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Interview with fastjet
CEO Ed Winter
GROWTH ON THE MENU
18
Unilever Food Solutions helps chefs all over the
world “serve tasty, wholesome meals that keep
guests coming back for more”
EXCELLING ON A
GLOBAL STAGE 118
Saab grintek Defence is a
South African company with
a global reputation
TOWERING
ABOVE THE
REST
98
Helios towers
Nigeria provides
fully-managed
tower sites for the
telecoms industry
in Nigeria
POWERING UP 56
Mantrac Nigeria distributes and supports
the full range of Caterpillar construction
machines, power systems and materialhandling
equipment
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the finest quality Italian products
into Africa
Mangiare Bene, Vivere Bene - eat well, live well
Contact Clifford Barratt, Managing Director
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W E l C O M E
Reaching for African skies
It’s that time of year again
where we prepare for the
visit of the man in the red suit,
power shortages (if you’re
in South Africa and have to
rely on Eskom), the peak of
summer, and of course the
annual shutdowns. It’s also that
time where you reflect on the
past year, 12 months in which a
meteor exploded over Russia,
a new Pope was appointed and
of course Edward Snowden
blew the lid on a mass U.S.
surveillance operation, a story
that continues to run.
Our next issue will see us look back further on 2013 as well as look to
2014 and what we can expect by way of trends. But that’s next month
and for now we’ve many, many treats and you shouldn’t view this as
some sort of go-between.
first off, you’ll have noticed our cover story, an interview with
Ed Winter the CEO of fastjet, an ambitious company with a rather
ambitious plan to build Africa’s first pan-African low-cost airline. now
that’s quite the task but the former pilot who held senior roles at Ukbased
British Airways, easyJet and go has all the experience necessary
to pull it off. Learn more on page 10.
We also bring you the story of Unilever Food Solutions, the company
which helps chefs all over the
world “serve tasty, wholesome
meals that keep guests coming
back for more”, the story of Castrol
in South Africa, Mantrac in Nigeria
and Concord Cranes an ambitious
new South African crane hire
company, as well as discuss the
successes at Saab grintek Defence,
the winner of Best South African
Export Company at the inaugural
South African Premier Business
Awards earlier this year.
Ian Armitage
Editor, Outlook Publishing
Enjoy the magazine.
EDITORIAL
Editor: Ian Armitage
ian.armitage@outlookpublishing.com
PRODUCTION
Production Manager: Clare Durrant
clare.durrant@outlookpublishing.com
BUSINESS
Sales Director: Nick Norris
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Sales: Donovan Smith
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Projects Director: James Mitchell
james.mitchell@outlookpublishing.com
Project Managers:
Sheridan Halls
sheridan.halls@outlookpublishing.com
Stuart Shirra
stuart.shirra@outlookpublishing.com
tom Cullum
tom.cullum@outlookpublishing.com
Ben Wigger
ben.wigger@outlookpublishing.com
Arron Rampling
arron.rampling@outlookpublishing.com
Hal Hutchison
hal.hutchison@outlookpublishing.com
ACCOUNTS
Finance Manager:
Suzanne Welsh
suzanne.welsh@outlookpublishing.co
Office Administrator: Daniel george
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MAGAZINE DESIGN: Optic Juice ltd
IMAGES: getty
DIGITAL & IT: Hamit Saka
HELPDESK: James leMay
Outlook Publishing
Managing Director: Ben Weaver
ben.weaver@outlookpublishing.com
Chairman: Mark Weaver
CONTACT
Africa Outlook / UK
22 Wensum Street, Norwich, Uk, NR3 1Hy
Sales: +44 (0) 1603 559 551
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
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3

C O N T E N T S
18 56
In this issue of Africa Outlook...
06
10
NEWS
All the latest news from across Africa
B USINESS
Reaching for African skies
Fastjet’s CEO Ed Winter has become
something of an expert in overcoming
obstacles and shares his plans for low-cost travel
in Africa
14
F INANCE
10
Investment profile: Mozambique
Africa Outlook takes a closer look
at Mozambique’s business and
investment potential
FOOD & DRINK FOCUS
G rowth on the menu
Unilever Food Solutions helps chefs
all over the world “serve tasty,
18 wholesome meals that keep guests
coming back for more”
A winning taste
for life
Symrise is a global supplier of
42 fragrances, flavorings, cosmetic
active ingredients, raw materials and
functional ingredients
G BF eyes African
expansion
Greenbelt Fertilisers, a 100 percent
48 subsidiary of CHC Commodities, plays
a major role in Africa’s farming community
CONSTRUCTION FOCUS
R eaching new
heights
In 2012 Investec facilitated a
52 transaction whereby Concord Cranes
Ltd became the holding company of Anglo-V3
Crane Hire and Elcon Crane Hire
P owering up
Mantrac Nigeria distributes and
supports the full range of Caterpillar
56 construction machines, power
systems and material-handling equipment
62
108 114
HEALTHCARE FOCUS
M oi Teaching and
Referral Hospital
Africa Outlook speaks to Dr
John Kibosia
4 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

FINANCE FOCUS
Association of
Kenya Insurers
Kenya’s insurance sector is growing. Industry
70 veteran Tom Gichuhi, the CEO of the Association of
Kenya Insurers, gives us his insight
72
76
82
88
P oised for growth
GA Insurance is a company poised for growth says
CEO Vijay Srivastava
M aintaining a niche focus
Altrisk is a specialist long term risk product
provider whose reputation has been built around
superior underwriting expertise
ENERGY FOCUS
S outh Africa’s national
oil company
South Africa’s national oil company PetroSA
continues “to perform admirably”
R unning Smoothly
Castrol South Africa has been making oil since men
have been making cars
TELECOMS FOCUS
MANUFACTURING FOCUS
E xcelling on a
global stage
Saab Grintek Defence is a
114 South African company with a
global reputation
M anufacturing in
South Africa
Foreword by Coenraad
122 Bezuidenhout, Executive Director,
Manufacturing Circle
A frican ambition
Kansai Plascon is a company with
expansion on its mind. Already the
124 premier paint company in South
Africa, Plascon was purchased by Japanese
company Kansai in 2012
134
138
T he fabric of
a community
For South Africa’s Pep Clothing there
is more to life than loss or profit
F ull flush
Crystal Paper is recognised as being
the leading independent tissue paper
manufacturer in Africa
94
104
108
T owering above the rest
Helios Towers Nigeria provides fully-managed
tower sites for the telecoms industry in Nigeria
SUPPLY CHAIN FOCUS
A clear winner
Elite Clearing and Forwarding (Pty) Ltd is an
expert international shipping company offering
comprehensive logistics and freight solutions
T he wings of East Africa
Meridiana Africa Airlines Limited, trading as Air
Uganda, is a privately owned airline founded in
2007 in Uganda
142
E VENTS
94 82
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
5

N E W S
Finance
Property group
Attacq lists on JSE
Property group Attacq, which was
previously known as Atterbury
Investment Holdings, has listed
on the real estate holdings and
development sector of the main
board of the JSE.
Since its inception eight years ago,
the firm has delivered an average
compound annual return exceeding
20 percent.
Morne Wilken, Attacq CEO,
said: “Listing Attacq will create a
foundation to grow the business
further. It enables Attacq to access
capital efficiently, raise its profile and
expand its investor base, all of which
should enhance Attacq’s prospects.”
He added: “Attacq’s focus on
long-term sustainable capital
growth distinguishes it from other
JSE-listed property entities, such as
REITs that predominantly focus on
rental income distribution. When
considering Attacq’s listing, we
assessed the investor benefits of
various structures, including REITs.
But, our established structure
and business model of delivering
sustainable long-term capital
appreciation has proven successful
and delivered excellent results to our
investors. The timing of the listing
also places Attacq in an ideal position
to invest in excellent development
opportunities, especially those at
Waterfall Business Estate.”
Attacq’s assets comprise two
focus areas: investments and
developments. Its portfolio strategy
is to hold 65 percent investments and
35 percent developments to optimise
long-term sustainable capital growth,
enhance total returns to shareholders
and mitigate risk.
Wilken explained: “Our investment
in completed buildings provides stable
and growing income and balance sheet
strength to responsibly secure and
fund high-growth opportunities within
developments. In turn, the group’s
developments create a pipeline of highquality
investment properties that grows
the investment base, as developments
are retained rather than realised.”
Attacq’s asset base of R12.5
billion at March 2013 includes
landmark commercial and retail
assets and developments. Among its
developments is the prime Waterfall
Business Estate an infill development
between Johannesburg and Pretoria.
It also benefits from an African
portfolio, which includes Bagatelle Mall
of Mauritius and Bagatelle Offices, and
has an effective 32.5 percent stake in
Atterbury Africa, in partnership with
Hyprop Investments and Atterbury
Property Holdings, which invests in
retail centres and developments across
sub-Saharan Africa.
“Our long-term strategy is to achieve
an optimal portfolio balance of 70
percent of our assets by value in South
Africa, 20 percent in other countries on
the African continent and 10 percent
internationally outside Africa,” said
Wilken. “We are already making good
progress on this objective and will
continue to seek opportunities to
further this goal as well as expand our
development pipeline to grow longterm
prospects.”
Finance
Zanu PF unveils plan
to save Zimbabwe
economy
Zimbabwe’s President Robert
Mugabe has rubberstamped a new
plan designed to lift the country’s
aligning economy.
The plan, called the Zimbabwe
Agenda for Socio-Economic
Transformation (Zim Asset), is a fiveyear
economic plan designed to make
good on a raft of Zanu PF election
promises which include rolling out
the indigenisation programme to
poor Zimbabweans.
“All the source documents
recognise the continued existence
of the illegal economic sanctions,
subversive activities and interference
in the country’s internal affairs by
some hostile countries. This therefore
underlines the need to come up with
sanctions busting strategies and to put
emphasis on reliance on local funding
for the plan, hence Zim Asset’s focus
on the full exploitation of and value
addition to the country’s abundant
resources,’’ said Finance Minister
Patrick Chinamasa.
The blueprint projects that the
economy will grow by an average of
7.3 percent, improve by 3.4 percent in
2013, 6.1 percent in 2014 and continue
on an upward growth trajectory to 9.9
percent by 2018.
The policy has four strategic clusters
that the government will prioritise
- food security and nutrition, social
services and poverty eradication,
infrastructure and utilities, and value
addition and beneficiation.
6
go to www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com/news for all of the latest news from africa

Business
Westinghouse in SA
nuclear MoU
Toshiba Corporation’s Westinghouse
Electric Company has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) with South Africa’s Sebata
Group in preparation for what it
calls “the potential construction” of
Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power
plants in the country.
In a statement, Westinghouse
said the MoU marks the start
of a collaboration aimed at the
“development of an engineeringled
organisation, involved in a
variety of disciplines, including
safety, health, environment,
risk and quality (SHERQ) and
authorised inspection agency
services, manufacturing quality
support and skills development
Sport
Puma ends Bafana
Bafana sponsorship
Just a few days after banking
group Absa ended its six-year
association with Bafana Bafana,
sportswear manufacturer Puma
has ended its association with the
South African FA (Safa) following
the match-fixing scandal involving
the national team.
“Following match fixing
allegations made against
Safa along with inappropriate
responses from within the football
organisation (including the
suspension of senior officials),
PUMA terminated the contract
with immediate effect,” the
company announced. “PUMA
abides by a code of ethics in all
areas of its business operations
and expects its partners to adhere
to the same values. PUMA would
and training in the nuclear
industry sector”.
Westinghouse has been active in
South Africa’s nuclear industry, mainly
through support to the Koeberg
Nuclear Power Station (pictured),
since the 1990s and is at the origin of
the nuclear fleet technology in the
country – South Africa’s two reactors
are Westinghouse-licensed.
like to state that with notable
exception to the issues in question
it enjoyed a good working
relationship with SAFA, and wishes
them well for the future.”
In December, a Fifa investigation
found ‘compelling evidence’ that
four South Africa friendlies had
been fixed prior to their hosting of
the 2010 World Cup.
“This important agreement with
Sebata Group not only reaffirms
our pledge to use local talent and
resources, but our commitment
to develop and support the South
African nuclear industry,” said
François Harari, Westinghouse vice
president and managing director for
France, Benelux and South Africa.
“Westinghouse and Sebata Group will
utilise their complementary skills in
upcoming projects to further develop
the expertise required for an eventual
nuclear build project in South Africa.
Supplier development is critical to
Westinghouse and that’s why we
think globally but act locally.”
Westinghouse recently signed
an agreement with the South
African Nuclear Energy Corporation
(Necsa) to investigate and
cooperate in the development of
local fabrication capabilities for fuel
assembly components.
News
DR Congo M23
rebels chased from
strongholds, says UN
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s
M23 rebel movement is all but finished
as a military threat, according to
reports citing the UN’s special envoy
in the country.
“Practically all M23 positions
were abandoned yesterday, except
a for small triangle at the Rwandan
border,” Martin Kobler is reported
to have told the UN Security
Council by video-link at a closed
door meeting.
The M23 movement emerged in
April 2012 after a mutiny by former
rebels who had been taken into the
DR Congo army under a 2009 deal.
Peace talks between the
government and M23, hosted by
neighbouring Uganda, recently
broke down.
go to www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com/news for all of the latest news from africa
7

N E W S
Business
De Beers begins
construction of new
underground mine
in Limpopo
De Beers has begun construction
on a new R20 billion underground
mine to extend the life of its
open-pit Venetia diamond mine in
Limpopo to beyond 2040.
“The investment will extend
the life of Venetia beyond 2040
and replace the open pit as South
Africa’s largest diamond mine,” the
De Beers Group said in a statement.
“With underground production
expected to commence in 2021,
over its life, the mine will treat
approximately 130 million tonnes
of ore, containing an estimated 96
million carats. The Mine will also
support over 8,000 jobs directly,
and a further 5,000 through the
supply chain – benefiting the South
African economy,” it added.
South African President Jacob
Zuma praised the company’s
Business
Sub-Saharan Africa
‘improving business
regulation’ says
World Bank
Sub-Saharan Africa continues to
record a large number of reforms
aimed at easing the regulatory
burden on local entrepreneurs,
according to the World Bank’s 2014
Doing Business report.
The report’s data shows that,
of 47 economies in the region, 31
implemented at least one business
regulatory reform in 2012/13.
Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire, and Burundi
were among the 10 economies globally
improving business regulation the most.
investment decision, explaining, “This
R20 billion investment in the diamond
industry, the biggest single investment
in the diamond industry in decades,
signals that indeed our mining sector
is poised for growth, and that it has a
bright future.”
Minister of Mineral Resources, Susan
Shabangu, said it boded well for the
economy of the province.
“The launch of this underground
mine shows that South Africa remains
an investment destination of choice
and, through our mining laws, we
will continue to ensure that this
Of the 20 economies improving
business regulation the most since
2009, nine are in Sub-Saharan Africa:
Burundi, Sierra Leone, Guinea-
Bissau, Rwanda, Togo, Benin,
Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, and Guinea.
“It is encouraging to see so many
countries in Sub-Saharan Africa
engaged in reforms aimed
at reducing burdensome regulations
and building up stronger legal
institutions. In 2012/13, more than
twice as many economies in the
region reformed as in 2005,” said
Augusto Lopez-Claros, Director,
Global Indicators and Analysis,
World Bank Group. “Despite
these achievements, more can be
done to improve the quality of the
rules underpinning the activities
investment sustainably benefits
mining communities and laboursending
areas.”
Mark Cutifani, chief executive
of Anglo American and
chairperson of the De Beers
Group, said Anglo had invested
nearly R200 billion in South Africa,
emphasising its “commitment and
making a real difference for South
Africa and all South Africans”.
“The positive social impact of
skills development, the acquisition
of economically valuable
experience and the potential to
uplift rural and sometimes poorer
communities is what exists here
at the heart of Venetia,” he said.
Philippe Mellier, chief executive
of the De Beers group, said the
decision to build an underground
mine at Venetia was a vote of
confidence by shareholders.
“Venetia will support South
Africa’s mining economy for
generations to come, and make
diamond moments possible
for millions of people around
the world.”
of the private sector, to ensure
continued convergence toward the
better practices seen elsewhere in
the world.”
8
go to www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com/news for all of the latest news from africa

Business
Paramount
Trailers opens new
manufacturing
facility
One of South Africa’s leading
commercial trailer manufacturers,
Paramount Trailers, has opened a
new state-of-the-art manufacturing
facility in Midvaal.
“This is a reflection of our
commitment to investing in this
industry and becoming a leader
in customised trailer manufacturing
across the African continent,”
said Paramount Trailers CEO
Fernando Marques.
The family-owned business has
been based in Alrode, south of
Johannesburg, for the past 17 years
and over time acquired numerous
new premises around the initial offices
to facilitate the company growth.
In 2011, a decision was taken
to purchase land in the Kliprivier
Business Park and develop a new
manufacturing plant.
“We had outgrown our existing
premises and it was necessary for
us to upgrade our facilities,” said
Warren Marques, Paramount
Trailers MD. “The new premises
will enable us to not only
significantly increase the number of
trailers we are manufacturing on a
monthly basis but to also operate
more efficiently.”
The professional operational
facilities allow for a significant capacity
increase in the number of trailers that
can be manufactured monthly.
In addition, new equipment has
been purchased to ensure that the
latest innovations in customised trailer
manufacturing will be provided.
Marques is determined that no
matter how large the company
grows it is still imperative that a
personal relationship is maintained
with all clients.
“Our reputation and success can be
attributed not only to the excellent
trailers we produce but the superb
client relationships we foster,” he said.
In anticipation of the move,
and the increase in manufacturing
capacity and efficiency, Paramount
Trailers has already experienced
a significant increase in demand
and the company has increased its
staff complement by 41 percent
over the past four months,
additional employees joining the
workshop, administration, sales
and design departments.
“We have now entered the premier
division in this industry,” said Marques.
“We are proud of what we have built
over nearly two decades, but the time
has come for Paramount Trailers to
increase our footprint in South Africa
and across the SADC region.”
News
Renamo ends Mozambique
peace deal
Mozambique’s Renamo opposition movement has
ended its 1992 peace pact with the ruling Frelimo party,
which ended the country’s civil war, after government
forces attacked and captured the base of its leader
Afonso Dhlakama.
Renamo spokesman Fernando Mazanga told the
Reuters news agency that the attack was an attempt to
assassinate Mr Dhlakama but he managed to escape.
“Peace is over in the country... The responsibility lies
with the Frelimo government because they didn’t want to
listen to Renamo’s grievances,” he said.
About a million people were killed in the brutal civil
war which lasted from 1975 to 1992 and the country’s
economy has been booming ever since.
There are fears the country will slip back into chaos.
News
Ethiopia bans citizens from
travelling overseas for work
According to the state-run Erta news agency,
Ethiopia’s government has temporarily banned its
citizens from travelling abroad to look for work.
It has also provisionally barred employment agencies
from facilitating travel abroad.
In Erta’s report, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was
quoted as saying countless Ethiopians had lost their
lives or “undergone untold physical and psychological
traumas due to illegal human trafficking”.
The government had taken various measures, including
setting up a national council and a taskforce, to protect
its citizens but they had not been able to “address the
problem effectively”.
The travel ban will remain in place until a “lasting
solution” is found.
go to www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com/news for all of the latest news from africa
9

fastjet
fastjet CEO Ed Winter has become
something of an expert in overcoming
obstacles and shares his plans for
low-cost travel in Africa.
Writer Ian Armitage
10 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.COm

B U S I N E S S
irline industry veteran
Ed Winter is a man
with a rather ambitious
plan – build the first pan-
African low-cost airline.
Now that is quite the task, but the
former pilot who held senior roles at
UK-based British Airways, easyJet and
Go has all the experience necessary to
pull it off.
“Africa is without doubt aviation’s
final frontier,” he says. “But it is an
environment where protectionism, a
lack of infrastructure and bureaucracy
have held things back.
“Africa is in desperate need of good
aviation connectivity. A billion people
live in Africa but it has just three percent
of the world’s aviation. If you look at it,
every city is a long distance to the next
one, poorly serviced by road and rail.
There’s usually a jungle, mountain, river
or lake in the way. Aviation should be
a much bigger feature of the African
economy than it is.”
And with Africa’s economies growing,
there are an increasing number of
people with the money to fly.
It makes good business sense.
“Our model relies on making
air travel more affordable to the
burgeoning middle class,” says Winter.
London-listed fastjet was created
following its acquisition of the
African airline Fly540 and operates
from four bases in Kenya, Tanzania,
Ghana and Angola.
“We launched flights under the
fastjet brand in Tanzania utilising our
Airbus A319 fleet at the end of 2012 and
currently fly four routes in Tanzania,” he
says. “Of course, in October this year,
we launched, after some considerable
delays, our first international flights
between Tanzania’s commercial hub
Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg in
South Africa, which represents a new
era for us. It has been more difficult
than we initially thought but we are
delighted we finally got here. Until
now that route has been prohibitively
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.COm
11

fastjet
expensive for many people, with
incumbents charging crazy prices,
which restricts the market size. But
the launch of this service offers a new,
affordable and reliable option to both
Tanzanians and South Africans – we’re
competing head-to-head with South
African Airways to provide real value for
money flights. We believe that with our
low fares we can stimulate demand on
this route significantly.”
It is the first of several planned
international routes for fastjet from
Tanzania and other potential new
bases throughout Africa.
Flights between the two cities
will initially be operated by fastjet
three times a week on Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays, increasing
in frequency as soon as consumer
demand dictates.
The plan is to use its Tanzanian
base as a springboard in much the
same way that easyJet spread across
Europe in the 1990s, when it exploited
the opportunity offered by the newly
liberalised single market.
“There is currently only one other
international route within Africa
operated by low-cost carriers apart
from our Dar es Salaam/Johannesburg
route,” says Winter. “Building on our
existing operation and the strong
consumer faith in our brand, the
opportunities for us to penetrate the
intra-Africa market are huge but so
are the challenges.”
Indeed, Africa’s low-cost carriers
face strong headwinds. The main
problem is costs. Governments impose
large taxes on fuel and tickets, and
airlines are charged higher insurance
premiums than established ones in
other countries.
“Europe’s budget-airline boom in
the 1990s was made possible by an
open sky agreement,” Winter says.
“But in Africa it is not open sky. We’re
waiting to see the outcome of a
court case where Comair (operating
British Airways and kulula.com) is
challenging newcomer low-cost airline
FlySafair from operating domestically
in South Africa because of ownership
regulations. It will have serious
ramifications because if you move
towards liberalisation and allow airlines
to operate in a competitive, free
market you drive airlines into efficiency.
If you look at Europe, the low-cost
airlines like easyJet or Ryanair are now
carrying hundreds of millions of people
who wouldn’t have travelled before.
In the background, the old traditional
airlines like British Airways, Air France
and KLM are still surviving and thriving,
becoming far more efficient. What you
end up with is far better connectivity
and an environment where the
consumer wins.”
On November 1, the day we talked
to Winter, fastjet launched services to
Mbeya in Tanzania. It is an important
domestic destination for the airline,
12 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

B U S I N E S S
which he says “given its location
in the south-west of the country,
close to the border, gives us access
to a catchment that spreads into
neighbouring countries.”
He expects to add further
international routes over the next few
months, including to destinations in
Zambia and Malawi.
“fastjet has been on an incredible
journey since we started flying
domestically in Tanzania with a single
A319 plane nearly 12 months ago
between Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, and
Kilimanjaro. With Mbeya, our services
will be going into the new Songwe
Airport, which has been upgraded
to allow it to handle jet aircraft
operating to international standards.
We have worked hard with Tanzanian
authorities and the Civil Aviation
Authority to get the right facilities
in place. Dar es Salaam will remain
the focal point for our international
expansion - destinations like Lusaka,
Harare, Maputo, Lilongwe, Entebbe,
Juba, Nairobi and Mombasa are all in
our sights. In the future I can envisage
routes from Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar
to Johannesburg. We’re looking
forward to announcing some more
international routes pretty soon and
we are confident in the potential of our
long-term strategy to become the pan-
African low cost airline of choice.”
Winter hopes to have a South
African operation up and running soon
and said that local law requires airlines
to be 75 percent owned by a domestic
firm, another challenge and something
that has so far stopped fastjet from
getting into the market there.
“Our business model actively
encourages giving up equity to local
partners but unlike other franchise
businesses such as restaurants or the
hotel trade, the airline industry has
standards on which it simply cannot
compromise, given the safety factor.”
fastjet’s solution is a management
contract that will require partners to
give up control of matters such as
safety, pilot training and maintenance.
“What we want to create is a series of
fastjet airlines. To the consumer it is all
one airline because it will offer the same
levels of punctuality and reliability, the
same customer service and be sold as
part of the same network. Now clearly
the passenger needs to be told at some
point that they are being carried by
fastjet SA or fastjet Tanzania etc. and
that they are separate companies but
if we can create that series of fastjet
airlines around Africa to the consumer
that becomes something very similar
to the easyJet model around Europe.
The challenge for us is how do we
control that quality and reliability across
all those airlines? One area we are
making progress is maintenance which
is very important from a lot of aspects
– costs, flight safety and reliability. So
the maintenance contract is vital and
rather than rely on lots of different
maintenance providers, we did requests
for proposals with several European
maintenance repair organisations and
Sabena Technics came out as being the
best and serves our structure. Therefore
each of the fastjet airlines will have
an arrangement as part of that global
contract so the same standards, quality
and reliability will be across the airlines.
It is that sort of thing that will enable
us to control the brand and reliability
across the pan-African network.”
Another urgent matter on the
agenda is the need to find a chairman,
a role Winter has temporarily assumed.
“We haven’t progressed the search
as quickly as we’d have liked,” he says.
But the future is bright.
“We’re excited. The low-cost model
is all about market stimulation. It is
not about market share. It is about
going into a market place that is
constrained because prices are too
high, coming in with a reasonable,
flexible fare and stimulating demand.
The fact that the middle classes are
growing rapidly just adds to the rate
of market expansion.
“I think we’re doing just that.”
Analysts believe Africa is ready for an
airline with the ambition of fastjet and
that a commonly branded airline is a
brilliant idea.
When flying in Tanzania from capital
Dar es Salaam to Kilimanjaro or Mwanza,
Winter says, 38 percent of passengers
are first-time flyers, testament to
Africa’s potential for growth.
fastjet flights in Tanzania sell for as
little as $20.
To learn more visit www.fastjet.com.
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
13

Investment profile
Investment profile
Mozambique
Africa Outlook takes a closer look at Mozambique’s
business and investment potential.
Writer Ian Armitage
14 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

F I N A N C E
ozambique is a rising
economic power and
real GDP growth has
averaged eight percent
per year over the last
ten years, driven by bumper coal and
gas discoveries, according to the
African Development Bank.
But things seem to be slowing and
the country’s economy grew at just
4.8 percent in the first quarter of 2013,
thanks to extensive flooding in the
Limpopo Valley which saw agriculture,
an industry that constitutes around
23 percent of GDP, register a negative
growth rate of 2.6 percent compared
to the first quarter of 2012. The
manufacturing sector also contracted.
That aside, natural resourcebased
mega-projects continue
to be a particular boon for the
Mozambican economy. They have
spurred infrastructure development
and helped diversify Mozambique’s
exports away from agriculture.
Earlier this year, Australian mining
services company WorleyParsons
won a contract to build a 584kmlong
rail line connecting Brazilian
resources giant Vale’s coal mine in
Mozambique with the Port of Nacala
in the country’s northeast. When
it is finished, the rail link will be
able to transport 18 million tonnes
of coal a year. The Nacala Rail
Corridor Project will be undertaken
by WorleyParsons’ Mozambique
and South Africa divisions.
WorleyParsons will also perform the
detailed design of the rail facilities
and maintenance complex at Nacala.
The contract was awarded by
Corredor Do Desenvolvimento Do
Norte S.A. (CDN).
“We are delighted that Vale has
chosen WorleyParsons for this critical
infrastructure project and we look
forward to assisting Vale with the
achievement of its business objectives
in Mozambique,” WorleyParsons CEO
Andrew Wood said.
They aren’t the only ones benefiting.
Aveng Manufacturing, a division
of Aveng, one of South Africa’s
top diversified engineering and
construction groups, has also enjoyed
success in Mozambique where
it is looking at leveraging further
opportunities in the country and wider
region. It opened an office in Maputo
as part of its expansion in the country
earlier this year, responding to rapid
economic growth by constructing a
$17 million factory in Tete province to
produce materials for the country’s
huge infrastructure projects. Aveng
Manufacturing Lennings Rail Services
was awarded a contract for section
two of the Nacala Corridor Project and
is constructing a 62.5km rail line.
“Aveng Manufacturing has
factories in Swaziland and Zambia
and, in partnership with Aveng
Steel, has established two new
manufacturing and processing
plants in Tete, Mozambique, to
serve coal mining and related
infrastructure development in
the province. The steel factory
commenced production in April
2013. The concrete products
factory is expected to commence
operation in January 2014 and is well
positioned to supply pipes, culverts
and railway sleepers to the mining
and rail sectors in Mozambique,”
Aveng says in its 2013 integrated
annual report. “The operating group
continued to experience growth
in the export of its concrete and
steel products to Mozambique
and Zambia and is exploring
opportunities to build factories
in other growth markets in west
and east Africa where it does not
currently have a presence.”
The future it seems is bright.
“Mozambique’s transition from a
post-conflict country to one of Africa’s
“frontier economies” has been
nothing short of impressive,” says
the World Bank. “Economic growth
– spurred on by political stability,
steady macroeconomic management,
reconstruction, and structural reforms
– has been bolstered by a boom in large
foreign investments in the burgeoning
energy and natural resources sectors.
The country has become a world-class
destination for mining and natural
gas development. Vast untapped coal
reserves have attracted multinationals
such as Brazil’s Vale and Australian
Rio Tinto. Recent figures indicate that
foreign direct investment (FDI) doubled
to US$5.2 billion in 2012. The country’s
recent achievement of Extractive
Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI)
compliant status (October 2012) is an
important milestone in the country’s
economic development. Alongside
its natural resources, Mozambique’s
long coastline positions it as a natural
gateway to global markets for
neighbouring land-locked countries.”
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
15

Investment profile
The World Bank predicts the country’s
economy to increase by seven percent
this year and one man who is more
than aware of Mozambique’s potential
is Simon Everest, Country Manager for
Coca-Cola Sabco in Mozambique.
Coca-Cola Sabco has a huge 87
percent share of the carbonated drink
market in the country and has big
plans to grow the brand - and Everest
expects double-digit growth in the
next two to three years.
Conscious that new competitors
are being drawn by Mozambique’s
increasingly attractive economy as oil,
gas and mining operations grow, he is
working to raise the company’s game.
Coca-Cola however has clear
advantages in Mozambique. It’s
been operating there since 1994
when restrictions on South African
businesses operating in Africa were
lifted and it’s built up enormous brand
loyalty, a big factor in Africa’s markets.
The company also has what Everest
describes as “the best distribution
system in Mozambique and 1,000
experienced staff members” and
it’s strategically placed throughout the
elongated country with three plants:
one in Nampula servicing the North,
another in Chimoio servicing central
regions and a plant in the capital
Maputo servicing the
Southern provinces.
Everest says the locations
were carefully chosen because
of their geographic and strategic
importance, with Nampula covering
Northern provinces and Chimoio
placed equidistantly between the
port of Beira and the coal-producing
Tete region.
While the country’s roads could “still
do with some work” there is growing
investment into its infrastructure to
upgrade its railway connections, roads
and ports.
The company has committed
itself to the country and to increasing
its production capacity to meet
market demands.
“We’re investing $170,000 over the
next three years,” says Everest.
This includes installing a brand new
PET production line, a German-made
Krones line at the Chimoio factory,
which will triple PET capacity, which is
desperately needed.
They are also constructing a new
factory in Maputo where the present
facility is too small for production
needs. The new facility will ultimately
produce 140 million cases annually.
Phase one of the process is due to
be completed by the end of 2016
and will put capacity at about 95
million cases.
“We are making a very significant
investment because apart from
the production plant we are also
investing in coolers, vehicles and
people,” says Everest.
Mr Everest, who joined the firm in
November 2010, saw the potential
of the country and the company but
was also aware of big challenges
like capacity constraints that had to
16 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

F I N A N C E
be overcome to reach Coca-Cola’s
full potential.
While he is happy with
Mozambique’s and his company’s
economic prognosis and growth
rates, he’s aware that the rate of
social upliftment is lagging behind.
“If you look at Maputo you can see
a lot of the infrastructure, housing
being developed, you’ve got plenty of
sports stadiums and there is a very nice
airport there now so there are signs of
wealth beginning to come through.
“Is there wealth actually getting
down to the ordinary man in the
street? Not at this stage, I think it
will take another few years before
it starts trickling through to smaller
businesses,” he says.
The Coco-Cola brand is strongly
associated with social responsibility
initiatives and he is especially proud
of its campaign to boost local
entrepreneurs, particularly women.
The company provides each
vendor with a big ice-chest and a
certain amount of core product and
support. There have been “a number
of really good stories of women who
have from starting with one ice box
ended up owning a number of stalls,”
Everest says.
Even more importantly for the
entrepreneurs, the company believes
that each ice box placed out in the
market “supports ten to 25 people.”
The project falls into the global
company’s 5 BY 20 campaign, launched
by Muhtar Kent, Chairman of the Coco-
Cola company, which aims to assist
in the empowerment of five million
women by 2020.
Everest’s excited about the
challenges facing Coca-Cola Sabco
in Mozambique and happy with the
moves to increase capacity.
“I think by the end of this year we
will, for the first time in a very long
time, have sufficient capacity to satisfy
demand… with the new investment
and PET line we are in a very good
spot,” he says.
It all sounds wonderful, but could
there be trouble ahead? Indeed
there might. Mozambique’s Renamo
opposition movement, the guerrilla
organisation that fought the existing
Frelimo-backed government in a
civil war, recently ended the 1992
peace pact after government forces
attacked and captured the base of
its leader Afonso Dhlakama. Renamo
spokesman Fernando Mazanga told
the Reuters news agency that the
attack was an attempt to assassinate
Mr Dhlakama but he managed
to escape. “Peace is over in the
country... The responsibility lies with
the Frelimo government because they
didn’t want to listen to Renamo’s
grievances,” he said.
About a million people were killed
in the brutal civil war which lasted
from 1975 to 1992 and the country’s
economy has been booming ever
since. There are fears it will slip back
into chaos and Renamo has certainly
shaken investor confidence.
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
17

COMpaNy UNIlEvEr NaME fOOd SOlUTIONS
Growth
?????
?????
IS oN thE MENU
??????????
????????????????
???????????????
????????????????
Unilever Food Solutions helps chefs
all over the world “serve tasty,
wholesome meals that keep
guests coming back for more”.
Writer Chris Farnell
Project manager James Mitchell
18 WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM

f EOa OT Ud r & E d r I N k
nilever is one of the
most recognised names
in the food industry
around the world. If
you go to your fridge
right now there’s a pretty good
chance you’ll find something with the
word Unilever somewhere on the
label. Among the many facets of the
business is Unilever Food Solutions,
the professional culinary division which
is dedicated to offering products and
services to the food service market all
over the world. As managing director
Michel Mellis explains, “We work with
powerful global brands such as knorr,
Hellmann’s, Robertsons and Carte d’Or
in combination with local names such
Marvello, Meadowland and Fine Foods
in order to offer culinary solutions to
all kinds of operators, ranging from
hotels, restaurants, contract caterers
to quick service restaurants.”
WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM
19

Unilever Food Solutions
Of course, while Unilever is a
globally recognised brand, Unilever
Food Solutions can’t rely on brand
recognition alone to bring in
business. It’s unique selling point,
Mellis says, is the “incomparable end
results our customers can achieve on
meal preparation through our brands
and services”.
“We don’t just sell top quality
products and brands, but we also
offer services in the areas of menu
organisation, kitchen preparation and
guest satisfaction,” he says.
The main issue affecting Unilever Food
Solutions and the whole industry is a
combination of inflation and lower consumer
income, which pressures costs on one side and
takes value off the market on the other”
ENS africa
ENSafrica is the largest law firm and
the only one of its kind in Africa. The
firm benchmarks itself according
to international standards whilst
retaining a uniquely African focus,
making it well-equipped to advise
clients wherever they may choose to
do business.
The firm has approximately 550
practitioners and was established
over 100 years ago, making it one of
the oldest full-service law firms in
Africa. The firm has a breadth and
depth of experience and specialist
expertise that span all areas of law,
tax, forensics and IP.
As a law firm based in Africa,
ENSafrica has easy access to clients
and their markets and understand
the different political, cultural, lingual
and regulatory factors of working in
African countries.
Whether dealing with the complexity
of a multi-jurisdictional project,
or the establishment of a start-up
business in one African country,
ENSafrica’s localised experience and
expertise ensures that clients obtain
the benefit of scale and scope when
doing business in Africa.
ENSafrica is a recognised marketleader
and is ranked by Chambers and
Partners as a leading law firm.
Email Info@ensafrica.com
www.ensafrica.com
20 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

f e a t u r e
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
21

andinc/4036/e
A new branch on the family tree.
Unilever’s on-going quest for a greener future, and Nashua’s firm commitment to reducing their clients’
carbon footprints has led to a natural business solutions partnership. Nashua proposed a solution that
is custom-built to Unilever’s needs, lowering the amount of paper printed while still maintaining a high
level of efficiency. The energy-saving functionality built into all Nashua’s devices reduces electricity
consumption when not in use, another planet saving feature.
With our like-minded approaches to business, we look forward to this
partnership blossoming.
DURBAN
Tel: +27 31 940 9120
email: info@nashuadbn.co.za
www.nashua.co.za
/NashuaLTD @nashuasolutions

Unilever Food Solutions
We don’t just sell
top quality
products and brands,
but we also offer
services in the areas of
menu organisation,
kitchen preparation
and guest satisfaction”
This combination of high quality
products and excellent service has
been key in consolidating Unilever
Food Solutions’ position as a market
leader, but the company is still setting
its sights higher even in the face of a
difficult financial climate. “This year we
are growing at twice the GDP index
in like-for-like business, which is a
relatively good performance,” Mellis
says. “However we feel there are
plenty of opportunities to accelerate.
The main issue affecting Unilever Food
Solutions and the whole industry is
a combination of inflation and lower
consumer income, which pressures
costs on one side and takes value off
the market on the other.”
24 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

f e a t u r e
www.pwc.co.za
Advising you
in changing
times
To find out more on
how we can assist you,
please contact our
Durban office in
South Africa on
+27 (0) 31 271 2000.
Sometimes bigger is better. Tap into a world of possibilities with
PwC. There’s much to be said for world-class solutions and a
global network of expertise. We establish relationships to bring
real value to our clients, our people and the communities in which
we operate.
Contact us for tax, advisory and assurance services tailored to
your specific needs.
©2013. PricewaterhouseCoopers (“PwC”). All rights reserved. (13-13943) www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
25

Unilever Food Solutions
However, while the economic climate
is one thing, Mellis believes the
biggest challenge facing the industry
right now is something far more
prosaic. “Our biggest challenge has
been communication,” he admits.
“Because the market is so pulverised
and operators don’t follow any specific
communication channel exclusively,
it is a real challenge to talk to our
target food service market. That’s
why we must develop multiple forms
of communication in search of our
customers. Then of course there is
also the challenge of operating in an
emerging market environment, where
the economy is not particularly strong,
there is a high unemployment rate,
volatile currency and social inequality.”
We have such
well known
and loved brands...
we must leverage
into new markets”
Touch Design Ltd
The challenge
Unilever’s Robertsons brand is the
category leader in SA. The challenge
was to redesign the bottle, cap &
refill box and branding & graphics,
across over 120 SKUs, to improve
shelf navigation, merchandising, and
encourage consumers to discover
and expand their repertoire of
Robertsons herb and spices.
The solution
The new ownable bottle design and
ingenious user-friendly custom cap
- the world’s first injection moulded,
orientated, multi-functional closure
on a glass bottle – was the result of
structural design based on insight,
usage and ergonomics.
The results
From brief to launch within just 18
months! This included structure,
graphics and a new packaging line.
The 6 month sales target was
achieved within just 5 months;
volume increased by 8%; and turnover
by 14%.
The pack scored 9.2 out of 10 with
Unilever’s home testers - the highest
score ever recorded!
International awards include: winner
of Ambient Food Category Gold
Medal; Overall Goldpack Award IPSA
2013; and Runner up International
Food and Beverage awards 2013.
The Iconic Brand Survey 2013 now
recognises the Robertsons brand as a
top 10 South African brand.
...which we are very proud of.
Tel 00 44 (0) 1344 894507
Email heidim@touchpackdesign.com
www.touchpackdesign.com
26 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

f e a t u r e
The Industry’s
best kept
secret . . .
“touch are small
enough to
big enough
to cope”
Unilever
“No on-cost, and
uplift!”
Mars
“
“
”
Birds Eye
“Brief to launch and
uplift in 18 months!
. . . touch rocks!”
Unilever SA
. . . that
everyone’s
talking about!
for details on how we can touch your brand call Heidi Maxwell on +44(0) 1344 894 524
email heidim@touchdesign.com or visit us at www.touchdesign.com
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
27

Unilever Food Solutions
In the face of these diverse challenges,
the most important thing is for
Unilever Food Solutions to have a
team with the skills and experience
to deliver the very best. For Mellis,
ensuring the business has the best
talent is an absolute priority. “We
make sure we have the best people by
attracting the best talents, developing
them and making sure they stay with
us. The care we take in creating a
great work environment has been
recognised. This year Unilever was
elected best employer to work for,
which obviously helps tremendously in
finding people who are willing to work
for us. We also have probably one of
the best development programmes in
the market, which includes real global
exposure and local training that ranges
from market insights to leadership
behaviour, as well as on the job
coaching/mentoring.
We make sure we
have the best
people by attracting the
best talents, developing
them and making sure
they stay with us”
GEA Process
Engineering
GEA Process Engineering is a
global leader in the provision
of hygienic process equipment
and turnkey process lines for the
food industry within liquid and power
process engineering.
Powder Processing. GEA offer a range
of dryers for handling fluid, paste and
moist powder, particulate and granulate
feeds as well as powder handling and
packaging systems
Liquid Processing. GEA supply complete
processing lines or equipment that can
be integrated into an existing liquid
processing system or combined with
downstream systems to a complete
production line or turnkey installation
Concentration & Pre-treatment.
Concentration of liquid streams is used
to increase the solids content and/or
achieve a volume reduction by removing
water. Concentration may be a standalone
operation, but is also an important
upstream step in a drying process
Process Automation Solutions. Our
global network ensures best practice
process automation solutions – every
time – everywhere
After Sales & Service. We provide a
single source for the procurement
of technical service, spare parts,
automation support and training. Our
complete approach is further enhanced
with our web based tool GEA Assist.
Customers for Life!
South Africa
Tel: + 27 11 805 6910
Email: info.za@gea.com
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 1925 812650
Email: info.gpuk@gea.com
www.gea.com
28 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

f e a t u r e
Together, we can make it!
GEA Process Engineering is recognised as an international leader in food processing technology,
setting the trend in process engineering and plant design. From the provision of hygienic liquid process
equipment to turning food products into powder types - our expertise and know-how covers all
aspects of food processing. GEA is your partner in excellence. Together, we can make it.
GEA Liquid Processing (Pty) Ltd
Midrand, South Africa
Tel +27 11 805 6910, Email info.za@gea.com
GEA Process Engineering Ltd
Warrington, United Kingdom
Tel +44 1925 812650, Email info.gpuk@gea.com
www.gea.com
engineering for a better world
GEA Process Engineering
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
29

Unilever Food Solutions
With top of
the range
talent and brands
that are known
and loved the
world over,
Unilever Food
Solutions is in a
great position right
now, and the
business intends
to make the very
most of that”
30 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

f e a t u r e
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
31

UNIlEvEr fOOd SOlUTIONS
TAPFLO GROUP
If you are
interested in
developing your
career and are a
good performer, a
major global
company like us will
always have a place
for your next step”
However, investing so heavily in the
company’s staff can be a doubleedged
sword. When your company
has the best talent, it makes them
a rich target for head hunters. “the
real challenge becomes preventing
other companies tempting our
talent away after we’ve worked with
them for so long,” Mellis admits.
“We strive to avoid this by offering
great career possibilities combined
with the pride of working for a
company with such high ethical
principles. If you are interested in
developing your career and are a
good performer, a major global
company like us will always have a
place for your next step.”
With top of the range talent and
brands that are known and loved the
world over, Unilever Food Solutions
is in a great position right now, and
the business intends to make the very
most of that.
tapflo is a Swedish manufacturer
of air operated diaphragm pumps
as well as horizontal centrifugal
pumps & range of magnetic drive pumps.
the company was originally established
as a pump distribution company founded
in 1980. the present company product
program includes approximately 50
different models for all needs.
Tapflo is represented by own companies
in 25 countries and by independent sales
companies in another 20 countries and
has app 350 employees.
Since 1997 Tapflo has been present in the
South African market with offices in KZn,
gauteng, and Eastern Cape & Western
Cape. With personal service and years of
experience in liquid handling Tapflo offers
competent advice in most applications.
The Tapflo Group, including Tapflo (Pty)
ltd, will actively incorporate the on-going
assessment, nurturing and training of
their staff, within a planned structure, for
the long term benefit of both the staff
member and for the group as a whole.
Product range
Air Operated Diaphragm Pumps
Horizontal centrifugal pumps
Vertical centrifugal pumps
Self-Priming centrifugal pumps
Mag drive centrifugal pumps
Rotary lobe pumps
Rotary wing pumps
gear pumps
Flexible impeller pumps
Hose(peristaltic) pumps
Drum pumps
quality
5 years Product Warranty
ISO 9001 certified
CE marked products
the EC AtEX directive 94/9/EC
EhEDG certified
Tel 031 701 5255
Email sales@tapflo.co.za
www.tapflo.co.za
32 WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM

f O O d & d r I N k
WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM
33

UNIlEvEr fOOd SOlUTIONS
SOUTH AFRICA
SOUTH AFRICA
Ben's Erection & Fabrication
is an innovative South African
materials handling company
whose services include:
• Steel erections
• Steel fabrication
• Steel work maintenance
• Machinery maintenance
• Steel repairs
• Machine repairs
• General steel fabrication
• Steel constructors
• Material handling
• Steel - mining industry
And many more...
Proud Suppliers of
Radio & Television
Tracking Services
to Unilever
Since 2008
For more information visit us at
www.afstereo.com or www.gnosko.com
34 WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM

f O O d & d r I N k
Working together.
Reaching the top.
Shepstone & Wylie is proud to be long-standing
business partners with Unilever Food Solutions.
Together, we strive for excellence.
24 Richefond Circle, Ridgeside Office Park,
Umhlanga Rocks, 4319. Tel: 031 575 7000
www.wylie.co.za
DURBAN • CAPE TOWN • JOHANNESBURG • RICHARDS BAY • PIETERMARITZBURG • LONDON
PIPING, MECHANICAL & STRUCTURAL STEEL CONTRACTORS.
INTEGRITY. INGENUITY. QUALITY.
We deliver project support through every stage of production. From cost
estimation and planning all the way through to project initiation, fabrication,
inspection, transportation and installation.Our highly skilled staff of
artisans perform their tasks, professionally, punctually and promptly .
www.africanarc.co.za
Tel: +27 31 461 4036 | Email: info@africanarc.co.za
WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM
35

Unilever Food Solutions
The food
service market
is very promising
in this part of the
world and we plan
to outpace market
growth at least at
double rate”
“The future is there for us to make the
most of it,” Mellis says. “Specifically
for Unilever Food Solution in Africa,
we will keep developing our South
Africa power house, and make a more
structured move into Sub-Saharan
African markets.”
As the company builds on its growth
in existing markets, and approaches
new ones, he is confident in Unilever’s
unique value proposition. “We have
such well known and loved brands,
that in combination to our unique
market approach, we must leverage
into new markets like Angola, Nigeria
and Ethiopia, just to name a few. The
food service market is very promising
in this part of the world and we plan
to outpace market growth at least at
double rate.”
There are clearly exciting prospects
ahead for Unilever Food Services,
but more than the wide recognition
of their brands, the quality of their
products and service, or even the
talents of their people, there is one
thing that Mellis believes the company
keeps in mind above all else.
Nordson Corporation
Nordson adhesive application
equipment is used in numerous
industries to bond products
during manufacturing.
Nordson’s OptiBond Solutions
Enable packagers to stretch their
adhesive up to 100 percent
Double the number of packs sealed
per kilogram of adhesive
Optimise adhesive bead length,
placement, diameter and volume
Seal packs with significantly less
adhesive while preserving bond and
package integrity.
The ProBlue Fulfill is an integrated
adhesive melter and fill system.
Automatic adhesive replenishment
saves operator time, prevent thermal
shock and adhesive degradation
Uninterrupted operation eliminates
missed beads, poor bonding,
downtime due to empty tank and
reduces contamination.
Tel +27 21 510 1888
Email infosa@nordson.com
www.nordson.com
Lowe and Partners
South Africa
Lowe and Partners is a global
multi-agency partnership
designed to give clients a high
concentration of senior, smart and
flexible problem solvers to deliver
ideas for business.
Utilising the partner network, Lowe
and Partners is able to build brands
offering services from strategy and
media, through to advertising in
both above- and below-the-line to
point of purchase.
Key clients of the partner group
include: Unilever, Merck, Fromageries
Bel, SAB, Cape Times, CTFM, Tsogo
Sun, Castle Lite, Sasol, Nestlé, Media
24, Hansa Pilsener, SA Homeloans,
Avis, Investec and Adcock Ingram.
Tel +27 11 780 6306
Email loweandpartnerssa.com
www.loweandpartnerssa.com
36 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

f O O d & d r I N k
The best thing
since sliced bread.
Lowe and Partners SA has always strived for perfection and it’s within Unilever
Spreads that we have met a like-minded client. The success of the relationship
over the years is easy see. From loved seedman animations, to showing the world
its first live heart surgery, both Lowe and Unilever have pushed the boundaries and
taken some of SA’s favourite brands – Rama, Flora, Blue Band and Stork – to
heights that seemed impossible. This is the kind of fruitful relationship that we at
Lowe and Partners SA set out to forge every day. Find out more about Lowe and
Partners SA at www.loweandpartnerssa.com or call 011 780 6100.
WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM
37

UNIlEvEr fOOd SOlUTIONS
QUEST STAFFING
SOLUTIONS
Drake & Scull is one of the largest and most sophisticated Facilities
Management and Technical Service Providers in Southern Africa. We
provide extensive technical, nontechnical and business support services,
which enables us to deliver continuous cost benefits while improving the
quality of our clients non-core services.
We are the leading white-collar
recruitment company in
South Africa and Africa. We
have earned this position by setting and
consistently achieving high standards
in the recruitment, training and
management of permanent and contract/
temporary staff for almost 40 years.
Our full circle Staffing Solutions (fcS²)
model incorporates our end-to-end
service offering which has been defined
and refined over decades and is today,
the most comprehensive in the industry,
it includes:
Permanent Staffing, contract/Temporary
Staffing, field Marketing, response
Handling, Contingent Workforce
Management and Outsourced Payroll.
We are a level 2 BBBEE Contributor
boasting 70.22% black ownership and
30.21% black female ownership.
Tel +27 21 413 4700
www.quest.co.za
JS ENGINEERING CC
GENERAL ENGINEERING
ELECTRICAL CONTACTS
BRUSH HOLDERS - SLIPRINGS ETC.
Tel: +27 11 892 1900
Fax: +27 11 892 1616
54 Tile Road, Boksburg North, 1460
STAFFING LOGISTICS
Offer of personalized staffing solutions
to various industries
A leader in temporary and permanent
employment solutions
Excess of 10 years payroll management
Achievable talent development, with
accredited training on offer
quality and expert HR and IR Solutions
to all our clients
Expert professional individuals with
solid experience and exposure to
labour supply chain
24 hours operations in selected areas
Over 3500 registered staff on record
Reputable client retention of over
ten years
We place over 2000 staff daily into
operations.
For service excellence in staffing solutions
Tel +27 11 452 9856
Email sales@stafflog.co.za
www.staffinglogistics.co.za
38 WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM

F o o d & D r i n k
You can’t risk
anyone but the
best handling
your recruitment.
Look no further
than Quest.
Think Quest.
With almost 40 years of experience, unparalleled
expertise and world class candidate assessment
tools, partnering with us will help you break
new frontiers.
To ensure your business reaches new heights,
think Quest.
Permanent Staffing | Flexible Staffing
Field Services | Outsourced Payroll
Response Handling
A16301
FOLLOW US ON:
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
39

UNIlEvEr fOOd SOlUTIONS
ENDEAVOR ENGINEERING &
REFRIGERATION
Industrial refrigeration contractors
Specialise in Ammonia and Freon
refrigeration
total system maintenance and repair
Preventative maintenance agreements
fault finding and maintenance works
Overhauling of screw / reciprocating
compressors
Supply and installation of walk-in cold
rooms and freezers
Supply and installation of water
chilling equipment
Supply and installation of air
conditioning units
Supply and installation of ventilation
systems
24 /7 Emergency service
Maintaining refrigeration standards
and safety measures
Basic refrigeration training
Safety awareness training
Tel +27 (0)11 915-6510
Email endeavour@iburst.co.za
ATLAS COPCOS
The most
important aspect
of everything that we
do is the consumer”
“the most important aspect
of everything that we do is the
consumer,” he says. “And consumers
in our market are very local, despite
globalization in many sectors. We at
Unilever Food Services spend many,
many hours talking to consumers,
investigating market trends and
learning from observing them. We
do all of this in order to pass all this
knowledge onto our customers, so
that they will always be empowered
to develop the very best solutions
for making their guests, and our
consumers, happy.”
to learn more visit www.ufs.com.
Atlas Copcos long history in the Southern
African region makes it a leading player
in numerous industries, including FMCg.
Our products and services are designed
and manufactured to assist customers
in achieving maximum productivity.
Our vision is to become and remain
“First in Mind—First in Choice ®” with
our customers and we believe that our
combination of product excellence and
dedicated staff assist in achieving our
vision. South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe,
Botswana and Mozambique together
make up the Southern African region.
Atlas Copco in Southern Africa employs
an extensive sales force for each division
whom are dedicated to ensuring the
supply of products and services that are
best able to meet client requirements.
Atlas Copco is committed to the superior
productivity of its customers and sales
staff is trained to assist in selecting
products and services to achieve this.
Tel +27 11 821 9000
Email atlas.copco@za.atlascopco.com
www.atlascopco.co.za
40 WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM

f O O d & d r I N k
Endeavour Engineering & Refrigeration cc
Industrial Ammonia
Freon Refrigeration
Office Air-conditioning
Mechanical Maintenance
Safety Awareness Training
.... providing the best possible solutions
to meet Client refrigeration needs and problems
Accreditation
SARACCA
SOUTH AFRICA REFRIGERATION &
AIR CONDITIONING
CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION
MerSETA
MANUFACTURING, ENGINEERING &
RELATED SERVICES SKILLS EDUCATION &
TRAINING AUTHORITY
Tel: +27 (0)11 915-6549 • Fax: +27 (0)11 915-6510 • Mobile: +27 (0)82 461 1252 • eMail: endeavour@iburst.co.za
WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM
41

Symrise
A winning
taste
forlife
42 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.COm

F o o d & D r i n k
Symrise is a global supplier of fragrances, flavorings, cosmetic
active ingredients, raw materials and functional ingredients
and its clients include manufacturers of perfumes, cosmetics,
food and beverages, the pharmaceutical industry and
producers of nutritional supplements. Africa Outlook speaks to
Ibrahim Wagdy about how Symrise has taken a hold in Egypt
and beyond and its plans for the African continent.
Writer Hannah Eiseman-Reynard
Project manager James Mitchell
ymrise creates
flavourings and
fragrances for
cosmetics, toiletries,
sweets, savoury
foods and beverages. Its clients
include manufacturers of perfumes,
cosmetics, food and beverages,
the pharmaceutical industry and
producers of nutritional supplements
and it is among the top four
companies in the global flavors and
fragrances market.
Of course, the firm is headquartered
in Holzminden, Germany, but the
group is represented in over 35
countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle
East, Asia, the U.S. and Latin America.
“It takes on average 45 aroma
chemicals to make a flavour so it takes
a long time to train those people
to develop a solid knowledge of
hundreds of raw materials to be able
to create different flavours,” says
Symrise Egypt’s Managing Director
Ibrahim Wagdy, talking about how
Symrise trains technologists to work
in flavours and fragrances.
It sounds like a lot of fun – how do
we get in?
“We prefer to bring fresh people in
than to headhunt,” he replies. “We
operate in quite a niche area and we
select young, fresh graduates who
show scientific curiosity and have a
can-do attitude. We need them to be
entrepreneurial, pro-active people.
It’s a very competitive industry
and our clients compete in a very
competitive industry.”
The training programme can
see selected candidates travelling
and doing training and internships
for months at a time. Symrise has
operations all over the world, so the
opportunities can be extremely wide
and varied.
“Symrise was formed ten years ago
when Haarmann & Reimer (H&R) and
Dragoco merged,” says Mr Wagdy.
“Both companies were already major
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43

Symrise
We claim to know the consumers in Africa much
better than our competitors. We do lots of market
research. This year we’re looking especially into the food
and beverage market”
global players in the industry with
over 100 years heritage and we’ve had
strong growth since year-on-year and
that’s reflected on our share value in
the stock market. We’re the fourth
biggest globally and the second
biggest in Europe, the Middle East
and Africa.”
The company has an annual total
turnover nearing two billion euros and
employs over 5,000 people.
Wagdy’s involvement with the firm
began in 2010 when Symrise acquired
Futura Labs Group, a leading flavours
and fragrances manufacturer in Egypt
and the United Arab Emirates.
Egypt has a population of 80 million
and is a fast-growing market.
“Symrise thought merging the two
companies would end up with a faster
growing gig: Futura Labs had over 100
people and offered a lot of synergy, as
well as a very good technical team,”
Wagdy says. “Africa is a focal point
because of the potential in it. We had
been growing rapidly in Egypt and the
region – we have two plants in Egypt
and one in Dubai. Integration went
very smoothly back in 2010 and since
then we’ve been doing double-digit
growth in Egypt and in all of Africa.”
Double-digit growth across a whole
continent? “We’re growing faster
than the industry,” says Wagdy.
Symrise has another base in South
Africa and from these two locations the
company is plotting to conquer Africa.
So what’s the secret of its success?
“All top industry players have good
technology and special molecules but
our service is what really distinguishes
us,” says Wagdy. “We have on-site
support for our clients. There are other
players who simply send off-the-shelf
samples for the client to evaluate
but we visit our clients, tailor make
a flavour creation over several visits.
We then fine tune the recipe with
the client testing it on his production
line and with consumer tests. It’s an
integrated process. Our partnership
44 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

f e a t u r e
taste for life®
Making the tastes people love.
HealtH and pleasure and tHe
COuntless OptiOns in between
taste for life® is our unique approach to turn taste solutions into success: from holistic health to pure pleasure. When it comes
to the perception of food, the boundaries are blurring. “Health” has become mainstream, “pleasure” does not have to mean
guiltiness, “light” can taste better than the real thing, indulgent food is exciting. taste for life® has been devised as an answer to
these multi-faceted consumer needs. It offers easy-to-handle solutions for the industry, giving the consumers the products they
desire and the taste they love. www.symrise.com
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
45

Symrise
46 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

f O O d & d r I N k
goes beyond even making sure we
deliver successful finished product
and we often help clients engaging
with other complimetary suppliers of
packaging or machinery.
“We really look at the whole
product concept,” Wagdy stresses.
In addition, Symrise puts plenty
of effort into ensuring not just that
its flavours and fragrances smell
and taste great, but that they are
appropriate to their markets.
“We claim to know the consumers
in Africa much better than our
competitors. We do lots of market
research. this year we’re looking
especially into the food and beverage
market – and researching how the
African consumer sees refreshment.”
this research serves Symrise well,
and it also serves its clients well.
“Clients are happy to see we have
research-based products,” Wagdy
says, who explains that consumer
trends are leading the industry and
Symrise is staying ahead of the curve.
“Consumer health is a focal area – we
have created a business unit which
caters to consumer health. this focus
is what the market wants.”
In addition it is attractive for the
consumer, not to mention a great
business model to look closely
into sustainability.
“All the natural materials that we use
have to be used in a responsible and
sustainable way… for example, for the
vanilla we have a special programme
in Madagascar, and we’re the only
company in our industry that does
this. We have a sustainable growth
programme with the local growers and
we help support that community.”
the company gained DqS
certification in november of this year
and is a certified green company. It has
a campaign currently to help preserve
the threatened blue lavender species
of Provence, Wagdy says.
Sustainable ingredients aside,
what are some of the challenges
facing Symrise?
“the main issue is the ever-growing
complexity of industry regulations.
those standards keep getting more
and more complex every year.
Every day we see more and more
certifications we have to comply
with and our clients often have
their own regulatory limitations
and specific quality certifications
too. Operating across so many
countries and regions adds to
the complexity.”
So what’s the focus for the future?
“We’ll continue to focus on Africa
where we’re putting more and more
resources” Wagdy says. “Egypt was
first – investing in infrastructure to
manufacture flavours, emulsions
and seasonings in Egypt and South
Africa. Our main focus will be on
development and production. We
want to remain one of the top two
suppliers in Africa.”
that seems pretty much guaranteed.
to learn more visit www.symrise.com.
WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM
47

GrEEnBELT fErTiLiSErS
GBF
African
EYES
expansion
Greenbelt Fertilisers,
a 100 percent subsidiary of
CHC Commodities, plays a major
role in africa’s farming community.
We talk to managing director
Robert Coventry.
Writer Hannah Eiseman-Reynard
Project manager James Mitchell
48 WWW.aFRICaouTlookMaG.CoM

f o o d & d r i n k
reenbelt Fertilisers
(GBF) was
incorporated in 2004
and founded in Zambia
but over the years
has expanded into Mozambique,
Zimbabwe and Malawi.
The firm has what managing director
Robert Coventry describes as “a proud
record” in giving farmers “a higher
yield with minimal costs” and he says
that while it has traditionally focused
on the commercial sector, “we are
now also targeting smaller farms”.
With a small scale farmer, they’ll
typically use one fertiliser for any crop
and in any soil. The potential in this
sector is high.
“We identified a need for more
competition and better quality
fertilisers,” says Coventry.
GBF’s formula seems to work and
in just nine years it has become the
biggest supplier to the commercial
sector in Zambia.
To grow that fast it helps to have
strong commercial links. Greenbelt
Fertilisers are a 100 percent owned
subsidiary of CHC Commodities
Ltd., a firm which specialises in
agricultural products such as maize,
wheat, sorghum, malting barley
and soya beans. It has links to major
farming enterprises, as well as strong
relationships in the logistics side of the
business – handling and shipping large
quantities of food products on behalf
of traders and relief agencies.
The positioning is strong, good
commercial ties and the product is of
a high quality – a strong start for any
business, says Coventry.
“Greenbelt Fertilisers was
incorporated in 2004 as a fertiliser
blending and marketing company,
offering agronomic services to farmers
to determine accurate crop and soil
specific fertiliser requirements for
the commercial farming sector in
particular,” he explains. “We don’t
sell generic fertilisers. Each fertiliser is
We identified a
need for more
competition and better
quality fertilisers”
made up specifically for each farmer’s
soil type, crop and yield expectation
on prescription.”
GBF has made a name for itself
selling an extremely high quality
product, pitched perfectly for every
customer’s soil type, ground type,
crop and more. How do they go about
it? With some of the biggest blending
plants in the world. “We can blend 11
different raw materials at a time to
create a highly-specialised product –
there’s almost no one else that can
provide that efficiency,” says Coventry.
With such a specialised and
tailormade product it’s hard to get
specifics on what GBF can offer, but it
has a range of slow-release coatings
and ingredients and raw materials
from all over the world.
“Primarily, Greenbelt Fertilisers
has been focused initially on large
commercial farms – defined as farmers
who grow 100 hectares or more and
large corporate farming operations,”
says Coventry.
In the short time it has been in
operation the company has managed
to grow to an 80 percent share in
the Zambian sugar market. This is
something Coventry is very proud
of. “The larger farms and corporate
operations are always on the look
out for innovation and we run field
days with farmers to educate them
about the benefits of our products
and what we could do for them,”
he says.
But of course there is tremendous
opportunity among small scale
farmers. They though need a bit
of convincing.
“That’s right. It’s the smaller farmers
who need more convincing. They need
cheaper fertiliser and they stick to
what they’re used to so they’re harder
to convert. However, the smaller farms
are coming around as Greenbelt’s
market share – and interest in it –
grows rapidly.”
In 2010 GBF purchased a second
plant from Ranco in the U.S
increasing the blending company to
factories in Zambia.
The second factory is operating in the
Mkushi farm block, allowing for further
expansion in the north of the country.
GBF has also been in Mozambique
for two years and it looking to expand
further throughout the continent.
It opened a blending plant at the
port in Beira in 2011.
“We are targeting Africa,”
Coventry says.
But, while making great use of
local materials, most ingredients in
the fertilisers need to come in from
abroad. The port location reduces
transport costs on import as well as on
export, and opens up further markets.
“There’s a logistical advantage to
shipping by sea. We’re working with key
ports for cheaper transport costs, and
we’re looking to expand down the east
coast by sea,” says Coventry. “What
have some of the challenges been facing
Greenbelt Fertilisers over the past year
or so? Primarily it’s just been with capital.
People need to order fertiliser about
four months in advance, so we hold a lot
of stock and we hold a lot of capital.”
In a bid to cut costs and raise
efficiency for clients, GBF has been
focusing increasingly on its own
environmental impact.
“Some fertilisers can have up
to 50 percent filler when they are
transported. At Greenbelt Fertilisers we
transport them in concentrated forms
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49

Greenbelt Fertilisers
to reduce transport costs and the
environmental impact of those costs.”
In addition the company keeps a
keen eye on the environmental impact
of its products when sprayed on crops.
“We aim to reduce the negative effect
of fertiliser on the environment,”
says Coventry. “By creating a highly
specialised product for Zambian
soil, the effects of urea loss from
leaching can be reduced dramatically –
keeping more nutrients in the soil and
protecting the ground water.”
And with operations in so many
different countries and regions, how
does the company ensure quality
delivery across its 1,000 employees?
“We always aim to have as many
international training days as possible.
We have health and safety training
and much more. But across the
whole operation we have one guiding
philosophy on high-quality crop nutrition
and soil nutrition – that stays the same.”
Having been in Mozambique for
two years, what other plans does GFB
have? “We want to continue as we are
doing: offering a specialised product
with excellent service at a good price,
and we want to have strong growth
and be number one in Central and East
Africa,” says Coventry. “We aim to
increase market share and expand along
East Africa especially. We aim to do this
by continuing to create a better service
and a better product.”
GBF is already a force to be reckoned
with and offers an excellent, highlyspecialised
product. This company
has staked its claim to being part of
the ongoing development of African
agriculture and aims to increase
production of fertiliser to 150,000
metric tonnes in 2014/15 from 100,000
metric tonnes in the previous season.
“There are huge natural resources
in this part of the world and they’re
not being utilised,” says Coventry. “We
plan to help change that.”
To learn more visit www.greenbelt.co.zm.
Lushbury Fertilizer
Lushbury Fertilizer Corporation
congratulates Greenbelt Fertilisers
Ltd on your achievements. We are
privileged to have been a part of your
growth and success and look forward to
continued close cooperation.
Lushbury is a reliable supplier of a full line
of premium macro- and micro- nutrient
fertilizers and agricultural chemicals. Our
business is built around Africa and its
people. Our comprehensive portfolio of
products, deep expertise in logistics, and
dedication of our people sets Lushbury
apart from competition.
Nitrogen: G-AmSul, Urea, CAN 27%
Phosphates: DAP, MAP, TSP, SSP
Potash: MOP, SOP, KNO3
NPK: Any customized blend
Micros: Zinc, Kieserite, Sulphur,
Customized Formulas
Lushbury’s mission is to be our
customers’ preferred supplier of
all plant nutrients and agricultural
chemicals. Through close cooperation
and innovative thinking we are setting
the standard for quality, reliability, and
customer support.
Lushbury prides itself on a highest
degree of focus and commitment
to our customers. We are a proud
member of fertilizer industry’s leading
organizations: International Fertilizer
Association and The Fertilizer Institute.
We invite you to meet us at any of the
upcoming events and conferences.
We grow with our customers and
suppliers and drive value for our
investors. Grow with us!
Tel +1-516-308-2787
Email export@lushburyfertilizer.com
www.lushburyfertilizer.com
50 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

f e a t u r e
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
51

Concord Cranes
Reaching
new heights
In 2012 Investec facilitated a
transaction whereby Concord
Cranes Ltd became the holding
company of Anglo-V3 Crane
Hire and Elcon Crane Hire.
Writer Ian Armitage
Project manager Stuart Shirra
52 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.COm

C o n s t r u c t i o n
uccessful couples don’t
just make promises
to each other; they
commit. And commit
to each other is exactly
what Elcon Crane Hire and Anglo-V3
have done.
In 2012 Investec facilitated a
transaction whereby Concord Cranes
Ltd became the holding company of
both entities.
It was a watershed moment.
“That’s right it was a big
development,” says David Wilkinson,
Elcon’s founder. “It all started really
back in 2011 when we released an
equity stake in the Elcon Group to
Investec and this was followed in
December 2012 with a merger between
Elcon Crane Hire and Anglo-V3. We
weren’t looking for a partner but
negotiations took place whereby
Investec, who had already decided to
invest in Anglo-V3, wanted us to join
and become part of a much larger
network and of course we’ve always
looked for new avenues to develop our
business interest over a larger African
footprint. We soon realised the future
of the crane industry might be to have
a bigger footprint in South Africa. It is
still our intention today.”
Both Elcon and Anglo-V3 are longstanding
participants in the South
African crane hire industry and both
have strong family histories.
They continue to trade under their
individual branding and livery and are
managed by the same management
teams – Herman van Staden leading
Anglo-V3 and David heading up
operations at Elcon.
“Concord Cranes was previously
called V3 Crane Hire which was the
original holding company of the
Anglo-V3 group, which included
Phakamisa Crane Hire the BBBEE
Company associated with Anglo-V3,”
says Mr van Staden. “With the
addition of Elcon Crane Hire to the
group the decision was made to
change the holding company name
to a new ‘neutral’ name, Concord
Cranes. The addition of Elcon has
added an immediate presence and
exposure for the group to the Durban
and surroundings markets where
Anglo-V3 previously has never been
actively involved.”
It is expected that within the
next 12 months that Mr Wilkinson’s
son, Marcus, will assume CEO
responsibilities for the Elcon trading
leg. Marcus has co-managed the Elcon
Group over the past seven years as
commercial director and is presently
working very closely with Mr van
Staden and Anglo-V3 operations
director Francois Smith on new
ventures for the group.
“We’re excited by the future and
I’m confident I’m leaving the business
in good hands,” Wilkinson says. “This
combining of resources into the market
has many positive advantages for all
our customers. This new group now
offers our clients the strength and
variety of 150 mobile cranes of different
sizes and lifting capabilities and wider
geographical coverage. This enhanced
capacity will certainly be of interest to
many industries around the country
where some cranes are in short supply.
To give you an example, access to the
bigger fleet has assisted us in securing
the Engen Refinery maintenance
contract in Durban, serviced through
Elcon, and Sasol in Secunda and PetroSA
in Mossel Bay through Anglo-V3.”
The combination means Concord
boasts a strong core and provides
a platform for expansion into areas
not yet covered geographically, Mr
Wilkinson says.
“And we, of course, have the skills
and experience in this industry, which
isn’t an easy industry to get into,”
he adds. “If you wanted to start a
crane company off in South Africa you
would need a large capital investment
and a spread of six or seven cranes
across the sizes because if you don’t
have a basket of sizes to offer your
clients you’re soon going to run out of
capacity and then the client has got to
go to an alternative supplier.”
Anglo-V3 Crane Hire has ten branches
spread across Gauteng, the Free State,
Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KZN,
with its headquarters in Midrand.
“Not a lot has changed since each
entity is effectively trading separately
as before,” Mr van Staden says. “The
added back-up via fleet size and inhouse
expertise including experience
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53

Concord Cranes
has benefitted both companies and
has given the group more confidence
in tackling bigger projects going
forward. Financial stability, growth
potential via a bigger client base and
added fleet back-up are just a few of
the benefits of the merger and we’ll be
nationally more competitive in areas
where we were not previously active.”
Elcon has a branch in Richards Bay
and a head office in the Port of Durban.
“We service everywhere from
Maputo down to East London,”
Wilkinson explains. “Our clients
already see the benefits of the
bigger footprint.”
Concord Cranes boasts a fleet of
over 150 mobile cranes throughout the
range, from the smallest 7t capacity up
to the 550t all terrain, and has worked
itself into one of the “top three
operators in the country,” he says.
Elcon Crane Hire was born from
humble beginning in 1986 when Mr
Wilkinson purchased the construction
wing of Elgin Engineering.
“I was a consultant in the sugar
industry in the early years for CG Smith,
being involved in the refurbishment
and building of all sugar mills north and
south of Durban,” he says, recalling
Elcon’s heritage. “One of the principle
contractors on these sugar mills was
a construction and manufacturing
company called Elgin Engineering and
I eventually joined Elgin to carry on
a contract for them and re-manage
their exposure into the sugar industry.
During the course of this two-year
contract I carried out the duties I was
requested to do by the management
and then I saw an opportunity to
remove their construction division
from the Elgin Group and I pursued
and concluded a management buyout.
That’s where Elcon was born. From
there, and with many years of hard
work, I’ve progressively built up the
company, modernising aggressively up
to and including 2012 when we became
part of Concord.”
54 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

C o n s t r u c t i o n
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Going forward Mr Wilkinson is
sure that the combined group will
remain at the “cutting edge” of new
crane technology and continue its
commitment to customer service
through strong business values
and its core business principal of
understanding the customers’
needs “holistically”.
“That’s absolutely vital and
over the years we’ve invested in
such technology,” he says. “For
instance, we have cranes with
bluetooth capabilities which enable
the operator to utilise a portable
terminal and walk around the
machine during set up to ensure 100
percent safety.”
Over the past year Elcon has
introduced four new machines to its
fleet – three Liebherr all terrain cranes
and a new Zoomlion 35t rough terrain
machine. Anglo-V3 has purchased
12 machines, spread across various
brands and applications.
Both companies
are managed by
entrepreneurial
directors and our aim
is to generically
grow the group to one
of the largest
and best crane hire
companies in
Southern Africa”
The purchases were primarily driven
by “clients increased demand for
this size and type of machine,”
Wilkinson says.
An ultra marathon runner and
keen athlete, we believe his retirement
certainly won’t hold him back.
Mr Wilkinson can be proud of
what he has built and we’re sure
he’ll continue to play an active role in
developing Concord.
“We’re excited by the future,” van
Staden concludes. “Both companies
are managed by entrepreneurial
directors and our aim is to generically
grow the group to one of the largest
and best crane hire companies in
Southern Africa, and in so doing
ensure a strong financial stability to
the benefit of its shareholders and
loyal employees.”
To learn more visit
www.elconcranes.co.za and
www.anglov3.co.za.
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
55

Powerin
Mantrac Nigeria
Mantrac Nigeria distributes and supports the full range of
Caterpillar construction machines, power systems and material
handling equipment. We talk to strategic planning and marketing
manager James Agama.
Writer Chris Farnell
Project manager James Mitchell
56 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.COm

C o n s t r u c t i o n
g up
he Mantrac Group
is the sole dealer of
Caterpillar products
across the African
continent and Mantrac
Nigeria is their Nigerian division. This
unique market position has meant
that for over 60 years the company
has been closely involved with the
vast majority of major construction
jobs across Nigeria.
Providing sales and rentals of
Caterpillar products, as well as
maintenance, servicing and onsite
training for the same, Mantrac
Nigeria has fortified a dominant
position in the construction and
earthmoving markets, and it is
proving increasingly essential for the
power generation needs of the oil
and gas sector.
It’s hardly a surprise that the
last decade has seen a 300 percent
rate of growth as the company has
expanded to ten separate branches
around the country.
And Mantrac Nigeria is needed now
more than ever, as Nigeria is in need
of a huge overall to its infrastructure.
“There is a heavy, heavy
infrastructure deficit in our
country with regards to power
and construction,” says Mantrac
Nigeria’s strategic planning and
marketing manager James Agama.
Poor infrastructure naturally
makes business more difficult.
“Like most multinationals in our
country, we find the infrastructure
can be very challenging,” Agama
admits. “The operating cost is
high. Also there are limits on the
resources which are available.”
Mantrac Nigeria has placed itself
as a crucial resource in correcting
that deficit across the country.
“We are partners in developing
the infrastructure of this country
and we’re looking at new ways to
make things better,” Agama tells us.
“We’re doing all that we can to help
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.COm
57

MaNTraC NIGErIa
BALTIC AIR & MARITIME
CARGO SERVICES LTD
BAltIC AIR & MARItIME CARgO
SERVICES ltD was incorporated
in Nigeria as a private limited
liability Company on the 17th of
September, 1978.
We have been a key player in the
Maritime and Air Industry. With more
than two decades in operation, BAltIC
AIR AND MARItIME CARgO SERVICES
ltD is one of the largest and most
successful transport and logistics
providers in Nigeria and beyond.
As professionals, we have been
involved in the enhancement,
updating, improvement of clearing,
haulage and storage systems, and
we are also a reliable partner for
industrial development and growth, as
recognized by the Nigerian Customs
Services for having the best clearing
services in Air & Maritime cargo
handling activities.
www.balticairmaritime.net
the country. Presently, for example,
we’ve partnered with Setraco in
one of the major infrastructure
projects in the Niger Delta area.
We’re providing the equipment that
makes it possible for them to work
there. that’s a major project in this
country so we’re showing strength in
that partnership.”
this isn’t a fly by night operation
however. Mantrac is committed to
a long term investment in Nigeria’s
national infrastructure.
“We’re here for the long haul,
we’re committed to Nigeria, and we
know that we are willing to help and
be involved as much as possible to
get the country where it wants to
be,” Agama says proudly. “We are
the largest company in this field.
We have become the benchmark for
quality here.”
looking forward the company is
aiming to drive its coverage across
the country, while providing the
58 WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM

C o n s t r u c t i o n
Efficient, Reliable, Fulfilling and Balanced Cargo Movement Services
Abuja Airport:
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Cargo Shed,
Abuja, Nigeria
Tel: +2348160703946
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5 Jogunosimi Street,
Off Obafemi Awolowo Way,
Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria
Tel: +2347098141839,
+2347098123876,
+23417927004
Lagos Bonded Terminal
Warehouse:
Mile 2 terminal
Mile 2, Amuwo Odofin,
Lagos, Nigeria.
Tel: +2347068442329.
Kano State:
SAHCOL Premises
Malam Aminu Kano Int'l Airport
Kano State, Nigeria
Tel: +2348022907617
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Port Harcourt Int'l Airport
Port Harcourt,
Rivers State, Nigeria.
Tel: +2348122200012
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Tel: 09 -2900626 | www.balticairmaritime.net | Email: info@balticairmaritime.net
11 Jere Street, Area 3, Abuja, F.C.T, Nigeria
We’re doing all
that we can to
help the country.
Presently, for example,
we’ve partnered with
Setraco in one of the
major infrastructure
projects in the Niger
Delta area”
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
59

MaNTraC NIGErIa
We’re here for the long haul, we’re
committed to Nigeria, and we know that
we are willing to help and be involved as
much as possible to get the country where it
wants to be”
best value for money it can from its
brands, fuelled by well built one-onone
relationships with customers.
But that’s just the beginning.
talking to Agama it is abundantly
clear that he is very excited for
the future. the company has been
building an increasingly significant
presence in the power generation
sector, which he believes holds
great future potential, and the
company’s consistent support of
new infrastructure is going to pay off
as the demand for more industrial
equipment continues to grow.
However none of that is worth
anything if the company is not able
to find and retain the skilled people
who make that business happen.
Perhaps the single key facet of the
business is the company’s people
management. While being the sole
provider of Caterpillar products to
the region gives Mantrac a market
advantage, it’s one that’s worth
nothing without the company’s
extremely knowledgeable staff.
that staff is able to offer exemplary
service, with every member of
the team possessing an in depth
knowledge of the Caterpillar
products they sell. this is thanks
to a highly selective recruitment
process and the company’s ability to
take advantage of comprehensive
product training.
“We use a mix of direct
recruitment and agencies,
depending on what sort of position
we are looking to fill. As well as our
superb recruitment processes, we
are working to bring in new roles
such as my own strategy planning
position. Meanwhile we are also
acquiring new platforms that make
it easier for our staff and customers
to interact, such as the newly
launched SalesForce CRM system
we recently installed which will
make those relationships stronger,”
Agama tells us.
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C o n s t r u c t i o n
At the forefront of its strategy is
a world class staff development
programme. “We pride ourselves on
providing a training programme for
a lot of people. The Mantrac group
runs training across the many different
countries in which we operate,”
Agama says. “Our courses are tailored
towards improving the person as well
as what they bring to the business. We
also work hard to ensure that we are
offering the best in terms of benefit
and welfare packages, so that after
we’ve invested in our staff they want
to stay with the business.”
However, as well as benefiting from
global training resources, Mantrac
also places a great deal of value
in local knowledge. Agama points
out, “We have a global practice but
we also rely heavily on the local
knowledge. We hire staff that have
lived in this country and understand
the local environment.”
That understanding is becoming
especially important as the markets
in Nigeria are in a constant state
of change, especially with other
international brands attempting to get
a foothold on the market.
“The competitive landscape has
changed over the years,” Agama
admits. “There are new brands
constantly popping up. In particular
there are a lot of Chinese brands in
Nigeria now. Possibly the biggest
challenge we’ve faced are that the
market is changing on a regular
basis. To combat these new realities
we are looking at how we define
our processes, how we meet the
customer and how we can provide
new products that allow us to fight on
quality not affordability.”
It’s a strategy that’s paying off.
“The last 12 months have been
better than the previous year, there’s
interest coming in on all fronts as a
result of the investment we’ve put
into the business finally beginning to
see results in terms of new products
and processes,” Agama says. “We’ve
been here for over 60 years, and
in most developing countries the
infrastructure still needs a lot of work.
We’re hoping as a business to help our
country reach the infrastructure levels
every Nigerian desires. That is why in
the last few years we’ve invested so
heavily in the business.”
To learn more visit
www.mantracnigeria.com.
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
61

Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital
Caring Kenya
for
62 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

H e a l t h c a r e
Africa Outlook speaks to
Dr John Kibosia of Moi Teaching
and Referral Hospital about what
it’s like operating Kenya’s second
largest referral hospital.
Writer Hannah Eiseman-Reynard
Project manager Eddie Clinton
he Moi Teaching and
Referral Hospital
located in Eldoret,
Kenya - home to
Kenya’s fourth
international airport - has nearly 100
years of history having been founded
in 1917 as the Native Cottage hospital
with a bed capacity of 60. Today, it
has a bed capacity of 550 serving the
larger Western and Nyanza provinces
in Kenya and its surrounding areas of
Kapenguria, Kapsowar, Kitale, Nandi,
Kapsabet and Tambach, as well as
offering medical education through
its association with Moi University, a
major development.
The hospital has certainly moved
with the times – and we’re happy to
bring you its story because, as it has
evolved, it has helped to transform
healthcare in Kenya.
Let’s go back to 1990 when its
association with Moi University began.
“Moi has been at the forefront of
training. The facility was upgraded
to a hospital to be a training facility
for the medical students,” explains
Dr John Kibosia of Moi Teaching and
Referral Hospital. “The link has been
good because so far whenever Moi
Hospital University is mentioned –
it is an honour. It is the university
which has made the hospital.”
The upgrade did not come without
its own challenges and, as the centre
upgraded and grew, the patient
numbers grew even more rapidly.
“Previously referral cases had
to be taken to Kenyatta national
Hospital but when Moi became a
referral hospital there was a crunch
upon it being declared as a referral
hospital,” says Dr Kibosia.
As the second-largest referral
hospital in Kenya, Moi’s catchment
area became a staggering 16.24
million people. Kenya’s total
population is 38.2 million.
It also has international patients.
“People come from up to Sudan and
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
63

Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital
Uganda, some come from as far as
Tanzania – the hospital caters for a much
bigger population,” says Dr Kibosia
The hospital has 3,200 staff, 800
beds and, of course, a catchment
area of 16.24 million. With these
numbers its little surprise that
keeping up with the needs of the
patients is a challenge the hospital
cannot always meet. In instances of
political unrest – such as the election
violence which erupted in 2002 – Moi
has struggled to deliver care to all
the people who need it.
One problem is the resources
which the hospital has. Though the
hospital was initially working very
well, the transition period of 2002
brought problems.
“The Government decided to
develop cold feet on this hospital.
There were deals that were not
forthcoming. The hospital could
have been rendered useless – service
delivery went down and most referrals
People come
from up to
Sudan and Uganda,
some come from
as far as Tanzania –
the hospital caters
for a much
bigger population”
Megascope Healthcare
Megascope Healthcare (K)
Ltd provides services
of distribution and
supplies of medical equipment
and hospital disposables. We have
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our knowledge in vital hospital
equipment used in critical care,
radiology, dentistry and laboratory.
Over the years we have been able
to expand our product portfolio
to include forensic equipment,
hospital furniture and sterilization
equipment. We have partnered with
renowned manufacturers in Western
Europe, Asia, America, Southern part
of Africa and Holland. Megascope
works on a planned preventive
maintenance measure to ensure
continuous quality service.
Tel + 0722 299097
Email info@megascopekenya.com
www.megascopekenya.com
©Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital/Facebook
64 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

H e a l t h c a r e
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
65

Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital
were going to Kenyatta hospital,” says
Dr Kibosia. “Moi hospital had been
rendered insignificant and most of
the talent was lost, but that is turning
around currently.”
Luckily, with a fresh intake of trainee
doctors, the hospital is never without
human resources, and the experience
on the staff is building back up.
But the challenges don’t end there.
Indeed, though it is better equipped
than many hospitals in the region, Moi
struggles with the quality of many of
its machines.
“The CT motion analysis and dialysis
machines are not state-of-the-art.
Most machines are second hand. They
are what people have been given,”
says Dr Kibosia.
And it gets worse. In a population
where the average wage is below
one U.S. dollar a day, a CT scan costs
around 12,000 Kenyan shillings (while
dialysis costs 20,000 shillings per
visit), so accessing the medicine at
all is something only a fraction of the
population can afford.
With cancer care the picture is
even bleaker.
“There is a very big challenge with
cancer – those who can afford care are
very, very rich. Cancer is killing, killing,
killing people. In this level of poverty
people die,” says Dr Kibosia.
He tells us the hospital needs
a specialist cancer care ward.
Currently, cancer patients who can
afford to travel go further afield
for treatment, while those who
can’t are treated in among the
other patients with no specialist
care available.
“A cancer unit would be a very great
blessing,” Dr Kibosia tells us. Currently
situation is often little more than
palliative care. “It’s said it’s a relief
when you get HIV/AIDS rather than
dying of cancer,” he says.
Another challenge the hospital
has faced is shortages of some
drugs and medicines.
“Most of the drugs patients get
from the hospital pharmacy, but the
hospital pharmacy is not that well
stocked with the rarer drugs,” Dr
Kibosia says.
The situation is not uniform across
all diseases. Tuberculosis drugs, for
instance, are readily available thanks
to a combination of government
initiatives and U.S. aid.
Anti-retroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS
too are made more available by
NGOs, however, the steady supply of
medicine to the hospital is an ongoing
challenge, and one of the main reasons
for that is corruption.
“Corruption is like a cancer in our
society. Some doctors get drugs and
sell them to their own pharmacies.
Corruption is quite rampant. I’m not
afraid to say that,” says Dr Kibosia.
In some instances drugs which are
ordered are not delivered, in other
cases they go missing after they have
arrived at the hospital.
Disposable Surgicals
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We consistently strive to exceed our
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Tel +254 020 521 3 647 / +254 020 801 3 652
66 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

H e a l t h c a r e
Committing to creating people oriented to quality
sutures and disposable surgical dressings
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©Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital/Facebook
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
67

Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital
“Doctors receive drugs from a
medical assignment and give them to
specific pharmacies. The corruption
is a social scourge. We need a
hospital to be a one-stop service
with all the medicines.”
One reason corruption is so rife is
the poverty and it can affect more than
just the medical supplies.
“The professional misconduct
comes about because of corruption.
We need an independent body to
regulate care and drugs,” says Dr
Kibosia. “In Kenya you can get people
working as doctors who were not
trained as doctors.”
While a teaching hospital is unlikely
to have that particular problem, Moi
hospital does have difficulty holding on
to trained doctors once they graduate.
“They could be accommodated
at the hospital but they seek jobs
elsewhere. They say our government is
not paying enough.”
Some staff wages are assigned
by the Government and some are
assigned by the Centre for Disease
Control (CDC), but this piecemeal
approach does not always work
efficiently and Dr Kibosia fully supports
increased wages.
“At times people prefer going to
private hospitals because their service
delivery is high. There is less corruption
and drugs don’t go missing.”
Despite the many challenges Moi
Teaching and Referral Hospital faces,
Dr Kibosia is confident he knows what
some of the solutions to this situation
should be.
“Corruption has eaten each and
every institution. That’s why each
and every organisation needs an
independent body.”
He wants an independent
medical professional not related
to the government overseeing the
organisation to maintain
professional standards.
In addition, he recommends
the setting up of smaller branch
68 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

H e a l t h c a r e
hospitals in Kisumu and Nyanza province “so that the
sub-branches can get direct help. It was just my humble
submission that those can be set up to even the
service delivery.”
Other investments which would help patient care
immeasurably – as well as improvements in hospital
equipment – are the specialised cancer care unit as well as a
more specialised children’s hospital.
Currently Moi Teaching and Referrals Hospital offers
paediatrics, but would benefit from more specialised HIV/
AIDS paediatrics.
Despite all that, Moi has achieved many great things and
has always been at the forefront of training and has the
best tropical medicine department in Kisumu.
In addition to plans for better patient care, Moi Teaching
and Referrals Hospital works to give more back to the
community it is based in.
One example Dr Kibosia gives us is the Boresha
Educational Empowerment group – boresha means
‘betterment’ in Swahili – and the Education Volunteers
project which empowers teenage girls.
The teenage pregnancy rate is very high, and with so
much poverty in the population that young women often
have to choose between spending money on sanitary
towels or 2kg of maize to feed them and their families –
many girls regularly miss out on schooling as soon as they
hit puberty.
The Education Volunteers project aims to combat this
by empowering and encouraging girls in their education,
as well as providing practical support such as antiretroviral
drugs for HIV positive students.
“It is a brilliant scheme,” Dr Kibosia says.
We spoke to the doctor on a Monday – he told us the
Friday before he’d been at a prayer day with the students
ahead of their national exams.
Many of the healthcare workers at the hospital come
from the local community and Moi Hospital is helping to
both empower its local community as well as train up a new
generation of staff.
Moi Teaching and University Hospital is facing some
huge challenges but Dr Kibosia is facing them head-on and
remains resolute and upbeat.
From 7-12 December the Boresha Educational
Empowerment group will be running an educational festival
at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, with inspirational
and expert speakers.
Those interested in sponsoring or collaborating with the
festival should get in touch.
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Tel: +254-20-2632860 Mobile: +254-723913480 / +254-754268466
www.igls.co.ke
To learn more visit www.mtrh.or.ke,
email boreshaeduc@yahoo.com or call +254725200054.
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
69

fOrEWOrd
Q&a:
kenya’s insurance sector is growing. Industry veteran tom gichuhi,
the CEO of the Association of kenya Insurers, gives us his insight.
Writer Ian Armitage
Project manager Sheridan Halls
n August the
Association of
kenya Insurers (AkI)
announced that
members’ profits
grew 53 percent last year, helped by
increased investment income from the
domestic stock market that recovered
from a slump in 2011. Indeed, kenya’s
46 insurers posted a pre-tax profit of
Sh14.8 billion last year.
Following the announcement, we
caught up with AkI’s CEO tom gichuhi
and asked him a few questions about
kenya’s insurance industry. Here’s
what he had to say...
Tell me more about Kenya’s insurance
market. What are the main challenges
facing the industry?
the challenges facing the kenyan
insurance market include, but aren’t
limited to, very stiff competition due
to the presence of a large number of
underwriters (most of whom are almost
of the same size in terms of market
share) coupled with little product
differentiation. The above factors have
led to very stiff competition which has
led to unsustainable price cutting, low
levels of awareness of the importance
of insurance among potential
consumers of insurance, low disposable
incomes and therefore inability to
purchase insurance, which in most
cases is not regarded as a necessity, and
fraud which ends up making insurance
claims sometimes unmanageable. this
has the potential of making insurance
expensive as underwriters try to
balance their books.
The market is characterised by low
penetration. How as an industry is that
being tackled?
the industry is tackling low penetration
through increased consumer education
mainly conducted by AkI and the
Insurance Regulatory Authority
70 WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM

F i n a n c e
(IRA), market penetration through
introduction of new products that
resonate well with the consuming
public, simplification of insurance
contracts to make them consumer
friendly, diversification of distribution
channels e.g., bancassurance, and
market diversification, e.g. micro
insurance for the low income earners
and the informal sector and introduction
of agriculture insurance.
Most uptake in insurance is in motor
insurance, fire industrial and personal
injury. Why is that?
That’s right; most uptake in insurance
is in motor, fire industrial and medical.
There are good reasons for this. First
of all, motor third party is compulsory.
This ensures that all motor vehicles must
carry the minimum motor third party
insurance cover. Secondly, purchase
of motor vehicles in most instances is
financed by banks and employers hence
the requirement for a comprehensive
insurance cover to protect the interest
of the financier. When it comes to fire
industrial insurance, it is purchased
by corporate organisations as a risk
management tool. They are in business
and therefore the need to protect their
assets. They are also a lot more aware of
the importance of insurance. A lot
of them are also financed and therefore
insurance is a source of security. Medical
insurance, meanwhile, has in the last five
years or so become the fastest growing
segment. This is purely informed by the
ever escalating cost of healthcare in this
country. Ultimately however, only about
seven percent of Kenyans have one form
of insurance or another.
Is the lack of savings culture in Kenya a
concern for insurers?
It is, but that said, we also have to
appreciate that one can only save
available disposable income. Around
half of Kenyans live below the poverty
line and you cannot save what you do
not have. However there are concerted
efforts to encourage those who have, to
save more preferably through insurance.
Tax incentives would certainly encourage
more savings through purchase of long
term insurance and pension products.
Tell me more about the legislative
environment. Is it condusive for
insurers to do business?
The current legislative framework
is not robust enough to encourage
accelerated growth of insurance.
We certainly need to do more. We
have to come up with legislation that
encourages investors to invest more
in insurance, one that encourages the
consumers to buy more insurance
through tax incentives and other
benefits, and one that promotes good
corporate governance so that the
image of the industry is improved so
as to attract more customers. There
are some proposed changes in the
Finance Bill 2013. One of the changes
requires that persons registered under
the insurance Act charge and remit a
ten percent excise duty to the Kenya
Revenue Authority on all fees and
charges levied on services offered. It is
a very ambiguous piece of legislation
and we are already lobbying against it.
The other new proposed amendment
requires insurance companies to pay
insurance claims within 90 days of
reporting of such claims. We are also
lobbying to have that proposal changed
by way of wording so as to require
that claims are paid with 90 days of
submission of the requisite documents.
The industry is also facing a mounting
skills shortage. How can that be
tackled?
Shortage of skills is only in certain
specialised areas such as actuarial,
pension, marine and aviation
underwriting, agriculture insurance
underwriting and claims processing, and
oil and gas insurances. IRA is already
on a programme to train actuaries
and AKI has been actively engaged in
skills upgrade for pension and marine
underwriters. Individual insurance
companies are also aggressively involved
in training their personnel in technical,
managerial and marketing skills.
Tell me more about the market
itself. Kenya’s insurance industry is
fragmented. Would you encourage
some consolidation?
Yes the Industry is probably
fragmented. We are almost at 50 in
number. Consolidation would help a lot
particularly in creating huge corporate
organisations that would not only
dictate the market trends and control
such vices as price cutting but which
will also enjoy economies of scale, thus
bring down the cost of insurance which
would ultimately encourage more
people to buy insurance hence improve
penetration. Consolidation has not
really taken root. But there are all the
indicators of mergers and buyouts. We
may have seen one or two but certainly
more are expected to come through. It
is a process that is going to take some
time but we are cetainly headed there.
Do you see a bright future for the
insurance market in Kenya?
There is a very bright future not only
for the insurance market in Kenya but
also for the entire financial services
sector. There is the expanded market
provided by the larger East African
Community with its 140 million
inhabitants, discovery of huge deposits
of oil and gas, a mining industry
just about to start thriving, huge
infrastructural projects in the areas
of road, railway, sea and airports,
electricity generation projects and a
rapidly growing middle class which
is the main driver of consumption
of products and services, insurance
included. The list is endless!
To learn more about AKI and
Kenya’s insurance industry visit
www.akinsure.com.
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71

Ga INSUraNCE
for
gA Insurance is a company
poised for growth says
CEO Vijay Srivastava.
Writer Ian Armitage
Project manager Sheridan Halls
72 WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM

f I N a N C E
he kenyan insurance
industry recorded 15
percent growth in the
first half of this year,
with premiums growing
to $744.7 million from $647 million in
the same period last year.
But, despite the growth, with an
increasing number of people buying
insurance, penetration is low and
the result is that competition in the
industry is fierce as licensed companies
compete for a limited market.
kenyans’ uptake of insurance cover,
both at corporate and personal level,
remains predominantly in the motor,
fire industrial and personal accident
(mainly group medical cover) classes.
“The main issue affecting us and the
industry in general is the unhealthy
competition and lack of self-discipline
among players,” says Vijay Srivastava,
cEO & Principal Officer, at GA
Insurance. “the companies are too
many for a relatively smaller market.
the penetration and awareness of
insurance is poor. the imbalance
between a regulated and free market
is a challenge. the crime related claims
are always on rise besides the motor
and Employers liability legal claims
and the industry is struggling to reduce
the fraudulent claims especially in the
motor classes.”
gA Insurance is one of the oldest
insurance companies operating in
kenya, underwriting all classes of
general insurance, including medical
and travel.
Formerly known as general
Accident Insurance Company of kenya
limited, having its parentage from
general Accident Insurance Uk, it was
incorporated as a kenyan insurance
company in 1979.
In 2006, the company was
acquired by the present owners,
who also own the renowned I&M
Bank group in kenya with interests
in banking, insurance, beverage
bottling and real estate. With new
ownership and new management,
the company’s profile changed and
it has been growing consistently
since 2007, maintaining a growth
of over 25 percent each year. this
resulted into repositioning of the
company in the kenya market and
prompted it to rebrand in 2009.
“Presently gA is the most
promising and one of the leading
companies in the market. It has
grown considerably since 2006,” says
Mr Srivastava. “gA’s key strength
is its people, the work culture and
quick adaptability for achieving
excellence. We are selling solutions
to customer needs and creating
viable options in the market. the
reputation of the shareholders of the
company and synergy with I&M Bank
group give us a lot of credibility and
good standing. We work with the
dual responsibility of living up to gA
and group’s brand.”
the gA brand is recognised as one
of kenya’s most reputable insurers.
Srivastava says the people in the
company have been “literally living
the corporate values to make it a
sustainable brand” and that gA has
been “focusing growth with profitability
towards long time sustainability”.
“this led the company to develop
one of the strongest financials in
the market in terms of top and
bottom line, assets, net equity,
large investments and high solvency
margin,” he says.
Over the last year gA has
recorded premium income growth
of over 30 percent.
Profits are also up. And new
ventures have been launched.
“this year we opened the gA life
Assurance Company having 100
percent ownership of gA Insurance,”
says Srivastava. “gA life got licensed
in June this year and has made a very
promising beginning especially in
the fund management, pensions and
group life.”
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73

GA Insurance
Of course, with things growing quickly,
there are challenges.
“Handling the fast paced growth
in business and maintaining good
customer service and delivery are
certainly two of them. We had the
potential and ambition to make a
difference in the market but the
comfort is that we have much better
services as a bigger company than
what we used to have five years back.
The pain of implementation of the core
software system is now resulting in
good services to clients.”
There is plenty of room for
expansion, if you understand the
needs and challenges of Kenyans,
Srivastava says.
“Kenya’s insurance market has
enjoyed average growth rates of
between 18 and 20 percent and
insurance supervision is changing
from compliance based to risk based.
The regulator is very active and has
brought a number of guidelines for
better governance of the industry.
This has given us clearer road map in
managing the company.”
Kenya also has a growing number
of tech savvy young professionals
and this too is impacting the
business and leading to new channels
of distribution.
“The new generation is more
technology savvy with smartphones,
internet and social media,” says
Srivastava. “New distribution channels
are coming up like Bancassurance, other
agents like in travel/tourism with large
number of loyal retail and corporate
clientele, and increased use of credit/
debit and other smart cards. Increased
risk awareness about terrorism and
political violence and new finds in oil
and energy are interesting also and
will require specialised cover, capacity
and an expert technical knowledge of
the special insurance covers. We at GA
have geared up to these new trends
and are adaptable to the fast growing
needs of the customers. We are selling
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f i n a n c e
Service
never sleeps…
At Willis Re, we understand the challenges that keep you up at night.
Our passion makes for constant Reinventing, continuously
Rethinking and always providing Resilient Reinsurance solutions
to achieve peace of mind.
Willis Re (Pty) Ltd is an Authorised Financial Service Provider, Licence No. 24845.
1st Floor, Building 3, Inanda Greens Office Park, 54 Wierda Road West ,Wierda Valley, Sandton
Tel: +27 11 341 9600
travel insurance online and are in the
process of making our website more
interactive and of practical use to the
customer for their convenience. We
are already part of a bank and are
developing the bancassurance. We now
have a Life company in the group and
this will facilitate us to package many
new innovative products along with the
general and medical insurance covers
distributed through bancassurance. We
are aiming into building our capacity and
knowledge about the oil exploration
and energy sector. We also have an
integrated software system for both
general and medical insurance. This
enables us to handle the large volumes
with controls and efficiency ensuring
better customer services.”
GA dreams big. And it has paid off.
From a moderate $6.5 million GWP in
2006 it will close the year 2013 at about
$36 million GWP.
“We recently finished our strategy
meeting and have put in place a long
GA Insurance is
one of the oldest
insurance companies
operating in Kenya”
and short term plan,” says Srivastava.
“We are still looking for more high
growth in business for the next three
years in order to further improve our
market share.
“We have a very high solvency
margin, good growth and liquidity.
Our investments are quite diversified
and safe. We are making some new
investments in real estate and regional
12323_ADVERT_RISKSA_AW.indd 1 27/08/2013 16:42:12
expansion of our operations. After
investing this year in GA Life Assurance
in Kenya, we are very soon opening in
Tanzania with 67 percent share of GA
Kenya. We also have plans to expand
into few more countries in East Africa.
“We always love to dream and
implement it into reality. I will not ask
for any shortcuts or easy deals that will
make us complacent.”
GA Insurance was awarded General
Insurer of the Year 1st Runner-up 2012
by Think Business earlier this year – a
remarkable achievement given there
are 38 general insurers in Kenya – and in
2011 it was named second runner up for
Socially Responsible Corporate.
“We have been doing a lot of work
in CSR by contributing two percent of
our net profits every year,” concludes
Srivastava. “We are focusing mainly in
education, clean water and sanitation
among others.”
To learn more visit www.gakenya.com.
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
75

Altrisk
Altrisk is a specialist long term risk product provider
whose reputation has been built around superior
underwriting expertise.
Writer Chris Farnell
Project manager Sheridan Halls
76 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.COm

f i n a n c e
Maintaining a
nichefocus
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77

Altrisk
n life the unexpected
happens and while you
can’t protect yourself
against every potential
hazard, you can take
sensible measures to minimise the
financial impact of the unexpected.
This is why long term risk cover is
important to help safeguard you and
your family’s financial security. But
what happens if you struggle to get
insurance because you have a chronic
health condition or dangerous hobby?
That’s how Altrisk, an operating
division of the Hollard Life Assurance
company came about.
Altrisk was the brainchild of two
individuals, an underwriter, Dalene
Allen, and Nick Stern, an actuary.
They started out with the knowledge
that there was a large amount of
life insurance business being turned
away as uninsurable and they
believed that with the right approach
anything is insurable at the right
price, terms and conditions.
With the backing of Hollard and
Hannover Re they created the business
that became Altrisk. In just 14 years
the company has grown to hold a
seven percent market share in a tough
industry with many competitors.
Altrisk has over 177,000 policies in
force, with R226 billion sum insured.
They started out as a niche
underwriter and quickly gained a
reputation for insuring impaired lives
– the ones the industry traditionally
had no appetite for. They created
a framework where they were able
to apply specialist underwriting and
policy structuring to people who
were otherwise uninsurable. As
their reputation grew they got more
and more standard life insurance,
based on their good service and
excellent underwriting.
Today Altrisk is known in the market
for its non-generalist approach and
ability to think outside the box about
individual life cover.
The benefit
allows a client
to boost their
financial protection
against cancer. It also
gives you complete
peace of mind that
you are fully covered
for cancer”
Managing director Michael Blain says
Altrisk was ahead of the curve when
life insurers started to unbundle life and
investment products. There had been a
long run of life insurance being sold as
a bundled investment, and customers
were complaining they weren’t getting
investment value out of these products.
So what Altrisk did was clearly separate
risk from investment business. “We’re a
pure risk underwriter, so policy holders
are clear about what they’re buying,”
Blain says.
In 14 years the insurer has gone
on to launch a range of firsts in the
traditionally conservative life market.
Its Early Cancer Cover, South Africa’s
very first early cancer insurance
product, is one of these firsts.
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f i n a n c e
As a specialist
risk only
underwriter, we’re
competing with the
biggest companies
in the industry and
distribution is
becoming a battle
of scale”
Altrisk’s head actuary Ryan
Chegwidden says the benefit provides
cover for early or Stage 0 cancers,
which are not covered by critical
illness benefits.
Chegwidden says statistics indicate
that there is a great need in the life
insurance market for this type of
benefit – according to reinsurance
figures one in six people is diagnosed
with early cancer.
Altrisk’s claim statistics mirrors
this trend. “We noticed an increase
in clients being diagnosed with early
stage cancer and Altrisk’s claims
queries showed that many clients
thought they have complete cancer
cover, when in fact they don’t,” he
says. “This is why we decided to create
this product.”
In October Altrisk further expanded
its cover for cancer when it launched
an all- inclusive comprehensive cancer
benefit. Comprehensive Cancer Cover
is a standalone benefit that provides
complete cover for a wider range
of cancers, right from Stage 0 (early
cancer) to Stage 4.
“This is the distinctive feature of
our new benefit - it includes cover for
early cancers, which are excluded from
traditional critical illness insurance,”
Chegwidden says. “The benefit
allows a client to boost their financial
protection against cancer. It also gives
you complete peace of mind that you
are fully covered for cancer.”
He says Altrisk’s underwriting
expertise makes it possible to develop
such benefits. The insurer’s underwriting
team has more than 250 years combined
experience. Altrisk’s individual approach
to underwriting means that policies are
underwritten based on the customer’s
specific needs, rather than simply
following a checklist to see which
premade product they’re going to sell.
Managing director Michael Blain
says Altrisk’s recognised key strength
is its underwriting skill, and that
comes from a philosophy of flexibility
around risk based on the unique
characteristics of the case. “Our
underwriters have a reinsurance
experience, so they understand the
risk philosophy behind reinsurance
underwriting as well as working
directly with the market,” Blain says.
Recently there’s been some changes
at Altrisk. The insurer’s parent company,
Hollard Life Assurance, bought out
the last of its minority shareholders,
bringing Altrisk entirely under their
ownership. Blain explains that Altrisk
was always able to underwrite and
administer on behalf of Hollard.
“As the business grew there
were frictional costs for running the
business as a separate entity,” he
says. “The important component of
this decision is that Altrisk has its own
management infrastructure, ways of
doing things and our own brand. We
still operate as a separate entity.”
This change marks the beginning
of a bold new era for Altrisk, but as
the company grows and enters new
markets it faces new challenges as well.
“We’re facing two main
challenges,” Blain explains. “The
first is the transition from the owner/
founder era that every start up
goes through, to a more mature
and corporate business. This is
emotional and challenging in terms
of succession and maintaining the
character of the business, while
undergoing these changes.”
Blain says the other big challenge
is distribution.
“As a specialist risk only underwriter,
we’re competing with the biggest
companies in the industry and
distribution is becoming a battle of
scale,” he says.
Their biggest challenge is
distributing products in a changing
distribution landscape.
“We’re looking into improving
our partnership models and general
agency contracts where tied agents
can get a quote from Altrisk because
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79

alTrISk
SCOR
SCOR Africa is a wholly owned
subsidiary of SCOR SE, a global
reinsurer. Based in Johannesburg,
SCOR Africa provides life and non-life
reinsurance support to insurers in
sub-Saharan Africa. SCOR Africa has
an A+ financial strength credit rating
from S&P.
Since its inception in 2009, SCOR Africa
has grown significantly and is expected
to write just under R1 billion in gross
premium income in 2013. We provide
product development, pricing and risk
capacity support to insurers in sub-
Saharan countries for health, group and
individual life products. We are actively
growing our non-life business and are
currently reviewing opportunities in
several African countries.
Bernard Ross: Managing Director-life,
bross@scor.com
Mohamed Motala: Managing Director
Non-life, mmotala@scor.com
terry Ray: CEO, tray@scor.com
Tel: +27 11 507 3900
www.scor.com
we’re servicing niches the big
companies simply can’t,” he says.
It’s in these niches that Altrisk sees
its future.
“We’ve made a decision that we’re
not a mainstream provider trying to be
everything to everybody,” Blain says.
But this decision comes with its own set
of challenges. “that means we need
to carve out further niches in our risk
pocket where we can develop products
in market segments overlooked by the
mainstream players,” he explains.
Many risk product providers go for
volume over specialisation, which means
they compete aggressively on price.
“But we operate beyond this and I think
there are huge opportunities for those
who can segment categories of risk and
consumers and develop products that
come at those segments with high value
and niche appeal,” says Blain.
to learn more visit www.altrisk.co.za.
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f I N a N C E
Pub DK 96 x 160 mm_Mise en page 1 29/10/2013 13:41 Page 1
Back
on Track
Moving
Forward
2002
Dynamic
Lift
2004
Strong
Momentum
2007
Optimal
Dynamics
2010
2013
2016
Download the plan and access the
latest SCOR financial information on
your iPad
www.scor.com
We’re a pure
risk underwriter,
so policy holders are
clear about what
they’re buying”
WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM
81

PETROSA
PetroSA continues “to perform admirably”, achieving a R593
million net profit for the 2012/13 financial year.
Writer Ian Armitage
Project manager Sheridan Halls
82 WWW.AFRICAOUTLOOKMAG.COM

E N E R G Y
SOUTH AFRICA’S
National
oil company
etroSA is South Africa’s
national oil company
and it plays what its
website describes as an
“instrumental role in
the country’s transformation through
a range of activities that span the
petroleum chain”.
It is a giant. The question is where
to start. Of course, it heavily involved
in the exploration and production
of oil and natural gas, selling
petrochemical products to South
Africa’s major oil companies and
exporting petrochemical products
to the international markets. In
1992 it famously started operating
the world’s first gas-to-liquid (GTL)
refinery at Mossel Bay – and that
refinery remains the third largest
among the five now operating across
the globe.
According to its website, PetroSA’s
core business activities are “the
exploration and production of oil
and natural gas”; “the participation
in, and acquisition of, local as well as
international upstream petroleum
ventures”; “the production of synthetic
fuels from offshore gas at one of the
world’s largest GTL refineries”; “the
development of domestic refining and
liquid fuels logistical infrastructure”;
and “the marketing and trading of oil
and petrochemicals”.
“PetroSA operates the FA-EM,
South Coast gas fields as well
as the Oribi and Oryx oil fields.
The producing gas fields provide
feedstock to the Mossel Bay GTL
refinery,” the company says. “Outside
South Africa, the company has
exploration acreage in Equatorial
Guinea and Namibia.
“PetroSA’s GTL refinery produces
ultra-clean, low-sulphur, low-aromatic
synthetic fuels and high-value products
converted from natural methane-rich
gas and condensate using a unique
GTL Fischer Tröpsch technology. Key
commodities produced include
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83

PetroSA
DEVELOPMENTNOMICS
(PTY) LTD.
unleaded petrol, kerosene (paraffin),
diesel, propane, liquid oxygen and
nitrogen, distillates, eco-fuels and
alcohols. Its world-class synthetic fuels
and petrochemicals are marketed
internationally,” it continues.
Project Ikhwezi, the flagship
offshore development to produce
and supply gas feedstock to the
company’s GTL refinery, is scheduled
to come onstream in 2013 and is
“set to extend the refinery´s life
and consolidate PetroSA’s position
at the heart of South Africa´s
transformation,” the company says.
“At the same time, we are
vigorously pursuing new investment
opportunities across Africa as part
of our commitment to supporting
the continent´s accelerating
development,” its website adds.
©PetroSA
This is a good point at which to
introduce PetroSA’s vision 2020 which
is to “become a fully integrated,
commercially competitive national
oil company, supplying at least 25
percent of South Africa’s liquid fuel
needs” by, you guessed it, 2020.
“We aim to achieve this by
sustaining the Mossel Bay GTL
refinery as a profitable operation
and use it as a platform to sustain
our company; growing our company
into a significant industry player,
while ensuring security of energy
supply for the country; transforming
the company, the sector and
society; and ensuring that the
above are carried out in line with
the highest safety, health, quality
and environmental standards,” the
company says.
Rarely do words, so long ago
spoken - in 1770 - so far away,
have such resonance with an
organisation’s service posture as
the words spoken by John Adams,
America’s first vice president and
second president.
He posited that “whatever may
be our wishes, our inclinations, or
the dictates of our passions, they
cannot alter the state of facts and
evidence.” He could as well have
been talking about the raison d’etre
of our company.
We are wholly devoted to the notion
of uncovering facts and producing
evidence for the purpose of
informing, formulating, monitoring,
evaluating and implementing public
policy decisions, improving public
management, civic relationships
and commerce.
Our globally benchmarked
methodologies, tools and techniques
are supported by over a century of
practiced skills and experience of
our principal officers who guide our
service theatres of advisory, project
management and monitoring and
evaluation services.
While we are based at the southernmost
tip of Africa, our outlook
is global. Our consultants are
multinational, multilingual and
multidisciplinary.
We hold ourselves out to serve
everywhere and anywhere
development thought, word or
action is desired and welcomed.
It will be our eternal pleasure to
welcome you into our growing
community of satisfied clients.
Tel +27 21 460 0435
Email info@developmentnomics.co.za
www.developmentnomics.co.za
84 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

f e a t u r e
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85

PetroSA
©PetroSA
And despite volatile macroeconomic
conditions, it continues
to “perform admirably”, achieving
a R593 million net profit for the
2012/13 financial year.
That profit though was much
lower than the 2012 reported profit
of R1.2 billion.
It blamed the sluggish
performance on challenging
macro-economic conditions, lowerthan-anticipated
production at
the Mossel Bay GTL refinery and
increased operating costs.
“The Group’s financial position
remains strong with total assets
of R34. 2 billion and a cash balance
of R7.4 billion,” Webster Fanadzo,
PetroSA’s Acting Chief Financial
We are vigorously
pursuing new
investment opportunities
across Africa as part of
our commitment to
supporting the
continent´s accelerating
development”
Officer, said in a statement. “An
aggressive capital expansion
programme, which includes the
Project Ikhwezi offshore development
project, and the envisaged acquisition
of a downstream operation, will
significantly change this scenario,
as the Group is set to move from
its current low-geared position to
one in which it takes on more loan
financing,” he added.
And there were many positives.
For instance, PetroSA significantly
increased its revenue from R14.4
billion to R19.6 billion – the
weakness of the rand against major
currencies, improved local trading of
finished products and the addition
of new revenues from PetroSA’s
86 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

E n e r g y
©PetroSA
©PetroSA
acquisition of oil reserves in Ghana
during September 2012 all playing a
significant part.
During 2012/13, the group invested
R3.7 billion on Project Ikhwezi, up
from R601 million in the previous
financial year.
Ms Nosizwe Nokwe, the PetroSA
Group CEO, said the increase in
capital expenditure on projects
would in the short-term result in a
diminished bottom-line. She however
remains confident that in the longterm
these initiatives would deliver
sustainable returns.
“A very notable success over
the past year, and in support of
PetroSA’s long-term strategy, is
the R232 million operating profit
This impressive
year-on-year
increase of 50 percent
signifies PetroSA’s
ongoing commitment
to economic
empowerment”
contribution, during the second
half of the financial year, resulting
from the acquisition of oil reserves
and related production in Ghana,”
she said.
PetroSA’s payments to
Broad-Based Black Economic
Empowerment (BBBEE) suppliers
with a minimum of 25.1 percent
black shareholding increased to R4.3
billion, in the reporting period, up
from R2.8 billion in the prior year.
“This impressive year-on-year
increase of 50 percent signifies
PetroSA’s ongoing commitment
to economic empowerment,” the
company said.
To learn more visit www.petrosa.co.za.
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87

Castrol South Africa
Running
88
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E n e r g y
Smoothly
Castrol South Africa has been
making oil since men have
been making cars.
Writer Chris Farnell
Project manager Sheridan Halls
hen you’re driving
your car it’s possible
you don’t spend a
great deal of time
thinking about the
engine lubricant. It’s an essential
part of your engine, sure, but it’s like
the margarine in a sandwich - you
don’t tend to think of it as the most
essential component.
And yet Castrol knows that for an
engine to work to the absolute best of
its potential you need an oil that has
been developed alongside the engine
itself. That’s what it has been doing for
over a century.
“We’re a global company that’s been
around over 100 years and we continue
to shape the whole industry,” explains
Castrol South Africa’s marketing director,
Shren Moodley. “We’re about driving
new technology and leading the agenda
for our market sector. We work in the
automotive, the industrial, aviation,
marine, and mining sectors. We’ve got
a wide portfolio and a depth of over 100
years experience. There simply aren’t
many businesses in the market that can
match us for specialisation or longevity.”
Castrol uses its experience to create
a top of the line product.
“We’re a premium brand and a
market leader,” Moodley says. “We’re
slightly more expensive than most
products on the market, but what most
people don’t know is that we invest
that money right back into our research
and development. We continue to
keep our R&D breakthroughs going
forward, just as we have continued to
do that consistently for the last 100
years. Our products have often been
used at the forefront of world changing
breakthroughs such as land speed
records, marine racing and aviation.”
Castrol is able to do this because
of the close partnerships it has built
with its customers, over the years
developing products to specifically
meet the needs of the products those
customers are designing.
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89

Castrol South Africa
“What sets us apart is that we
work very closely with our partner
companies,” Moodley says. “We’ve got
a long history with firms such as BMW
and Volkswagen and we’ve worked
with them developing technology to fit
their purposes. In terms of our depth
of partnerships we’re second to none.
There are more cars on the road in
Africa that are born with Castrol oil in
the engine than any other oil. So we
have a great relationship with those
manufacturers, they’re developing
their technology with us, from basic
cars to supercars such as Lamborghini.”
Of course, you don’t reach levels
of recognition and success like that
without having to overcome some
pretty big challenges along the way.
“Everything we do is done to
the very highest safety standards,”
Moodley points out. “Lubricant is
basically oil and we know that that can
have a big effect on the environment,
so we have to have very high standards
in terms of how it is used and how we
protect the environment.
“For example, if you look at
South Africa, we’re on the board of
the Rose Foundation, a non-profit
organisation that provides education
and encourages for used oil to be
collected and disposed of. We’ve been
at the forefront of that foundation
ensuring that lubricants are used in a
safe manner.
“When we supply lubricant we
have checklists and check points
to help customers be aware of
the safety issues. We’re driving
for safety measures such as
extinguishers. We start every
meeting talking about safety. And
we try to spread that attitude to
both our customers and suppliers.”
Along with an increasing
appreciation of the environmental
issues that their industry must
consider, Castrol is seeing other
changing attitudes among the markets
it traditionally sells to.
“We’ve had a very good year,
within our region one of the best
years ever,” Moodley says. “There’s
a strong move towards synthetic
products and synthetic oils are
where our strengths are. Many
manufacturers are demanding more
sophisticated lubricants and oils,
which plays more and more to our
advantage. That’s really helping
us out. We’re getting a really good
performance out of our products;
there are growth opportunities out
there that we’re looking at. It’s been
good all round.
“We’re also seeing the rise of the
emerging middle class in Africa,”
Moodley continues. “We’re working
to provide solutions for this rising
middle class that will be the future
of Africa.”
To take the best possible advantage
of those growth opportunities, Castrol
makes a concerted effort to employ
the best and brightest.
ANIKCOR INSTALLATIONS
Emerging as a leader in the oil and
lubrication industry, we pride ourselves
on excellence and workmanship. Our
breakdown call-centre is managed by
qualified staff that excels in:
Efficiency – Our carefully designed
services and superior products are
manufactured and compiled with our
customers in mind.
Reliability - The quality of our product
range and our workmanship is
superior, ensuring confidence in our
products and service.
Being a one-stop provider – Our
expert design department ensures
that we supply exceptional quality
installations. We maintain, upgrade,
and provide consultation to ensure
cost-effectiveness, promote
productivity, reduce risks, and
increase safety.
Tel +27 11 395 2144
Email info@anikcorinstallations.com
www.anikcorinstallations.com
Fury Motor Group
The Fury Motor Group opened
its doors with its first
dealership in 1995 and has
since grown into a twelve dealership
strong motor group, showcasing
SA’s leading motor brands. The Fury
Motor Group also has its own parts
distribution centre and wholesaler,
Fury Auto Parts, which supplies a
diverse grouping of motor retailers,
general purpose motor repairers and
panel beaters with a wide range of
leading brand genuine auto parts.
At our Fury Academy we provide the
highest level of technical training
and level-testing to up-and-coming
motor-trade technicians and autobody
repairers.
For more information, visit
www.fury.co.za.
90 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

E n e r g y
Fury Motor Group – Proud Retailers of SA’s leading brands
Thanks to Castrol SA - Proud oil & lubricant supplier to the Fury Motor Group for 18 years
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91

Castrol South Africa
McCarthy Motor Group
“Castrol is flexible in terms of how we
recruit,” Moodley says. “We will use
different techniques depending on
the position we have to fill. We have
a solid graduate recruit programme as
well as a direct entry system where we
recruit the right person for the right
job from other industries. We also have
a strong BBBEE push to find the best
black talent out there, and we’re at the
forefront of that.”
Castrol’s recruitment efforts also
benefit from the company’s links with
its parent company, BP.
“We share a lot of resources with
BP, so we enjoy a combination of the
cultures of Castrol and BP so that we
get a nice diversity within the company.
It helps that we also pay really well, so
that’s one way we recruit. We also have
programmes to identify high potential
talent for accelerated development.
Our development programme is
excellent because of the breadth of
BP we offer great sales, marketing and
finance expertise that can give you
great exposure to all kinds of skills
and disciplines.”
As well as recruiting the best available
staff from a wide array of backgrounds,
Castrol also takes measures to ensure
that each and every member of its
staff is up to date with the latest
breakthroughs in the field.
We’re a global
company that’s
been around over
100 years and we
continue to shape
the whole industry”
McCarthy Motor Group is proud to
be associated with Castrol, one of its
partners in automotive excellence.
The McCarthy Motor Group provides
a 360 degree vehicle sales and service
solution, with over 100 dealers
nationwide offering 27 major vehicle
brands. We can also handle all your
fleet requirements.
Our innovative online McCarthy Call-a-
Car service assists customers to locate
their vehicle. After that, our trained
and experienced techni-cians provide
exceptional after-sales service. We
stock only genuine spare parts and a
wide range of vehicle accessories. We
also sell - and can fit - most leading
tyre brands.
Our Club McCarthy loyalty programme
gives customers peace of mind, both
on and off the road.
For these reasons McCarthy has
remained one of South Africa’s leading
vehicle retailers for over 100 years.
Tel 0860 22 33 44
www.mccarthy.co.za
“We have a research centre in
Pangbourne in the UK that is constantly
developing new technologies and they
let us know what the latest engine
technology or lubricant technology
is,” Moodley says. “So right now for
instance the market is demanding
much more for much less, with engines
getting smaller and smaller as we try to
conserve fuel while still getting more
power out of the engine. This means
that there’s demand for a stronger
oil to keep up with those changes.
Meanwhile, we also work very closely
with our customers, so through our
partnerships we get a continuous
information feed regarding what
the latest developments are. We’re
seeing a positive future with plenty
of growth opportunities and we’re
confident we’ll be able to capture
those opportunities.”
To learn more visit www.castrol.com.
92 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

E N E r G y
Freightmax is a leading Supply Chain Partner to Castrol.
We are very proud to be associated with Castrol and value
the partnership that has been built over many years.
Email: brian.giddey@fmax.co.za
Tel: (+27) 31 274 9200
www.imperiallogistics.co.za
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HELIOS TOWERS NIGERIA
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company name
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f e a t u r e
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97

HELIOS TOWERS NIGERIA
After site acquisition it takes 60 days for a new tower
to be operational and it takes 30 days to acquire a
site, so it’s only 90 days total for a brand new site”
as well as on-site support in the
event of any problems to ensure the
guaranteed uptime.
Clients – telecoms companies –
use the towers on a rental and lease
basis and Helios Towers Nigeria has
achieved an impressive average 2.8
clients per tower referred to as
Colo Ratio.
“Essentially we are a telecoms
infrastructure company and we
invest in and manage our own
infrastructure,” says CEO Inder Bajaj.
Helios Towers Nigeria commenced
operations in 2006 and is the oldest
and largest independent tower
company in the country.
Key customers include global
system for mobile (GSM) companies
MTN, Airtel and EMTS.
The sector is growing and moving fast.
“Nigeria has around 25,000 towers
and the number is growing by three
to four thousand every year,” Mr
Bajaj says.
Helios Towers Nigeria owns and
runs around 1,300 and is putting up
around 600 new towers per annum.
“We are a Greenfield operation,
specialising in new sites and
putting them up speedily,” says
Bajaj. “After site acquisition it
takes 60 days for a new tower to
be operational and it takes 30 days
to acquire a site, so it’s only 90
days total for a brand new site. We
ensure delivery within five to six
days to be operational for second
and third customers. That is a key
differentiation we offer to our
customers apart from the uptime.
We have a sister company Helios
Towers Africa which operates in
Ghana, Tanzania and the DRC.”
According to Bajaj, many telecoms
companies in Nigeria are currently in
the process of “commencing their
process for sales and leaseback off
towers to tower companies” and it
“is expected to happen over the next
two years.”
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f e a t u r e
Telenoetica limited
Telenoetica limited caters
to the business needs of
Telecom Operators, Tower
companies and OEMs, through
its services, solutions and products
offerings. Established in July 2009, we
have been recognized by our expertise
and intent to deliver world-class
solutions and services to our evergrowing
list of clients.
With a vision to add tangible value
to diverse sectors across Africa,
Telenoetica started business by
supplying LED (Light Emitting Diode)
based 48 V DC Aviation warning Lights
and Telecom site security lights for tier
1 telecom operators. Today we are the
single largest manufacturer/supplier of
LED based lights with more than 6000
such Lights installed in Year 2012/2013
and another 10000 Lights targeted
for sale in 2013/2014 including our
innovative 220 V AC powered LED lights
for other sectors such as Banking, Oil
and Gas and other SMEs.
Over the years we have added wide
range of Telecom Infrastructure
solutions which save energy and help
in containing OPEX such as Intelligent
Power Management and Hybrid
management systems, Li Ion
batteries, DC Generators, DC Air
conditioners, Modular Rectifiers and
Modular Invertors.
We started our telecom projects division
in 2011 and have since been performing
Turnkey Site Build services, Collocation
upgrades, Radio Access Technology
upgrades, RF optimization services, Site
Audit and advance site data collection
and Analytic services.
Telenoetica added the pioneer service
of telecom equipment Test and
Repair in 2013 and has quickly gained
immense confidence of Tier 1 telecom
operators and tower companies. While
in-country repairs looked a distant
dream, we championed this service
with a very high success rate of incountry
repairs.
We also realized that sophisticated
OPEX saving concepts such as IPMS,
Solar Hybrid systems etc don’t succeed
because of lack of eco-system to
support their functioning. Telenoetica is
providing maintenance and operational
support services for these equipments
and creating the necessary workforce
aligned to its mission of:
Partnering with world class
technology enablers and professionals
AND
Engaging and developing local
resources for efficient service delivery.
Email info@telenoetica.com
Email support@telenoetica.com
www.telenoetica.com
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99

HELIOS TOWERS NIGERIA
ghaddar machinery &
COMPANY nigeria ltd.
“It’s a win-win situation as it serves
our customers as a financing option
and also outsourcing to specialists
while they focus on other key
aspects of business,” he explains.
“As the market grows, along with
the leaseback sales of towers, we are
positioned to increase our market
percentage share dramatically. We
aim to run 20-30 percent of towers
in Nigeria and we aim for a very high
level of customer satisfaction.”
Helios Towers Nigeria currently runs
about eight percent of all telecoms
base station electronics in a country
whose telecoms market is growing
rapidly with respect to coverage into
new areas and as well as the capacity
growth with usage growth in voice
and data.
As the market
grows, along with
the leaseback sales of
towers, we are
positioned to increase
our market percentage
share dramatically”
We are pleased to introduce our
Company GHADDAR MACHINERY
& COMPANY NIGERIA LIMITED
branch of GHADDAR MACHINERY
(BEIRUT-LEBANON).
We are a world class Engineering
Company, specializing in the
distribution of PERKlNS Engines-UK
and LEROY SOMER Alternators-
France. We rank among the top
three distributors of Perkins
Engines, distributing over 20,000
units worldwide.
Our quest to become a clear leader
with international pedigree in the
sales of Industrial Generators cannot
be over-emphasized , as we have put
in place state of the art equipment
handled by well-trained and seasoned
professionals in the Engineering &
non Engineering fields.
With local distribution network
scattered all over Nigeria, we are
known to produce and service best
quality Generators at very affordable
prices prompting customer delight
and satisfaction at all times.
Innovation, quality and partnership
have always been at the core of
the corporate vision. This vision
helped the company widen
its portfolio of products while
maintaining a sound image and
unrivalled quality products.
Being part of the worldwide Perkins
distributors’ network dedicated to
providing a service of excellence to
the operators of the Perkins engines,
GHADDAR Machinery & CO Nig Ltd
maintains an inventory of Genuine
Perkins Spare Parts, renowned for
their reliability and durability.
Tel +234 1 7765926
Email drm@ghaddarnig.com
www.ghaddar.com
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f e a t u r e
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HELIOS TOWERS NIGERIA
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T E l E C O M S
To run a
successful
service, grid
availability is vital”
Nigeria is the largest market in Africa
having the largest customer base
of 110 million, equating to over $10
billion revenue per annum.
the telecom penetration is at
around 60 percent and growing which
makes the market very attractive.
the secret to Helios tower Nigeria’s
success is that it hasn’t been afraid to
invest big in its own infrastructure.
“to run a successful service, grid
availability is vital,” Bajaj says. “In
Nigeria we have only two hours a day
of electricity on the grid – for 22 hours
a day we need to create our own
electricity and run generators.”
He goes onto explain some of the
current challenges facing the
industry: “the evolving industry
means that we have to work
around the infrastructure,” he
says. “Providing our own electricity
with systems of generators for
22 hours a day is no small task.
this is challenging and we see the
situation improving as the country
invests in power generation,
transmission and distribution. the
other challenge is multiple permits
and taxes by the local government,
state governments, as well as
federal government. the industry
and the regulator are working
towards telecoms being an essential
service and the simplification of
permits and taxes.
“Another challenge faced in recent
times is security in select areas of the
Northeast of the country. three states
were declared in a state of emergency
earlier this year. Having said this, the
government and security agencies have
been very supportive,” Bajaj says. “But
the future is bright and as coverage
improves, the customer take up of
mobile services will increase and, usage
trends being positive, the industry is
expected to grow exponentially.”
Helios towers Nigeria is making
huge headway despite the challenges
and one can only imagine how far it
will accelerate its market share as the
market grows.
the company remains one to watch.
to learn more visit
www.heliostowers.com.
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103

Elite Clearing and Forwarding (Pty) Ltd
A clear winner
Elite Clearing and Forwarding (Pty) Ltd is an expert
international shipping company offering
comprehensive logistics & freight solutions.
Writer Chris Farnell
Project manager Stuart Shirra
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S U p p l y C h a I N
hatever industry you
work in, the chances
are that at some point
you rely on logistics.
Whether it’s a question
of importing essential supplies, or
getting your own products to foreign
markets, virtually every company has
to, at some point, entrust the cargo
that makes it possible for them to
do business to someone else, often
over a long distance with plenty of
potential hazards along the way.
Elite Clearing and Forwarding is a
company dedicated towards making
that part of your business as painless
as possible.
As Ben Van Rensburg, Elite Clearing
and Forwarding’s Managing Director
explains, “We see ourselves as a
logistical management company.
We manage the process from A-Z,
making sure everyone involved does
whatever is needed to get cargo from
the start to the end of its journey with
the least possible risk and in the most
cost effective way.”
the movement of cargo doesn’t
just involve one component;
it may involve trucks, ships,
warehouses, harbours or planes,
each run by a separate company
with its own procedures, rules and
communications channels. this
creates a potential minefield of
problems as cargo is passed from
one company to another. Elite
Clearing and Forwarding’s job is to
make that transition as smooth as
possible with no or minimal delays at
the lowest cost.
“We act somewhat like a musical
conductor,” Van Rensburg says. “By
making sure everything happens
when it needs to happen, as it is
supposed to happen. We see to it
that the cargo is properly insured,
with documentation done at the
loading and discharge points in
time, and the cargo delivered in a
timely and safe manner. We cover
the entirety of South Africa and do
regular imports and exports to all
major harbours and cities in South
Africa. We also move a lot of cargo
into the African continent, as South
Africa is largely seen as the gateway
into Africa.”
the company handles all types of
cargo from containerised and heavy
machinery through to small air freight
consignments. “By us managing the
entire international logistics process, it
allows our customers to focus on their
core business, the manufacturing and/
or selling of their goods. We take away
the concerns of international logistic
risk management. All they need to do
is the buying and / or manufacturing of
their products and the selling, and we’ll
make sure it gets to the right place at
the right time,” Van Rensburg says.
As we’ve already mentioned,
logistics only works well when a
whole host of separate organisations
are able to communicate and
interact well, and Elite Clearing and
Forwarding specialises in creating
the relationships that allow this to
happen. It is the mutual factor that
ties the entire international logistics
process together.
“Our niche is that we provide a
personalised logistical solution for
our clients. We believe relationships
get things done, so it’s important
to us to have the right relationships
with our service providers and
customers,” van Rensburg says.
“there are a lot of people and
companies involved at various points
along the way, and it is essential that
they have the good relationships that
will make sure things go smoothly.
So we make sure communication
channels are always open and that
we work with the right people.”
However, because Elite Clearing
and Forwarding doesn’t run any
vehicles of its own, it can often
be challenging having its cargo
customers’ cargo entirely at the
mercy of its service providers.
“the biggest challenge we’ve
faced is that we are not in direct
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105

Elite Clearing and Forwarding (Pty) Ltd
control of the harbours, vessels
or aircraft so we’re sometimes
dependant on third parties for the
movement our clients’ cargo,” Van
Rensburg admits. “But the reason
we exist is that we specialise in
sorting out the problems that often
arise with shipping lines, airlines,
customs and harbours, to make
sure there are no undue delays.
This we do through good relations
with both our clients and the
stakeholders in the various stages
of the cargo movement”
But delays can be hard to
avoid, not just because of local
bureaucracy, but also because of
problems out of everyone’s
control like the weather or
unexpected events like vessel
breakdowns or strikes.
“One of the main issues that
we have struggled with is harbour
delays both in South Africa and
overseas, especially this past year,”
Van Rensburg explains. “I had a
conversation with the chairman of
the Harbour Carriers Association
of South Africa who said they
are having huge problems with
climate change in Durban. Weather
conditions especially winds are
playing havoc with the loading
of vessels departing and arriving
vessels in ways that we didn’t see
even last year. Another big issue
is we’re still seeing delays due to
strikes at various points along the
cargo’s path, and the impact
we’re still feeling from general
world economy.”
To combat these problems, Elite
Clearing and Forwarding needs
good people, both among its service
providers and its own staff, and
the company has exceedingly high
standards when it comes to picking its
own team.
“We recruit as widely as possible
to attract the best candidates,”
Van Rensburg says. “We want to
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S U p p l y C h a I N
make sure we have good employment practices
so that we attract talented people that want to
work at our company and make sure that the
staff are properly motivated and competent
as well as trained to handle any shipment that
may be handled. At the end of the day we’re in
a service-based industry. We don’t sell crates or
containers; we sell a service provided by people,
as it is people that make sure cargo moves.
Our business is only as good as the person you
speak to at the other end of the telephone
line, so we make sure every employee is a
shipping and usually a product expert as every
product has different regulatory and movement
requirements. We have in-house training in
operational and logistics procedures, including
refreshers and ongoing procedural training to
identify any gaps in our people’s training to
improve our staff as necessary.”
Of course, if you’re investing that much in your
staff, you want to keep hold of them and so Elite
Clearing and Forwarding provides plenty of incentive
for them to stay with the company.
“Our staff turnover is low because we believe
that to retain staff you have to look at the entire
package, not just salary but work culture, and
ensure that although we’re busy and sometimes
require long working hours, we make sure
people can live a life outside of the office,” Van
Rensburg says.
So what for the future of Elite Clearing and
Forwarding? “there’s huge opportunity for
growth, especially in Africa,” he explains. “We
believe we’re doing something right because a
lot of companies have stayed loyal with us over
the years and new clients come continuously on
board. As long as we continue what we’re doing,
we will always have a competitive edge and the
company will keep on growing. It is important
that our clients are at all times informed of the
exact status and locations of their cargo and
for that we use various technological systems
because we believe that we’re a communications
company as much as a cargo company. We can’t
control the weather or the harbour conditions
but we can control our communication with our
clients, so we’re always working to make sure
that our clients are constantly informed and up to
date regarding their shipments.”
9334
WE WISH YOU
LOADS AND LOADS
MORE SUCCESS.
We would like to congratulate Elite Clearing and Forwarding
on their growth and development as a comprehensive logistics
and freight solutions service provider in South Africa.
Through our continued partnership we hope to continue being a part
of their ongoing success. Nedbank can also be of service to you, your
business, staff and household through our decentralised service model
that allows all our regions to offer customised business solutions.
For more information please email us at business@nedbank.co.za.
Nedbank Business Banking – partnering for growth for a greater South Africa.
nedbank.co.za
Nedbank Limited Reg No 1951/000009/06. Authorised financial services and registered credit provider (NCRCP16).
to learn more visit www.elitecf.co.za.
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107

aIr UGaNda
The
wings
of
East africa
Meridiana Africa Airlines limited, trading
as Air Uganda, is a privately owned airline
founded in 2007 in Uganda.
Writer Hannah Iceman-Reynard
Project manager James Mitchell
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S U p p l y C h a I N
ir Uganda was
established in 2007 as a
quality regional airline
after more than 20
years without a national
carrier in Uganda. In the six years since,
the airline has grown from serving
approximately 80,000 passengers a
year to 170,000 passengers per year
and runs on the basis of three pillars of
high service and operating standards,
reliability and punctuality.
“How has the past year been
for business for Air Uganda?” asks
Cornwell Muleya, CEO of Air Uganda.
“We have been growing steadily over
the past year and have consolidated
our routes across East Africa. the
Ugandan air transportation market
has been growing at approximately 15
percent every year now for six years
in a row. Incidentally, we turned six
years old today.”
Air Uganda, otherwise known as
“the wings of East Africa”, runs a two
class product on board: Crane Class,
which is its premium products, and an
economy class. the airline also runs a
frequent flyer programme called the
Celestair Club.
“We maintain a small, homogenous
fleet,” continues Mr Muleya. “This
allows us to standardise our product
on board and minimise operating costs.
We were founded in 2007 in response
to the need of Uganda to have an
airline operating out of Entebbe airport.
From here we connect passengers
to all major cities in East Africa and
in particular to Nairobi, Bujumbura,
Mombasa, Juba, Dar es Salaam, kigali,
kilimanjaro and Mogadishu.”
Air Uganda makes the most of its
small fleet of three aircraft by running an
extremely efficient and punctual service.
It gained IAtA Operational Safety
Audit (IOSA) certification quickly
two years ago, allowing it to become
equal in terms of safety and operating
standards like the large international
players in the industry.
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air uganda
And its IOSA certification has just been
renewed for another two years as per
IATA practices and procedures.
With such recognised service
standards, Air Uganda boasts a
codeshare agreement with Rwandair
and has global interline partnerships
with SN Brussels Airline, British
Airways, Emirates, Kenya Airways,
Ethiopian Airlines and Qatar.
Through these partnerships the
airline connects its passengers on
long-haul services to other regions of
the world.
“Last year Air Uganda took control
of its Entebbe Hub operations by
starting its self-handling services,” says
Muleya. “We wanted to take control of
our own product in terms of standards
and service levels. We were especially
keen to ensure a quick turnaround of
our aircraft and to minimise delays
out of our home base. We can turn
an aircraft around within 30 minutes
and taking control of Entebbe Hub
has improved our output in terms of
punctuality across our network. This
has helped enhance our reputation
for having the best punctuality service
of all the airlines in our markets. We
are a full-service carrier and we have
continued to improve our ground and
on-board services each year.
“Aviation is a people’s business,”
Muleya adds. “We therefore invest in
the training of our people to keep a
high standard and personalised warm
reception for our passengers. The
cleanliness of our premises, as well as
the aircraft on board is also important
in ensuring our customers get the
best from a quality airline. So, is our
reputation for being on time.”
In a fast-growing industry, finding
staff with the right skills can be tricky.
How is Air Uganda ensuring it has
the best people for the job? “Like all
airlines in this competitive industry,
staffing has been a huge issue as
skilled personnel are in short supply,”
he says. “There is a shortage in Africa
of qualified technicians, engineers,
pilots and other operational staff.
For such skilled staff we look to the
international labour market for pilots,
engineers and some key financial
services. In critical areas like aircraft
maintenance we may use short
term interventions from specific
organisations abroad. ”
However, Air Uganda has also
responded to the skills shortage
challenge with significant investment
in the training of its people. It hires
highly educated Ugandans and trains
them to international expertise.
Meridiana
Meridiana is a private italian Air
Fly Company, second player
behind Alitalia. The Company
headquarter is in Olbia, Costa Smeralda
and has been founded on the 29th of
March 1963 By Prince Karim Al-Hussayn
Aga Khan in name of Alisarsa. In the
1991 tha Company name has been
changed in Meridiana.
At the and of February 2010 the merger
with Euroflay, second flyer italian
Company specialized on charter long
routes, rename Meridiana as Meridiana Fly.
In October 2011 Meridiana has acquired the
majorities of Air Italy, and on May 2013 has
bought the minorities of Air Italy delisting
by the Italian Stock Echange.
Today Meridiana offers connenction from
italian islands to the rest of Italy, Sardinia
from Olbia e Cagliari and the Sicily from
Catania and Palermo to Milan, Roma,
Naples, Verona, Turin, Bologna etc..
The Company is specialized on leisure
destination: from the core italian airport
flyes to the beßt piace in Africa (Egipt,
Red sea etc..). From Rome Fiumicino and
Milan Malpensa Meridiana is one of the
best european player on intercontinental
leisure destination travelling Maldive,
Mauritius, Kenya, Zanzibar, Madagascar,
Cuba, Santo Domingo e Brasile.
Tel 0871 423 3711
www.meridiana.it
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f e a t u r e
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111

air uganda
“We have a development programme
within the company for local staff
because that is more sustainable for
the airline in the long run. We use
joint programmes with international
organisations like IATA and AFRAA
to provide cost effective training at
regional centres in Africa, except for
specialised trainings like simulators,
which, for the aircraft we operate,
are found overseas. We send people
abroad for a lot of that in keeping
with international standards. We are
regulated in such areas by our CAA and
international aviation organisations such
as ICAO to which all state parties have
subscribed for the aviation industry,”
Muleya says.
As a result of such measures, Air
Uganda boasts a workforce which
is more than 90 percent local and 10
percent international.
“One of the biggest challenges for
any airline must be the security; how do
you address this risk in in the industry?
We cooperate and work closely with
many service and security organisations
at each of the airports we operate
from. Typically, the airline has its limited
security personnel and they work hand
in hand with airport security personnel,
who in turn work with the country’s
security organsations and structures.
There is a great deal of sharing
information on risks and incidents
so that the safety and security of the
travelling public is not compromised.
This will remain a challenge of the
industry for many years to come. Our
commitment is to use best practice in
all areas and to comply with the safety
standards in all the countries in which
we operate. There is a huge sharing
of knowledge as we try to close any
perceived gaps in this critical area of our
industry,” Muleya says.
In addition to international standards
and industry best-practice, each country
Air Uganda operates in has its own
stringent checks. For example, while
most airports will have two or three
Air Uganda makes
the most of its
small fleet of three
aircraft by running an
extremely efficient and
punctual service”
checks before passengers can get on
the plane, specific countries where
the risk is higher may have even seven
check points.
The other challenge hitting the
entire industry is cost. At the top is the
cost of fuel, which is usually out of the
control of the airlines and in recent
years has accounted for approximately
40 percent of airline operating costs.
“When the fuel prices increase that
is a big problem for the airlines. Also,
with increasing airline taxes at most
airports, there is a balancing act to
be struck in the pricing of the tickets
as the passenger will not distinguish
between the fare, which goes to the
airline, and the taxes, which accrue
to the airport authorities and the
governments,” concedes Muleya.
The other challenge for a growing
regional carrier in Africa is that not all
the airport destinations Air Uganda
operates reach the international
standards passengers expect. “There
are differences in the quality of
airport facilities, especially for transit
passengers who expect to connect
seamlessly to other destinations,”
says Muleya. “The customer service
offered by airport personnel in
processing passengers and their
baggage also differs, with some
airports faring better than others. We
need to reach minimum operating
standards to ensure passengers
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S u p p l y c h a i n
• Airline fuelling & refuelling
• Fuel depot
• Fuel transportation
www.kushpetroleum.net
Tel: +211955125613, +211 977 116305
Juba International Airport, Juba - The Republic of South Sudan
feel comfortable to come and fly and
transit through our airports. We are
pleased to note that most, if not all
the airport authorities in the region,
have recognised this problem and have
announced programmes to upgrade
many of these airports.”
So far the airline is doing an
excellent job at continually improving
the service offered.
It has developed an excellent website
which allows customers to book and
pay online, using all forms of payment
including mobile money, in response to
the needs of the consumer.
“We are taking advantage of
technology with our website initiatives.
In our region mobile money is big and
customers expect this platform from
any progressive company. Therefore
allowing customers to pay using mobile
money is a natural progression of the
changes reflected by our society in East
Africa,” says Muleya. “We also have an
active social network programme so
that customers can interact with us and
make bookings on both Twitter and
Facebook. We are growing our followers
on those platforms and this has kept us
on our toes.”
So what does Air Uganda have
planned for the future?
“We have dealt with most of the initial
challenges of starting up the airline in
the past five years. We are now in the
process of consolidating our position in
the market by offering more frequency
to our key destinations in East Africa,”
says Muleya. “We aim to grow at a rate
that allows us to balance costs and
services effectively.”
Alongside this Air Uganda is planning
to open a number of new routes, not
just following other operators into
already crowded market places, but by
pioneering new routes to niche markets
in the region.
To learn more visit
www.air-uganda.com.
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113

Saab Grintek Defence
Saab Grintek Defence is a
South African company with a
global reputation.
Writer Ian Armitage
Project manager Tom Cullum
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M a n u f a c t u r i n g
he common
assumption, particularly
in the defence and
security industry, is
that Africa is not strong
when it comes to technology and
innovation. Saab Grintek Defence has
turned this claim on its head.
According to CEO Magnus
Lewis-Olsson, South African-made
electronic warfare technology has
and continues to make its mark in
the international military arena, with
home-grown self-protection systems
being used by numerous defence
forces around the world.
An impressive range of defence
forces, he says, use electronic warfare
technology made and invented in
South Africa.
Amazingly, more than 90 percent of
the systems that are being designed
and produced by Saab Grintek
Defence are being sold on export
outside the continent.
Unsurprisingly this has been
celebrated by the Department of
Trade and Industry (dti) who named
Saab Grintek Defence Best South
African Export Company at the
inaugural South African Premier
Business Awards earlier this year.
Hosted by the dti, Proudly South
African and Brand South Africa, the
award aims to recognise all export
industry sectors from services to
manufacturing and encourage
other South African companies to
participate in international business
development and markets.
It also recognises South African
businesses which invest in both
human and technical resources
in various projects or activities,
produce quality products and
services, and remain domestically and
internationally competitive.
“We are a proudly South African
company,” Lewis-Olsson says. “And
the fact our products are globally
exported represents valuable source
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115

COMpaNy NaME
SAAB GRINTEK DEFENCE
Saab GRINTEK DEFENCE,
a South African company, has consolidated
its position on the African continent as a
leading defence and security company,
bringing capabilities including electronic
warfare, sensor technology, command
and control, training systems, avionics,
air traffic management, security and
support solutions to the African and
international market.
We combine our local South African
expertise with proven international
capabilities to develop the prosperity of
the nation along with its protection.
We employ over 600 staff locally, working
across the defence and civil security
spectrum. Saab’s South African employees
are engaged on all levels of the company,
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f E a T U r E
YOUR WINGMAN IN AFRICA
applying their skills ranging from highly
specialised research to manufacturing
and support staff.
Leading edge technologies are developed
and matured, resulting in new products
manufactured to the highest quality
standards for security and defence
use globally.
www.saabgroup.com/southafrica
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117

SaaB GrINTEk dEfENCE
Our primary
product is our
electronic warfare
products (EW) and
we mount those
predominately on
helicopters and
fighters but also on
transport aircraft
and we have a
product that goes
onto civilian aircraft
to detect and
protect from
missiles and lasers”
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M a n u f a c t u r i n g
of revenue for South Africa. Job
creation in engineering and production
are other obvious advantages.”
Saab Grintek Defence is owned by
Swedish parent company Saab with
a local BEE shareholding of almost
30 percent.
“Our primary product is our
electronic warfare products (EW)
and we mount those predominately
on helicopters and fighters but also
on transport aircraft and we have
a product that goes onto civilian
aircraft to detect and protect from
missiles and lasers,” Lewis-Olsson
says. “We also make avionics
products, black boxes and recording
and health monitoring systems.
Those two categories – EW and
Avionics – are mainly sold on export.
Around 75 percent of our turnover is
export. Our biggest customers are in
India, Southeast Asia and Europe but
some are also in the U.S.
“Export is a clear driver for any
nation and our products are being
sold across the world. It is great to
see our products in Asia, Europe,
Northern Africa and the U.S. but
I have to admit we need a better
local foothold in South Africa and
Sub-Saharan Africa and hopefully
we can open doors inside our own
home market. We have about 600
employees in South Africa but we
also have a telecoms arm called
Saab Grintek Technologies which
employs around 250-300 so in
total we are just shy of 1,000
people locally. All employees,
aside from five people, are South
African so it’s not Swedes moving
into South Africa - it’s a South
African run company.”
Business has been good despite
the general downturn in the global
defence industry and according to
Lewis-Olsson Saab Grintek Defence
has “taken quite a few orders on
the EW side and the outlook for the
beginning of next year is good.”
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119

Saab Grintek Defence
“We do upgrades to aircraft when
it comes to EW, so I suppose we’re
in a good situation now where not
necessarily everyone buys a new
aircraft,” he explains. “We also
integrate our equipment into new
aircraft and in those instances we
go business to business where
we supply our equipment to the
helicopter or fighter manufacturer
and they integrate it. I think it’s
going well. It’s looking even better
for the next year. We’ve had a
good year.
“What’s our secret? I think we
have a product that works. It’s not
something that we need a ten year
plan to build. We’ve proven that it
works and has many applications.
The fact our
products are globally
exported represents
valuable source of
revenue for South Africa.
Job creation in
engineering and
production are other
obvious advantages”
We have an edge. I suppose the
general downturn of the defence
industry has been largely in Europe
rather than Asia and India. Of course
defence spending is dropping in the
U.S. but the local U.S. companies
haven’t seen that much of a problem
yet. If the general mood in the
industry however is that if it’s all
going down then that influences
the buyer but to be quite honest
we haven’t seen much of this. If
anything we see that companies are
starting to acquire equipment again.
“Some of our markets are in Africa
– both North Africa and Sub-Saharan
Africa – and there we face a lot of
challenges. How does the market
work and how do we do transparent
120 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

M a n u f a c t u r i n g
We want to keep selling our EW equipment
and we’d like to break into the Sub-Saharan
Africa market”
business? Despite the challenges
of working in Africa the market has
much potential.
“In Sub-Saharan Africa we see
countries that are more transparent.
They have procurement methods
and process that at least resemble
what we’re used to from the rest
of the world. That would be
countries like Namibia, Botswana,
Ghana and possibly Kenya. Those
countries are our main focus aside
from South Africa.
“In 2014 we have a lot of
deliveries to get out the door,”
Lewis-Olsson continues. “We have
done a lot of business this year
and we need to focus on that and
those operations but we also need
new business and we need to do
follow up business in India and
Asia. We want to keep selling our
EW equipment and we’d like to
break into the Sub-Saharan Africa
market. We’re one of the few larger
defence companies who are in the
region so we’d like to see more
business here.
“In South Africa itself there are a
lot of requirements for defence in
the next one or two years and there
are a few other countries that have
big projects. If we can find a way to
do decent transparent business in
those countries then we are more
than prepared to go there too.”
To learn more about Saab Grintek
Defence visit www.saabgroup.com.
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
121

FOREWORD
Manufacturing
Writer Coenraad Bezuidenhou
executive director, Manufacturing Circle
in South Africa
t has become clear
to all that if Africa
wants to leverage its
population dynamics
adequately for
sustainable growth over the next
decade, the continent needs to
rapidly expand and build out its
manufacturing base. South Africa
may by far be the most industrialised
of all African economies, but its
relative position has been slipping
and much work needs to be done for
manufacturing to regain the strong
foothold it once had here on the
continent’s southern tip.
The Manufacturing Circle has made
it its mission to converse with our
There are
numerous
opportunities for the
situation to improve
for manufacturers in
South Africa over the
next couple of years”
government on issues that challenged
the survival and growth of many of our
stalwart manufacturing companies.
Many improvements have resulted
since we have started to have these
conversations with government,
many of which have contributed to an
environment where manufacturing
has been recovering, albeit at rates
we would have liked to exceed. So the
South African purchasing managers
index has been in expansionary
territory for five months of this year,
which at least compares well with
many of our competitors. But even so,
volumes are now still at pre-October
2008 levels, which means there is still a
long way to go.
122 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

m a n u f a c t u r i n g
South Africa has a reputation for
manufacturing quality at a good
price. We have long established trade
relationships with the Eurozone
and the U.S., which have allowed us
to explore complementarities. So,
for instance, we know that we are
competitive with goods such as metal
parts and components, rubber and
plastics, pipes and process equipment
and aftermarket automotive
components. Our established
manufacturing concerns are keen to
find investment partners from strong
competitor economies and to have
their existing distribution networks
leveraged to export products into
Africa that are complimentary to their
existing manufactured exports.
Though our conversations with
government, we have promoted
monetary and fiscal policy
implementation that is circumspect
of the needs of manufacturing. The
South African Revenue Service has
responded by improving customs
operations and its interactions with
key industries. The latest installment
of South Africa’s industrial policy
action plan envisages numerous
transversal interventions and is less
focused on picking winners, and more
so on helping to enhance
the competitiveness of our
manufacturing sector.
There are numerous opportunities
for the situation to improve for
manufacturers in South Africa over
the next couple of years. In the
first instance, we are slowly but
surely seeing the political space
in the country becoming more
competitive. This will have the effect
that, especially at local and provincial
government level, service delivery
could improve over time. This would
particularly benefit our many injection
moulding and FMCG manufacturers
who suffer worst during water and
electricity supply interruptions.
In the second instance, the traction
being gained by industrial policy
measures has every chance to
improve. Government’s local
procurement strategy is succeeding
where locally manufactured goods
of the right quality can be supplied at
prices that do not exceed justifiable
premiums. In addition to this, industry
also eagerly awaits the results of
the Presidential Infrastructure
Coordinating Commission, whose task
it is to ensure a prioritised pipeline
of infrastructure projects is being
rolled out evenly, thus ensuring better
project sightlines and facilitating better
investment decisions.
The third opportunity lies in growing
the market lies outside of South Africa’s
borders. Here we concentrate on three
areas. In the first instance, there are
still numerous opportunities to deepen
our relationships with our traditional
export markets (Europe and the U.S.),
who may not be growing as fast as our
emerging competitors, but who are still
affluent and has demand for products
we could still potentially manufacture.
Secondly, with the introduction of
the BRICS Business Council, we now
have the opportunity to explore
complementarities with Brazil, Russia,
India and China, with the hope of
securing improved reciprocity on trade
in manufactured goods. The third area
is Africa, where massive urbanisation
will provide excellent opportunities for
South African-based manufacturers.
Finally, there is a massive
opportunity for better alignment
between the manufacturing
industry and organised labour in
South Africa. Whereas public sector
unions have consolidated over the
last decade, labour in the private
sector has disaggregated. This
opens the opportunity for labour
and business to better rally around
a strong industrial development
agenda, to which government
can then respond. This would not
only bolster the labour market,
but would massively strengthen
industrial peace and productivity,
which is a hallmark of any strong
manufacturing economy.
To learn more visit
www.manufacturingcircle.co.za.
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
123

kaNSaI plaSCON
AFRICAN
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M a N U f a C T U r I N G
kansai Plascon is a company with expansion on its mind. Already the premier paint
company in South Africa, Plascon was purchased by Japanese company kansai in
2012. With a fresh injection of money from Japan, it purchased a 63.25 percent
interest in Zimbabwean Astra Industries limited this July. Africa Outlook
takes a closer look at this household name with huge ambitions.
Writer Hannah Eiseman-Reynard
Project manager Tom Cullum
WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM
125

kaNSaI plaSCON
CQUENTIAL SOLUTIONS
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quential – SEE WAREHOUSE RUN
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Behind the solution, you will find
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We have built up an impressive customer
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among others we enable ABB, Kansai
Plascon, Famous Brands, Cipla Medpro,
Enterprise Foods, Fresenius-Kabi and
Fairfield Dairies.
Tel +27 11 236 4360
Email info@cquential.com
www.cquential.co.za
outh African paint and
coatings company
kansai Plascon’s
history stretches
back to 1889 when
a carriage varnish seller expanded
into ready-mixed paint – the first to
do so in the country. In the years
that followed Plascon, as it was
known until Japanese company
kansai purchased it in 2012, became
South Africa’s largest manufacturer
of paints, coatings and chemicals,
serving both the retail and
manufacturing industries. Now it
has investment from Japan to go
even further.
“kansai had a clear mandate that
once we came into Africa we would
use kansai Plascon in South Africa
for our platform for further growth
into the rest of the continent,” CEO
Nauman Malik told CNBC Africa’s
Power lunch in an interview earlier
this year.
the expansion has been rapid with
a $5.5 million investment in a 63.25
percent share in Zimbabwean
company Astra Industries – the
leading paint company in Zimbabwe –
just this July.
“We are very happy to say that
we have made the first step in that
expansion plan a reality,” Malik said.
Astra Industries focuses on the
coatings industry and the industrial
sector – much like kansai Paint does
in South Africa, creating a formidable
and joined-up approach to the entire
paints and coatings market.
“As in any market you know
finding the right partner is critical,”
Malik continued.
And this is just the first step.
the rest of the continent – East
and West Africa – is on the radar
and “we will be embarking upon
acquisitions, greenfields projects,
joint ventures in those territories as
well,” Malik said.
KONICA MINOLTA SENSING
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We emphasize on competent presales
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and timely after sales support.
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www.konicaminolta.eu
NARICH (PTY) LTD
As the sole distributor for konica
Minolta Sensing in the SADC region
ensures that this competency is
carried out in this market.
Tel 086 094 9903
Email colour@narich.co.za
www.narich.co.za
126 WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM

M a n u f a c t u r i n g
Providing an affordable and collaborative
environment across the supply chain
Cquential Warehouse Systems PO Box 413452, Craighall, Johannesburg, 2024, South
E-mail: info@cquential.com Telephone: +2711-236-4360 Fax: +2711-236-4361
www.cquential.co.za
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
127

Kansai Plascon
eVONIK DEGUSSA (PTY) LTD
Evonik, the creative industrial group
from Germany, is one of the world
leaders in specialty chemicals.
Profitable growth and a sustained
increase in the value of the company
form the heart of Evonik’s corporate
strategy. Its activities focus on the key
megatrends health, nutrition, resource
efficiency and globalization. Evonik
benefits specifically from its innovative
prowess and integrated technology
platforms. Evonik has for many years
used the Smart Formulating concept,
which represents the promise that it
will work closely with its customers in
arriving at innovative, effective, and
individual solutions for the formulation
of advanced paint and coating systems.
Since 2005, the presentation of the
system solutions offered has developed
into a customer-oriented categorization
of coatings components.
Tel +49 201 177-01
www.evonik.com
Kansai Plascon already has a presence
in Malawi, Zambia, Botswana and
Namibia. Now it’s looking at possible
expansion into Kenya, Tanzania and
Uganda in the East, and Nigeria and
Ghana in West Africa.
“Those are big markets,” Malik
continued. “They’re not only big
markets in terms of consumer goods
but of course with a lot of infrastructure
development happening, the demand
for coatings would substantially
increase going into the future. We
are looking into finding the right
partners in both territories. Finding
the right partner is key going forward.
Integration is key. Buying the company
is the easy bit, but integrating it and
then setting it up for success for further
expansion is the key objective for us
going into the future.”
Kansai Plascon’s relationship with
Astra goes back to the mid 70s and in
many ways, buying a large stake in the
firm, was a “logical conclusion”.
We will be
embarking
upon acquisitions,
greenfields projects,
joint ventures in
those territories
as well”
“Astra Industries is a very longestablished
company, very strong
management, some very good brands
and have been manufacturing some of
the Plascon brands for several years,”
says Ebrahim Mohamed, executive
director for African operations.
Of course working in Zimbabwe
is seen by some as a risky venture,
but the acquisition seemed perfectly
timed for Kansai Plascon.
The Investment Branch of the
Bank of Zimbabwe was selling its
stocks and Kansai Plascon stepped
up to the challenge.
Though there were other interested
parties Kansai Plascon was able
to demonstrate why it should be
the preferred bidder – from the
historical relationship to the existing
licence and technical agreements
between the two companies already.
Importantly, it was also able to
demonstrate a very clear and credible
indigenisation programme which
128 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

M a n u f a c t u r i n g
Iron Oxide Pigments for Paints and Coatings.
Made by CATHAY.
As one of the world’s leading manufacturers of iron
oxides CATHAY INDUSTRIES pursues an ambitious goal:
to offer pigments of the highest quality for the production
of exceptional paints and coatings systems. As with
CATHAYCOAT Red RA11A. This super micronized and
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Your advantage: extraordinary brilliance and high colour
saturation of your paints.
For more “brilliant” information on iron oxide pigments
from CATHAY INDUSTRIES visit:
www.cathayindustries.com / www.cathayindustries.co.za
Or email us at: info@cathayindustries.co.za
Cathay Industries (Africa) (Pty) Ltd has been proudly
associated with Kansai Plascon in South Africa
for the past 8 years.
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www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
129

kaNSaI plaSCON
PROTEA CHEMICALS
Creating customer wealth by
leveraging knowledge through
process innovation
Providing exceptional and innovative
service- based solutions by utilising
assets to differentiate market offering
A well established distributor
and manufacturer of polymers,
speciality, functional chemicals and
effect chemicals
Operating through out Africa
supplying over 7000 customers with
700 generic products
According to ICIS Protea Chemicals
is the thirteenth largest chemical
distributor in the world and the
largest in Africa and Middle East
Protea manages the entire customer
supply chain and builds partnerships by
providing chemical solutions that solve,
not create, environmental issues.
www.proteachemicals.co.za
would enable management and staff
to benefit from the acquisition.
“I think it’s on these fronts that
we were able to clinch the deal,”
says Mohamed.
So, with such an ambitious (and
proudly stated) expansion goal –
what tips might Kansai Plascon offer
other companies planning similar
expansion? “I think homework is
essential,” says Mohamed. “Certainly
understanding and having a good
grasp of the regulatory environment,
understanding that one cannot find
shortcuts at all. We also have a very
strong Plascon brand and it will
certainly serve us well going forward.”
Starting from South Africa, with
Japanese funding, the kansai Plascon
brand is extremely well placed to
realise those ambitions.
“In South Africa you really
have a little bit of the whole
African continent right here in our
country,” says Mohamed. “We
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M a n u f a c t u r i n g
PLASTIPAK CC
FOR YOUR PACKAGING REQUIREMENTS
Creodata Business Solutions is an IT resource, outsource and technology
company that specialize in the sourcing of top flight ITC staff, outsourcing of IT
projects and the integration of systems. Creodata place a lot of emphasis on
the building of mutually beneficial relationships with their customers. Our
ventures in the market gave us the opportunity to partner with some of the
most forward thinking IT companies in South Africa. We synergize and
complement each other by leveraging from each other’s key strengths.
We are especially proud and honoured to be part of an extraordinary team at
Kansai-Plascon and are determined to grow in assistance with one of the
world’s leading brands.
Creodata believe in the future of South Africa and its youth. We have an active
youth development program for young individuals that want to embark on a
career in Information Technology. Most of the trainees are already
successfully placed at customer sites and some are developing proprietary
systems for Creodata.
For the past 12 years, we made IT happen. We will keep on doing so.
We supply the following types of packaging:
• Clear & Colour Plastic Bags/Sheets
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Pieter Grimsell: Tel: 0832720352 | Email: pieterg@creodata.co.za
Adriaan Vivier: Tel: 0832609642 | Email: adriaanv@creodata.co.za
Tel: 031 305 4549 Email: plastipak@mweb.co.za
124 Berea Road, Berea, Durban, 4000
www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
131

Kansai Plascon
132 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

M a N U f a C T U r I N G
www.bayermaterialscience.com
www.bayercoatings.com
Buying the company is the
easy bit, but integrating it
and then setting it up for
success for further expansion is
the key objective for us going
into the future”
use that expertise for the various segments of
our markets to understand the markets much
better, to enter those markets with humility
rather than an arrogance that we know we are
the market leader, and our targets are very, very
clearly identified.”
kansai Plascon is the first of a new wave of
international business. Africa is at the forefront
of Japanese investment and we expect to see a
lot more of this fast growing company.
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133

company pep clothing name
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Thefabric
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of a
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For South Africa’s Pep Clothing there
is more to life than loss or profit.
Writer Chris Farnell
Project manager Tom Cullum
134 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

fM Ea aNT UU fr aE
C T U r I N G
or more than 40 years,
Pep Clothing, the
manufacturing division
of Pepkor, has been
clothing South Africa.
the company has been dedicated
to providing every variety of high
quality apparel.
“We’re more than 40 years
old,” boasts Marthie Raphael, Pep
Clothing’s general manager. “the
first factory operated in KwaZulu-
Natal, and we soon founded another
division in Cape town. 25 years ago
we moved both of those divisions into
one building. Over the years we’ve
done many different clothing items.
We’ve been a school uniform factory,
we’ve had limited fashion exposure,
we’ve provided socks, blankets,
underwear and stockings. However,
over time many of those divisions
have been relocated and sold, leaving
us specialising in school uniforms.”
Raphael knows what she’s talking
about, she’s been with the company
for a while and has worked her way
up through the business, seeing it
from every perspective.
“My very first job was with the
factory in 1993,” Raphael tells us. “I
worked as a quality engineer, then
moved to Malawi, first for the group,
then left to work for a local company
for four years before returning to Pep
Stores and from there moved back
into the manufacturing side of the
business again, where I moved up
through the ranks. I’ve now held this
position for six years.”
throughout its 40 years Pep
Clothing has built its reputation on
one foundation – consistent quality.
“the consistent quality of our
clothing, trouser after trouser and
shirt after shirt, has always been our
unique selling point,” Raphael insists.
“We provide school clothing of a
high standard, we supply two leading
brands, and with school uniforms
quality is paramount because it will be
passed down for years.”
that quality is all the more essential
because Pep Clothing is competing
in a market awash with cheap, low
quality products.
“What happens with many of the
imported products on the market
is that year after year you will not
get consistent quality and colour
continuity,” Raphael explains. “We
can achieve that quality because we
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135

pEp ClOThING
have an in house laboratory that tests
all our products to destruction before
they reach the shops, as well as a
long established quality system which
monitors quality from the source
of our raw material supplies, to the
delivery to our customers.”
Competing on quality alone is
always a challenging proposal,
especially when on all sides you are
being undercut on price.
“there are certainly areas in the
industry that show growth, especially
if you can offer superior quality to
the cheaper imports, but the main
challenge remains the cost of the raw
materials we need. We’ve seen some
job losses in the industry as a result of
that,” Raphael says.
But in the long run it’s a strategy
that has always worked for Pep
Clothing, and continues to do so today.
“Over the last year we’ve
outperformed our operational and
financial budgets,” raphael says. “We
operate on a break even model where
profits go right back to the customer.
We’ve been performing higher than
our targets, we’ve brought staff
turnover down, absenteeism is low
and our financial targets are being
met. that being said, we have to
continuously improve our offering to
our customers in terms of value, as
superior quality alone will not keep
any business afloat.”
Even now, the business is working
on making its facilities bigger and
better, providing higher volumes
than before.
“We’re in the process of renovating
the whole factory and building,”
Raphael tells us. “the entire site is
being renovated. We have redesigned
the factory layout to improve process
flow. We are moving each of our four
factories to a temporary area while
we relay the factory according to our
new line layouts. The first phase is
already half way down the line and
we expect to finish the project in 12 to
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M a N U f a C T U r I N G
Drake & Scull is one of the largest and most sophisticated Facilities
Management and Technical Service Providers in Southern Africa. We
provide extensive technical, nontechnical and business support services,
which enables us to deliver continuous cost benefits while improving the
quality of our clients non-core services.
13 months, improving our efficiencies
and health and safety standards, as
well as replacing our light fittings
with more environmentally friendly
alternatives. Once the refurbishing
is done, we’ll reintroduce shifts and
expand our capacity.”
Constructing new facilities is
only part of Pep Clothing’s ongoing
projects for improvement however.
Another crucial facet it is working
on is improving efficiencies and
effectiveness throughout the
entire operation.
“last year we improved our
productivity by one percentage
point, lowered absenteeism by three
percent, with the lowest labour
turnover we’ve seen in seven years,”
Raphael says. “this is thanks to a
combination of the way we treat our
employees, an organisational change
to create a safe environment to work
in, as well as providing extra support
that’s necessary because many of
our employees come from difficult
backgrounds. By providing a safe,
supportive environment, we’re able to
ensure that our employees don’t leave
us as they appreciate our wide array of
wellness and leadership programmes.”
this is only the beginning as far as
Raphael is concerned. She strongly
believes in the ongoing improvement
of the business.
“We still need to improve
absenteeism and productivity,” she
admits. “It remains a challenge during
the winter months due to excessive
rain and flooding. The biggest measure
we’re introducing will be having
assistance programmes for employees
to put them in touch with government
departments that can assist them,
as well as introducing an attendance
bonus, and more initiatives to bring
services in house. For instance we have
a full Employee Assistance programme
offering training, education and several
other services to our employees.”
this is about more than having a
series of schemes that pay lip service
to staff support however. raphael
emphases that all of these efforts are
just symptomatic of a corporate culture
that really cares about its people.
“I think what’s very important
to me is our organisational
culture, treating everyone with
dignity and respect,” she says.
“the initiatives we run are quite
unique for a large South African
clothing manufacturer. these
initiatives include full occupational
and primary healthcare, as well
as social workers on site. We run
debt counselling sessions, a large
number of training programmes
for our employees and the ultimate
cherry on the cake for us is knowing
we can help our employees’ families
and communities.”
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137

CrySTal papEr GrOUp
fullflush
flush
Crystal Paper is recognised as being the
leading independent tissue paper
manufacturer in Africa.
Writer Chris Farnell
Project manager Tom Cullum
138 WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM

M a N U f a C T U r I N G
issue paper is big
business. that box
of tissues that you
keep on standby for
break-ups, weepy
movies and nasty colds might look
pretty unassuming, but there is a
huge industry in place to make sure
that your nose never goes un-blown.
It’s where the Crystal Paper group
comes comes in. However, it’s a
company with relatively humble
beginnings as managing director
rafik Dosani explains. “crystal Paper
started in 1986 as one of the smallest
tissue manufacturers in South Africa.
However, by 2006 we had become
the largest independent tissue
manufacturer in the country.”
Since its birth, the company that
started out as Crystal Paper Mills Pty
ltd has seen growth upon growth.
It is now a nationally respected
manufacturer of tissue, as well
as having an extensive recycling
programme, with a huge proportion
of its new products being made from
recycled paper.
As the company has gone on to
receive widespread recognition
in South Africa and beyond, it has
achieved a growing footprint in the
national and international market,
thanks party to a carefully laid out and
well established manufacturing and
sales infrastructure.
Indeed, at the time of writing,
the Crystal Paper group is not only
the largest privately owned tissue
manufacturer in South Africa but the
third largest such company across the
entire continent of Africa.
But this growth didn’t happen
overnight. the Crystal Paper group is
the living embodiment of the saying
“slow and steady wins the race”.
Dosani tells us, “the growth
of the company has always been
internally financed. A lot of the time
this meant that the growth was
very slow, but it has also remained
consistent. We’ve been growing
steadily for over 20 years in a slow
and consistent manner. We’ve
accumulated a great deal of the
business over a period of time.”
In recent years it’s really begun
to pay off, especially since the start
of the decade, despite the fact that
many companies were still feeling
the pinch from the impact of the
global recession.
“Over the last three years we’ve
seen consistent growth between
18 and 20 percent,” Dosani boasts.
“We’re particularly proud of that and
consider it very significant given that
for the past two years South Africa
has been in a recession.”
Dosani is clear as to the reason for
their success. “We’ve done things
differently to many other companies
in the market,” he admits. “We’ve
taken extra measures to ensure that
we are always able to add value for
the customer.”
the value added approach has
been a key driver for the company’s
growth. To this end, the firm has
a “capitalisation of R250 million”
Dosani says, and that is “essential for
increasing” its manufacturing capacity
and enabling future levels of growth.
“A large part of the company’s
consistently successful growth
strategy is that we have always been
careful to look for and target new
niches that appear in the market,
something we’ve grown adept at
with the wealth of experience the
Crystal Paper group has built up,”
he explains. “With the number of
years we’ve spent in the industry
we’ve learned about the niche
markets to an extent that allows us
to really target the niche customers.
Our wealth of experience has made
us experts in South Africa and
surrounding markets.”
However, regardless of which
target market the Crystal Paper group
has its sights on at any given time,
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139

CrySTal papEr GrOUp
the company’s message has always
remained the same.
“If you want a consistent supply
of tissue and to add value to your
company, you should be dealing with
the Crystal Paper group,” Dosani tells
us, matter-of-factly.
Of course, a key driver behind the
company’s success has always been
the people behind the tissue paper.
And the Crystal Paper group is insistent
on always finding the right people for
the right job, and developing them
with the skills they need.
“training is held internally and on
the job,” Dosani says. “We aim to pick
people off the street and then train
and build them up to the standard
that we expect of the people we work
with. We also aim to give something
back to the community we work with.
Our company holds an advanced
position within the community, and
we perform a variety of social work all
year round.”
We’ve taken
extra measures
to ensure that we
are always able
to add value for
the customer”
this includes measures such as a
recycling scheme that allows for 19
trees to be saved for every one ton
of recycle paper used by the factory -
and it has also saved 23,000 litres
of water for every ton of recycled
paper used.
However, the company has a
particular advantage in that it is
a family firm, and even though
it is moving to a more corporate
structure, it still aims to keep the
best qualities it gained from its
family origins.
“Although we are a family
company, with two family members
involved, a lot of the manpower
comes from outside,” Dosani says.
“And we tend to promote our own
people rather than source from
other companies, and train them up.
the main quality we look for in new
recruits is honesty and loyalty. We
look for people who are in it for the
long term, not people who are here
140 WWW.AFRICAOUtlOOkMAg.COM

M a N U f a C T U r I N G
6 Parsons Street, Industria West, Johannesburg, South Africa
Tel: +27 11 474 2218 | Fax: +27 11 474 9435 | Email: sales@quickslit.co.za | www.quickslit.co.za
to learn everything and then move
on, which is difficult because a lot of
smaller companies target our staff.
“It’s been strange going from
a family business to a corporate
environment,” he continues. “We’re
seriously considering going onto the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange at
the moment. It’s a big but necessary
step to maintain our current levels
of growth. to expand we need more
capital, and the best way to do that is
on the stock exchange.
“Once the company’s listed we’ll
be looking to grow to meet the
demands of the African continent as
whole. there are a lot of industries
and resources that are being
developed across Africa that will
increase the demand for tissue,
and we’re becoming the prominent
supplier of it.”
to learn more visit
www.tissuepaper.co.za.
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141

company name
e v e n t s
3rd annual Nigeria Energy
and Power Summit
Transcorp Hilton Abuja
1 Aguiyi Ironsi St
Abuja
900001
Nigeria
28-29 November 2013
www.nigeriaenergyandpower.com
Thinking Things Through
SciBono Discovery Centre
Johannesburg
South Africa
1 December 2013
www.fsi.org.za
ICTD2013
Kramer Building (K3) and the Baxter
Theatre (O3)
University of Cape Town
Lovers Walk St
Cape Town
South Africa
7-10 December 2013
www.ictd2013.info
Urban Rail Africa 2013
The Westin Cape Town
Convention Square, Lower Long Street,
Cape Town, South Africa
10-11 December 2013
www.railconferences.com
Rail Safety Africa 2013
The Westin Cape Town
Convention Square, Lower Long Street,
Cape Town, South Africa
12 December 2013
www.railconferences.com
Mining Risk Management
Summit: Africa
Indaba Hotel and Conference Centre
Johannesburg
South Africa
25-28 November 2013
www.miningriskmanagement
summit.com
Central & East Africa Mining
Investment Summit
Venue to be announced
London
20-23 January 2014
www.ceamis.com
Rubyfuza 2014
Strand Tower Hotel
Corner Strand and Loop Streets
Cape Town
South Africa
6-8 February 2014
www.rubyfuza.org
Meetings Africa 2014
Sandton Convention Centre
Johannesburg
South Africa
24-26 February 2014
www.meetingsafrica.co.za
PHP South Africa -
Johannesburg 2014
Venue to be announced
Johannesburg
South Africa
April/May 2014 (TBC)
www.phpsouthafrica.com
African Utility Week
Cape Town International Convention
Centre
Convention Square, 1 Lower Long Street
Cape Town
South Africa
13 – 14 May 2014
www.african-utility-week.com
142 www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

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YOUR WINGMAN IN AFRICA
Saab GRINTEK DEFENCE,
a South African company, has consolidated
its position on the African continent as a
leading defence and security company,
bringing capabilities including electronic
warfare, sensor technology, command
and control, training systems, avionics,
air traffic management, security and
support solutions to the African and
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We combine our local South African
expertise with proven international
capabilities to develop the prosperity of
the nation along with its protection.
We employ over 600 staff locally, working
across the defence and civil security
spectrum. Saab’s South African employees
are engaged on all levels of the company,
applying their skills ranging from highly
specialised research to manufacturing
and support staff.
Leading edge technologies are developed
and matured, resulting in new products
manufactured to the highest quality
standards for security and defence
use globally.
www.saabgroup.com/southafrica