818 Tel: +60 12 768 5010 E-mail: sales@perfect-airport-solutions.com Web: www.perfectairportsolutions.com

Reg No. 1993/004149/30

Making our runways safer Air safety continues to receive worldwide attention as air travel grows. Of particular concern is that runway and taxiway incursions and excursions are the only safety statistics that have not been reduced over the past twenty years.

Airports Company South Africa is the only sub-Saharan country that has followed an International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) initiative to institute Local Runway Safety Teams. Now in place for two years, these provide forums for runway stakeholders to discuss safety issues and perform collaborative decision-making.

Represented are Airports Company South Africa, Air Traffic and Navigation Systems (ATNS), airlines, ground handlers, general aviation stakeholders (including flying schools) and the business aviation community.

Generally recognised as a leader in Africa in this field, Airports Company South Africa is also involved in ICAO’s Airports Safety Excellence Programme and has so far performed runway safety audits on its behalf in Mozambique and Indonesia.

A further measure to increase safety at Airports Company South Africa’s six regional airports has been the replacement of halogen runway and taxiway lighting with LED lighting. This system produces a more clearly visible, crisp white light and has the further advantages of consuming considerably less electricity and having much longer maintenance intervals. LED installations are in progress at the three main international airports.

Runway safety will always receive priority attention at all airports operated by Airports Company South Africa. www.airports.co.za

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Paramount leaves the competition

Tr a iling With construction of a new production facility underway this is an exciting time for Johannesburg-based Paramount Trailers. Africa Outlook learns more.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager Ben Weaver

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m a n u f a ct u r i n g

aramount Trailers is one of South Africa’s leading and established commercial trailer manufacturers. It came from humble beginnings and has been built from the ground up over the past 16 years, with its product line originally consisting of flat decks, more specifically superlinks and triaxles. In recent years it has evolved as a company by diversifying its product range and bringing more options to market - commercial trailers such as skeletal trailers, stepdeck trailers and tippers, for example. Today it manufacturers just about everything, says Financial Director Paulo Ribeiro.

“We have quite an extensive product range,” he enthuses.

The result is that Paramount enjoyed “solid” 2012, despite the prevailing economic headwinds that hit other trailer manufacturers.

“Following on from a tough couple of years, we had a difficult first half to the year; the economy was flat, there was nothing spectacular happening, and it was a concern for us as a business,” Ribeiro admits. “But towards the latter half of the year we picked up one or two large contracts which really turned the year around and, in tough economic conditions, it ended up being a fairly productive and good year from a business perspective.”

Ribeiro says that one of the main reasons for the company’s success during 2012, and indeed the last few years, was its strategy to expand and diversify its portfolio.

A weakening of the South African Rand against foreign currencies towards the latter part of 2012 also helped.

“South Africa’s rand has become a lot more competitive,” says Ribeiro.

“This is a better moment than we’ve had for a while in terms of the currency and it enables us to better compete with products from places like China and Brazil.

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Our intention with this new development is to enhance our manufacturing efficiency and increase current production. We want to remain a mediumsized organisation as the biggest are not always the best”

Warren Marques, Managing Director, and Fernando Marques, CEO, Paramount Trailers Paramount Trailer’s new office development

“Another big drive has been President Zuma’s industrialisation plan, which places significant emphasis on an infrastructure. I think with that there are a lot of tenders and contracts being issued at the moment and while we might not tender directly for any of these projects, our clients are actively involved and with them picking up one or two of those contracts it directly impacts our business.”

Paramount’s strong performance is not new; and plans are afoot to expand the business.

“We’re gearing up for the future,” says Ribeiro.

“As part of that we are building a new production facility. Construction is currently under way.”

Paramount purchased 57,000m2 of land and is developing approximately 30,000m2 under roof comprising two factories and a new office.

“Our intention with this new development is to enhance our manufacturing efficiency and increase current production,” says Ribeiro. “We want to remain a medium-sized organisation as the biggest are not always the best.”

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m a n u f a ct u r i n g

A brand servicing industry for over 40 years Supplying manufacturers of delivery vehicle bodies, trailers, semi trailers and containers for both the road and rail freight industries. We are dedicated to maintaining the Laursens brand and quality and growing its competitiveness and product range in industry.

Tel: +27 12 666 9090 | Mob: +27 83 703 1559 | Email: info@laursens.co.za | Web: www.laursens.co.za

Allied Steelrode (Pty) Ltd, was founded through a merger of Steelrode (Pty) Ltd and Allied Chemicals and Steel (Pty) Ltd. We are one of the finest steel service centres in Africa, providing quality and precision Steel products.

We supply a wide product range to the steel industry in South Africa as well as Sub-Saharan Africa from our extensive steel yards, modern and comprehensive steel processing and steel service centres, speciality steel division and tube manufacturing plant.

Aveng Trident Steel (Pty) Ltd Marthunisen Road, Roocekop, Germiston 路 PO Box 124054, Alrode 1451 Tel: (011) 861 7111 路 Fax: (011) 865 3035 路 Website: www.avengtridentsteel.co.za Email: trident@trident.co.za/export@trident.co.za

Some of our in house services include: Blanking Cut to length Flat Bar Plasma cutting Pressings Rollforming Slitting Structurals P O Box 11563, Randhart, 1457, South Africa Tel: 0861 777 777 Fax: 010 216 0211 Email: sales@alliedsteelrode.co.za Website: www.alliedsteelrode.com

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The investment will enable Paramount to up its production from 40 trailers a month to between 70 and 100.

“We have been under construction for going on 14 months now – we started towards the end of January 2012,” adds Ribeiro. “In terms of timelines, we’re looking at moving in mid-year, around June 2013, and we will move all production into the state-of-the-art facilities. In terms of the business, of course there is risk involved – there is always a risk when making an investment of this nature and especially when the industry has experienced a tough three or four years – but I think this is a sign that the owners are confident in the business and the direction it is moving in.

“Add to the fact that we have enjoyed tremendous organic growth over the last 16 years and we simply cannot grow anymore in our current site – both in terms of space and how we do things – and I think it really it made sense to move to a new site and improve the manufacturing process.

Over the past few years we have definitely become a more professional organisation and moving forward we are looking to continue that while trying to meet our customers’ needs and exceed their expectations.”

Paramount has already started developing new models and working on its production lines and facilities. And the plan is to continue to tap into Africa, Ribeiro says.

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Paulo Ribeiro, Financial Director, Fernando Marques, CEO, and Warren Marques, Managing Director

m a n u f a ct u r i n g

We don’t just manufacture trailers as standard. Customers have individual needs in terms of the type of trailer and the load they will be carrying and we build something that fits their specific needs. I think where we see ourselves as different is that customer focus and having the ability to understand what they want, what they are transporting, the area they are operating in and being able to design and build a trailer that fulfils those objectives in the short, medium and long term”

“Africa is an untapped market that will continue to grow as long as road transport remains the primary transport means across the continent,” he explains.

Paramount has an active market, reaching as far as the DRC. “There is a lot of room for growth and expansion,” Ribeiro says. “We are fortunate in that many of our customers that are based or operate locally in South Africa do a lot of transport into Africa. So there is almost an indirect link there into Africa.

“We are currently looking at how we operate in this respect and are looking to increase our sales team substantially over the next few months, specifically with an eye on the African region.”

What’s the key to Paramount’s success? Sales? No. Trailers? Yes, to a degree, but not solely. The secret is relationships. And that won’t be lost in chasing growth.

“We know that our customers are important and that we need to meet their needs,” says Ribeiro.

“We don’t just manufacture trailers as standard. Customers have individual needs in terms of the type of trailer and the load they will be carrying and we build something that fits their specific needs. After all, a trailer is a trailer and to try and differentiate one from another in the market is difficult. I think where we see ourselves as different is that customer focus and having the ability to understand what they want, what they are transporting, the area they are operating in and being able to design and build a trailer that fulfils those objectives in the short, medium and long term. That is how we like to design and build our trailers.”

The industry is evolving and Paramount along with it.

To learn more visit www.paramounttrailers.co.za.

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S a f M e d

S u rgic a l

s t eel SafMed offers a range of products and services that help customers do their jobs more safely, effectively and efficiently.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager Eddie Clinton

ounded in 1988, SafMed is a private company registered in South Africa, which specialises in the importation, production and marketing of decontamination, infection prevention and surgical products.

It has developed a strong customer base in both the private and public provincial hospital segments and has built a reputation within the industry as being market leaders within a number of product offerings.

“Our model is based around valuebased products with an emphasis on quality,” says Marketing Director Pat Ayling. “The sorts of products on offer include CSSD equipment and cosumables,, infection prevention products and surgical support equipment.”

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If we think back five to 10 years, looking at sterilization for example, which is probably the biggest part of our business and where we started out, we have seen that the washing of equipment has come to the fore”

There are plenty of opportunities for companies like SafMed. One lies in medical instrument traceability.

“If we think back five to 10 years, looking at sterilization for example, which is probably the biggest part of our business and where we started out, we have seen that the washing of equipment has come to the fore and I think hospitals are realising that they need to control that process,” says Ayling. “Not only in this country, but worldwide, there is recognition that it is not just about the sterilizing process and that it is very important that before you sterilize instruments are properly cleaned. The other trend we have seen relates to traceability. That is coming to the fore. We are looking at introducing computerised systems for this purpose.

“The other area that we are looking at is what is happening now with surgical

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instrument design and how they are becoming a lot more complex and difficult to clean, sterilize, or both. It is the responsibility of the manufacturers; if they build something, they have to give clear instructions as to how those devices should be reprocessed. Some of the more complex systems need longer sterilizing times.”

Another trend is a drive for “minimally invasive” surgery (MIS). There are several benefits: with smaller incisions, there’s less trauma; most incisions just take a stitch or two to close; faster recovery; and having to spend less time in hospital – minimally invasive surgeries are associated with a 23 hour discharge or scheduled outpatient surgery.

“We’ve seen that,” says Ayling. “There is a drive for MIS and for us the growth would be in surgical table design. We’re seeing a lot of innovation here, and it is revolutionary. The old tables were stainless steel. Now they are carbon fibre. It doesn’t interfere with x-rays or imaging capabilities of the various machines looking inside the patient. The other thing, and we have been involved with one of the imaging companies on

this, is hybrid operating theatres, mainly for cardiovascular work. The end result is better patient care.”

New technology means there’s also a need for “increased integration”.

“As technologies develop, you end up with lots of equipment all over the operating room floor,” says Ayling. “The latest thinking is integration, taking all these signals, from all the various monitoring equipment and routing them through a special device. The surgeon no longer needs ten different video screens to monitor the patient’s progress during the operation.”

Most of these trends are driven by the private sector; remember South Africa’s healthcare system is one divided. There’s a big public–private split.

The South African government’s proposed national insurance scheme aims to tackle this however.

“The South African Government hopes its proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme will bridge the gap between public and private healthcare by providing universal access based on need rather than ability to pay,” says Ayling. “It’s being rolled out.

It’ll be some years before we know if it is a success, if it works and how it can or will change the landscape. It can only be good for South Africans.

“What I understand will happen is that on the public side the government will set up an almost standard list of equipment that should be in a hospital. So the cardiac department should have certain types of equipment, particular beds etc.

That is a start. They are also looking at hospital design, trying to come up with standard designs. It is an exciting time. How long it will take I don’t know. But that is what we are seeing.”

South Africa does not have a comprehensive system of medical device regulation.

However, the market is very sophisticated and it is strongly advisable that products are either CE or FDA approved.

The South African Department of Health is currently in the process of drafting the necessary policy documents, which cover the regulation of all devices.

At the moment only electro-medical devices are regulated.

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S a f M e d

Pat Ayling, Marketing Director, SafMed

Belintra: More than equipment Belintra is a leading European provider of hospital logistics solutions. We are much more than a supplier of equipment; we develop the necessary infrastructure, enable organizational and logistical processes, and implement workable solutions. These incorporate a hospital’s warehousing, sterilization, and waste disposal facilities, and extend throughout all departments, including the pharmacy.

Belintra’s hospital logistics solutions cover: • Modular internal transport and storage systems • Integrated campus-wide logistics systems • Medication distribution systems • Sterile and non-sterile goods • Track & trace systems • Mobile workstations • Laundry • Waste collection and disposal Tel +32 (0)9 389 00 00 Email info@belintra.be

www.belintra.be

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“In South Africa regulation is a big issue so far as medical devices and equipment goes. At present it is not regulated at all aside from electromedical devices so virtually anything can be sold. It doesn’t necessarily mean it will be brought but it certainly can come into the market. There has been a push to try and get regulation for many years. That is on the cards as well. It will have implications going forward. Again, it is difficult to speculate as to when things will happen. But I think it will.”

Ayling says there is potential to expand into neighbouring countries and further across Africa.

“We do some work in the close territories – Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Mozambique,” he says. “But we don’t do it direct. It is via distributors and certainly we are looking at it.

Unfortunately the biggest challenge is the level to which the market is developed. They will develop as growth takes place – and these are fast growing economies – but, at the moment, it is still very basic healthcare in a lot of countries.

That does present opportunity. But education is also important. There needs to be an acceptance of the importance of the right devices and equipment.

“Our challenge, apart from economic ones, is being paid. I think there are plenty of horror stories. A lot of funds coming into Central Africa are donor funds still so they might place orders and then not pay because they are waiting for donor funds. We are adopting a watch and see approach. It is an area we keep an eye on and we are seeing some of the private hospital groups expanding into this market. We worked with a private hospital in Botswana and last year we worked with Netcare on a PPP in Lesotho. We look at opportunities like that.”

SafMed has been working with high performance materials company Ahlstrom in the area of sterilization wraps. This is another growth area says Ayling. “The purpose of wrapping is to keep something sterile for whenever it needs to be used

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for, without contamination,” he explains.

“The market trend moved initially towards paper-based solutions in South Africa and then moved onto non-woven type products, which are a combination of paper and polymers. We have been working with Ahlstrom who have come up with a product which we are excited about. To go back a step, the challenge hospitals have at the moment is that they tend to want every conceivable instrument - the private-side of the industry that is and they might only use a small number of them in the operation. But they want the security of having them all available in case. The challenge that you face is that when you wrap the instrument sets you need to protect the specialised packaging material otherwise it gets damaged just from the weight of the set and they are still using linen on the outside. We are working with Ahlstrom on a product that is a combination of non-woven and not linen. You don’t want to use linen because it is expensive and also tends to give off a lot of fibre in an operating theatre and that’s not desirable. But to get the market to accept concepts like that – this is just an example – takes a lot of work. Eventually we get there.”

SafMed has a manufacturing facility in Cape Town where it makes its own branded products.

Ayling says the company has started GS1 bar-coding all of its products, keeping track of “where the product was made, who made it, when it was made, when it expires, and any special storage conditions that you need”. Again it is about traceability. “Most of the EU and US products are bar-coded like this,” he says. “It is in its infancy in South Africa. It’ll help drive up safety and standards. There are issues of counterfeit products, expired products being used and just wrong products being used on patients. GS1 will streamline everything and make hospitals and surgeries safer and more efficient. We’re very much ahead of the game on this locally.”

To learn more about SafMed visit www.safmed.co.za.

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MORE T HAN J UST EQUIPMENT

Aalbroekstraat 3, 9890 Semmerzake, Belgium | T. +32 (0)9 389 00 00 | F. +32 (0)9 389 00 90 | W. www.belintra.be | E. info@belintra.be

Global market leader of high performance fiber-based materials Ahlstrom is proud to be associated with Safmed on their 25th anniversary.

Contact us: T: +27315793906 Learn more: www.ahlstrom.com

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H i llc r est

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Medical

marvel Nestled in the leafy suburb of Hillcrest KwaZulu-Natal Hillcrest Private Hospital provides quality healthcare driven by a strong, customer-centric focus.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager Eddie Clinton

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Hillcrest Private Hospital is a world-class medical facility

t’s July 1, 2011. Staff and management of Hillcrest Private Hospital have gathered together. It’s a proud day. Today the hospital is officially opened.

It marks the end of what has been a long wait for the local community, a community that now benefits from a full range of medical services and quality healthcare from a professional and dedicated team.

Director of Hillcrest Private Hospital, Glen Passmore, says the hospital’s first two years have been “hugely successful” and that it delivers a fresh, family-focused, comfortable hospital experience whilst adhering to international standards of quality care “from the concierge who welcomes patients to the professional, caring medical team.”

The 200-bed hospital has 24-hour casualty, day clinic, high care and ICU, state-of-the-art radiology and pathology - and much more - and is committed to “providing quality care coupled with exceptional service delivery.”

“We’re easily accessible from the N3 and M13 and perfectly positioned away from the hustle and bustle of the city and that makes us a little different,” explains Passmore. “It is one of many things that make us different actually.”

Hillcrest Private Hospital caters for the greater community stretching from Pietermaritzburg through to the North and South Coast of KZN. It was born out of an increasing demand for healthcare in South Africa, a country whose healthcare system is deeply divided. In the blue corner, there is the private sector; in the red, public.

There is a stark contrast between the two and the quality of care they offer.

Run-down buildings, failing hospitals, missing medication and stories of deaths caused by a lack of equipment are characteristic of the public health system.

Private healthcare, on the other hand, features world-class hospitals, the most advanced equipment and, importantly, the best doctors (before they emigrate).

Players like Netcare, Life Healthcare and Mediclinic International dominate the scene, but new players do enter the market. Players like Hillcrest Private.

“With limited options provided by the public healthcare system, private healthcare providers have been catering for the growing demand and the private side of the industry has grown considerably in the last 15 years,” says Passmore.

“Private sector hospitals are more cutting-edge and tend to be newer

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and that’s certainly true of Hillcrest Private. Our being new and exciting and the fact we have world class facilities has helped us attract the best staff. Hillcrest private is able to offer the latest in both medical equipment and innovative service.”

At present, the South African healthcare industry is undergoing major changes related to services, how they are provided and who gets them. The challenge the country faces is offering healthcare to the entire population. Yes, private health leads the way but it can be pricey and South Africa’s poorest, who are the majority, rely on the public system. That is something President Jacob Zuma and the ANC are looking to change with the introduction of National Health Insurance.

It is an exciting time for healthcare in South Africa, says Passmore.

“We’ve got state-of-the-art and world class facilities. South Africans have become more health conscious and the result has been a drive for cutting edge technologies, expensive therapies, innovative technologies and the highest quality medical care. The private sector is where this has happened, the sector having funds and being unable to expand, and it is really where we stem from – the demand for healthcare.

We were built to provide healthcare to the Hillcrest community and the surrounding suburbs and before we opened, the nearest private hospital was 15km away. The changes happening in South African healthcare are exciting and private facilities like ours will have a very important role to play in South Africa’s healthcare future.

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Medhold The Medhold Group is a leading supplier of world-class medical devices and technology to the healthcare sector in Southern Africa The Group consists of two main trading companies - Medhold Medical (Pty) Ltd and Pro Med Computer Services (Pty) Ltd It offers a holistic supplier service to its clients, backed by vital clinical engineering support, consulting services and state-of-the-art information technology systems Medhold’s strong owner management and 20% employee ownership scheme have contributed significantly to the group’s stability and growth The Medhold Group has been a pivotal partner in South Africa’s healthcare industry for more than two decades Tel (011) 975-0633

www.medhold.co.za

At Medhold we look deeper, to see the whole picture.

We asked ourselves, “Just what would it take to become leaders and the very best suppliers to the healthcare industry?�

And our answer was simple. People, Products and Partnerships.

People: A comprehensive team of highly skilled and trained inter-disciplinary specialists.

Products: Chains of medical equipment designed in accordance with the very latest and proven global technologies.

Partnerships: Our clients, our suppliers and YOU. To serve the publics health and wellness needs in the best manner possible.

Head Office: 68 Rigger Road, Spartan, Kempton Park P.O Box 320, Isando, 1600, South Africa Tel: (011) 975-0633 Fax: (011) 975-3870 www.medhold.co.za Branches: Cape Town (021) 552-2009 Durban (031) 709-3869 Port Elizabeth (041) 364-0168 East London (043) 748-4986 Bloemfontein (051) 406-2400

H i llc r est

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T-Systems T-Systems closes the gap between patient and healthcare service providers through innovative healthcare solutions: 1. Proven solutions that have been tested and implemented both globally and in South Africa.

2. End-to-end solutions tailored for the healthcare environment, preconfigured and localised for ease of implementation.

3. Supporting quality, patient-centric healthcare through cost effective solutions with innovative pricing models.

Visit www.t-systems.co.za or email communications@t-systems.co.za

It is about determining our role, where we fit.

Do we specialise? From a hospital position we have to provide a good service at a reasonable price and the public sector will be buying services from us. That is where the exciting stuff will come from.”

Of course one of the major challenges all healthcare providers face in South Africa is a shortage of specialist doctors and other staff. The private sector has had greater success in retaining and attracting talent, but the sheer amount of competition and ever decreasing pool makes life tough.

“It is one of our challenges,” Passmore says.

“We’ve several schemes in place to remedy the problem and we have been able to attract people. Being a new, modern hospital certainly helps - state-of-the-art facilities and equipment has been a factor in attracting suitable qualified, motivated and professional staff. Of course we work to retain them and that is an evolving process. Being family-owned is a major plus.

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Hillcrest Private Hospital offers the latest in both medical equipment and innovative service

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People feel like they are part of what is happening, have control over it and can make a difference. We are a small management team and we do get directly involved and I like to think that we offer a direct ear that you can talk to. If something is wrong you can talk to those that make a decision and I’d like to think we respond to that.

“We have, as I said, been fortunate to acquire specialists and staff who are experienced in the medical industry.”

Hillcrest Private’s majority shareholder is Ross Healthcare, part of the JT Ross Group, a familyowned South African business that provides a comprehensive range of leading and specialised property solutions. With its roots in construction and civils, the business has evolved into a national property and development company with significant investment in healthcare and hospital management services.

An innovative, award-winning team

We’ve several schemes in place to remedy the problem and we have been able to attract people. Being a new, modern hospital certainly helps - state-of-theart facilities and equipment has been a factor in attracting suitable qualified, motivated and professional staff. Of course we work to retain them and that is an evolving process. Being family-owned is a major plus”

shapes the business, underpinned by quality, integrity and reliability and it will open a new hospital – Gateway, a sister for Hillcrest Private - in 2014. It will be about 15km north of Durban.

Passmore is excited about it. “Two hospitals will give us a broader support base,” he says, believing the lessons learned in building Hillcrest Private have already been invaluable in launching the new one. “We’ve learnt ultimately that you have to adapt and be flexible. You must plan carefully, accept the fact that growth will happen on a steady basis and that things do change. Resources, staffing and everything else need to be planned and adapted accordingly.”

His thoughts are rooted in Hillcrest Private Hospital’s future.

He hopes the hospital will continue to grow and play an important role in SA’s healthcare future.

To learn more visit www.hillcresthospital.co.za.

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G h a n a

Q&A: B r o ll G h a n a

Maximising property potential: Africa Outlook talks to Kofi Ampong, CEO of Broll Ghana - the winner of the 2012 Ghana Property Award for Best Facilities Management Company.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager James Mitchell

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roll Ghana is one of Ghana’s pre-eminent property services companies operating in the country’s residential, retail, commercial and industrial property sectors.

Established in May 2006, it has quickly entrenched itself in a market that is fast-growing thanks to renewed interest in Africa, rising incomes, and the fact that, in 2010, the West African nation began to pump commercial oil.

Broll Ghana offers the “full spectrum of property-related services” including commercial

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broking, property valuations, retail leasing and consulting, corporate real estate services, facilities management, property management, shopping centre management, project management and residential estate management.

As well as close ties with other Broll companies in South Africa, Nigeria, Malawi and Namibia, the Ghanaian operation enjoys affiliate status with CBRE, the world’s largest property services company, bringing representation to more than 80 countries and 438 offices around the world.

PR O P E R T Y

Mr Kofi Ampong, the firm’s CEO tells us more…

Hi Kofi, great to talk with you. Let’s start at the beginning. Why set up the Ghana office? What was the thinking there?

Broll was seeking African expansion and Broll Ghana was set up with the objective to provide property and facilities management services with the view of maximising the property potential of our clients through quality delivery, effectiveness, value and the provision of unique cost-effective solutions. By dint of hard work, we are confident we have achieved this objective.

Has the business evolved since?

It has. We were originally registered to provide property and facilities management services. Over the years, or with the passing of time, our menu of services has increased to include valuations and advisory, residential property management, brokerage, corporate real estate, sale of properties and retail broking.

Why was that evolution important?

As the years went by we observed the property needs of our clients were evolving and evolved with them. We had to diversify our services to be able to provide the right property solutions. Additionally, we observed that the property industry here in Ghana was growing/opening up and people understood the value of the services we provided and our competence. These also contributed to us offering/ innovating better service.

What are your current aims, goals and objectives?

In a nutshell, we aim to maintain our status as the leading provider of property services, offering the highest professional services. We now want to achieve greater market share and increase the portfolio base. The business is profitable and we have consistently paid dividends for the last five years. We have also managed to maintain and grow our client base.

You talked about performance. Are you happy with what Broll Ghana’s doing?

We are. The last 12 months saw us aggressively making a mark or inroads in retail, broking and sale of properties. Plans are advanced in the development of apartment buildings in Accra and new retail facilities.

As the years went by we observed the property needs of our clients were evolving and evolved with them. We had to diversify our services to be able to provide the right property solutions”

Kofi Ampong, CEO of Broll Ghana - the winner of the 2012 Ghana Property Award for Best Facilities Management Company

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Is business booming?

Yes it is. There are developments of 150,000 square metres office space, four new retail facilities and 80-100 residential apartments, all coming onto the market within the next 24 months.

Which areas of the business have been most successful?

Without doubt, facilities management, retail management, property management and retail broking.

What are your flagship properties?

In terms of retail they are Accra Mall and A&C Square. On the property management side there is the World Trade Centre Building and Ridge Tower, and in facilities management we’ve Amenfi Plaza and Ghana Heights. Some of the residential properties we manage are Primrose Place, Polo Court and Dreams Court.

How would you sum up the current state of the property market in Ghana?

We have 100 percent occupancy and payment of rent is very good. The market is growing and over the last six years we have seen an increase in the amount of investment in the industry. The emergence of various nodes (commercial, residential etc) is evidence of this investment. A lot of investors are going into mix-use developments at the Airport City and residential development in choice areas. We are aiming to add at least two choice office properties to the stock annually and takeover the management of West Hills and the Junction malls after completion.

Are there lots of opportunities for Broll then?

We have always maintained that there is huge opportunity for business. Ghanaians have come to appreciate the importance of property management and using professional firms to provide that service. There is a real demand for prime office space, retail property and residential accommodation. The increase in construction in these sectors is fuelled by demand. We are currently operating a five-year strategic plan and our aim for the first two years is to grow the sale, valuation and advisory and retail divisions. We have targeted a yearly growth rate of 20 percent.

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The market is growing and over the last six years we have seen an increase in the amount of investment in the industry�

Fidelity Bank Ghana

Broll Ghana is one of Ghana’s leading property firms

PR O P E R T Y

Customer relationships are vital when it comes to operating in the property market. How to you go about building and maintaining them?

We have observed over the years that alongside quality service you need strong communication.

Communication is essential and we do our best to keep a two-way channel open between us and our clients. We want to leave the client with a smile and for this reason we ensure we offer them more than just a promise.

What’s the secret your success?

We keep ourselves abreast of the various happenings in the industry and in doing that we train ourselves on the best ways we can serve our clients and also find out what our competitors are doing.

Our plan now is to make inroads into the various regions in Ghana and encourage investors to move into other geographical areas locally, not just stay in Accra. Our success has been the people who work for the company; those who wake up every day and put their shoulders to the wheel.

To learn more about Broll Ghana visit www.brollghana.com

VENT SYSTEMS LIMITED Accredited distributor of Lennox Air Conditioning equipment in Ghana

“If you have not heard of Lennox, it is because our clients have no complaints. Buy Lennox - Think far”

• Design and Install • Sales • Maintenance

P O Box 11865, Accra-North, Ghana Tel: 0302 24 727 5526 | 0302 27 743 8120 Email: wilson.antwi@yahoo.com

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N a m i b i a

Maximising your property’s potential Broll Namibia is a leading and independent property services company in Namibia which was founded in 2003. It aims to maximise “your property’s potential”. Managing Director Marco Wenk talks to Africa Outlook.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager James Mitchell

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roll Namibia is a strategic partnership between South African property group Broll and the Ohlthaver & List Group of Companies (O&L Group), a diversified Namibian group of companies which lists its property portfolio as among its top revenue contributors. Both have representation on the board of directors but management is entirely Namibian based and the firm manages a property portfolio in excess of N$1 billion. This includes some of the most prestigious buildings and shopping centres in the country and its capital Windhoek.

According to Managing Director Marco Wenk, the firm has earned a reputation for delivering “quality, effectiveness and value”. He describes the relationship between O&L and Broll as a “strategic partnership”.

“We have built up an extensive database of properties and related information, enabling us to give unique insight into the Namibian property market and thus providing our clients with valuable market information to assist in making property-related and investment decisions,” Wenk, who helped to set up, bed down and then expand the Namibian operation, explains. “Broll Namibia comprises a highly focused team of property professionals with the skills to provide industry-leading service levels.”

Property services group Broll is heavily invested in Africa. It was one of the first South African property businesses to look to the continent to “maintain its growth path”.

Broll has been present in Namibia since 2003 and is today one of the country’s leading independent property services companies. It is a market in which it is keen to expand.

“Our goal is to grow our service offering and grow our property portfolio under management,” says Wenk. “We want to strengthen our position as market leader in the property segment.”

Broll Namibia is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and what it has achieved in that time is nothing short of remarkable, increasing O&L’s property value to over R1 billion in 2012 - O&L being its biggest client.

Namibia’s property market is literally brimming full of potential. It is healthy and buyers are increasingly looking at investment opportunities, while the country’s commercial property industry is in good health. It is in fact extremely active and provides “significant opportunities to grow”.

Carl List Mall, Alexander Forbes House

Wernhil Park

We have built up an extensive database of properties and related information, enabling us to give unique insight into the Namibian property market and thus providing our clients with valuable market information to assist in making propertyrelated and investment decisions”

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There is also a retail construction boom.

However, both present challenges in terms of decentralisation and potential oversupply in retail and office space, says Wenk.

“The decentralisation could be a concern as our properties are mainly located in the central business district of Windhoek,” he asserts. “The commercial property sector is growing at a fast pace in Namibia at the moment with an approximate increase of 50 percent in GLA by 2015. There are big development opportunities for Broll Namibia on the horizon in the next five years.”

Broll Namibia’s commitment to human capital and client relationships is like nothing you’ve likely experienced or seen before – unless you’ve worked with them. You might say it defines the company: Broll Namibia comprises a highly focused team of property professionals with the skills to provide industry-leading service levels. And it always serves the customer’s best interests quickly and to the highest possible standards.

“What makes us different, unique? We have specific expertise within the industry in Namibia for one and we are also committed to keeping clients happy and filling their needs,” says Wenk.

“With our competition growing day by day especially in the new shopping mall development section - we strongly believe in strong tenant as well as customer relationships as this is the best sustainable competitive advantage. A good relationship is the strongest and the most efficient approach in maintaining and creating relationships with our tenants and customers.

With our personal and emotional linkage to our tenants/customers, it is very easy for us to identify

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Wernhil Park

Carl List Mall, Alexander Forbes House

the actual needs and to improve and optimise our centre management operations. We also maintain a competitive edge by keeping up with market trends by way of conducting continuous market research. Our core is to understand our existing market and business, and then identifying new potential.”

Serving the customer’s best interests quickly and to the highest standards is what sets Broll Namibia apart. So too does its “value-add” services.

“Value-add services gives Broll Namibia’s Property Portfolio the competitive edge over similar competing businesses by creating additional, meaningful services,” says Wenk. “This value-add service offering positions us as being unique with a strong customer orientation.

By offering these value-adding services, it differentiates us from other commercial properties with a very similar tenant mix.”

p r o p e r ty

With an experienced team and an unmatched database of properties, Broll Namibia has the resources to make strategic choices for any investment/asset and understand where any particular market is at any point in time. Wenk sees a bright future for the firm - its track record for coordinating and managing projects of all sizes is second to none. Significant completed projects include the N$185 million extension of Wernhil Park Shopping Centre in Windhoek.

“Although we have exited the project management side of the business and have the JV with SIP, a leading project management company in South Africa which is involved in two big projects in Windhoek, and we will still be very much involved in the overall asset and development management side of future developments,” says Wenk.

Broll Namibia, not only being a very customer oriented company but also a very staff oriented company, was rated No 1 within the O&L Group as the Best Company to Work For in 2011 and No 2 in 2012, by Deloitte & Touche’s annual Best Company to Work For initiative.

To learn more visit www.brollnamibia.com.na.

For specialised Healthcare facility cleaning and services requirement contact: Marja Baard Royalserve Cleaning (PTY) LTD Head Offce Tel: 010 223 3600 Fax: 010 223 3670 Marja.Baard@royalserve.co.za www.royalserve.co.za

Royalserve Cleaning (Pty) Ltd is a contract cleaning company offering premium cleaning solutions in Southern Africa.

HEALTHCARE SERVICES RoyalServe Cleaning (Pty) Ltd commits to the highest level of cleaning and additional services within healthcare facilities. We offer a wide range of services which specialises in the healthcare industry, operating nationally in hospitals, clinics, doctor’s rooms, frail care and retirement centres.

Healthcare services offered: • Ward cleaning •

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Sterilisation and Packaging of theatre instruments (CSSD) Laundry management High-rise window cleaning Deep cleaning and sanitation Consumable management

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Keeping it

National Real Estate in Bloemfontein currently manages over 12,000 residential properties in both the sectional title and property rental portfolios. It also manages more than 1,200 commercial properties and offers insurance services.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager James Mitchell

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ome of the world’s most instantly recognisable businesses are family-owned. News Corp, Benneton, L’Oréal, Playboy, Gucci, Carnival Cruise Lines, and car giant Ford Motor Co, are just a few.

Globally, family businesses - defined loosely as a business in which a dominant family owns 51 percent of an enterprise - account for around 70-80 percent of all businesses and are acknowledged as the strategic backbone of most economies and a key source of growth.

Nowhere is this truer than in Africa - think of the likes of the Ackermans in South Africa, the Kenyattas in East Africa, and the Dangotes in West Africa. All of these have helped define the economies and the business environments of the regions in which they operate.

The du Toit family’s business is doing the same.

National Real Estate was established in 1933 in Bloemfontein. Over the years it has had some name and ownership changes and today it is run by the du Toits, who took over in 2003.

The company, which specialises in property management and related industries, is a market leader in the property industry in the Bloemfontein area.

“It is our mission to be totally committed in serving our customers in the most effective means possible,” says CEO Marius du Toit. “Family businesses have indisputable defining qualities: individuals reporting to one another, confiding in one another, and growing the company together. It ultimately leads to speedier management. You cut down significantly on the red tape and you can make quick decisions. I think there are a lot of benefits. But there are also negatives. However, the benefits outweigh those.”

The family approach seems to be working. Since taking over the business, National Real Estate grown by between 12 and 15 percent annually and continues to expand.

“My method of management is to pass responsibility onto even your lowest staff member because it makes them think and makes them part of the business. We want our people to feel empowered and feel like this is their business. We believe that sharing profitability of the company and the growth of the company is very important. It is a great incentive.”

Unusually – we’ve certainly not encountered it before - National Real Estate shows financial figures to all staff in monthly meetings. It give employees a valuable insight into the business and is a level of openness not common amongst business.

Again, that works.

“Even during the downturn we grew,” says du Toit. “Our philosophy and approach had a lot to do with that.

Family businesses have indisputable defining qualities: individuals reporting to one another, confiding in one another, and growing the company together. It ultimately leads to speedier management. You cut down significantly on the red tape and you can make quick decisions. I think there are a lot of benefits”

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“Also what we’ve found is that when the economy is bad, there is still opportunity out there – people always need somewhere to live. We have a broad portfolio and great service and what we have found is that in a recession the rental market grows, even if sales dip. I believe in giving a comprehensive property service. We have a sales side of the business and a lettings side. It is normally the case that when the economy is weak sales drop but more people tend to rent so it balances out. It makes the business easier to run than it would be if you had just one side of the property ladder.”

National Real Estate in Bloemfontein currently manages over 12,000 residential properties in both the sectional title and property rental portfolios. It also manages more than 1,200 commercial properties and offers insurance services.

“We are very dominant here. We’re by far the biggest in the Free State/ Northern Cape area,” says du Toit.

Technology is central to National Real Estate’s operations. According to du Toit, the company has spent a lot of time and money developing “the right systems”.

“We believe that if you are not ahead or in front you lose out. In business today, technology grows so fast that as soon as you get behind it is very difficult to get back in front, especially on the cost side, and you start losing business and so forth.

“Technology is therefore vitally important, along with personal service to your clients. If you cannot back up your technology with actual delivery and great service there isn’t much point in having it, and vice versa. You have to support your operations with the right technology and accounting systems. We believe in both sides – the best service you can offer and the best technology you can afford.

“We started about 10 years ago buying into a comprehensive property

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Capitaux Capitaux Financial Services Trust (FSP Licence no. 13247) is an authorised financial services provider established in 1998

If you look at the last 18 years, the business has grown, the market has grown, and the potential tenants and buyers has grown tremendously”

We have a reputation for being a financial partner that delivers and extends our financial services to both individuals and enterprises throughout South Africa Products provided include Investments, Long term insurance (Financial & Retirement planning), Short term insurance and Pension & Provident funds Capitaux has its own In-House Multi Manager, Capita Asset Management Trust (FSP 6066) that makes use of a blend of listed Unit Trusts Please refer to www.capita.org.za for Monthly Fund Fact Sheets and Performance.

programme that covers the whole field: insurance, rental, sales, accounting, normal business functions and admin; everything goes into one system.

Everything is there at the press of a button. You have to be comprehensive when it comes to this type of thing.”

And the future is bright. This is National Real Estate’s 80th year in business and it is showing no signs of slowing down. “I must be honest it wasn’t in my family’s name for all 80 years. We’ve been doing business since the late 60s with National Real Estate. There were once a few families and directors involved and eventually I’ve brought them out, taking control in 2003. I’ve been involved here for 45 years. The old folks that started the business have all gone and sold off and eventually I brought out the whole lot. I do believe that a family business is good. But it is only good if the youngsters come in and really buy into the business and believe in what

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they are doing. Otherwise you might as well get new blood in.

“Looking forward, there are two things – you have to sleep and you have to eat. As long as you are in business for one of those two things then there is always a market; people will always want somewhere to live and something to eat. We believe that staying in the property market is the way forward, continuing the way we operate, and as the population grows and the middle class in South Africa grows there is more demand for housing. With that the economy grows, commercial business grows – it has positive ramifications for a lot of industries.

“Ultimately, we believe in the future of south Africa. Sometimes the headlines are very negative. But if you look at the last 18 years, the business has grown, the market has grown, and the potential tenants and buyers has grown tremendously from five million to 50 million, so you can only

p r o p e r ty

FINANCIAL SERVICES TRUST

Your guide to achieving financial security

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imagine the potentially huge market there is in South Africa. It depends on the political side, but business-wise if you work hard and work smart there is always business.”

The company is toying with the idea of expanding into other cities.

“We’ve looked at it many times and have toyed with it before,” says du Toit. “It is always a possibility. But we’ve seen so many people opening new branches and burning their fingers because they can’t manage it properly and it is very costly. Every city has its own vibe and you can’t just walk in there and say ‘it worked here, it’ll work there’. That’s not a good model. However, we are always looking at it. We can’t rule it out.”

What the future holds is unclear.

What is clear is that South African familyowned businesses generally outperform their non family-owned rivals.

To learn more visit www.nationalre.co.za.

Tel: (051) 430 4331 Fax: (051) 430 3617 Email: werner@capitaux.co.za Web: www.capitaux.co.za

Your first business partnership

CORPORATE AND COMMERCIAL LAW

www.honeyattorneys.co.za BLOEMFONTEIN Honey & Partners Inc Tel: (051) 403-6600

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S toc k s

Botsw a n a

Fairscape Precinct t o “ o p en d o o rs in 2 0 1 4 ” Africa Outlook talks to Tim Stow, GM of Stefanutti Stocks Botswana, the main contractor on Botswana’s groundbreaking Fairscape project.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager Stuart Shirra

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C O N S T RU C T I O N

outh African construction giant Stefanutti Stocks is seeking to grow its activities outside of its home market due to inadequate growth opportunities, CEO Willie Meyburgh recently told reporters.

He said there was “no option”.

“There are not many large projects on the [South African] market. Those projects just aren’t around anymore. That is why we are looking at opportunities outside our country. We have no option,” he said.

The Stefanutti Stocks Group is one of South Africa’s leading listed construction groups and has the capability to deliver a range of projects of any scale to a multitude of clients in diverse markets.

It operates across all provinces of South Africa and has established a presence in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

“Stefanutti Stocks is one of Botswana’s leading building contractors and we have completed a number of very large government contracts,” says Tim Stow, GM. “We’re a strong proponent of the PPP procurement route and we have extensive experience, undertaking a variety of projects for both private and public sector clients in Botswana.

For example, we completed the remote Maun Hospital and we have completed numerous retail and leisure facilities.”

The firm is currently busy working on Botswana Development Corporation’s (BDC) Fairscape Precinct project, a multi-million Pula property development in Gaborone’s fairgrounds area, which is expected to add an alternative offering to several mixed use properties now

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Delta Glass & Aluminium Fairscape is a multimillion Pula property development in Gaborone

Delta Glass & Aluminium is Botswana’s foremost supplier of specialised glass products and architectural aluminium applications We have a comprehensive distribution network to service local and northern businesses with our fleet of purpose built vehicles

The project is expected to add an alternative to several other mixed use properties in the city

established in the city. It is set to be completed next year.

Steffanutti Stocks is the main contractor.

“The development is the first of its kind and will bring a modern and high class working and living environment into the country,” says Stow.

Fairscape, he explains, will have over 18,000 square metres of office space and 4,000 square metres of retail space - comprising of upmarket restaurants, coffee bars, boutiques and craft shops- while phase two of the project will include 13,000 square metres of both office and retail space and three level basement parking.

“It is what’s called a mixed use development - meaning you can work, play and relax all in the same place. It’ll have offices; shopping, with high-end shops; and there will be leisure facilities. It’s different to anything else locally.”

Fairgrounds is Botswana’s fastgrowing financial hub, boasting local and international companies.

Stow describes the location as “strategic”.

It is around three kilometres from the Gaborone CBD.

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Our team of experienced technical and production personnel are focused on maintaining the high level of quality and service for which we are known Tel +267 392 5395 Fax +267 392 5350 Email jeffthomsondelta@gmail.com

C O N S T RU C T I O N

Plot 53609, Unit 7 Gaborone West Industrial Botswana

Tel: +267 392 5395 Fax: +267 392 5350 Email: jeffthomsondelta@gmail.com or grantstacydelta@gmail.com

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Botsw a n a

Phase one of the project will be completed by Q2 2014

Stefanutti Stocks is one of Botswana’s leading building contractors and we have completed a number of very large government contracts”

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“Fairscape will incorporate modern green building techniques and we’re seeking green building status. It will be modern, environmentally friendly and energy efficient. The project includes a 15-floor tower building with penthouses on the upper floors, retail on the lower ones and four other buildings consisting of office and leisure space.”

Stow says phase one of the project will be completed by the second quarter 2014.

“That’s the target and it is on track. We’re working very closely with Botswana Development Corporation on this.”

He described the project as “important” to Botswana’s future.

“It’ll be a catalyst. In the future the aim is for it to be the main centre of the financial hub. It is also an icon not only for Botswana but the southern hemisphere.”

Botswana is a principal market for Stefanutti Stocks and the multi-disciplinary construction group is eyeing opportunities in its burgeoning mining sector.

“Botswana is one of our longstanding markets and it is important for us as a group to remain here and be successful,” says Stow. “In terms of opportunities, both the private sector and government has slowed down

C O N S T RU C T I O N

Fairscape will incorporate modern green building techniques and we’re seeking green building status. It will be modern, environmentally friendly and energy efficient. The project includes a 15-floor tower building with penthouses on the upper floors, retail on the lower ones and four other buildings consisting of office and leisure space”

a bit. The mining sector is something that we traditionally haven’t really looked at but of course now we are looking at it a lot more seriously. Mining is a growth industry in Botswana and we have seen that is where we have to go. There is not enough work in our traditional market. The private sector is slowing down and government is slowing down.

There isn’t enough work there to sustain us and all the other contractors in the country. There are a lot of Chinese contractors here, our main opposition – and they’re very price competitive.

We’re keen to get more involved in mining.”

Mining is a market that traditionally - within Botswana at least - Stefanutti Stocks has not worked in.

But the group has vast experience in this arena.

“As group we have a track record in working with the mines. We’ll be drawing on that experience. Anything we do outside of building we will call on our sister company in South Africa to assist us.”

Projects like Fairscape are a fantastic showcase of African ingenuity, ambition and the continent’s potential.

The secret to working on projects like it is “delivering on time and on budget”, says Stow.

To learn more visit www.stefanuttistocks.com.

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Telec o m s boom Mobile telecoms in Africa: Africa Outlook talks to Willie Pretorius, Director of Operations at Ro-Al Construction, one of the leading players for mobile telecommunications infrastructure construction and maintenance work in South Africa.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager James Mitchell

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he upsurge in Sub-Saharan African mobile telecommunications has seen South Africabased RO-AL Construction grow tenfold in a decade.

The firm, founded in 1991, began life working on medium-sized industrial, commercial, retail and institutional projects within the Johannesburg area.

In 1995 it extended its operations to mobile telecommunication infrastructure development and maintenance and soon after completed its first project with mobile telecommunications operator Vodacom.

RO-AL never really looked back and in the years since has refocused its attentions to the growing infrastructure for mobile phone networks, seeking ISO9001, ISO8001 and ISO14001 accreditation, and becoming one of the leading players for mobile telecommunications infrastructure construction and maintenance work in South Africa.

Vodacom is still a client.

“It started with Vodacom in Johannesburg and when they expanded we expanded with them.

Today we have national coverage, with offices and resources strategically placed throughout the country,” says Willie Pretorius, Director of Operations at Ro-Al Construction.

Ro-Al Construction still has a fantastic relationship with Vodacom and services its GSM network.

“Initially our relationship with them was predominantly around infrastructure maintenance but we’ve diversified to such a point where we can take care of about 80 percent of the various disciplines in that environment nowadays. We cover a lot more than before and we believe in servicing the client with sound quality control principles within a competitive pricing structure and timely delivery.

“We offer a one stop service to the client,” says Pretorius.

The growth of the African telecom sector has been monumental, and it is not only telecom giants that are benefiting from the boom.

“We’re definitely experiencing some really positive business opportunities but financially the economy here in South Africa has cooled down substantially so obviously we are pretty squeezed for margins,” says Pretorius.

“Africa telecoms has exploded in the last decade and there is still much more growth to come. We haven’t really started going into Africa just yet and it is something we’re looking at more seriously. There is growth still to come in South Africa but you must remember that it will be substantially lower than we’ve been experiencing. There will always be growth but it won’t be at such steep incline as it was before.”

RO-AL extended its operations to mobile telecoms in 1995

A leading player in mobile telecoms infrastructure construction and maintenance work

We cover a lot more than before and we believe in servicing the client with sound quality control principles within a competitive pricing structure and timely delivery”

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RO-AL has a strong alliance with Chinese Technology giant Huawei Technologies, a company that has predicted its revenue and investment growth in the next three years in Africa to be up by 30 percent as mobile internet and communication devices penetration expands on the continent.

The company based its vision growth predictions on the fact that Africa is already progressed in most other areas in terms of demand expansion, leading it to pick up both interest and expectations especially for East and South African regions which are experiencing the most profound increase in mobile penetration.

“Huawei are expecting to push penetration through the increasing demand for smartphone devices and other communication devices in the region and we’ve been doing a substantial amount of radio and antenna upgrade work on the telecoms network for them in South Africa and have done quite a bit of work for them in Mozambique and Lesotho in the recent past,” says Pretorius. “That would be one of the doors we were looking at walking through.

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“We also have a relationship with Eaton Towers, which is really spreading wings in Africa and they are currently busy with Uganda.”

Eaton, one of a number of specialist players to launch services in Africa in recent years, will build about 100 towers in Uganda, 100 in South Africa and 50 in Ghana during 2013.

“It is a great opportunity to spread our wings,” Pretorius says.

There are challenges though. The main one is skills.

“Finding skilled workers is increasingly problematic,” admits Pretorius. “We do all of our training and development ourselves, we recruit new staff and we take them through apprenticeships and management programmes. It is difficult predicting labour requirements and then allocating the right resources to the right areas.”

All things considered the future is bright. Even in South Africa there is growth potential, with the government targeting 100 percent internet penetration in its ICT Vision 2020 – and achievement of this target depends largely on penetration through mobile devices.

“I am very excited but at the same time it is not an easy road.

It will be a challenging journey. We need to be a lot more bullish in our approach towards the market if we want to maintain the momentum going forward.”

To learn more visit www.roal.co.za.

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Aon

Ben f i el d

Why

reins u r a nce ?

Demand for insurance and reinsurance continues to grow quickly in Africa.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager Eleanor Watson

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on Benfield is the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of worldwide insurance, reinsurance and risk management specialist AON plc.

Okay, you say, that sounds great, but what exactly is reinsurance?

Put simply, a reinsurance company is a company that insures another insurance company.

Why would an insurance company need reinsurance? Well, there are a couple of reasons. First up, think of catastrophic events like Hurricane Sandy in the US or the Christchurch earthquake: Without a fail-safe, events like that could bankrupt an insurer. There is another reason too.

Having a company to guarantee against certain losses frees up an insurance companies’ working capital, which means they can invest it elsewhere.

You can see the appeal and companies like AON Benfield play an incredibly important role in offering reinsurance, enabling firms to offer a wider range of insurance packages on the African continent. AON has subsequently used South Africa as a hub from which to develop the rest of the African market, opening doors with respect to reinsurance broking. It has managed to establish itself as market leaders in several countries.

AON Re Africa is the reinsurance division of AON in Africa. AON bought Benfield for $1.43 billion in 2008.

“Reinsurance is critical to helping insurance companies underwrite risk profitably, while preserving or enhancing capital strength and ratings,” the company says proudly, adding on its website that it provides “clients with unbiased capital advice”.

“As the industry leader in treaty, facultative, and capital markets, our unique position and impartial perspective ensures that you receive the best advice and the optimal form of capital to meet your needs,” it says.

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EMERALD RISK TRANSFER Emerald is a leading provider of corporate property and associated engineering insurance products throughout the African continent Emerald is a fully intermediated company and underwrites exclusively for Santam Insurance Ltd, South Africa’s leading short term insurer with a Standard and Poors rating of A- , and assets in excess of R17 Billion Backed by skilled and experienced complex claims technicians and professional engineer, Emerald’s underwriters are able to find solutions for even the most complex risks Correct understanding and measurement of risk, appropriate reinsurance placement and accounting and effective claims management are all key to Emerald’s underwriting approach Tel +27 11 658 8200 Email info@emeraldsa.co.za

www.emeraldsa.co.za

It also talks about the importance of gaining access to insurance. “In today’s world, gaining access is critical to success,” it says. “Access to reinsurers however is not nearly enough - you need access to all forms of capital, the latest analytical tools, the best people and the best ideas. AON Benfield brings the entire global marketplace within reach, offering seamless access to a full range of markets, products and services to help you compete and win.”

It stresses the importance of advocacy and innovation too. “With the backing of the world’s largest reinsurance intermediary, you are far from alone,” it says. “As your advocate and advisor, AON Benfield deploys the full strength of our organization on your behalf to ensure you are in the best possible position. Because we put your interests first, we succeed when you succeed.

“AON Benfield has a long history of pioneering cutting-edge solutions and proprietary tools,” it adds, referring to innovation. “From the creation of the industry’s first catastrophe model, to state-of-the-art portfolio optimisation strategies, to the first proprietary source of catastrophe capacity, AON Benfield helps you stay ahead of the curve.”

This is a good time to be involved in reinsurance, with demand for insurance and reinsurance continuing to grow quickly in Africa.

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SHAPING UNIQUE

SOLUTIONS THAT SHINE

Emerald is currently the largest Corporate Property and affiliated Engineering Underwriter in South Africa, and underwrites business throughout the African Continent.

The solution orientated approach of the Emerald team to create sustainable, quality products is part of their culture. This flexible approach, coupled with the support of their excellent Reinsurer panel, allows Emerald to be truly innovative.

The aim of the company is not to be the cheapest by cutting corners, but rather to be the best by offering expertise and skill.

Emerald writes business into the insurance licence of Santam Limited. Santam has a Standard & Poors rating of A- with a stable outlook.

For more information on how Emerald can assist your Corporate clients, visit our website or call us.

T +27 11 658 8200 W www.emeraldsa.co.za E info@emeraldsa.co.za Find us on Facebook www.facebook.com/ emeraldrisktransfer Or follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/ emeraldrisk

Aon

Ben f i el d

AON offers a full range of markets, products and services to help you compete and win

AON Benfield has a long history of pioneering cutting-edge solutions and proprietary tools. From the creation of the industry’s first catastrophe model, to state-of-the-art portfolio optimisation strategies, to the first proprietary source of catastrophe capacity, AON Benfield helps you stay ahead of the curve”

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Rating agencies are awarding stronger ratings to African Reinsurance providers and African economies continue to boom. Indeed, according to The Economist seven African countries - including Nigeria, Ethiopia and Mozambique - are forecast to be among the 10 fastest– growing economies over next five years. Nigeria has the largest population in Sub-Saharan Africa, which, combined with being the second largest economy - after South Africa of course - gives it the highest potential for life insurance in many peoples’ eyes.

The middle class in each of these countries is driving a growing demand for goods and services.

Demand for insurance products, new or otherwise, should follow.

“The urban consumer class represents a huge opportunity for the insurance industry. The key will be unlocking it,” one expert predicts.

Africa has not escaped the general increase in the worldwide incidence of natural catastrophes that, according to an AON, saw 900 occurrences globally in 2012, compared to 820 in 2011.

There has been widespread flooding in Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, and Nigeria, and severe drought in parts of the horn of Africa. The lack of

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insurance in these areas shows that the market is still very much in its infancy and with the exception of South Africa, should translate into immense potential.

Established in July 2008, the AON Benfield Natural Hazard Centre Africa is a collaboration between AON Benfield and the University of Pretoria, one of South Africa’s leading research universities.

The centre provides “expertise and research” on natural hazards, particularly seismic hazards, which affect South Africa and neighbouring territories. It also assists in the development of Aon Benfield’s proprietary GAP (Geographical Analysis Project) earthquake model for South Africa – GAPQuake South Africa - to benefit customers and the insurance market in South Africa.

The Centre is led by Professor Andrzej Kijko and located at the University of Pretoria’s main campus. It works closely with the Aon Benfield Analytics Natural Hazards team in London and has extensive skills in earthquake hazard modelling, mining catastrophe, flood and meteorological risk.

AON Benfield is a premier reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor. To learn more visit www.aonbenfield.com.

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W a stem a n

G r o u p

Wasteman se t s AGGRESSIVE

growth target

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s u p p ly

c h a i n

Wasteman Group offers specialist waste removal and disposal services to all sectors of the South African market and is looking to grow this year.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager Donovan Smith

outh African waste management company Wasteman provides total waste management solutions to clients in the industrial, commercial and municipal sectors across South Africa. Its blend of technical expertise, environmentally friendly methods, and state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, means it can offer tailormade and unique packages of services to meet individual client’s needs. Wasteman handles over one million tons of waste and services approximately 15,000 customers nationwide.

“We’re a diversified waste management company with specialised vehicles, auxiliary equipment and landfill sites as well as a whole spectrum of other services.

Our goal is sustainable solutions for a greener future,” says Wasteman’s Dave Marock.

Wasteman has come a long way since being founded some 30 years ago by one man with a van, and is now one of South Africa’s leading waste management and environmental services companies.

“Our achievements are due largely to the loyalty of our customer partners and the absolute dedication and contribution of all our employees,” Marock says.

And now the company is looking to grow.

“As we all know, the last four to five years - due to the worldwide recession - has been tough,” Marock says. “But Wasteman has restructured and adapted to the new environment. Wasteman is focusing on cashflow, costs, and margins, even if the turnover is lower, to have a sound stable business and we do see a lot of opportunities for us going forward, through innovation and service and product differentiation. Government is

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Africa has always been high-risk, high reward and so we are selectively expanding into Africa based firstly on guaranteed payment and ensuring or staff are safe and secure”

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also looking for service providers who can help with service delivery such as refuse collection, water sanitation or treatment and clients are requesting more from a service provider, trending and tending towards a one-stop shop or service supply. We tick the boxes. The client might want general waste collection, recycling and hazardous waste collection and or treatment from one service provider.”

Wasteman has budgeted aggressively for growth this year, some of which, says Marock, will be in the current structure and “some via acquisition”.

“Relevant divisions are being provided with the necessary CAPEX to ensure growth,” he says.

“Wasteman is looking at certain acquisitions and or treatment technologies to assist with growth.

“The current operating environment is tough, margins are under pressure, and cashflow is paramount. It is clear that the manufacturing sector and mining is depressed or down. A client might still provide the same bins collected for disposal however the tonnage is down and manufacturing is down.”

In 2012, Wasteman completed a series of transactions with Waste Giant, a successful South African commercial and industrial waste solutions company. The aim was expansion.

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“We’ve completed a series of transactions with Waste Giant, a successful business primarily operating inland that supplies commercial and industrial waste solutions,” says Marock. “The transaction gives Wasteman immediate strategic benefits through the opportunity to develop waste treatment assets in South Africa’s most economy active province – Gauteng.

“Waste Giant has given us a solid footprint to grow and integrate our other divisions into Gauteng and the surrounding provinces and together we will have an expanded footprint in Gauteng, a large market for us to grow into.”

Wasteman is also eyeing opportunities for African expansion.

“Africa is an exciting opportunity for us and we already have done significant work in Africa,” Marock says. “We see good growth potential for value added waste services into the rest of Africa and our strategy is to follow our clients into the region and provide them with the same value added service that they receive from us at home.

“We are in other African countries already and the continent is one of the growth economies for

the future. South Africa is the gateway to Africa and we have the most developed economy and infrastructure in Africa. There are vast opportunities in Africa with some risks, like securing payment and in certain African countries personal security. Africa has always been high-risk, high reward and so we are selectively expanding into Africa based firstly on guaranteed payment and ensuring or staff are safe and secure.”

Wasteman is committed to a greener future and we’ll likely hear much more from them as expansion plans come to fruition.

“Clients do not want the old ‘hump and dump’ scenario,” Marock concludes. “The first objective is can you minimise the waste product, can you recycle the waste product.

We are focusing on providing a better service to our clients. We are being innovative and providing “green solutions” to our clients. And we are ensuring that we differentiate Wasteman from its competitors by service excellence and innovation and ensuring that Wasteman is legally compliant and where applicable ISO compliant in the relevant divisions.”

Visit www.wasteman.co.za.

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Farmworker

Oak Valley Estate’s Anthony Rawbone-Viljoen talks diversification, award-winning wines and the farmworkers strike.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager Eddie Clinton

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nthony RawboneViljoen’s Oak Valley Estate in South Africa’s Elgin wine production Ward measures 1786 hectares and he has been farming the property his greatgrandfather founded in 1898 since 1973, helping to create a dynamic business, producing top-class award winning wines, cut flowers, grassfed beef, free-range corn-feed, pork and fruits. His first wine in the modern era was produced on the estate in 2003, when winemaker Pieter Visser created the maiden Oak Valley sauvignon blanc. It was an instant success.

“We have made great strides in the market since and we now produce seven wines,” says Rawbone-Viljoen.

The Oak Valley range of wines includes a sauvignon blanc, a chardonnay, a sauvignon/semillon blend (The OV), a pinot noir and a shiraz.

“The cool climate of the Elgin region, meticulous vineyard management and a very special respect for the indigenous flora and fauna combine to create wines with finesse and elegance. The Elgin Ward is considered to be one of the most distinctively cool areas in South Africa and this is reflected in the styles of wine produced here. The flavours of our wines are characterised by mineral undertones, complimented by fresh acidity, giving an elegance that has its origins in the cool terroir of the valley.”

There is more to Oak Valley than wine. It is also one of the largest deciduous fruit production units in South Africa.

“We’ve an extensive fruit business,” says Rawbone-Viljoen. “We were one of the first three farming units outside of the EU to achieve the prestigious Tesco Natures Choice accreditation, and we’re Globalgap accredited, giving us priority access to supermarket shelf space.

DRI N K

“We also have preferred supplier status with Waitrose in the UK.” The fruit crop is packed and stored at the Two-a-Day Group Limited and Elgin Fruit Juices (Pty) Ltd handles some of the processing. Marketing is conducted through a joint venture company called Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing (Pty) Limited.

“Africa is a growing part of our export drive and that market is fast growing,” says Rawbone-Viljoen.

“The continent has woken up and disposable incomes are on the rise.

Quite frankly, South Africa has an opportunity to supply these markets almost exclusively. There’s a lot of opportunity and with the difficulties in the Eurozone, where austerity budgets are biting, it is an alternative choice for us and we’re persuing that vigorously.”

Oak Valley is a highly diversified business. In addition to wine and fruits, it has a cutflower flower business, a business that offers guest cottages for short-term rental within

the estate, and it runs the Oak Valley Mountain Biking Experience. It even has a restaurant.

“We also have a gourmet meats business,” Rawbone-Viljoen adds.

“During 2007 we imported our first pedigreed Wagyu embryos from Australia. Remember, Wagyu is the beef breed that produces the famous Japanese Kobe beef. The first calves were born during 2008, and they will form the nucleus of a planned breeding programme, which

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will ultimately lead to production. The beef is renowned for its marbling and its intensity of flavour.”

And Oak Valley Gourmet Meats has been experimenting with the production of hams and related products made from acorn-fed freerange pigs.

“The business plan was an integrated plan which covered all the bases of what we want to do here.”

Life on the estate isn’t without challenges. In January the Elgin area was rocked by the much publicised farmworker strikes.

“It ended up being mainly confined to fruit and obviously as fruit farmers we were impacted,” says Rawbone-Viljoen. “All the strikes were illegal, wildcat strikes. We had a small contingent of our permanent labour force - 18 out of a total of 200 - who chose to strike and they managed to persuade some of the seasonal workers to join also. To put the thing in context, we have 200 permanent and up to 600 seasonal workers in any given season, and around 70 seasonal workers were persuaded to join this strike, which happily was not violent. It was a protest march, albeit illegal. It went through the farm and down the road where it kind of petered out. The balance of our permanent workforce who weren’t involved in the strike was pretty unhappy with the fact that this small clique had chosen to do what they did. In our case we didn’t have any direct fallout from this action but like any strike, it impacts on workers focus and we had productivity losses.”

In February, the government announced it would raise the rural minimum wage by 52 percent to R105 p/day.

There is more to Oak Valley than wine. It also has one of the largest deciduous fruit production units in South Africa

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The Elgin Ward is considered to be one of the most distinctively cool areas in South Africa and this is reflected in the styles of wine produced here. The flavours of our wines are characterised by mineral undertones, complimented by fresh acidity”

It came into effective on March 1.

The knock-on effects are likely to be dire. Farming is cyclical, some years are good, some years are bad – and you are essentially gambling with nature.

Outcomes are uncertain.

And it is a global market. Agriculture is subsidised in many other countries.

The fear is the wage increase could lead to job losses.

“The farmworkers were given a mantra that arrived overnight. In terms of impact, we operate within budget constraints and we have

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to cut out cloth accordingly. Our seasonal workers were previously paid between R80-R90 per day plus picking and sorting incentives. Permanent workers are paid, on average, R130 per day, with some earning up to R400 per day depending on seniority and skills.

Permanent workers have added benefits including housing, water, electricity, transport, pension and healthcare, predominantly funded by Oak Valley. What you have to remember here is that we’re dealing with a labour intensive industry, even on the flower side of our business, where your payroll cost is 42 percent of your total cost. The seasonal wage becomes the baseline for your permanent staff who remain much further ahead of that minimum wage. But still, there’s an expectation for them that if the seasonal staff are in that new baseline, then the permanent staff baseline should be adjusted. So it has significant implications for the agriculture business as a whole and I think the end result is going to be job losses on a broad scale which is unfortunate given the jobless situation in South Africa.”

General price increases are also likely.

“The wage has gone up significantly, albeit off a low base. Obviously there’s constant revision and planning and revision of methodologies in the workplace and there’s also the prospect of mechanisation. All these things don’t happen as quickly as the revision of basic wages. These things need to be researched and they take time but the impact will be felt.

“I think the industry will see a general price increase in 100 many of the crops; it will have a major impact. Otherwise, production will not take place.”

95 Regardless of the challenges and current uncertainty, Rawbone-Viljoen insists there is nowhere 75 else he’d rather be.

“Oak Valley is never boring. There is complexity here 100 that has to be managed. That is the challenge. But we are not rushing into things wildly. We do our homework.

We 25 95 plan. And we like to research and experiment. Of course, we would be nothing without the support of quality5 75 people and we have a proven track record of caring for our employees and are an equal opportunity employer.

0 The facilities offered, and working conditions in general, are of the highest standard.”

25 In 2011, Oak Valley had its first farmworker millionaire who received a R1.3 million payout from the Company 5 Provident Fund.

“In fact this year we will be seeing our third rand 0 millionaire! The first one took early retirement. It is very gratifying.”

To learn more visit www.oakvalley.co.za.

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12 April 2013 10:33:38 AM

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KFC spre a d s i ts w i n g s

Yum! Restaurants International continues to expand KFC’s African footprint.

Africa Outlook talks to Bruce Layzell, KFC General Manager New African Markets, about the firm’s growth across the continent and particularly in Nigeria.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager Eleanor Watson

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frica is undoubtedly one of the fastest growing regions globally and an increasingly attractive investment option, with the latest McKinsey Report suggesting consumer-facing industries in Africa are expected to grow by more than $400 billion by 2020.

The Economist Intelligence Unit meanwhile predicts that by 2030‚ Africa’s top 18 cities could have a combined spending power of $1.3 trillion.

The short-term outlook for the region remains broadly positive, and growth is projected at 5.25 percent a year in 2012–13. One of the main drivers is the increasing pace of urbanisation and consumerisation.

“Africa is undoubtedly one of the fastest growing regions globally and KFC is fully committed to harnessing this opportunity and building a sustainable business model on the continent,” says Bruce Layzell, KFC General Manager New African Markets.

By the end of 2012, KFC had 63 new African restaurants, with operations in Angola, Nigeria, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, Ghana, Kenya and Zambia.

The 63 figure excludes South Africa, Egypt, Morocco and Mauritius, which if included, would mean there are almost 900 KFC restaurants on the continent.

KFC has plans to extend its reach to Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Uganda in 2013, with much longer-term growth plans to establish itself in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Senegal.

“In Nigeria, our business has been primarily focused on Lagos as we seek to set up a world class system to ensure we can grow sustainably,” Layzell says.

“We are now in a position to focus more aggressively on other regions. We are enjoying seeing an expanding eating out culture and seeing the competitive landscape widen. This will no doubt start to bring economies of scale to suppliers, encourage more and better property

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development and generally stimulate the consumer environment whilst helping with business fundamentals.

“Yum! Africa has the vision to be the defining restaurant company on the continent and our efforts in 2013 will be to establish a firm foundation on which we can grow further.

“KFC has 16 outlets in Nigeria with significant plans to increase this.”

According to some reports Yum! is targeting 300 KFC restaurants by 2020.

Mr Layzell warns that taking a blanket approach doesn’t work.

“Our KFC restaurants in each market differ - our aim is to make our brand relevant in a local context. We won’t cut and paste a South African KFC into Nigeria or Zambia,” he says.

“There are two factors when looking at market potential – the first is how we do business, call it our internal ambit of control. The second is the

KFC has 16 outlets in Nigeria with significant plans to expand

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external environment - political stability, economic growth, infrastructure investment etc. If these two factors play positively together then we are very bullish about our growth potential.”

In Nigeria, KFC is planning to launch a seafood range.

“KFC customers around the world enjoy a varied menu obviously coupled with some key brand defining elements like our Original Recipe ™ chicken. Our outstanding Fish Zinger ™ burgers and Zinger Shrimps ™ are a way of bringing diversity to our menu but with a familiar meat block that we know Nigerians love,” Layzell says. “Nigerians are very much part of the global village and they demand world class products, world class service and world class experiences. At KFC we strive to deliver on this need and we are uncompromising to ensure, through our products, customers’ and restaurants demands are met. Our global reach allows us to tap into the very frontline of product development and consumer trends and we know that success here will hinge on us ensuring that Nigerians get to experience these things sooner rather than later.”

As well as KFC is performing in Nigeria, Layzell knows more could be done.

“Our Nigerian store openings have been some of the best in the world,” he says. “However, we know that most Nigerians do not know our brand or the heritage of Colonel Saunders. It goes back to our initial marketing and branding principles and building the brand from scratch but on the shoulders of the global giant and implementing lessons learnt from around the world. Globally, Yum! has a majority

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KFC has an impressive and diverse menu

Tuns International Holdings limited Tuns International Holdings is a dynamic and diversified Nigeria-based company with vast investment in agriculture, manufacturing and property development. With over 33 years of experience, we have already perfected the strategy of maintaining global quality standard in production at all times, as well as unparalleled customer satisfaction and value delivery under the company structure that comprises of Tuns International Holdings Limited and sister company Tuns Farms Nigeria Limited.

• Tuns Farms Nigeria Limited is a leading figure in the production of hatch-able broiler eggs, day old chicks of excellent field performance, healthy live broiler birds, highly nutritious poultry feeds as well as heart-friendly soya oil, soya meal and full-fat soya for consumers across Nigeria.

• Reaching the peak is our ultimate goal and our emphasis is on quality, customer satisfaction and value delivery in all our business activities.

• We are poised to deliver the best at all times.

• We feed and maintain daily an average of 500,000 live birds in the poultry section kept in auto climatic bio-secured houses.

• We share a sizeable proportion of the market including multinational companies and individual consumers across the nation.

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of franchised outlets and it is this approach we are currently implementing in Africa. It allows us to marry the process and discipline of our brand systems with in-market experience and knowledge.”

Already, despite only entering the country in 2010, KFC has made a valuable contribution to the Nigerian economy.

All of its chicken is Nigerian farmed and processed and it has helped improve local standards.

Importantly, it has increased consumer choice.

“100 percent of our chicken in Nigeria is Nigerian farmed and processed. We have worked with some outstanding partners to upgrade facilities and standards to meet the exact requirements that our brand demands,” says Layzell. “We want to be seen as a Nigerian company that contributes to the Nigerian economy and people on a number of levels.

As such, we will always try to localise production where we can source the right quality at the right price. The ultimate goal would be to get Nigerian suppliers to the level of capacity that would allow them to export to other countries.

“We apply the same global standards regardless of where in the world we operate. We thus hold our Nigeria suppliers to these high standards. This has required many to invest significant amounts in upgrading facilities and support systems. We have really enjoyed how our suppliers have embraced our standards and systems and many have seen our entry as a catalyst to help them achieve world class standards.

“I think our entry has raised the bar in a number of areas and most of our competitors have responded positively. This is ultimately giving the Nigerian consumers a better experience of our sector as a whole, enabling us to grow the sector resulting in a win-win situation for the parties concerned. It is interesting to see the increasing number of international brands entering the market and I’d like to think it is because we have shown others that it can be done.”

Nigeria isn’t a country without problems however and investors should take note of the challenges of operating there. “Obviously the power supply challenges would interrupt our daily productivity – this is why we have invested in generators etc,” Layzell says. “These added overhead costs make the business model challenging and thus pushes up the price of our products. Congestion makes deliveries challenging but we need to think outside the box for solutions – after hour deliveries are an example of this. The cost of real estate, challenges in tracking down property owners and the myriad of planning permissions required for

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KFC applies the same global standards regardless of where it operates

KFC customers around the world enjoy a varied menu obviously coupled with some key brand defining elements like our Original Recipe™ chicken. Our outstanding Fish Zinger™ burgers and Zinger Shrimps™ are a way of bringing diversity to our menu”

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each store means that we can’t build as quickly as we would like. However, we face these challenges in many parts of the world and the key is to improve the things which are in our control and look to mitigate the effect of things which are not.”

All things considered, he is excited by the future.

“Every day there is a new report on the opportunity that Africa presents, most showing the usual numbers of GDP growth, rising middle class, and improving political stability.

However, the challenge for all businesses looking at Africa is how to turn this potential into profit. Businesses on the continent still face many challenges and all of the growth talked about in the reports mentioned earlier is yet to flow through into the majority of consumers. We are absolutely positive about our growth potential in Africa though understanding that overall success will not be achieved overnight. It will take time and significant effort, though we celebrate having gotten it right in the initial stages of setting up shop in Nigeria.

“We are most positive about our future as a brand in Nigeria.”

What does Layzell believe is the secret to the firm’s Nigerian success? “Like any business it is about delivering the right product at the right price in the right location and delivering an exceptional customer experience simultaneously,” he says.

“Nigerians demand world class service and we’re going to give it to them.”

To learn more visit www.kfc.co.za.

We are now in a position to focus more aggressively on other regions. We are enjoying seeing an expanding eating out culture and seeing the competitive landscape widen.

This will no doubt start to bring economies of scale to suppliers, encourage more and better property development and generally stimulate the consumer environment whilst helping with business fundamentals”

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Ekurhuleni’s aerotropolis set for

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Key to Ekurhuleni Municipality’s 2055 Growth and Development Strategy is the aerotropolis masterplan.

Africa Outlook has a look at the proposals.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager Stuart Platt

t’s no secret that there needs to be improvement in how South Africa is managed at a national, provincial and municipal level.

According to the auditor general, only five percent of municipalities obtained clean audit reports in the financial year 2011/2012.

There are currently 343 municipalities in the country and worryingly five of South Africa’s nine provinces did not have a single municipality with a clean audit, including Gauteng, the country’s economic engine.

The Gauteng Province is divided into three metropolitan municipalities – City of Johannesburg, City of Tswane, and Ekurhuleni - and two district municipalities (Sedibeng and West Rand), which are further divided into seven local municipalities.

In 2009, the Gauteng Provincial Government deployed a specialised team in Ekurhuleni to assist in

This flagship project has been in the pipeline for some time and I am aware that there continues to be sceptics in our ranks as to whether it will see the light of day. To them I wish to confirm that we have no intention to go back on pronouncements made previously”

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accelerating “the provision of services, infrastructure development and to deal with outstanding disputes”.

The municipality had been facing challenges in its finances, infrastructure and planning.

It also lagged behind in providing key services.

The municipality requested that the provincial government step in and deploy a team to assist in the short term, isolating and resolving issues that may be impeding proper service delivery in specific areas.

Much has since changed. But there is still work to be done.

In his latest state of the city address, Mayor Mondli Gungubele talked at length about the municipality’s 2055 Growth and Development Strategy – a programme he described as “the essence of a future development trajectory for Ekurhuleni”.

“To borrow from US President Barrack Obama, “As our parents’ children, we have the opportunity to learn from these mistakes and disappointments. We have the opportunity to muster the courage to fulfil the promise of our forefathers and lead our great nations towards a better future”,” he said. “In the light of the above, we are today presenting 12 building blocks, which are aimed at delivering a liveable city in the short to medium term, and a productive, future city in the long term. These are the blocks that we started laying since the beginning of our term of office. Going forward, we will be picking up momentum in their implementation.”

Those “blocks” are extensive and include, as the Mayor put it, “intensifying job creation activities”, “strengthening public participation”, “improving local public services” and “broadening access and combating fraud and corruption”.

Other blocks include better revenue management, working

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Ekurhuleni City Manager Khaya Ngema has pledged support to Ekurhuleni becoming a Aerotropolis

We believe that by making the airport, city and region better connected, we can develop in a more economically efficient, attractive and sustainable way”

RED FARMS SOCIAL FOOD SECURITY PROJECTS

Red Farms Broad Based Cooperative Business Participation Farming and Social Food Security Program Red Farms is a social enterprise development project initiated and driven by the Red Ant Security Services Pty Ltd. Red Farms will function and operate as a Cooperative Business Participation Management Farming Project, co-opting emerging Farmers into the various Management positions available on the project and having a stake in profits as delegated to each management position.

Mayoral food delivery to the Poortjie Informal Settlement Johannesburg

At present the project is providing food support on a weekly basis to the elderly, schools, needy families and orphanages around Johannesburg to the extent of feeding 6,000 household per week and 24,000 households per month.

We train mentor and empower emerging farmers.

Activities in progress include:

Deputy CEO Buti Lesiela handing over the first Profit Share Bonus earned by the farm workers permanently employed in the project.

• Soil preparation • Irrigation and seeding • Planting a variety of seeds • Harvesting • Distributing to the needy • Fish farming • Training For more information please contact: RED ANT SECURITY SERVICES (PTY) LTD T/A RED FARMS SOCIAL FOOD SECURITY PROJECTS TEL: 0027 (0) 11 444 9226

Potatoes being harvested for Rabie Ridge and Poortjie Settlements

WWW.REDFARMS.CO.ZA

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to transforming the economy, reviving the manufacturing sector and the development of the Ekurhuleni aerotropolis, a plan that will see Ekurhuleni become Africa’s first “airport city”, a link to the rest of South Africa.

The aerotropolis is really “the heart” of the new development strategy and it seems to be taking flight.

Referring to the project, the Mayor said: “This flagship project has been in the pipeline for some time, and I am aware that there continues to be sceptics in our ranks as to whether it will see the light of day. To them I wish to confirm that we have no intention to go back on pronouncements made previously.

“Following the development of our Strategic Roadmap, we have now set out to develop the aerotropolis masterplan. In this regard, a tender has been issued, to invite appropriately qualified service providers to step forward and help us develop this masterplan. We anticipate that process will take up to eighteen months to conclude.

“Our plans enjoy the support of Provincial and National Government.”

He pledged to “make sure that the Ekurhuleni aerotropolis is an overwhelming success.”

Home to OR Tambo airport, Ekurhuleni has every chance of succeeding in its goal. Key to the success of the project will be the ability to attract investors. Several airline companies are already headquartered in Kempton Park – national flag carrier South African Airways for example – while low-cost carrier Mango is headquartered at OR Tambo.

However, Shaddow MMC for Finannce in Ekurhuleni Eddie Taylor believes “the challenge the city faces is the issue of expanding”.

Ekurhuleni is not the only City hoping to develop into an aerotropolis, King Shaka airport in KwaZuluNatal has the advantage of space for expansion.

But what Ekurhuleni doesn’t have in space, it makes up for in roads. Good roads. And newly improved freeways. These factors have seen the project endorsed by international experts.

“If the aerotropolis will inspire economic growth there will have to be synergy among key stakeholders,” says Schipol Area Development Company’s Vivianne Blommers, an international expert from the Netherlands. “We believe that by making the airport, city and region better connected, we can develop in a more economically efficient, attractive and sustainable way.

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The aerotropolis should be seen as a vehicle to position the SA economy among the world economies.

It must be about creating jobs, poverty alleviation, and the equitable share of business opportunities to small, micro and medium enterprises”

Several airlines including SAA are headquarted in Kempton Park

Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane and Ekurhuleni Executive mayor Mondli Gungubele at the Aerotropolis Investor Conference

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According to Blommers, “An aerotropolis model maximises the competitive advantages of having an Airport City in a strong Metropolis.

“Of course, a global city region can only exist in the presence of a hub. Airport, City and Region need to be connected in a way that benefits the hub as a whole,” she says.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is one of the pioneers of the Airport City formula.

“It is a business model based on the concept that an airport is not just an arrival-anddeparture terminal. It’s about integrating aviation and non-aviation activities,” says Blommers. “It is a dynamic hub integrating people and businesses, logistics and shops, information and entertainment offering its visitors and locally based international businesses all the services they require on a 24/7 basis.”

With the high unemployment rate in the country, including Ekurhuleni, the aerotropolis would create employment and economic growth. “We have the OR Tambo, the airport and the City of Ekurhuleni will have to continue to create a secure and conducive climate for business development as the only sustainable way to address unemployment and poverty,” says Professors Carel van Aardt from the University of South Africa. “Ekurhuleni’s responsibility is to improve the enabling of environment and eliminating deterrents to do business in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng and the wider South Africa.”

Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane believes that the success of the aerotropolis will lead to the prosperity of all the people of Gauteng including the business community.

“The aerotropolis should be seen as a vehicle to position the SA economy among the world economies. It must be about creating jobs, poverty alleviation, and the equitable share of business opportunities to small, micro and medium enterprises,” she says.

“We must create a good environment for investors, we must put processes in place to improve turnaround time in making decisions and have teams in place to identify and mitigate threats before it is too late.”

To learn more about the project and everything else happening in Ekurhuleni (there is a lot going on) visit www.ekurhuleni.gov.za.

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Rising ashes from the Like a phoenix from the flames the Msunduzi Municipality has risen from the ashes.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager Tom Lloyd

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t is early 2010. The Msunduzi Municipality is in disarray. The situation is bad. It’s dire.

Things are so bad that KZN’s local governance and traditional affairs MEC Nomusa Dube has put the municipality under administration. It has descended into what she described as “turmoil”. Dube announced that her office would take over the municipality’s administration. She sent three experts, two accountants and an auditor to look at expenditure and supply chain management. The collapse of governance and financial management in Msunduzi led to the sacking of the mayor, Zanele Hlatshwayo, and her executive. A new executive under a new mayor was put in place.

Things soon improved. In fact, the turnaround was profound. Dube proclaimed that she’d brought financial stability, service delivery, governance and accountability to the municipality.

She had.

“We are looking to a bright future,” says Municipal spokesperson Brian Zuma.

“We aren’t where we would want or like to be, but we’ve made some very good progress. We have stabilised financially and marching forward.”

Msunduzi was a victim of all the things that affect every municipality: falling revenues, growing debt, crumbling infrastructure, corruption and decreasing technical and other skills.

“Inadequate revenue collection, electricity outages due to ageing infrastructure and a high staff vacancy rate were the problems. We had to act,” says Zuma. “First, we had to get in shape financially to stand any change of improving service delivery. A long-term financial plan has been developed with clearly defined goals that have and are shaping the future, resource allocation and the growth and development of the municipality.”

One of the first things Msunduzi was quick to tackle soon after coming out of administration was filthy streets and uncollected rubbish.

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Zuma says the municipality acquired some “tools of trade” to achieve that, including a R3.7 million rubbish compactor, and seven waste removal trucks that cost R8Million. 108 new vehicles were also purchased.

Tracking devices were also installed in newly purchased vehicles to ensure employees did not abuse the fleet.

An assessment of all electricity infrastructure was also carried out.

“One of the things we are doing is that we have got a multi-million rand project to upgrade power lines in the Hilton area and that should be completed very, very soon,” says Zuma. “The R15 million plan kicked off at the beginning of last year, 2012, and it is important because residents and businesses in the area have been plagued by constant electricity cuts, with some saying they have had to buy generators to keep fridges and essential appliances working. The problem stemmed from the increasing number of residents in the area, which has put strain on the grid, and also the lack of provision and investment in the past.

“At this point in time we are almost close to completing line B which we should complete by the end of this month and then go back to line A. Line A is already 50 percent complete because we had to start with it, do it 50 percent so that we mix it up with the old line.

“The people in Hilton shall have a power line that is upgraded which should not be giving us any problems like we had before.”

The municipality is also making huge improvements in Pietermaritzburg (PMB), the capital of KwaZulu-Natal and the fifth largest city in South Africa.

PMB is a major economic hub, set amidst forested hills and rolling countryside.

It is a vibrant African city and an increasingly attractive investment destination due to its proximity to the Durban Port, and its strategic location on the N3 corridor.

“There is so much we are doing,” says Zuma.

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The new Greater Edendale Mall has been a catalyst. The shopping centre was opened in September 2011, a R350 million investment that has created thousands of jobs, providing a onestop shopping experience for residents in the area.

“Commerce is vital and we are continually looking to improve PMB’s attractiveness and investment potential and is doing a lot of work with respect to informal housing.”

Several major housing projects that will provide formal houses are being rolled out, says Zuma. “We are committed to it,” he explains.

Msunduzi is also planning to develop a R3 billion integrated rapid transport network and has revealed plans for a R300 million optic fibre cable network throughout the Msunduzi area to improve connectivity.

“We spend approximately R400 million on capital projects every year,” Zuma explains. “We are investing lots in the PMB Urban Renewal Programme, costing more than R45 million over the next 12 months, and this will create many permanent and temporary jobs.

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After the initial 12 months, there would be a monthly R2 million investment in the project.”

Another major project is an extension of the huge Liberty Midlands Mall, a shopping and retail centre that boasts a number of high profile tenants such as Pick n Pay, Shoprite, Standard Bank and McDonalds.

“It’s a big investment and with the final sale of the remaining piece of land to the Liberty group, we believe that the expansion will finally take off some time next year and benefit not only Pietermaritzburg but the entire region,” says Zuma. “We also have things like Hayfield Super Spar, another private initiative, which was approved by the municipality but had to be stopped due to public objections. That is now progressing.

And of course we also have the PMB waterfront development awaiting environmental assessment approval. All will create jobs and is all positive.”

Msunduzi’s turnaround is in full-swing. To learn more visit www.msunduzi.gov.za.

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Into the

Wilderness announces reshuffle, targets African growth.

Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager Stuart Shirra

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hether you go deep bush in northern Kruger or follow the big cats in the Maasai Mara, a trip into the wilderness will be life-changing and it’s very probably the number one thing on your list of stuff to do in Africa. This is where Wilderness Holdings comes in. It has been providing tailor-made holidays and superb accommodation to African visitors for 30 years.

Indeed, it is the largest safari company in the SADC region.

“We’re a company that operates on a policy of conservation through tourism and share the benefits with local communities,” says acting CEO Keith Vincent. “Wilderness began life as Wilderness Safaris in Botswana in 1983 and it is the holding company for many of Africa’s premier ecotourism brands: Wilderness Safaris; Wilderness Air; Wilderness Adventures; Wilderness Explorations; Wilderness Collection; Wilderness Wildlife Trust; and Children in the Wilderness. Each of these brands is a leader in its specific niche.”

Wilderness has countless properties throughout Southern Africa: the Okavango Delta in Botswana; Sossusvlei in Namibia; Kruger Park in South Africa, Kafue, Victoria Falls in Zambia; and Hwange in Zimbabwe, to name a few.

“We’ve got it all,” says Vincent. “In terms of safari we’ve a vast array of world-class lodges to choose from.”

Mr Vincent replaced Andy Payne in March, albeit on a temporary basis.

“This is part of a significant change,” he explains. “It is part of our bid to improve operations as well as to build further executive capacity and to support our operations in Botswana. We would definitely like to move more of our capacity and certain functions from Johannesburg to Botswana in order to develop the business further.

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Just some of the animals you can see on Safari with Wilderness

“The move makes sense because Botswana is by far our biggest business so it makes sense for us to make the change.”

Wilderness has about 900 employees in Botswana, by far the bulk of its total employee base of 2,500.

“Really it is about what we see as untapped opportunities that exist in Botswana as well as the rest of the region. We think we’ll be better placed to tap into them from Botswana than Johannesburg.”

As Africa’s premier conservation organisation and ecotourism company Wilderness is dedicated to ‘responsible tourism’ throughout the areas in which it operates in. These changes play into that, says Vincent. “Our goal is to share wild areas with guests from all over the world while at the same time helping to ensure the future protection of Africa’s spectacular wildlife heritage and sharing the benefits of tourism with local communities. In the past couple of years we have been focusing on operations outside Botswana because they have had a tougher time in the tourism market.

Botswana was only mildly affected by the economic downturn.

“Thanks to our efforts, the business is performing well. I can’t give you too much information at the moment because we are a in a closed period but it is performing well. We started a big reshuffle of functions in our business 18 months ago and the results of those are proving to be very good. We are encouraged about the outlook over the next couple of years on the basis of our three-year plan and we

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Really it is about what we see as untapped opportunities that exist in Botswana as well as the rest of the region”

We’ve got it all. In terms of safari we’ve a vast array of world-class lodges to choose from”

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are well down the track of moving towards the goals of that.

“Now it is a case of really focusing a little bit more on Botswana and exploiting potential here and other opportunities in emerging SADC markets. Obviously because of the economic downturn we have been more internal focused over the past three or four years and haven’t been looking for opportunities to grow too much. There is no doubt there is an upturn in demand throughout the regions now and we’ll definitely, over the course of the next couple of years, be looking at more growth opportunities outside of the regions we are operating in now.”

Two countries Vincent is keeping a keen eye on are Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

“I think Zimbabwe is turning a corner,” he says.

“We’re waiting to see what happens in the elections later this year but we have an incredibly strong footprint in Zimbabwe which we have maintained over the last 12 years despite the political challenges. But, there is no doubt that in the last 18 months there has been significant improvement in Zimbabwe and for us it would be very low cost growth potential because we already have most of the infrastructure in place.”

Parallel Hospitality Supplies has been involved in the hospitality Industry since 1991.

We supply various hotels, lodges, conference centres, mining facilities, restaurants and catering companies throughout Africa. We are suppliers of food items, non –food items, table top products, kitchen equipment, back of house, janitorial- and maintenance requirements.

We are proud to be affiliated to the Wilderness Safaris Group as their procurement team. We wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

65 Nasmith Road, Jupiter, Germiston, South Africa Tel: +27 11 873 6119 Fax: +27 86 516 0170 www.pmhs.co.za

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Wilderness has spent a lot of time and money in the last 12 months refining its operations and refurbishing and Snorkeling at the rebuilding campsites not just in North Island resort, Seychelles Zimbabwe, but across Africa.

It is paying off. “It is all part of our strategy, the first pillar of which was to make sure our properties are maintained to the highest level. We have been putting in significant levels of capital into the refurbishment and rebuild of some of our facilities in particular in Namibia where we got rid of a couple of non-performing assets and refocused what we offered in the country. Namibia was probably harder hit than any of the others regions because it is a very European based market, specifically France, Italy and the UK. We refocused that business.

We have been putting significant money into refurbishments and new camps in Botswana too and we are starting to dribble some investment into Zimbabwe. “Making sure our properties were maintained and positioned ahead of all of our competitors was very much the first step because there has been very little capital investment made by our competitors in their camps in recent years.�

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On Track – Master of Solar Let the African sun power your business Across Africa people are beginning to realise the need for an alternative energy source. Solar is becoming an increasingly good investment if you are looking to save money and the environment.

Quick payback periods are assured and can be calculated accurately in advance On Track has powered some of the world’s leading upmarket game lodges and resorts, which are run entirely on solar energy On Track has been successful in building sustainable solar plants all over Africa and has contributed to preserving the environment by reducing the use of fossil fuel and resultant carbon emissions The customer is assured of the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO), and virtual maintenance free operation. It does not end there as continuous research, study and development further assure the customer of continuous upgrades to their plants.

This in turn future-proofs their investment in both technical and financial terms

Investment in human capital ties in with the three year strategy too, and Wilderness has ploughed funds into setting up its own business school, says Vincent. “That is very important. Our second step was to invest in our younger generation and we have been making significant investments into staff training and executive training. Basically, we created our own business school and we’ve got a retired professor from Harvard Business School working for us and training our next tier of executive management. The idea is to bring fresh energy through and make sure the business is better able to fight the battles that probably need to be fought. We are moving more and more into the internet phase. We don’t take direct bookings as a business. We are a b2b operator through a network of agents. As part of that we also made a significant investment into an internet based reservation system. Now the camp operation is our core but we’ve been linking it all together in a simplified reservation system for our agents enabling us to drop our cost quite significantly.”

Promoting from within is very important to Wilderness. According to Vincent, those individuals are more likely to succeed than external hires. That is because they “understand the business and understand the customer”.

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Tel +27 21 851 8536 Email technical@otap.co.za

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Intex Timbercraft Intex Timbercraft is proud to have been associated with the Wilderness Safaris for the past 8 years.

We specialize in timber construction and have been involved in the complete construction of numerous lodges and Safari camps for Wilderness Safaris in South Africa, Zambia and the Republic of Congo Intex Timbercraft offers a turnkey operation and is involved from the design stage through to guest arrivals We pride ourselves on being able to overcome all kinds of extreme site difficulties associated with working at difficult locations in Africa and always look forward to whatever challenges lay ahead Tel +2711 524 0923 Email etimber@mweb.co.za

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We believe our business is like a family and understand clearly that people are the heart of our business.

From an experience point of view we believe that wildlife and the camp infrastructure is really only 50 percent of the overall customer experience. Service is very important”

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“We believe our business is like a family and understand clearly that people are the heart of our business. From an experience point of view we believe that wildlife and the camp infrastructure is really only 50 percent of the overall customer experience. Our people are the ones that deliver the final part and make the difference. Service is very important. If we are going to be a consumer orientated business we want to keep that people connection.

We don’t just want another MBA coming out of another school. And that is why we are training internally and promoting from within. It is easier, we think, to teach the business side.

Dealing with customers is a skill that is character based. You don’t learn it in a school. On that front we are very much looking for characters.”

Interestingly Wilderness’s visitor profile has changed slightly.

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“There has been a slight shift,” says Vincent. “Our core market, primarily out of Europe and North America, has been solid. The fallout from the global economic crisis and knock-on on tourism has been in the mid-tier, people spending between $3-5k a head on a 12 to 14 day holiday. There has definitely been a slowdown in that part of the market. In the top end, and I’m talking between $7-15k per head, that has shown significant improvement to the tune of at least 20 percent up on the prior year.

So, they have definitely taken up the slack. One of the key indicators we look at is how long in advance people book their holidays. If you go back to pre 2008, in particular in Botswana most bookings – around 80 percent – took place in excess of a year in advance. After the economic downturn that slipped to

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about 6-7 months. It is now back up to a year. That is a very good indicator of confidence.”

He is optimistic about the future.

“I think we’ve laid the foundation and I’ve no doubt we can achieve our three-year objectives. There may be some tweaking; if we notice an upturn, it would create an atmosphere where we’d be looking to make an acquisition or move more significantly into other areas.

The growth could happen sooner than expected. We are sitting here in Africa and you read press from the international side and it is all doom and gloom. But my bookings in the first half of this year are 40 percent up on the same period last year.

Also the local exchange rates have moved in our favour because predominantly we charge in dollars.”

To learn more about Wilderness and to book your trip visit www.wilderness-holdings.com.

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Wastex Africa Gallagher Convention Centre 19 Richard Drive Midrand, Johannesburg 1685 South Africa 29-31 May 2013 www.wastexafrica.co.za Gauteng Motor Show Zwartkops Raceway Quagga Rd Centurion Pretoria South Africa 1-2 June 2013 www.gautengmotorshow.co.za Totally Concrete Expo Sandton Convention Centre 161 Maude Street Sandown 2196 Johannesburg South Africa 4-5 June 2013 www.totallyconcrete.co.za ZIMEC 2013 The New Government Complex Conference Centre Independence Avenue, Kamwala Lusaka Zambia 18-20 June 2013 www.zimeczambia.com

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