Enterprise Africa February 2018

AFRICA

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR AFRICA’S INDUSTRY LEADERS

February 2018

www.enterprise-africa.net

Architect Designer Technologists

Developing New Key Regions SAOTA - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH PHILIP OLMESDAHL ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

Blue Security / Cashbuild / G4S / Petra Diamonds

EDITOR’S LETTER EDITOR Joe Forshaw  joe@enterprise-africa.co.za SALES ADMINISTRATOR Emma Neethling  sales@enterprise-africa.co.za SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER Sam Hendricks  sam@enterprise-africa.co.za PROJECT MANAGER Shannon James  shannon@enterprise-africa.co.za PROJECT MANAGER Aarron Chapman  aarron@enterprise-africa.co.za PROJECT MANAGER Emily Taylor  emily@enterprise-africa.co.za FINANCE MANAGER Emma Smith  finance@enterprise-africa.co.za SENIOR DESIGNER Liam Woodbine  liam@enterprise-africa.co.za CONTRIBUTOR Manelesi Dumasi CONTRIBUTOR Karl Pietersen CONTRIBUTOR David Napier CONTRIBUTOR Timothy Reeder

Published by

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Chris Bolderstone – General Manager E. chris@cmb-multimedia.com

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The start to 2018 for Southern African business has been hectic and frantic but always exciting. Now appears to be the time to be in business. In South Africa, Jacob Zuma’s time in office is coming to an end and pro-business, anti-corruption ANC President, Cyril Ramaphosa will replace him – it seems like just a matter of time now. And that brings hope for many in business.

Exporting from South Africa to other parts of the world is one of the key targets for many growing companies, and can unlock major opportunities. Two of our featured companies, G4S Africa and SAOTA, are now doing this and realising much success.

Working in an environment which allows for local growth is also important. Durban-based Blue Security tell us of plans to expand further outside of KZN, but positive trading conditions will be required.

And expansion into Africa remains a realistic goal for those that are well-positioned. Cashbuild is expanding into Zambia, looking to make the country its biggest market outside of SA, but again, a strong economy is required.

So can Ramaphosa build such an environment? Is one man enough of a change to turn an ailing economic situation around? It will not be an easy fix. But Ramaphosa has many supporters and a number of important names backing him.

Upon his election as ANC leader in December, the Rand-Dollar rate moved to its strongest positon in a number of years – perhaps this is an indicator of what we can expect when he takes full control. Until then, we’ll be patiently waiting to hear what Zuma has to say at the SONA – if indeed he is the one to deliver that speech.

Talk to us on Twitter about your hopes for the future @EnterpriseAfri1

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Joe Forshaw EDITOR

Editorial & Design +44 1603 559 702 E. info@cmb-multimedia.com www.cmb-multimedia.com CMB Multimedia does not accept responsibility for omissions or errors. The points of view expressed in articles by attributing writers and/or in advertisements included in this magazine do not necessarily represent those of the publisher. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained within this magazine, no legal responsibility will be accepted by the publishers for loss arising from use of information published. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored in a retrievable system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher. © CMB Multimedia Ltd 2017

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06/NEWS: The News Snapshot A round up of some of the latest news stories from around the country

74/EXHIBITION CALENDAR: Key Upcoming Events Across the Country Our regular update to help you keep track of important events and exhibitions taking place across the spectrum of industry sectors

8/SAOTA

Architect Designer Technologists Developing New Key Regions One of South Africa’s leading architectural firms has flown the nest and is now heavily active in markets away from its home. This strategy of international expansion is one that the company will look to continue with through 2018 and beyond.

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CONTENTS

31/

36/

42/ INDUSTRY FOCUS: ARCHITECTURE

INDUSTRY FOCUS: ENGINEERING

8/SAOTA

49/PROMMAC

Architect Designer Technologists Developing New Key Regions

INDUSTRY FOCUS: CONSTRUCTION 16/CASHBUILD

40 Years of Strength for Cashbuild

INDUSTRY FOCUS: SECURITY 21/G4S AFRICA Top Employer Status Secured 31/BLUE SECURITY

Innovation Key to Security Industry Leadership

Success is Part of the Cultureat PROMMAC

INDUSTRY FOCUS: LOGISTICS 55/GRINDROD FREIGHT SERVICES

Perpetual Motion

INDUSTRY FOCUS: RETAIL 61/SHOPRITE

South Africa’s Supermarket of Choice

INDUSTRY FOCUS:

POWER & AUTOMATION 64/ABB SA

INDUSTRY FOCUS: MINING

African Power House Boosts Growth Through Geo-Expansion Strategy

36/PETRA DIAMONDS

INDUSTRY FOCUS: ARCHITECTURE

Quality Over Quantity 42/EXXARO

Coal Giant Targets Further Growth

70/SASOL

2018 Starts Brightly for the Energy Innovators www.enterprise-africa.net / 5

WIGROUP GETS FUNDING FROM VIRGIN & SMOLLAN Cape Town-based mobile software firm, wiGroup, has secured undisclosed investment from the Virgin Group and retail solutions leader Smollan.

The investment will fast-track wiGroup’s entry into emerging and developed markets. wiGroup CEO Bevan Ducasse said the timing is perfect as the business looks to quickly enhance its global expansion programme.

The investment follows similar funding from Investec Asset Management in 2015, which Ducasse said helped wiGroup establish itself as the largest mobile transactional platform in Africa, with over 75,000 integrated till points accepting mobile payments, loyalty and rewards transactions. wiGroup is also looking to expand at home in South Africa. new mobile services for South African brands are in the pipeline and the company is hoping to be involved, in a big way, in the app payment market.

Some of the most recent mobile loyalty examples by wiGroup include the Mugg & Bean App where customers can earn points for every transaction, as well as Hungry Lion’s surprise and delight campaign.

The investment from the Virgin Group follows a successful partnership with wiGroup on the creation of Virgin Money South Africa’s new peer-to-peer payment app, Virgin Money Spot, which launched in January 2018 and allows customers to send money to peers.

Both Virgin and Smollan commented on the success of wiGroup’s offerings, paving the way for growth across the company’s product portfolio.

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NATIONAL TREASURY LABELS VICEROY CAPITEC REPORT ‘RECKLESS’ Last month, American research firm Viceroy released a report slamming Capitec Bank’s business, calling for the bank to be placed in curatorship and comparing it to a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’.

Capitec responded by stating that Viceroy stood to gain from a dip in its share price, and blasting the research company for short selling.

Now, the National Treasury has weighed in on the ongoing situation, condemning Viceroy’s ‘reckless’ report into Capitec bank.

“The National Treasury notes the reckless manner in which Viceroy, a US-based trader/research firm, released its report on Capitec bank earlier in the week. Viceroy is not regulated in South Africa, and by its own admission, has been trading [short selling] in Capitec shares ahead of the release of its report, and stood to benefit substantially from forcing the Capitec share price to fall by publishing its speculative report about the bank,” said the Treasury.

Viceroy released its report calling the bank a loan shark and that it should be placed under curatorship.

In its statement, Treasury said

Viceroy operated anonymously and opaquely.

“The reckless way in which it has released its report is clear proof that it is not acting in the public interest nor in the interest of financial stability in South Africa. Whilst the Treasury expects prudential and market conduct regulators in South Africa to consider all relevant reports in the public domain, and to act where any risks or transgressions in the law are identified, Treasury is of the view that the Viceroy report provides no basis to put any bank under curatorship.”

In addition, Treasury has been in constant contact with the Registrar of Banks since the report was released, and is satisfied with the assurance from the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) that Capitec is well capitalised, liquid and solvent, and meets all prudential requirements. This means that the funds of depositors are safe.

In its response, the SARB said as part of its mandate, it monitors the safety and soundness of all banks, including Capitec Bank Limited (Capitec).

NEWS SNAPSHOT BRM HAS LAUNCHED ITS FIRST OPERATING COLLIERY Junior mining company Black Royalty Minerals (BRM) has launched its first R150 million operating colliery in Bronkhorstspruit, eastern Pretoria, and is already promising more influence in the coal sector.

The hopes are that the mine can be expanded later in the year.

BRM chairperson Ndavhe Mareda has said the Chilwavhusiku Colliery has off-take agreements with South32 to provide 350,000 tons of coal a year and another with Eskom for twice as much, alongside other customers.

Mareda also said that the business will look to buy other coal assets later in 2018.

He said that BRM’s development plans for the Bronkhorstspruit community include ensuring that more than 80% of its colliery workforce comes from surrounding communities. The colliery wants to invest in promising young students by offering them tertiary education bursaries, as well as outsourcing and collaborating with local businesses to advance the economic circumstances of the community.

Chilwavhusiku almost never commenced activity when a neighbouring livestock farmer took it to court last year to stop mining activities but Mareda said the matter has been resolved and the two had settled their differences.

JAZZ LEGEND HUGH MASEKELA PASSES AWAY Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa says the nation has lost a one-of-a-kind musician with the passing of Jazz legend bra Hugh Masekela.

Masekela has died at the age of 78, after a battle with prostate cancer.

“A baobab tree has fallen. We can safely say bra Hugh was one of the great architects of Afro-Jazz and he uplifted the soul of our nation through his timeless music,” said the Minister in a Tweet on his official Twitter handle.

The world-renowned flugelhornist, trumpeter, bandleader,

composer, singer and defiant political voice was born in Witbank, in 1939.

At the age of 14, the deeply respected advocator of equal rights in South Africa, Father Trevor Huddleston, provided Masekela with a trumpet and soon after the Huddleston Jazz Band was formed.

He lived in New York and Los Angeles, and developed his own unique style drawing on US and African influences.

His solo career has spanned five decades, during which time he has released over 40 albums and has been featured on countless more.

In 1990, Hugh returned home, following the unbanning of the ANC and the release of the former President Nelson Mandela.

In June 2010, he opened the FIFA Soccer World Cup Kick-Off Concert to a global audience and performed at the event’s opening ceremony in Soweto’s Soccer City. In the same year, President Jacob Zuma honoured him with the highest order in South Africa, the Order of Ikhamanga.

Masekela is a Grammy award winner for “Best Contemporary Pop Performance-Instrumental”.

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SAOTA

Architect Designer Technologists Developing

New Key Regions PRODUCTION: Karl Pietersen

One of South Africa’s leading architectural firms has flown the nest and is now heavily active in markets away from its home. This strategy of international expansion is one that the company will look to continue with through 2018 and beyond.

//

Cape Town’s world-class architecture business, SAOTA (or Stefan Antonio, Olmesdahl, Truen Architects) is a made up of a group of outstanding design minds, each bringing something different to a product and service offering that is almost unrivalled in Africa.

In 2016, Enterprise Africa looked deeper into SAOTA’s work in its home country with the Clifton Terraces project, a high-profile, high-value, multiresidential apartment building that

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cascades down the slopes of the Clifton hills, overlooking the wealthy suburb’s beaches.

Now, 12-months on from completion in Clifton, the building has been heralded as a commercial and architectural success. SAOTA Director Greg Truen said of the development: “It’s looking amazing and we are very happy with the way the whole thing has turned out. It’s a fantastic building from an architectural point of view…”

But it was Truen’s partners and

fellow Directors, Philip Olmesdahl and Mark Bullivant that spearheaded the project and Olmesdahl – a 21-year veteran of SAOTA – cites Clifton Terraces amongst his proudest achievements.

“We are very fortunate that we have some amazingly positioned sites that we work on and that can make a project exceptional,” he says.

“Clifton Terraces was predominantly driven by Mark Bullivant but we worked together so that was very meaningful; OVD 919, a local Cape Town house, which

Yalikavak - Bodrum, Turkey

INDUSTRY FOCUS: ARCHITECTURE

New Engineering Building - UCT

// WE ARE VERY FORTUNATE THAT WE HAVE SOME AMAZINGLY POSITIONED SITES THAT WE WORK ON AND THAT CAN MAKE A PROJECT EXCEPTIONAL// we finished around two and a half years ago was special, winning the Architizer A+ Award; there was one we finished in Sydney last year which I enjoyed a lot; we are busy with a large development in Turkey at the moment which is around 50 villas on a very steep site and it’s very ambitious and is certainly one of the more meaningful recent projects for me.”

In the December 2016 edition of

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Enterprise Africa, we spoke to Greg Truen about the success that SAOTA has realised in foreign markets – something rarely achieved on such a scale by South African organisations. Olmesdahl is also proud and excited about working abroad and admits that, right now, his focus is almost completely away from Africa.

“We divide the world by region between four active Directors. I share the US with Mark and solely look after the Spanish Islands (Majorca and Ibiza), Greece, Turkey, Indonesia, Australasia and various smaller regions. Excluding Greece, we’ve seen nice growth and we have a good spread of both residential and commercial property with much larger scale master planning-type jobs in Turkey and Spain.

“We have a good spread around the world and we are localising in particular areas. We can’t apply the same model for business growth that we may have been using in West Africa in Europe. We do see huge potential in Europe and my partner Phillippe Fouché looks after that region

and he’s had a great year with a lot on the cards for next year.”

With African markets proving particularly unpredictable last year, thanks to various factors including political upheaval and unstable commodity pricing, the continent was a challenging place to do business. Global macro-economic factors also played a part and, as such, SAOTA was thankful for its international spread. But the Directors are keen to build on the historic success attained in Africa.

“When we first moved out of South Africa, a lot of our work was on the continent,” says Olmesdahl. “Up until around two or three years ago, Africa remained a substantial part of our business but that has changed substantially since our moves into the USA, Europe, Middle East and the Far East. Africa is not as prosperous anymore due to a number of different reasons but Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa remain busy, and Senegal, Congo, Angola and Ivory Coast still have projects. We are

Higgovale. Architect: SAOTA Oggie FSC Oak Legno Living with WOCA Denmark Diamond White Oil - 15/4 x 190 x 1900

SAOTA

...oak ceilings by Oggie.

Cape Town: 021 510 2846 | Paarden Eiland Johannesburg: 011 262 3117 | Sandton Durban: 031 000 1000 | Umhlanga nick@oggie.co.za www.oggieflooring.com www.enterprise-africa.net / 11

INDUSTRY FOCUS: ARCHITECTURE

Yalikavak - Bodrum, Turkey

proud to service the African region and so we are putting a lot of effort into regrowing markets that have slowed.”

With approximately 80% of SAOTA’s business now coming from markets outside of South Africa, the burden of travelling far and wide is heavy and Olmesdahl admits that one of his personal goals for 2018 is to “travel less”.

ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN, TECH Many commentators involved in the global architectural industry are looking to a new trend for 2018 – Starchitecture. However, this form of architecture - that has a ‘wow’ factor and involves moving away from rectangular-type buildings are more towards eye-catching, Frank Gehry-style designs that encourage marvelling from onlookers – is

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something that SAOTA has been doing for years.

The Douala Hotel in Cameroon, Alex Junction in Johannesburg, the Apex tower in London, the Cocoon in Zurich, and Bora Headquarters in Spain are just a few examples of outstanding SAOTA designs that are certainly breath-taking.

Other trends set to take more of a mainstream focus in 2018 include an increased emphasis on the blending of indoor and outdoor space; an ongoing drive for eco-friendly development; the merging of residential, commercial, and industrial space; and a ramping up of the use of wood. But, again, SAOTA is vastly experienced across all of these ‘new’ trends.

What makes SAOTA a hugely successful business, and not only

an outstanding designer, is its organisation and support processes that back up its glittering portfolio.

“If someone is looking at an architect or a practice, you look at what has been built as what is meaningful, but being an insider, what is also meaningful is the process,” explains Olmesdahl. “The projects that stand out for me are the ones where the processes have been great and have been great because of fantastic clients.”

As Mr Truen detailed last month, SAOTA’s advanced use of tech is what helps it stand out when it comes to processes, and Olmesdahl agrees, saying: “A number of factors have pushed us into being extremely technology focussed in the office, meaning the platforms that we design the buildings on, the way in which

SAOTA

// I CAN COMFORTABLY SAY WE ARE SOUTH AFRICA’S INDUSTRY LEADER WITH PROGRAMS LIKE REVIT // we illustrate the buildings for clients, and development of documentation for clients. I can comfortably say we are South Africa’s industry leader with programs like Revit and programs that allow you to create fairly basic but illustrative walkthrough videos, like Lumion, and with VR where we have been able to utilise technology in marketing and in presentations. We are creating a new aspect of the business that makes it a more attractive package for developers.”

And it’s not just utilisation of technology in the SAOTA office that

has critics praising the business; the company is also ahead of the curve when it comes to installing tech into homes and other buildings. Whether its connectivity between devices, energy efficient elevators, solar panels, efficient water usage, or self-closing curtains, Olmesdahl is happy to see home-usage becoming easier and more refined.

“The majority of our work remains in residential, whether it’s single or multi. At the top end of the residential market, that kind of technology has been around for many years and it’s become more user friendly and

competitively priced which is great. It compliments a contemporary lifestyle whether it’s security or in general. I’m not sure whether it’s becoming more popular or whether it’s becoming more sophisticated. Before, there was a situation where systems were very badly designed and had a number of flaws but those kinds of things have largely been washed out of the industry.”

But using gimmicks and installing tech for the sake of it is not part of the SAOTA mantra. Truen told us that the company is ‘conscious of designing buildings that give people a better quality of life’ and Olmesdahl says that if it’s not practical and effective then it runs the risk of being value engineered out of a project.

“Automation is not the most important consideration but we are

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: ARCHITECTURE

New Engineering Building - UCT

always conscious of the designs being unconscious of it. We want a system that is robust, flexible, intuitive and has the greatest convenience and so consequently you are not aware of it. It’s important but we push our designs to be more about the experience of the space and the environment rather than tech,” he says.

A PEOPLE INDUSTRY In architecture and design, perhaps more so than in other industries, trust is one of the key factors, held in the highest regard by both parties. Often, the capital invested into the design of buildings and spaces, or the redesign of existing areas, is monumental and without trust the process would never get off the ground.

SAOTA’s people recognise that transparent communication with

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clients is key, and this has been a vital part of the business since its formation in 1987. “SAOTA has a unique brand strength” says Olmesdahl, “and we’re highly technical in 3D development/ coordination of architecture documentation. With over 230 staff across three companies, we have so much ‘band width’.”

By ensuring the provision of solutions for clients and adding to their success, SAOTA has rightly become a valuable partner to many developers

and individuals. The attitude of ‘customer first’ and building ‘lasting relationships’ is spawned from the very top of the business and this is why it’s important for the company to frequently source staff with suitable attributes.

“It’s an incredibly demanding business, especially in residential,” admits Olmesdahl. “Many aspects are extremely expensive and whether it’s trying to satisfy someone’s personal ambitions or whether its microscopically going through a hotel design that is going to be replicated 200 times, there’s an intensity that hones your analytical skills and delivery focus, and I’ve become more focussed on that with a brilliant team that has been working together for, in some cases, 10 years or more.

“Design is an important skill but there’s one thing that goes across all aspects of architecture and that is the ability to think clearly and work smartly, whether its dealing with contracts or budgets or design - It’s something we look for in all of our new applicants.”

SAOTA’s Directorate is full of longservers and the senior team, or PASS (Partners, Associates and Senior Staff), are mostly seven year-plus veterans in the business.

When asked about the dynamic between the hierarchical levels of SAOTA, and the involvement of Directors throughout the organisation, Olmesdahl says that it’s different for each in terms of their skill set but, on the whole, the PASS group remain very hands on.

“Generally, the Directors are involved with design and initiating the direction of the solution and we’re very involved with client liaison on the project. The different seniors have different strengths in terms of technical delivery; some are more involved all

// THE DIRECTORS ARE INVOLVED WITH DESIGN AND INITIATING THE DIRECTION OF THE SOLUTION AND WERE VERY INVOLVED WITH CLIENT LIAISON ON THE PROJECT //

SAOTA

the way through and others move around to remain focussed on design and client and handover the technical side. We have a large employee base so it’s not always the same for every job and every member. I am personally a control freak and like to stay close to everything throughout the project and so I’m equally involved in design, client and technical.”

This fastidious attention to detail and comprehensive involvement of specialist minds is another factor that makes SAOTA stand out in the highly competitive local and international architectural and design industries.

But Olmesdahl is modest about

the company’s positioning within its market places “Whilst we’re always aware of the fantastic work of our local and international competitors, (practices which have a similar profile/footprint and ethos), we’re always striving to remain just ahead.”

Going forward, the SAOTA goal is simple - to remain internationally sought after and continue to pick up important industry awards. “We want to achieve our targets for the year in order to maintain growth and stability in the company,” says Olmesdahl. “We want to develop key new regions and to complete 35 – 40 of the current 60+ projects on site worldwide, as scheduled.”

With a spread of work across five continents and a number of territories, a portfolio of magnificence both in terms of completed projects and processes, and a team that uses technology to constantly improve its product and service offering, SAOTA remains a global industry leader and a South African company that should be lauded for its approach to business and its capture of global attention.

WWW.SAOTA.COM

“I studied at the University of Natal alongside Greg Truen, he graduated in ’95 and I graduated in ’96. We are both from Durban so there is a big Durban contingent in the Director’s pool at SAOTA. I’ve been with Greg and Stefan since ’96 - I didn’t formally work after graduating but I had worked while studying. I moved to Cape Town because of the limited prospects in Durban, and I’ve now been in the practice for 21 years.

“A lot of the time, you can come out of university with your degree and realise what you’ve been studying is not quite what it takes to practice day to day. I don’t think I gained my organisations and leaderships skills from my studies; students have a lot of pressures in terms of time scales and managing multiple projects so that gives you an idea of what your life will be like, but I think you quickly learn that you need to separate home and business life. The faster you learn that your business life needs to be enormously efficient, the more meaningful your home life is. After a few years of practice, you are able to work more efficiently and you are able to focus on what the objectives of the design, meeting, email or conversation are, and then you go straight to the point and deliver.”

PHILIP OLMESDAHL - DIRECTOR SAOTA www.enterprise-africa.net / 15

CASHBUILD

40 Years of Strength for Cashbuild PRODUCTION: David Napier

An acquisition strategy, and an expansion drive on the continent are taking Cashbuild to new heights. In its 40th year, now is an extremely exciting time for one of Southern Africa’s leading suppliers of quality building materials at the lowest prices.

//

It’s all action at Cashbuild in the company’s 40th anniversary year.

The construction retailer, which sells various building materials and related products, is not happy to sit on what has been built over the past four decades and is looking to cement its position in the upper echelons of Southern Africa’s highly competitive hardware retail industry.

Founded in ’78 to serve the local markets with quality building materials, Cashbuild has been leading the way in the industry despite the ever-growing presence of competitors. And, as we quickly drive into 2018, the appetite for growth within the company has never been stronger.

Enterprise Africa asks Cashbuild’s Financial Director, Etienne Prowse about the company’s targets for this year.

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“Growing our African and South African footprint, and all the time getting more profitable,” he says.

Now with a network of more than 300 stores across the region, Prowse says that outlet positioning and an acquisitive strategy have fuelled growth over the past five years in particular.

“During 2013, our earnings per share was 1036 cents. In 2016 it was up to 2048 cents per share so in five years we have doubled our earnings per share. Our share price in 2013 was R133 and it’s now R359 so that has almost tripled. Our employee count went from 4500 to 6300 and the number of stores went from 200 in 2013 to more than 300 now. All of that growth in the business drives the top line and drives the profits, and we’ve been doing it more efficiently as we move along.”

One decision that has flooded Cashbuild with obvious and widespread opportunity came in 2016 when the company acquired P&L Hardware. The R350 million deal added more stores and more revenue, and is being heralded as a big success.

“We are now just over 6000 staff and we grew after acquiring P&L Hardware which had 44 stores when we made the acquisition. We have now expanded that brand and we are trading out of 55 P&L stores. In total, we have over 300 stores.

“We recently acquired two builder franchises and converted them into the P&L portfolio, and a business called Buffalo Timbers which has seven stores.

Before changing Chief Executive in 2012, we never looked at acquisitions as a growth strategy. The new Chief Exec,

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: CONSTRUCTION

// WE WANT TO KEEP OPENING NEW STORES, WE BELIEVE THERE’S STILL LOTS OF OPPORTUNITY IN SOUTH AFRICA TO GROW OUR STORES // who was the previous FD, is open to opportunities and that is why we have moved onto the acquisition path,” says Prowse.

Werner de Jager is the CEO and the man behind the acquisition strategy, and he is keen to grow in all ways – at home in SA, across Southern Africa, and also internally; but pricing is something that the company does not want to increase.

“We have an online catalogue and instore promotions but we also do what we call ‘knock and drop’; that’s leaflet drops in local newspapers and through people’s doors. We also advertise our prices clearly – we don’t have weekend specials, we have the lowest prices every day and if you see a price on an advert, it

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will remain the same for the whole month.

“We serve the lower end of the market, we deal mainly in cash and that is the area where unemployment is rife and when mines close down, our customers start suffering. Unemployment now sits at around 27% and with these stats and politics in the country, it’s not an easy environment,” says Prowse.

But despite negative sentiment in the local and global economies, some financial commentators are bullish about the current climate, and Cashbuild maintains a positive outlook. “The last few years have been great” says Prowse, “except for 2016 when the economy was under pressure and it was much tougher than what we’ve been used to.

“We have an aspiration of achieving 30% market share but right now we only have half of that. We can’t achieve that goal through purely organic growth so we have to acquire,” he adds.

With the home building market in South Africa one which receives plenty of attention from both the public and private sector (estimates suggest a housing backlog of around 2.5 million homes), Cashbuild has positioned itself perfectly to be the ‘go-to’ materials provider

for homebuilders, home improvers, contractors, farmers, traders and any persons wanting to purchase our quality building materials for cash.

“We are not a home depot-type operation with general building materials.

Our core product is cement,” details Prowse. “We have a focussed range of everything you would need to build a house but we don’t stock a major range of taps, lightings, or tiles and the like. The biggest new product we have introduced is something called decorative ceilings and the market loves it. We deal with a stable product environment.”

Historically, Cashbuild’s competitive advantage comes through three pillars, namely location, access to stock and easy shopping environment.

“We compete directly with a number of independents and a couple of major national brands. We differentiate ourselves through our reach; we are in the townships, we are everywhere our customers need us to be. We provide easy access to our shops. We are also proud to say that our products are always in stock.

We design our stores and our ordering processes to ensure that everything is always in stock. We also ensure ease of

CASHBUILD

shopping; you can quite easily pick up a bag of cement, take it to the till and pay, walk out and load your car, and then drive away, and it’s not that simple in other stores. So location, stock and ease of shopping are our three areas of competitive advantage,” says Prowse.

Of these three pillars, while all are equally important, perhaps location is the most prevalent right now, as the business targets 10 new openings each year. The strategy here is not a sledgehammerstyle approach but rather a much more targeted and considered tactic.

“We don’t open up where we believe the market will be in five or ten years; we need enough households right now,” says Prowse. “When there is enough space in the area, we will open stores and stay for 20 years plus. Our first store, opened in 1978, is still in the same positions today and remains highly profitable.

“We started in 1978 and we were listed on the JSE in 1986. We refer to ourselves as the biggest retailer of building materials in Southern Africa. We are in South Africa, which is the majority of our business, and we also trade in Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Malawi and now Zambia as of just a few months ago.”

The Zambian expansion push started with the opening of the first Cashbuild in the country in August 2017, in Kabwe, north of Lusaka. The second Cashbuild opened in Zambia in December 2017, in Ndola.

“Our big strategy surrounds achieving growth,” Prowse enthuses. “We want to keep opening new stores, we believe there’s still lots of opportunity in South Africa to grow our stores. We believe we can make a big success in Zambia and we want to have 20 stores there, becoming our biggest market outside of South Africa. We have a very simple business and a very simple strategy which works for us.”

But expansion doesn’t come without its challenges, and for Cashbuild as the company has grown its footprint it has had to ensure its systems and processes

are up to date. A recent upgrade to new software and new systems has, according to Prowse, helped the business drive efficiency.

“We’ve leapt forward with regard to technology,” he says. “We have just installed a new system and when we had that bedded in we realised it wasn’t going to help us grow so we had to get another one. We now use SAP and IQ Retail and that has allowed us to implement efficiencies, gain much more management information, run our stock ordering system, and become more effective overall. Looking at our cost ratio, we are much more competitive now compared to five years ago, and that’s thanks to our systems.”

Clearly, Cashbuild is a business that is helping with the development of Southern Africa. Whether it’s through employment creation, infrastructure

development through the use of its products, contribution to supply chains, or its work in the communities in which it operates; this important business looks set to become even more significant.

With the ambitious approach instilled by de Jager and Prowse, Cashbuild has everything required to assist in South Africa’s quest to fill the housing gap, and bring the best products at the best prices to customers all over its chosen markets. This is a company to watch, and one which is employing a strategy that should achieve robust growth in the future.

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G4S AFRICA

Top Employer

Status Secured PRODUCTION: Manelesi Dumasi

Yet again, G4S Africa has claimed international recognition as one of the continent’s best employers. It creates opportunities for employees, nurtures them, and allows them to flourish in a secure career. Regional President, Mel Brooks talks to Enterprise Africa to explain more about the significance of this, a sixth consecutive Top Employer award. www.enterprise-africa.net / 21

INDUSTRY FOCUS: SECURITY

//

Rewind 17-months, back to 2016, Enterprise Africa spoke to G4S Africa Regional President Mel Brooks and asked what makes the behemoth pan-African security business unique, and what keeps it ahead of its competitors. Unequivocal in his reply: “Our people”.

“I believe that the great work our employees do to ‘secure your world’ and their continuous efforts to ‘live’ our company values strengthens our image and supports us in unremittingly providing expert services to our customers,” he said.

And that view hasn’t changed through to today with Brooks telling us that the business has, once again, been named as one of the continent’s Top Employers – a title reserved for audited organisations that create excellent conditions for their people.

22 / www.enterprise-africa.net

In October 2017, G4S Africa was present at an awards ceremony celebrating a sixth consecutive Top Employer award. Brooks is delighted to receive the recognition as one of Africa’s Top Employers 2018 and says that the benefits are widespread.

“It’s an acknowledgment of people practices that have been honed over a number of years. It motivates us to do more and more, and a lot of our customers really appreciate the fact that we empower our employees and treat them with respect so it’s not only for our own benefit but it’s there to benefit our customers as well.”

The Amsterdam-based Top Employers Institute conducts research into HR excellence all over the world and said of G4S Africa’s offering: “G4S provides exceptional employee conditions, nurtures and develops talent throughout

all levels of the organisation and has demonstrated its leadership status in the HR environment, always striving to optimise its employment practices and to develop its employees.”

And it’s not just at continental level – the awards are focussed around performance in individual territories. “It’s important to us particularly in the Africa context to be recognised as a sustainable and responsible employer,” says Brooks.

“They look at how we empower and develop our employees and we are hugely proud of the fact that we have gone from nine certificates in 2013 to 13 in 2018, maintaining that award in each of those countries. It’s something that I believe contributes to our employee environment. We’ve recently conducted an employee engagement survey and more than 80% of our people responded which is a phenomenal response. We have

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: SECURITY

// WE ARE HAPPY THAT WE HAVE BETTER THAN AVERAGE EMPLOYEE RETENTION FIGURES – PEOPLE JOIN US, THEY’RE HAPPY, AND THEY STAY WITH US // regular interaction with our employees whether it’s through polling, through one-to-one engagement, or through line management feedback,” he adds.

As the only private security company in Africa to be given accreditation, G4S Regional HR Director, Stanley Blythe was delighted, saying: “It’s a fantastic acknowledgement of our best people practice efforts, which will only motivate us to reach even further heights of HR excellence in future. G4S takes great pride in the creativity and diversity of our talented people and strive to create a safe and

24 / www.enterprise-africa.net

value-driven environment that provides opportunities for growth, innovation and a sustainable future for all.”

Brooks says that the company’s positive HR strategy has resulted in the long-term retention of people.

“Our business is defined by the high standards and expertise of our people,” he says.

“We employ high-quality people, we screen those individuals, we give the best training possible and we give oversight and supervision, setting our employees up for success in career development. The security industry is potentially the first formal employment for a number of people and we aspire for people to continue their career with G4S but in the event that they move on, we are happy to have given them a sustainable platform to go forward.

We are happy that we have better than average employee retention figures – people join us, they’re happy, and they stay with us.

“I’m delighted that we have a number of long-serving employees, even people who started as security officers and are now Financial Directors – it’s a credit to the organisation, how

we identify talent and bring that into the business.”

Top Employers Institute CEO, David Plink praised G4S, saying: “Our extensive research concluded that G4S Africa forms part of a select group of employers that advance employee conditions worldwide.

Their people are well taken care of.

Now that they have received the Top Employers Africa 2018 certification, they can truly consider themselves at the top of an exclusive group of the world’s best employers. Reason to celebrate.”

Globally, G4S employs close to 585,000 people. Across Africa, more than 110,000 work for G4S, and the company services around 75,000 customers across 25 countries.

FUTURE TECH, NOW Like many industry sectors, security is one in which technology is playing an increasingly important role – this goes without saying. But instead of cutting staff and replacing them with tech, G4S is using modern technology to complement its workforce, “that is most definitely the case,” says Brooks.

“New technologies and innovation in our systems lines is part of our plan, to

G4S AFRICA

be introduced wherever possible. When you think of manned security and cash solutions, we augment them wherever we can with technology and we will continue to do so. Sometimes it’s to augment our current service provision, so tech becomes an enabler to a service, and sometimes it’s purely systems themselves for a customer - be that building integration, access control, fire control, or any type of system.”

But, even with innovation providing efficiency improvements, the people element of the G4S business remains of significant importance.

“We have a very large alarm monitoring and response business across Africa where both residential and business customers rely on us to have an automated alarm system with a response provided by ourselves or by a third party.

“There is the potential for technology to not only support our customers but also our employees. We’re looking at remote supervision using tech cameras so that we can monitor our security officers, help them check-in and provide guidance remotely, particularly in remote areas. It’s an ongoing innovation programme that

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: SECURITY

we have and our cash business is founded on the introduction of greater technology.

“We constantly invest in our people, technology and innovation – attributes that our customers both expect and admire. This results in security services coming under cost pressures, and the arbitrage between labour and technology continues to close. In many cases the technology is now a more efficient way to deliver a service compared to physical manpower. It’s a requirement from the customer not only from a cost perspective but also a service delivery perspective, and from our own perspective for innovating our services,” explains Brooks.

Perhaps one of the finest examples of business innovation in recent years is the G4S Cash management division which has provided a number of pioneering devices to aid in the collection, security and organisation of

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cash. Particularly, G4S Deposita, a truly South African business, has been at the heart of this inventive culture. Back in September 2017, we spoke to G4S Deposita President, Christo Terblanche, who detailed how the business had recently seen phenomenal growth (2526% between 2014-2016) thanks to the success of devices like Cash360, ABM and Mini-Pay among others.

Brooks is proud to export this knowledge and expertise worldwide.

“South Africa is the intellectual hub, particularly for the hardware aspects, of what we call Cash360 – management of the cash lifecycle for our customers,” he says.

“We have established an entity called Deposita International, which is based on intellectual property and from that platform, we are servicing the rest of the world. This is all about innovating in

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// WHATEVER WE DO, WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THE THREATS AND RISKS TO OUR CUSTOMERS // the customer’s space. The way that cash moves, the velocity at which it moves, the cost of moving it – we are acutely aware of our customers’ needs and servicing those needs to improve efficiencies.

We’ve expanded the product range from basic deposit machines to mini deposit machines, bank branch automation machines, and even recycling machines that take cash in and recycle cash out.

These products work in retail banking, small retail environments and wherever cash moves. It’s a continued drive for Africa and the rest of the world – cash automation is an area where we have really applied focus. We also draw on innovation from North America, Europe and Asia markets.”

The success of G4S Deposita, coupled with that of the wider group, is clear for all to see. G4S CEO Ashley Almanza said in November’s Trading Update (for nine months ending 30 September 2017) that ‘organic revenue growth was 4.4%, with all regions growing apart from the Middle East and India region. Organic revenue growth excluding Middle East and India was 6.1% for the first nine months’.

Brooks says that Africa specifically is also performing well.

“We’ve had a good year and we continue to grow above the inflation rate. We are managing our profit and our costs and collecting cash in Africa.

There’s a variable payment culture in Africa and we manage through that as well, but notwithstanding that, we are growing organically and there’s a lot of opportunity in the places that we operate to expand our operations significantly. That is what we are seeking to do and what we have been doing very successfully.

“Across Africa, especially East and

G4S AFRICA

North Africa, we are growing very fast.

We’re seeing that within our businesses, particularly in those regions, we are being approached by more customers and seeing our accounts grow,” he says.

UNDERPINNING SECURITY IN AFRICA Industry reports suggest that, in South Africa alone, the private security industry is worth some-R45 billion annually and that a distrust in the country’s already stretched police force is a big driver of that figure. Security agents regularly put themselves in danger and, with crime figures still comparatively high, it is now becoming more obvious than ever that it pays to partner with an experienced, reputable and results driven organisation, that can complement local law enforcement wherever possible.

“As an organisation, we seek to work with the security and law enforcement agencies,” says Brooks. “We are not a law enforcement agency, we are there to augment security operations around the continent. The reality is, the issues in these countries are attributed to economic and socio factors and we seek to work alongside the police to understand where our customers seek private support over law enforcement support, and typically that is where we operate 24/7 at the customer’s premises alongside them. It is really important that we work alongside local law enforcement and authorities accordingly. Whatever we do, we have to understand the threats and risks our customer faces. The cash business is an area that attracts a certain element of the criminal fraternity and we work with the police to better understand that, so a close working relationship is very important.”

But with such a large market in South Africa, G4S are not alone in the provision of security services – the large number and large size of contracts on offer attracts big-name firms from all over the world. So, what sets the company apart in an extremely competitive and cut-throat environment? First-class service and historic local success says Brooks.

Mel Brooks - Regional President - Africa

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: SECURITY

“It hasn’t been an overnight activity; it’s taken a long time to achieve the success that we have now,” he admits.

“We have a longstanding business across the region and around the world and that means we are able to operate a premium service to a set of customers that want and respect that service. Being able to provide that level of operation in such a wide number of countries is not without its complications and challenges. As an organisation, what we seek to do is provide the same level of service irrespective of the territory that you are residing in. So, it’s not only scale and knowledge, we also offer local knowledge for the environment in which we’re operating. That comes from local management and local expertise. We work alongside some very competent and capable competitors and I welcome the fact that we have compliant companies working alongside us – that is a good thing. Having said that, we also

work alongside competitors that are not compliant with local legislation and don’t deliver quality service and they still manage to maintain large areas of the market. But the customers they attract are not the customers that work with G4S.” Asked if the company’s ability to provide security services has been effected by the recent swathe of political upheaval across Africa, Brooks is quick to say no. He says that, if anything, the situation creates opportunities for G4S to work closer with our customers and to better understand any impact politics may have on them.

“Take Kenya for example,” he says.

“During the elections there were periods when it wasn’t safe for people to be on the streets, a lot of businesses went into lockdown and similar examples come from the DRC and Zimbabwe. All that means is that during a period of political tension, we get close to our customers to ensure that we can ensure their safety

// THE NUMBER ONE MESSAGE IS THAT, FROM AN AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE, WE’RE ABOUT PROFITABLE GROWTH ACROSS THE REGION // and the safety of our employees, while maintaining operations for them as best we can.”

And as well as causing potential threats for clients, political change also presents opportunities. In Zimbabwe, for example, G4S is not currently active but with the new leadership promising change in the country, Brooks says that it will be closely watched as a potential area of interest. “It is now a possibility for the future should the economic and inward investment outlook become more positive,” he says.

2018 AND BEYOND Since our last look at G4S in Africa, business has continued to grow but not thanks to luck or fluke. Globally, the business continues to win major contracts (including major airport and contracts in Europe, Australia and Asia among others) because of its service delivery credentials. Locally, growth is very much the key word. “Our focus in 2018 will definitely be on growth,” reiterates Brooks.

“That doesn’t only mean in new territories but also expanding in territories that we currently occupy and expanding our client base. I’m hugely enthused about the opportunities in Africa, I think the innovation that we offer our customers again presents an opportunity to grow but we have to grow profitably – that is really important for us. Regarding people, we will continue with the high levels of employee engagement and development. The number one message is that, from an African perspective,

28 / www.enterprise-africa.net

G4S AFRICA

PROVEN BENEFITS

Efficiency, safety, compliance and security

we’re about profitable growth across the region.”

With traditional core services including manned guarding and cash solutions, and a culture of innovation and technology development, G4S in Africa stands a shining example of what is possible when sound strategies combine with a commitment to world-leading service delivery.

“Any organisation of this size is a work in progress and there are always opportunities to improve and expand.

Africa will undoubtedly become a very important market for all other regions and while it still has a long way to go, there’s always opportunity during times of development,” says Brooks.

Even as the role of a security provider becomes more intangible, G4S is dedicated to providing services that are demanded by clients and in 2018, when cryptocurrencies and cybercrime are the new norm, Brooks says that the innovative nature of the business means that it will provide whatever is necessary.

“We are focussed on our customer’s cash and so we maintain a close watch on what is happening with markets and technologies. Bitcoin, or any other technology of that type, requires us to keep an understanding of what could happen and what our role could be.

Right now, we have no plans to outline a specific attention to that area but the world is changing and we will move our technologies and service accordingly.”

This is a business that is delivering on its promise of ‘Securing Your World’.

Brooks sums up by highlighting what seems to be the underlying theme for the business – its connection to customers delivered through people.

“As a stronger, more focused business, I believe that we are better organised to serve our customers and to build even deeper relationships with them going forward,” he concludes.

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Managing Director - Henk Van Bemmelen

BLUE SECURITY

Innovation Key to

Security Industry Leadership PRODUCTION: David Napier

Durban’s leading commercial and residential security organisation, Blue Security, leads the way in its sector that to an unrelenting focus on its core pillars: care, ownership, passion and service. Managing Director, Henk van Bemmelen tells Enterprise Africa more about how the business is gearing up for the future in a highly valuable but competitive industry.

//

In November, a stark reminder of just how real the impact of crime in South Africa can be was dealt to Durban’s Blue Security when the company’s reaction officer, Phumzile Fitshane, was shot while responding to a panic alert south of the city. Armed robbers shot the officer in the chest and abdomen as he bravely answered the call. He later passed away in hospital as a result of his injuries leaving his family, the local community and the company devastated.

This is just one of the latest cases in an on-going wave of violent crime around the country. As criminals become more desperate and more brazen, the country’s enormous private security industry must stay one step ahead in order to protect their clients, and themselves.

But how can the security industry and the SAPS make progress against ever-increasing levels of desperation, in an economy with 26%+ unemployment and increasingly

sophisticated crooks?

Blue Security, formed almost 30 years ago to protect people and assets in Durban, is a company that believes in constant innovation and service excellence. Originating in armed response and protection, the company has seen its portfolio develop through acquisition, becoming an expert in electronic security solutions.

In an industry where competition is rife and danger is high, building a brand that is trustworthy, responsible

www.enterprise-africa.net / 31

INDUSTRY FOCUS: SECURITY

and one that is recognised for delivering service excellence is vitally important. “Reputation is what separates us,” details Managing Director, Henk van Bemmelen. “We drive our brand, we deliver quality service, and we ensure we remain community focussed. We are here to fight crime and nothing else.

Our values include care, ownership, passion and service and when you get those right, everything falls into place.”

These values help to position Blue Security atop the industry – a sector that employs more than 490,000 people in SA, is worth approximately R40 billion, with more people than the SAPS and SANDF combined, and is the fourth largest private security industry (per capita) in the world.

STRONG HISTORY In 1989, former SAPS officer Peter Anderson decided to start his own business, Enforce Security. The small

operation focussed on manned guarding of property and quickly built a reputation for delivering first-class service.

“As the business grew through guarding, the need started coming for armed reaction to assist the guards; then clients started asking for alarm systems and that’s how the business evolved from 1989 through until 1992,” explains van Bemmelen. “Peter and his team started an electronics and detection division and complemented that with armed response and it continued to evolve over the years.

In the 2006, they decided to split up Enforce Guarding and the electronics side because of the size of the two operations. The guarding operation was sold and Peter Anderson kept the electronics business and the name was changed to Blue Security and that is where the Blue brand started. From there, the snowball effect continued and the business grew dramatically, excelling in all aspects.”

Prior to the launch of Blue Security, while still known as Enforce, the company became the first security company in Africa to be awarded ISO 9002 accreditation for its electronic and guarding divisions.

Today, the company offers a range of state-of-the-art security technologies, backed by a professional armed response and technical service team, has won a host of different industry awards, and has clients ranging from residential single house clients to large corporate businesses.

“Initially, the business was more focussed on the commercial market but eventually, more and more residential customers began approaching,” says van Bemmelen.

“We grew that side of the business and, today, the bigger percentage of our work is residential as residential properties far outweigh commercial properties by number, but we maintain a split between the two.”

SECURELY INNOVATIVE Innovative in its nature, Blue Security has developed a number of solutions to meet the needs of clients. Smart systems to control your home remotely, technology to introduce habitation imitation, automated access systems, video and CCTV verification, alarm monitoring, outdoor beam detection systems, electric fencing, panic apps, fire detection and traditional manned guarding are just a few of the services on offer.

But van Bemmelen is always looking for the next big advancement to ensure the company can always ensure client safety and look after their property.

“Most of our clients are now saying ‘I want to see what is happening at my house, I don’t just want an alarm system’, and people want to view everything on their phones,” he says. “We are beyond the technology where you punch in

32 / www.enterprise-africa.net

BLUE SECURITY

// THE BIG DRIVE WILL ALWAYS BE INNOVATION AND THAT WILL BE THE KEY ASPECT OF THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY GOING FORWARD // a code to turn the alarm on or off – everything is now mobile. We are in a space where we need to adapt to stay in touch with that type of technology.

Clients now require integration with other services in the home; they want the alarm system to talk to the lights or the air-con or the gates, and this is a big innovation for us. Building a security portfolio and protecting the client and their property allows us to introduce further innovation further down the line.

“If you look at where we are now with CCTV and the ability to turn on lights in the home, the next stage is looking at drones. Everybody is talking about drones doing deliveries of packages but we are looking at drones responding for us at client premises by taking pictures that can be assessed at the control room. It’s all to do with time, and it’s probably four times more accurate than what we’re doing now.”

When it comes to response, there is only so much that tech can do and van Bemmelen says that armed reaction, and the speed of that reaction, will always be vital for the business in its fight against crime. But any improvement that can be offered by modern technology is something that the company will explore.

“CCTV, video monitoring, video verification and picture verification are big things that are coming through the business.”

Importantly, globalisation has

played a role in the advancement of technology in South Africa. Asked when the more sophisticated security technology began to hit the market in SA, van Bemmelen replies: “It started happening as the world changed and got smaller.

“We started using new technologies from around the world that were evolving at a rapid pace. As a team, we had for the foresight to see what was coming and sit down with suppliers and carve out a niche in the market.”

Ultimately, the combination of armed response with the efficiencies and speed of tech is what has helped to keep Blue Security in Durban’s number one spot for so many years.

“The guys that deliver effort and fight crime are those that will survive and those that see it as a money-making scheme will not. This business is about being proactive; you must be innovative in the ways you try to stop crime.”

www.enterprise-africa.net / 33

INDUSTRY FOCUS: SECURITY

IS SECURITY IMPORTANT? In 2016/17, 19,016 people were murdered in SA; 18,205 attempted murders were reported to the police; 39,828 rapes were reported along with 156,450 common assaults; 53,418 common robberies and 140,956 robberies with aggravating circumstances.

22,343 incidents of house robbery were also recorded; 16,717 carjacking incidents (the highest number recorded in the past ten years), 246,654 house burglaries were recorded (the most feared crime in South Africa), and 53,307 cars or motorcycles were stolen.

ECONOMIC SECURITY With the economy in South Africa proving a volatile environment through the past few years, some companies (across various industries) have found the pursuit of growth a serious challenge. And security is no exception. “Unfortunately, when times are tough, the monthly security fee is one of the things that gets cut,” says van Bemmelen.

“Towards the end of 2017, we could see that things were slowing down, and it’s even worse than it was when there was a dip in 2008.

It absolutely has a massive effect on our subscribers. Security is not a nice product to sell – it’s something you must have but it’s something of a grudge purchase. This is not a cheap business to run; its driven by labour and because of that it’s an expensive thing for our clients. At national level, the whole industry is having a tough time because of economic and other factors.”

Despite this, Blue Security has achieved much success through its history and is always looking at opportunities to grow. Whether it’s an expansion of its product and service portfolio, or a movement into new geographic markets, the company is exploring every option.

“We always want to grow and we regularly sit around the boardroom table discussing the next steps. We talk about what we can do nationally,

34 / www.enterprise-africa.net

how we can get into Africa, and what acquisitions we can make but this comes with challenges. At this stage, we are wrapping up Durban and we have good growth so we are just waiting for the right opportunity to come along so that we can expand further,” details van Bemmelen.

With Gauteng being home to more than 40% of the country’s security companies, and with reports suggesting that confidence in the police force around the country is dangerously low, there are clearly opportunities for expansion.

// AS A BUSINESS, OUR DRIVE IS TO FIGHT CRIME. WE FOCUS A LOT ON SERVICE AND WE WANT TO DELIVER SERVICE EXCELLENCE – THAT IS A PRIORITY // “We are a business that is very community driven and that is our speciality. We have a lot of differing projects underway right now. We are putting cameras on houses, we are blockading areas with beams, we are doing number plate recognition and we are embracing change. Crime - yes, it is high at a national level, and you

see a spike in difficult times, so we see opportunities for further innovation in the future.”

Ensuring it is equipped to meet the needs of its customers in timely fashion – service being a key pillar of the company – the company will soon invest in its latest fleet expansion programme.

“We measure response times daily and we measure visibility daily to ensure our service delivery. From here, we look at what is required with our fleet and we add between four and five vehicles every 10-12 months,” explains the Managing Director.

SECURING THE COMMUNITY Blue Security is a born-and-bred Durban security company and its areas of operation for alarm monitoring and armed response are specifically the greater Durban Metropolitan area and surrounding suburbs. Staff, management, clients, suppliers and the majority of stakeholders are all from Durban and the company places a large emphasis on community development.

One of the most important initiatives introduced by Blue Security in recent times is its Blue Angels charitable trust, non-profit organisation. Blue Angels identifies worthy organisations – including rape and trauma centres that assist crime victims as well as centres that work with previously disadvantaged women

BLUE SECURITY

and children – and then engages with the organisations to discover their needs and ways it can financially assist to keep their doors open long term.

“About five years ago, we sat down and said, ‘what can we do as a community driven business?’ We have many victims of crime and that is a sad thing but there are many things we can do to help with that,” explains van Bemmelen. “We created Blue Angels and it grew so quickly that it is now way bigger than we ever expected.

We have big contributions coming in and we are circling those funds back into the community to help those who have been victims of crime.

Socially, through Blue Angels, we are also looking at where crime starts.

We want to get to people who have a potential risk of becoming criminals and seeing if we can intervene and make a difference. Overall, Blue Angels

is community driven and will always help victims of crime.”

This community focussed activity, that does not contribute to the company’s yearly revenue targets, is part of the reason why Blue Security has been presented with a Diamond Arrow PMR award as Durban’s best security company. “We recently won that award for the ninth consecutive year and you don’t get that easily.

These awards speak for themselves – we do set the benchmark,” says van Bemmelen.

This recognition has positioned the company perfectly for a sustained period of the growth through 2018 and beyond, and management is excited about what the future holds.

“Times are exciting and we have some nice challenges so we are always looking forward. The big drive will always be innovation and that will be

the key aspect of the entire industry going forward.”

But, as Blue Security is only too aware, the job of a security business is never done and the ongoing focus on innovation will hopefully help improve service delivery and protect people, both clients and employees, so that a situation like that of Mr Phumzile Fitshane (where thieves only escaped with an airgun, cell phone and modem) might be avoided.

“There is absolutely always room to improve. As a business, our drive is to fight crime. We focus a lot on service and we want to deliver service excellence – that is a priority on our list,” van Bemmelen concludes.

WWW. BLUESECURITY.CO.ZA

//

“When I left school and finished matric, I joined the army and completed my national service which was compulsory in South Africa at that stage. I left the army in 89/90 and joined a Johannesburgbased security firm – one of the first companies to start using armed reaction in the Johannesburg region.

I joined on a temporary basis while studying but I developed such a passion for the industry that I stayed permanently - 28 years later and I’m still in the security industry and I’m now Managing Director of this business.”

M A N AG I N G D I R E C TO R

HENK VAN BEMMELEN www.enterprise-africa.net / 35

PETRA DIAMONDS

Quality

Over Quantity PRODUCTION: Karl Pietersen

Operating mines responsible for some of the world’s most famous diamonds, Petra Diamonds has a fantastic resource base to work with. Prioritising safety and then looking to drive production of higher value per carat, this is a business with a clear strategy. Enterprise Africa learns more about expansion at Finsch, Koffiefontein and Cullinan.

//

It was January 2014 when the Blue Moon of Josephine was discovered in Cullinan. The 29.6 carat blue diamond was described as being ‘fancy vivid’ blue in colour and ‘internally flawless’. After initially being sold to a US-based client, it was eventually sold again for a world record (per carat) $48.5 million to a Hong Kong-based collector.

Fast-forward to June 2014 and the Cullinan mine produced a 122.52 carat

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blue diamond which was eventually cut and polished into four notably sized diamonds including the 24.18 carat Cullinan Dream. It sold for $25,325,000 in New York in June 2016 and is the largest and most valuable Fancy Intense blue diamond ever auctioned.

In September of the same year, an exceptional 232.08 white diamond was discovered at Cullinan before being sold in October 2014 for $15,219,219.

December 2015 saw continued

success for African diamond mining, in terms of large stone recovery, when a 23.16 carat pink diamond was discovered at the Williamson mine in Tanzania, selling for $10,050,000.

And then, in March 2016, a 32.33 carat pink diamond was discovered at Williamson, selling for $15 million.

What do all of these discoveries have in common? Firstly, they are all classed as exceptional diamonds – some of the greatest world-class gems ever

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: MINING

// PETRA’S STATED STRATEGY IS TO FOCUS ON VALUE AS OPPOSED TO VOLUME PRODUCTION // found. Secondly, they all come from mines now owned by Petra Diamonds.

Founded in 1997, Petra Diamonds one of the world’s leading diamond producers. It has a diversified portfolio, with interests in eight producing mines in South Africa and Tanzania and an exploration programme in Botswana. Today, the company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is headquartered in Jersey.

Its operations in South Africa are extensive, owning Cullinan, Finsch, Koffiefontein and Kimberley Underground – purchased from De Beers Consolidated Mines and made financially successful thanks to a small

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cost structure compared to that of De Beers.

The company refers to itself as ‘a leading independent diamond mining group’ and ‘one of the world’s largest diamond mining resources’ with 305 Mcts across group resources and more than 5600 employees around the world.

In Petra’s 2017 annual report, it stated that 2018 will see ‘continued transformation of the production profile, further to ramping up production from the new undiluted mining areas of underground mines’.

For the six months ending 31 December 2017, Petra released a mixed trading update. The company will release its interim results for the same period later this month. In the trading update, CEO Johan Dippenaar remained optimistic, saying: “Petra has delivered a record production performance, with 2.2 Mcts being the highest level achieved for any half year period for the group, and delivered against a solid safety performance, demonstrating

the high level of focus on this most important area.

“Petra’s stated strategy is to focus on value as opposed to volume production, which is particularly pertinent to diamond operations, as not all carats are of equal value. Our assessment of optimal recoveries at Cullinan has therefore led us to opt for lower carat volumes, due to the positive impact that not recovering the small diamonds has on the average value per carat. This has led to lowered production guidance for FY 2018, but does not materially impact our expected revenue, further to the positive uplift in Cullinan’s average value per carat. Likewise, we have been very encouraged by the recovery of large diamonds and other higher value single stones through the new Cullinan plant to date, which was in line with our expectations that the incidence of such stones would increase as they are historically associated with the Western side of the orebody.

PETRA DIAMONDS

“Furthermore, Petra has been undertaking a Capex evaluation in H1 in order to optimise cash flow, without impacting the economics of the longer term business plan.”

MINE EXPANSION 2018 marks the 21st year of operation for Petra Diamonds, and its most famous mine, Cullinan, located in South Africa’s Gauteng province, is currently implementing an expansion plan to see its life extended further than 50 years.

The project will see annual production to ca. 2.2 Mcts by 2019, made up of ca. two Mcts ROM and ca.

0.2 Mcts tailings. Production from the C-Cut phase 1 block cave, at 839 metres, will add to the figures for 2018.

At the end of last year, a new processing plant was completed, with a throughout capacity of six million

tonnes per annum. This new plant replaces the large, old, inefficient and expensive processing plant which was first commissioned in 1947 and had become dated. It will reduce operating costs and capex, and will offer gentler approach to processing making for reduced loss from breakage.

“This is a good example of how Petra has applied the integrated environmental management principle of ‘Cradle to Grave’ planning for a new project as it has embedded environmental efficiency into the process,” the company says.

Similarly, at two other famous mines (Finsch and Koffiefontein), Petra is working hard on expansion projects to extend life and improve efficiencies. At Finsch Diamond Mine, in the Northern Cape, a development plan that will take mining deeper and move from

block caving to sub level caving mining methods.

“Initially the 118-million-year-old volcanic pipe was mined as an open pit operation,” explains Finsch Mine Manager, Luctor Roode. “This went on until September 1990, when this mining method was terminated, at which point the pit had a surface area of 55 ha and a depth of 423 m. From then onwards, the mine’s operations moved underground.

Two methods of underground mining are being used at Finsch today – block caving and sub level caving, in a mechanised and automated operation.”

Last year, the mine reached its 50th anniversary after opening its doors in 1967. It was purchased by Petra in 2011 and has been a success its whole life.

“For a mine to reach this milestone is significant; you wouldn’t normally have a mine operate sustainably for this

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: MINING

long. We’re still going strong and hoping to see many more years added to the life of the mine,” says Roode.

The mine manager, who was at Finsch before Petra took charge, admits that the change of ownership was a positive thing for the mine.

“Sometimes, it’s not a bad thing for a mine to change ownership as the new owners have an appetite to secure the future of the operation and in many cases, bring new innovation and energy to a mature mine into which no significant capital investment was being made,” he says. “This was evident very soon after the transfer of ownership; it wasn’t long before the first drill rig arrived on site and we commenced with tunnel development, opening up access to the Block 5 resource.”

At Koffiefontein, so-named because of its positioning in the Free State at point where travellers would stop a boil coffee while moving south to north using water from fresh springs (coffee fountain), expansion is all about going deeper. The hope is to increase

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production from 50,500 ctpa in 2017 to ca. 85,000 ctpa by 2019. Currently, the expectation is that the life of mine could be in excess of 20 years. Mine Manager, Lino Nkuna is delighted with this news as he is committed to improving the life of local community members who have only the mine as a source of employment.

“The expansion project started the moment Petra bought Koffiefontein,” he says. “It’s a small volume mine but we had to go beyond the original depth of 490m and we’ve extended to 620m.

We’ve added extra levels which hold seven million tons that we can still mine without expanding further.

“What we like to do is create a life for the people of the community and look after those people. We will do our level best to make the mine as productive as possible for as long as possible. The pipe is still going and we have put in place studies for the future, but right now we are concentrating on delivering the crush and getting the seven million tons out before we look at

// WE WILL NEVER REST WITH REGARDS TO SAFETY AND WILL ALWAYS STRIVE IN ACHIEVING ZERO HARM // digging deeper and going beyond the 620m mark.”

Cullinan, Finsch and Koffiefontein are all considered as pioneering operations in the industry, and all are often looked to as examples of how to perform underground mining activities, particularly when following the sub level caving method.

SAFETY AT THE CORE Away from production, the stand out numbers from these mines surround safety. As a group, Petra reported a LTIFR (Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate) of just 0.27% - industry leading figures.

Asked about the most critical

PETRA DIAMONDS

sustainability challenges facing the business right now, Dippenaar highlights safety as a premier consideration.

First and foremost, we are striving for a zero harm workplace and see safety as the single most important personal and organisational value.”

Nkuna says that safety has greatly improved through his tenure and, as a result, mining remains an attractive career prospect for young, ambitious, educated South Africans.

“Statistically, safety has been improved across all mining houses and there are many mining students who are very interested in coming into the industry. Every day, we get CVs of graduates who want to get involved in the industry and be trained by the industry, so for me it’s still the core business for many young people in South Africa. With technology coming in further improving safety, we are seeing quality, intelligent people coming into the business. I’m confident that South Africans still believe in mining as a career to follow.”

At Finsch, Roode says that safety remains the top priority.

“Our safety record is extremely important to us, because a safe mine is a productive mine. The complexity of mining has increased over time and especially during the development and construction phase, it has been a significant challenge to maintain the safety culture of the mine. We will never rest with regards to safety and will always strive in achieving zero harm.”

Longer-term, the company is looking through commodity price dips and economic cycles and is preparing for increased revenues and cash flows, irrespective of the short-term local economic climate.

“It is concerning because if you produce a mineral that you cannot sell, you quickly decline,” admits Nkuna.

“But one thing that is encouraging is our mineral - diamonds don’t dry out or become old. If we can sustain production, even through instability in the economy, there will be a time where we can sell at a higher price. The more precious minerals you have, the better

position you are in to negotiate.”

And with expansion plans expected to take group production from four million carats in 2017 to circa 5.0-5.3 million carats by FY 2019, Petra looks set to enjoy more precious minerals.

“Our vision at Petra is to continue to build a world-class diamond mining group. In order to achieve this, we aim for industry leading performance across all areas of the business,” says Dippenaar.

Petra’s activities in South Africa – and in Botswana and Tanzania – will be interesting to watch in the future, especially through 2018/19. This is an organisation with a clear vision and a strategy designed to achieve that vision which is now well under way.

WWW.PETRADIAMONDS.COM

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EXXARO

Coal Giant Targets

Further Growth PRODUCTION: Timothy Reeder

At only 12 years old, Exxaro has worked ceaselessly to establish itself as one of the largest and foremost black-owned, South African-based diversified resources companies. Expansion of its current footprint which currently encompasses South Africa, Europe and the USA looks set to form a key part of its plans for the coming year, as Enterprise Africa discovers.

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: MINING

//

Despite its relatively short operational lifetime, Exxaro’s pedigree and skills have been carefully built up over many decades as a company rooted in South Africa, and one consistently respected by its peers for its innovation, ethics and integrity. At the time of its formation in 2006, Exxaro was the largest blackempowered mining company in South Africa, the result of an empowerment transaction involving the unbundling of Kumba Resources’ iron ore assets.

The two companies formed through the transaction were Exxaro, whose primary focuses include coal, mineral sands, and base metals and industrial minerals, and Kumba Iron Ore, geared exclusively

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toward iron ore mining. Behind the unbundling was the desire to create a South African company for a new generation, while simultaneously broadening the spread of shareholders in both companies to encompass people from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, employees and the communities in which the company operates.

With over a decade having passed since the merging of some of the biggest names in the field, coal remains the dominant force underpinning Exxaro’s business and with the pedigree at its core, it is easy to understand why. It has carried with it into this new era the portfolio of world-class assets that Kumba

// WE ARE REALISING OUR VISION OF CONTRIBUTING TO THE UNLOCKING OF THE WATERBERG // Resources had built up in its short operational lifetime in Africa, Asia and Australia, prior to its unbundling; equally, Eyesizwe Coal, another key building block in the merger, was South Africa’s fourth-largest coal producer with a production capacity approaching 25 Mtpa and coal assets consisting of four operating mines.

Naturally, then, it is in this

EXXARO

export coal, of which three million tonnes will come from the Waterberg once all the projects are fully operational and performing at their peak.

The R4.8-billion, 1.7-milliontonne-a-year GG6 project at Grootegeluk, in the Waterberg, is the largest of Exxaro’s capital projects, where first production of semisoft coking coal is expected in the company’s 2020 financial year.

On the signing of the Agreement, Mxolisi Mgojo, Chief Executive Officer of Exxaro, was effusive in what he believes this will bring both to the company and country as a whole.

“Exxaro is proud to be developing the Waterberg area in collaboration with Transnet,” he began. “This is an exciting milestone for Exxaro and is a realisation of our vision of

domain that the company continues to thrive, and where we see perhaps the most concerted efforts from Exxaro to build over the course of 2018. With a view to increasing coal volumes from Waterberg to Richards Bay Coal Terminal, Exxaro recently signed a coal export transportation agreement with Transnet, a giant billed as the largest and most crucial part of the freight logistics chain that delivers goods to each and every South African, every day delivering thousands of tons of goods around South Africa, through its pipelines and to and from its ports. The 10-year contract between Exxaro and Transnet will allow for the transportation of a total of 7,8 million tonnes (Mt) of

contributing to the unlocking of the Waterberg, thus creating jobs and powering economic development in South Africa. As such, we will be investing 50% of our R20bn coal capex programme over the next five years in coal in the Waterberg area.”

Transnet, meanwhile, has a proven track record in building rail capacity and expanding export rail performance in the Waterberg area and across South Africa. This agreement will also enable Transnet to increase rail infrastructure capacity to service both domestic and export markets from the Waterberg area, Mgojo added, and comes at the time when Transnet’s Waterberg Programme is fully underway with plans to complete the second phase of the project in March 2019.

This will see a growth in export

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: MINING

rail capacity to six million tonnes through incremental upgrades of the existing rail networks and yards. The agreement is a key contribution to the Waterberg expansion programme earmarked in the National Development Plan (NDP) as a strategic coal mining area and national asset to growing the South African economy.

Welcoming its signing, Siyabonga Gama, Transnet Group CEO said: “We are pleased with reaching a key milestone with Exxaro to improve rail infrastructure in the Waterberg area which includes the strengthening and expansion of the Waterberg Link (the Lephalale Line).We are a key enabler to growing the South

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African economy and are playing our role in developing more rail capacity and unlocking the capacity of the Waterberg region to domestic and export markets.”

Such investment comes as a result of Exxaro’s commitment to implementing a five-year, R20billion capex programme on coal mining projects in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. At present, it has seven coal projects in its portfolio, with four in Limpopo’s Waterberg region and three in Mpumalanga, and the project programme seeks to provide Exxaro with additional export volumes and more power station coal. Also in the Waterberg, capital of R2.8-billion is

earmarked for the development of the first phase of the 3.9-million-tona-year Thabametsi project, where it is continuing to take precautionary steps to protect its mining right in case of delays to the associated Marubeni independent power producer coal-fired power station.

“Early works are being done now just to protect the mining right, but also under consideration is arriving at a businesscase for mining, in case we’re without a power station there, and that work is being done right now,” Mgojo clarified. In Mpumalanga, on the other hand, Exxaro is currently executing the R3.3-billion, 2.7-million-tonne-a-year Belfast

EXXARO

// OUR CONTINUED FOCUS ON INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY IS DRIVING OUR BUSINESS // project, where production of thermal coal is expected to begin in the first half of 2020. One of the last highquality reserves in the region and presents Exxaro with an opportunity for excellent returns as it looks to produce coal for export and to supply

one of the state-owned power utility plants.

As Mxolisi Mgojo concluded at the close of 2017; “it was largely the strong cash generation of the business which enables us to invest capex into growth projects like these mines.” The extent of Exxaro’s efforts over the past 12 months were sufficient to shield it from the wretched performances seen by so many of its competitors, he added.

“We had a positive performance under tough trading conditions,” he summed up, “and these encouraging results for the period were driven by strong production and employee performance, as well as improved

commodity prices and proactive management action. Our continued focus on innovation and technology is driving our business, and means that today Exxaro is a more resilient company. This set of robust results was aided by improved coal demand and coal prices, and we have continued to see significant improvements year on year.”

WWW.EXXARO.COM

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PROMMAC

Success is Part of the Culture at PROMMAC

PRODUCTION: David Napier

Engineering, maintenance and shutdown specialist organisation, PROMMAC, is expanding into the mining industry while realising ongoing growth as a result of being a part of the CG Holdings group, an international service provider to the energy and events industries.

//

In September 2016, Jason English, CEO of South Africa’s PROMMAC – a mechanical contractor specialising in maintenance, shutdown and small project solutions – told Enterprise Africa of his delight at growing the company from a modest R30 million business with around 200 people in 2012 to a R300 million, 2000 employee, international service provider in just four years.

The former police officer, turned engineer, turned CEO is a YPO member with an innovative outlook on entrepreneurism. He takes company culture very seriously. He told us of the need to create an environment where employees want to come to work – easier said than done, and not as simple as

increasing pay. Think-rooms, hi-fi corners, bean bags, morning war dances, and creating a sense of fun are all part of the fabric at PROMMAC and English is happy that people often compare the culture within the business more to that of a Silicon Valley tech firm rather than a Secunda-based mechanical engineering, heavy industry business.

But culture is not something to be scoffed at, and the proof is in the results for PROMMAC with English reporting a 1000% increase in revenue from 2012 to 2016, and an extremely positive feeling within the business creating a low staff turnover.

The success of PROMMAC and its related businesses has fuelled the growth of another organisation, CG Holdings,

the umbrella company of PROMMAC. CG Holdings was established in 2016 to hold shares in a number of operating companies previously directly owned by its directors and senior managers. It is an owner-manager led group, and Jason English is a founding member.

Under the CG Holdings banner also sits EC&I (formerly Kumunyack) and AG Electrical in South Africa, Al Laith and Projeco in the Middle East, and Iris Group in Europe.

The vision of CG Holdings, similar to PROMMAC, is to ‘be a world-class industrial and event services group and the recognised industry leader in its chosen market segments’.

And to do this, culture design remains at the heart of the organisation.

Continues on page 52 www.enterprise-africa.net / 49

Choose DROMEX for the leading innovative head-to-toe solutions that will equip you and your team to operate safely in any potentially hazardous environment.

Protecting the lives that inhabit our workplaces doesn’t happen by accident, it involves a detailed assessment of the environment you and your staff will be faced with daily and implementing a sustainable plan that evolves with the needs of your business.

Companies that have experienced on-site injuries will know that the expense is not only medical but also in the traumatic effect on productivity. A cost that companies can avoid almost completely by ensuring that their bread-winners are appropriately protected in the course of their role.

It’s important to recognise that global business practices have changed. The time where corporates disregarded safety requirements is long gone and we are called not merely to make money but to be three dimensional organisations that hear the heartbeat in the workforce and cultivate a culture of accountability. This evolution means that employees are also no longer willing to accept safety mediocrity, which has been commonplace.

Stel Stylianou is at the helm and, together with his team of experts, dedicated to personally selecting every quality safety item in our range at the best prices so that we’re able to provide PPE that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg but that will save more than a hand or a foot. A process that means we stock EN Certified products from ISO 9002 accredited companies around the world.

We have a state-of-the art 35 000m2 warehousing facility, which stores vast quantities of all our products which along with an established logistics network, means we are able to meet our customers’ requirements within 2-3 days.

Our extensive experience in the various fields requiring PPE enables us to assist all our customers with technical back-up and selecting the appropriate products for their specific application.

MAKE EVERY WORK ZONE A SAFETY ZONE. At Dromex we believe that all employees are entitled to maximum protection and that employers should never have to compromise on the quality of the protective products they supply. We believe that it is our responsibility to supply products that will deliver on this promise and its not something we take lightly.

Know safety. No injury. Know Dromex.

HEAD OFFICE Unit 1, 1 Blase Road, New Germany, 3610 T. +27 (0)31 713 1960 F. +27 (0)31 705 6508 E-Fax. 0866 844 595 www.enterprise-africa.net / 51 Email. sales@dromex.co.za Web. www.dromex.net

INDUSTRY FOCUS: ENGINEERING

Continued from page 49 At PROMMAC, for example, the installation of motivational activities, such as the aforementioned morning war dancing, creates a culture of involvement but also one of enjoyment.

CG Holdings has the intention of creating a pan-company culture. “There have been times when we have made the tough decision to slow growth and focus on getting the culture right,” he told Entrepreneur magazine.

“We focus heavily on training that deals with things like the systems, processes and culture of the company.

We’ve also created a culture and environment that you won’t necessarily associate with engineering and heavy industries.

“CG Holdings has acquired several companies over the last few years, and when it comes to acquisition, managing the culture is far trickier than it is with normal hiring. When you hire a new employee, you can educate them in the ways and culture of the business. When you acquire an entire company, you import not only a large number of new people, but also an existing organisation with its own culture and vision. Because of this, we’ve created a centralised hub that manages all training and other company activities pertaining to culture.

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We don’t allow the various companies to do their own thing. That helps to manage the culture as the company grows and expands, since it ensures that everyone’s on the same page,” he added.

And, again, the results speak for themselves. “Today PROMMAC is back at the top of its game having been awarded the prestigious Service Provider of the year for 2017 by Sasol for both their Secunda and Sasolburg chemical complexes,” he said.

PROMMAC’s specific focus includes safety management, quality management, resources management, planning management, project management, industrial plant maintenance, industrial plant shutdowns and turnarounds, brownfield projects, and specialised onsite services.

“We are steadily evolving as a leader in the provision of mechanical and project management services to the power and energy industry. Our steady growth in the provision of maintenance, shutdown, commissioning and project solutions has seen PROMMAC challenging as a leading brand in an industry dominated by major public companies,” explains English.

“Our dedicated team of managers and skilled resources continually carry out multi-discipline activities in both the

// WE LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING OUR JOURNEY WITH OUR EXISTING CLIENTS AND LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH FUTURE CLIENTS TO PROVIDE SUSTAINABLE TAILOR MADE SOLUTIONS THAT BENEFIT BOTH OUR BUSINESSES AND CREATE VALUE THROUGHOUT THE VALUE CHAIN // brownfield and greenfield environments, which vary in difficulty and size, and we have developed a unique culture that understands the pressure requirements of our clients.

“We look forward to continuing our journey with our existing clients and look

PROMMAC

forward to working with future clients to provide sustainable tailor made solutions that benefit both our businesses and create value throughout the value chain.”

All of this success is a product of PROMMAC’s culture and, as such, the company has instilled culture development as a key focus in its vision – ‘To build a family cultured business which is recognised as the leading provider of innovative specialised mechanical services and turnkey project management solutions to the petrochemical, mining and energy sectors of Africa’.

POWERFUL GROWTH Traditionally a servant of the oil and gas and energy industries, an obvious and organic way to expand was for PROMMAC to move into mining, and in January 2017 the company did just that.

Through the end of 2016 and the oil and commodity price crash, PROMMAC continued to grow. Moving to new offices and breaking into new sectors has proved important for the business.

“2016 was a year of many firsts for PROMMAC, with our constant efforts to break into the mining space finally paying dividends as we were awarded our first shutdown contract in this sector with a large Blue Chip client, which was finished

on time without any injuries,” details English. “Another first was the awarding of our first major construction project in a brownfields environment by Sasol group technology, as well as our first shutdown contract in the Vaal Triangle region. 2016 was also the year in which we executed the largest shutdown in the group’s history and has also been the year in which we have recorded our lowest recordable case ratio in history at just 0.1 for PROMMAC and 0.0 for all other group companies.

“2016 was also the year we landed a new client in Madagascar in which we will be supporting our first shutdown contract in this region and was also the year we opened our new offices in the Middle East.

“I am also pleased to highlight the numerous awards that we were given starting with the C3 safety recognition, ammonia shut down safety recognition, the nitric acid facility safety recognition and the operational excellence award for the ammonia projects to name just a few.

These awards are testament to the team’s commitment and dedication towards delivering an injury free operation.”

In South Africa, PROMMAC’s sister company, EC&I (Electrical, Control & Instrumentation), previously known as

Kumunyack, officially announced its change of identity just last month. The hope is that the new identity will help market the business.

“Having outgrown its former name and branding, the EC&I leadership team feel that this strategic change better reflects the company’s service offerings and prepares the company for future growth,” the company says.

EC&I’s key service include installation of medium and low voltage switchgear, transformers, motor control centres, distribution boards and ups systems, installation of DCS, plc control systems, marshalling equipment and much more.

Now is an exciting time for PROMMAC, and for CG Holdings. The business looks set to continue creating jobs, continue delivering quality service for customers, and continue on its journey towards the industry leading position in all of its chosen sectors. Leadership of course plays a major part in the success, and English will continue to work hard at creating winning culture. PROMMAC is a success story that is now an example to be followed.

WWW.PROMMAC.COM

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GRINDROD FREIGHT SERVICES

Perpetual

Motion

PRODUCTION: Colin Chinery

Grindrod is synonymous with moving cargo - by road, rail, sea and air. And while its grasp of transportation’s complexities is total and unsurpassed, the Durbanheadquartered group is constantly looking at sector diversification as well as geoexpansion. A dynamic organisation with more than 100 years’ experience in South Africa’s freight movement and related industries, Grindrod is all about serving the SA customer by moving cargo - by road, rail, sea and air - along with inter-related integrated logistical and specialised services.

A global business with a footprint in more than 34 countries, the Durbanheadquartered group is uniquely positioned to service Africa trade flows through its four divisions; Freight, Trading, Shipping and Financial Services.

“We use our strategically positioned infrastructure and well-established network to facilitate the movement of freight inbound and outbound for our customers,” says Bongiwe Ntuli, CEO of Grindrod Freight Services. www.enterprise-africa.net / 55

INDUSTRY FOCUS: LOGISTICS

// WE ARE VERY WELL ENTRENCHED IN ALL THE LOGISTIC SPHERES, SPREAD ACROSS AND INTEGRATED BETWEEN PORTS, WAREHOUSING AND ROADS //

//

For a country where stocks of crude oil can fall disturbingly low, the creation of a new world-class independent petroleum bulk storage hub in the Port Elizabeth area is a notable strategic gain.

60% of South Africa’s domestic fuel requirements is met by imported crude oil, with half refined locally. Against this backdrop, the construction starting in January 2018, of the new storage facilities and marine infrastructure at Port Elizabeth’s adjoining Mandela Bay Port of Ngqura is set to support national petroleum demand projections calling for significant investments in tank storage facilities.

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The new Oiltanking Grindrod Calulo tank farm terminal is expected to begin operations at the end of 2019, reinforcing South Africa’s fuel security as well as delivering increased fuel management.

Annual distribution capacity will also increase – up one third to three million tons compared with the beach front tank farm in Port Elizabeth Harbour, whose long-awaited decommissioning and removal is a key in a refurbishment project that will see the establishment of an attractive waterfront.

“We have been working on this project for the past seven years, and to have now reached this point is very exciting,” says Bongiwe Ntuli, CEO of Grindrod Freight Services.

COEGA LIQUID BULK FACILITY “It’s the first BOOT project of its kind that Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has undertaken in South Africa, with a private sector operator and it has been an education process for everyone involved.”

Oiltanking Grindrod Calulo (OTGC) is the main driver in the project, appointed as preferred bidder by Transnet National Port Authority (TNPA) to plan, part-fund, construct, maintain and operate the facility.

For Grindrod, the Ngqura liquid storage facility provides further commodity diversification in fuel storage and handling and aligns its broader portfolio of infrastructure based logistics.

The amalgamated Freight Services division, which Ms Ntuli has headed since January 2017, provides services for the integrated movement of dry-bulk, bulk liquid, containerised cargo and vehicles along specific import/export corridors.

Ntuli joined Grindrod Freight Services early 2008 as Finance Director.

GRINDROD FREIGHT SERVICES

// WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS PROJECT FOR THE PAST SEVEN YEARS, AND TO HAVE NOW REACHED THIS POINT IS VERY EXCITING // With a focus on these specific cargo types, the division provides road transportation, rail, port operations, terminals, intermodal solutions, warehousing, storage, stevedoring, sea freight, ships agency services and all facets of traditional logistics.

CROSS SPHERES Grindrod’s ability to deliver on the most complex of freight services is underpinned by a vast network of influence, specialised skills, strategic relationships and joint ventures, including successful BEE enterprises.

“We are very well entrenched in all the logistic spheres, spread across and integrated between ports, warehousing and roads. And we are complementary to operations that might seem to be our competitors, a partner with all the BlueChip companies as well as shipping lines and mines.

“We continually work with Transnet and all the rail resource service providers to ensure that what we are doing is sustainable and measured for the South African economy,” says Ntuli.

Initiatives outside South Africa have secured partnerships in Zambia, Zimbabwe, the DRC, and Mozambique where Grindrod is playing a key role in the development of the port of Maputo.

Maputo benefits increasingly from its proximity to South Africa’s economic and mineral hubs, its relative proximity to the Gauteng industrial hub and South Africa’s main mining regions giving it a geographical advantage over Richards Bay and Durban, the largest and busiest shipping terminal in sub-Saharan Africa.

The last 14 years have seen $800m spent on increasing the capacity and efficiency of the port, the investment coming from the Maputo Port Development Company. A private Mozambican company, MPDC is a partnership involving the state-owned Portos e Caminhos-de-Ferro de Moçambique, and in which Grindrod has a 24.7% share.

The biggest infrastructure milestones were the two channel deepening projects - the first in 2011 and the last in 2016 – which included the dredging of the 76 km long navigational channel that leads to the port.

two million tonnes per annum. Since then export throughput capacity has increased to nine million.

Following the dredging of the access channel, works began at TCM. This included, deepening of the berth pocket to accommodate fully-laden Panamax vessels.

Until very recently, these ships had to make double stops, one in Maputo and a second in another port in the region, or even diverted to neighbouring ports.

At the Port of Maputo, the Grindrod name is stamped on a cluster of major terminal operations, including its Matola Coal Terminal facility which is experiencing spectacular expansion.

Grindrod also owns Maputo Car Terminal Limited, a specialised terminal that began operating in 2007 and has since expanded to a 115,000 cars annual throughput capacity.

CAPACITY MULTIPLIED Grindrod Terminals first bought a stake in TCM, a dry-bulk handling terminal customised to handle coal and magnetite in 2005, when its capacity was less than

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: LOGISTICS

Spanning an area of 85,100 m2, facilities include 25 wagon rail sidings, 15 road carrier bays, 28 inspection bays, more than three berths and four automated wash bays. MCTL is ideally situated both as a transhipment hub for the East and West coast of Africa and internationally.

Grindrod also operates a grain terminal in the Port providing a fully integrated support and distribution service for grains destined for home consumption and for the transit of grains to South Africa and Zimbabwe.

TRANSFORMING INVESTMENT Altogether these massive investments have been directed towards transforming the Port of Maputo from an alternative port into what Maputo Port Development Company’s CEO Osório Lucas calls, “a port of choice.”

For Grindrod, Mozambique “is a critical economy, predominantly in the south around Maputo and Matola.

And now our focus over the next months and years is to look at working with partners in the North to achieve the successes similar to Maputo,” says Ntuli, “You have to create capacity a little bit ahead of demand, in-line with your customer plans and then when the demand comes you are ready. If not, you will find yourself even further behind when that demand improves.

“We spend a lot of time on market studies, so while current pricing is probably at its lowest level, we expect it to stabilise.”

Diversification and geo-expansion includes investment in Zimbabwe’s North-South corridor railway, and work at the historic Ivanhoe Kipushi Bongiwe ntuli

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GRINDROD FREIGHT SERVICES

zinc-copper-silver-germanium mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, an enterprise that could deliver one of the highest-grade major zinc mines worldwide.

Grindrod is exposed to agricultural commodities through the Klerksdorp-headquartered agrilogistics and support businesses Senwes, one of the leading agricultural companies in South Africa, with retail and grain operations throughout central South Africa and grain trading offices in Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia.

Another high profile agricultural partner is Lichtenburg-based NWK. With business interests in Botswana, Zambia and the Netherlands, NWK trades in agricultural and agri-related products, resources and services including crop farming and the

storage, trading and financing of grain and related products.

BEYOND AFRICA In Mozambique, Grindrod has invested in a graphite mining company, the first time the company has handled graphite, so diluting its exposure to coal. Outside Africa, Grindrod is seeing much activity and interest in its services the Eastern part of the world.

“However, we want to protect our name and brand, and do not want to venture into things we don’t understand. So, whatever we do we exercise due caution, offering a fully optimised integrated solution.

Selection of locations is critical because we are long term players and invest for the future.”

What makes Grindrod successful says Ntuli, is its ability, together with

an agility to look at opportunities and rapidly move first. “We are always on the lookout, and always follow cargo; we won’t get into any project unless we can achieve an acceptable return for our shareholders in the long run.

And you have to ensure that your cost base is optimised.”

“If there was a crystal ball we would all spend a fortune finding it.

And if we knew what tomorrow would be like, right now we would be down at the beach on a houseboat.”

WWW.GRINDROD.CO.ZA

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SHOPRITE

South Africa’s

Supermarket of Choice

PRODUCTION: Timothy Reeder

Ever since the first Shoprite store opened its doors to the South African public in 1979, the group has retained a clear vision which has seen it grow into a R141 billion turnover business, the largest supermarket retailer on the African continent with a staff complement of almost 144,000.

//

Its commitment to new acquisitions and innovative expansion strategies means that it is difficult to isolate any particular year in Shoprite’s history as its most pivotal, but along the way there have been numerous milestones which have been central in establishing itself to this extent.

1990, for instance, saw Shoprite open in Windhoek, Namibia, which in turn triggered the start of its aggressive expansion across the African continent.

The following year then brought the acquisition of the national Checkers chain of supermarkets which operated 169 stores, along with its 16,500 staff members for an outlay of R55 million.

As a result, Shoprite increased its footprint overnight almost fourfold to 241 outlets, and saw its personnel grow to almost 22,600.

The turn of another decade again proved significant for the group, opening as it did its first supermarkets in in Uganda in the form of the Shoprite Clock Tower in Kampala in November 2000.

This was bolstered by the opening of a first store in Zimbabwe, in Bulawayo Centre, and in August 2001 the group started operations in Malawi when it opened a Shoprite store in Lilongwe.

Also in this year came the, in hindsight important, decision to split and market the Shoprite and Checkers brands separately, with Checkers repositioned to compete within the middle-to-higher income market. This approach sees it offer a range of specialty products on top of what might be considered the norm, including extra-matured steakhouse classic steaks, free-range certified natural lamb, wines from over 80 of South Africa’s leading estates and over 400

award-winning cheeses.

As it stands today, Shoprite is the largest supermarket retailer on the African continent, with 35 million people across a footprint of more than 2,689 outlets benefitting from its lowest price promise every day. With the weight of its history and growth behind it, the 2010s have been more a tale of cementing its dominance for Shoprite, where it has been perennially named in the Deloitte’s Global Powers of Retailing survey as the largest retailer in Africa and consistently among the biggest 100 in the world. As at June 2016 some 76% of South Africa’s total adult population, equating to more than 29 million customers, shops at one of the group’s supermarket brands.

During the financial year too, the group notched up for the first time a record one billion transactions in a single year, and reported turnover of more

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: RETAIL

// IT MUST BE AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE TO COMPETE WITH SHOPRITE BECAUSE IT IS SO POWERFUL // than R130 billion. To achieve this statistic it had to be equal to the task of serving a staggering 86 customers per second, a feat only possible for a group with the network of stores and wealth of skilled personnel in Shoprite’s armoury.

The results of the 19th Annual Sunday Times Top Brands Awards brought Shoprite’s most recent recognition, spelling yet further glory for the group as it took top spot for the fourth successive year in the grocery stores field, followed by its perennial competitors Pick n Pay and Spar. The survey is conducted by Kantar TNS on behalf of the Sunday Times, and continues to be widely considered the leading barometer of consumer feeling towards brands. The 2017 edition polled 3500 individuals, aged 18 years and older in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas of South Africa to

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establish a comprehensive ranking of leading brands across 32 Consumer categories. Also significant was Shoprite’s placing, in the face of stiff and long-established competition, in third as consumers’ overall favourite brand in South Africa for 2017, behind only KFC and Samsung.

It should come as no surprise, given the consumer confidence in and loyalty towards the group, that Shoprite was able to deliver industry-leading results for the 2017 financial year in defiance of what have been universally recognised as tough market conditions. Serving those in excess of 35 million individual customers on the African continent helped the group to gain marketshare and grow trading profit by 11.6% to R8 billion.

Sales growth of 7.8% for the six months to December 2017 in its South African supermarkets, against an internal inflation decline to 0.4%, underlined the resilience of the business in the face of the country’s diminished economic prospects.

In the corresponding six months, sales had grown by 7.4% through the reduction of basic commodity prices, while Shoprite reported that group turnover was 6.3% higher for the six months to December.

In a somewhat unexpected turn, the furniture division was among its star performers with increased sales of 10.8%, while other operating segments, mainly driven by the OK franchise division’s performance, saw a growth of 6.7%.

“This is pleasing, given low internal price inflation and in line with the group’s South Africa supermarket performance,” the group commented.

“Shoprite is really taking market share from competitors. It must be an absolute nightmare to compete with Shoprite because it is so powerful,” added Cassie Treurnicht, portfolio manager at Gryphon Asset Management.

SHOPRITE

// OUR JOB IS TO IMPRESS CUSTOMERS SO THAT THEY COME BACK AGAIN AND GIVE US A BETTER SHARE OF THEIR WALLETS // Shoprite also holds a competitive advantage over other retailers in the form of its slick logistic and distribution operations, not only in South Africa but across the whole continent, which gives it the ability to source merchandise from suppliers at competitive rates, control costs and get additional profitability to reduce prices. Ron Klipin, a portfolio manager at Cratos Wealth, also picked out the recent decline in the price of soft commodities including maize and wheat as important in contributing to lower food prices. “The internal inflation rate could also be the result of Shoprite buying market share by reducing prices due to their massive buying power,” said Klipin. “I would suspect that we are seeing consumers buying products at lower prices. People tend to buy down due to lack of disposable income.”

Shoprite now finds itself in the enviable position of being able to take risks moving forward, and go against the expected grain in its strategy. With households having less and less to spend, the decision to push upmarket may be viewed as unusual, but the rationale stacks up. While the lowerincome families that have long been its core customers are forced to cut back, the spending of the wealthier class remains unaffected by the downturn.

Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht told Reuters that affluent areas and customers were where he saw growth in the maturing South African market.

“A lot of those (wealthier) customers, two million of them, actually frequent our stores already, but not exclusively,” he said in an interview. “Our job is to get a better share of their wallets

when they are in our stores and then impress them so that they come back again.” As part of the drive to expand its range, Engelbrecht added that Shoprite had upgraded its food technology and development facilities and been thorough in its hiring of food developers and technologists.

With all of this talk of luxury provisions and higher earners, it might be easy to forget the needs of the many poorer inhabitants of every community in which the group operates. Not the case for Shoprite, of course, which has implemented a robust programme to address the food security challenges faced by many people across the African continent on a daily basis, and works to provide sustainable solutions to address short, medium and long-term food scarcity needs.

To this end, surplus food from all stores is made available to hundreds of verified non-profit organisations collectively, feeding thousands of hungry people daily. Additionally, its Mobile Soup Kitchen programme has been serving vulnerable communities on a daily basis for a decade, and has already dished up 29 million warm meals and counting. It switches focus now to working with identified beneficiary organisations to establish longerterm solutions, such as sustainable food gardens, to alleviate hunger in communities and to generate much-needed income for vulnerable individuals and organisations in need.

WWW.SHOPRITE.CO.ZA

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ABB SA

African Power House

Boosts Growth Through GeoExpansion Strategy PRODUCTION: Manelesi Dumasi

Global electrical engineering and technology giant, ABB, is committed to servicing the needs of Southern Africa. This is a conglomerate that is future-proofing itself and its customers as the world’s view on power sources continues to change.

//

Global technology organisation, ABB, is entering an exciting period in its history as it becomes recognised as the world’s foremost partner for utility, industry, transport and infrastructure customers. Starting life in Switzerland in 1988, ABB is the product of a merger between Swedish business ASEA and Swiss company BBC Brown Boveri, both world-leading engineering and electrification concerns.

Before the merger, both ASEA and BBC were represented in South Africa but the company officially entered the country as ABB in 1992. Realising the potential of the South African market as it approached democracy, and taking

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into account the obvious vast potential of the local mineral resources and infrastructure development industries, ABB’s decision to move into Southern Africa was rewarded as the company brought its global clout to the region, quickly gaining large contracts and investing heavily in local capacity.

Today, the company employs more than 2000 people across Southern Africa, and 5000 on the continent in total, holding some of the region’s most significant electrical engineering projects in its portfolio. Headquartered in Longmeadow, Johannesburg, ABB’s site is a 96,000 m2 shining example of a green building produced with the very latest environmental concepts

and technology. The company moved into its R500 million Longmeadow site in 2009 and has been lauded for the visionary approach to innovation taken with design of the building.

More recently, in August 2017, the group opened a new office in Namibia, further entrenching its commitment to Southern Africa. The 2200 m2 facility in Windhoek is an amalgamation of two smaller offices that were previously servicing the area. Now, ABB hopes to supply, maintain and service products to the local market and neighbouring countries such as Zambia and Angola.

ABB’s Managing Director, South and Southern Africa, Leon Viljoen said of the new office: “Namibia is

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: POWER & AUTOMATION

// NAMIBIA IS AN IMPORTANT MARKET FOR ABB, AS IT IS THE SECOND LARGEST CONTRIBUTOR IN THE REGION TO OUR REVENUE AFTER SOUTH AFRICA // an important market for ABB, as it is the second largest contributor in the region to our revenue after South Africa. We have been in the country since the early 90‘s, and this investment is part of our commitment to the region to enable the offering of more services and products. The new facility will also help us to better service the neighbouring markets of Angola and Zambia from here, further improving our penetration into those countries.”

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TRANSFORMING SA RAIL Alongside expansion in Namibia, ABB has also been investing into a new factory in Johannesburg for the production of traction transformers.

After winning a contract from Bombardier back in 2014 to supply traction transformers for use in 240 locomotives, the company has invested in a facility, alongside its existing Longmeadow site.

Traction transformers are used to power trains and will assist in the ongoing drive towards growing South Africa’s passenger and freight rail network.

When the facility opened in May last year, the company said it aimed for 60 people to be employed by the end of the year. The 2450 m2 factory will also produce associated products as the rail expansion programme continues to gather pace.

“ABB is proud of this new traction transformer facility in South Africa, reiterating our philosophy of locating manufacturing units close to our

customers,” said Ulrich Spiesshofer, CEO of ABB, speaking at the inauguration event. “It reinforces our Next Level strategy focus on strengthening our presence in Africa and supports our ongoing commitment to sustainable mobility.” He added that the goal for the business is to be close to its customers and, with Bombardier producing 240 locomotives locally, the traction transformer facility fits in line with strategy.

ABB has a long history working in the rail industry with its traction transformers already powering more than half the world’s electric locomotives and train sets. It has worked with Bombardier for many years and has developed a great relationship.

POWERING AFRICA Away from its Namibian expansion, ABB stakeholders were excited last year when the company secured a $30 million contract with Société nationale d’électricité (SNEL) of the DRC. The contract involves a partial upgrade of

ABB SA

// ABB IS PROUD OF THIS NEW TRACTION TRANSFORMER FACILITY IN SOUTH AFRICA, REITERATING OUR PHILOSOPHY OF LOCATING MANUFACTURING UNITS CLOSE TO OUR CUSTOMERS // service business and our growth drive in Africa. It also reinforces our position as a partner of choice for enabling a stronger, smarter and greener grid.”

The upgrade will almost double transmission capacity from 520 to 1000 MW. ABB sees large opportunities in the DRC, a country which is greatly under-electrified and sources most of its estimated 2500 MW from hydropower sources. It is estimated that the country utilises just 2% of its 100,000 MW

the Inga-Kolwezi high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power transmission link.

The upgrade will involve a boost in transmission capacity and supply clean hydro power while strengthening grid reliability in the country. The IngaKolwezi HVDC power transmission link sees power transferred from the Inga hydropower station on the Congo River to the mining town of Katanga and Southern African Power Pool countries.

ABB installed the link in 1982 and, at the time, it was the world’s longest transmission line. In 2009, ABB upgraded the line and installed new thyristor valves, high-voltage apparatus and a MACHTM control and protection system.

“We are pleased to continue our long association with the IngaKolwezi HVDC Link and contribute to the strengthening of the DRC’s power infrastructure. This upgrade will boost supply of clean hydropower to industrial and domestic customers,” said Claudio Facchin, President of ABB’s Power Grids division. “This order reiterates our leading HVDC position, strategic focus on the

hydroelectric potential.

CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE In another clean energy initiative, ABB has been heavily involved with the much discussed solar microgrid project at Robben Island. Famously home to the prison which held Mandela for 18 years, the island has long been viewed as a symbol of hope, and with this project displaying how effective microgrids can be, it looks as though Robben Island is now an example of good for an altogether

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: POWER & AUTOMATION

different reason.

Utilising renewable energy from a small solar farm on the southeast coast of the island, ABB wireless technology is helping reduce the use of fossil fuels from diesel generators. Robben Island is a World Heritage Site and sits nine kilometres off the coast of Cape Town. It is home to a small community and power sources have long been a concern thanks to the positioning of the island, surrounded by strong currents and at the mercy of the Atlantic Ocean weather.

The microgrid captures the sun’s rays and through photovoltaic panels, covering an area the size of a football pitch, generating peak capacity of 667 kw. The 12 onsite inverters convert DC from the panels to AC power for use on the island. A battery bank stores around seven hours of power for use after the African sun goes down. The power needs of the island equate to those of a small village, including the working harbour and lighthouse. Previously, the island burnt 600,000 litres of diesel

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fuel each year and the new system is much more energy efficient, reducing carbon emissions by around 75%. ABB’s wireless technology allows the entire system to be controlled remotely from Cape Town through ABB AbilityTM. The system is already greatly benefiting the island’s more than 300,000 visitors each

year by creating a cleaner environment for everyone, including wildlife and the natural environment.

“Microgrids are a key element of the grids of the future,” said Facchin.

“What we are implementing as a technology at Robben Island is definitely one of the benchmarks of

ABB SA

how we can support to enable stronger, smarter and greener grids.

“The project is bringing substantial cost efficiencies and supporting the Department of Tourism’s efforts to keep the heritage and spirit of this world renowned island alive,” he added.

Reminding the wider global community of its clean energy credentials, ABB recently partnered with the Formula E motorsport series to champion e-mobility. Formula E is basically Formula 1 for electric cars but on street circuits.

In January, ABB signed up as the main sponsor of the series, now known as the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.

Both parties see the relationship as a chance to further research, develop and enhance electrical motor technology.

Globally, ABB is the unquestioned industry leader in fast-charging EV stations.

While electric vehicles are yet to hit the mainstream in South Africa, it seems to be only a matter of time as the globe moves towards a future using less carbon

// WE ARE PLEASED TO CONTINUE OUR LONG ASSOCIATION WITH THE INGAKOLWEZI HVDC LINK AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE STRENGTHENING OF THE DRC’S POWER INFRASTRUCTURE // emitting fuel sources.

“We are extremely excited to partner with Formula E in writing the future of e-mobility,” said Spiesshofer.

“Two pioneers are uniting. ABB and Formula E are a natural fit at the forefront of the latest electrification and digital technologies. Together, we will write the next phase of this exciting sports activity and foster high-performance teams.

Together, we will write the future – one electrifying race at a time.”

Alejandro Agag, founder and CEO of Formula E, said: “This is a historic day for Formula E and I’m honoured to welcome the global technology leader ABB as the title partner of Formula E, with its background and expertise in the field of electrification and digital technologies. Our two companies are synonymous with pushing the boundaries of what is possible.

Together, as partners, we will showcase breakthrough technology on a global scale to fans and consumers who follow the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.”

So, ABB continues on its growth path, both locally and internationally, and with its name now becoming synonymous with e-mobility sport, perhaps now is the start of an exciting new period for the company that has achieved so much in the past three decades.

NEW.ABB.COM

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SASOL

2018 Starts Brightly for the Energy Innovators PRODUCTION: Timothy Reeder

An international integrated chemicals and energy company, Sasol leverages technologies and the expertise of its 30,000 people to produce a range of high-value product streams which include liquid fuels, chemicals and low-carbon electricity. The start of 2018 has seen a continuation of its spirit of endeavour and innovation to secure some superb results already.

//

Formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, Sasol has long been considered a pioneer of oil-from-coal technology, and is widely recognised as responsible for shifting the petroleum paradigm on a global scale. Sasol has used the combined weight of its knowledge and experience to become one of the most highly regarded manufacturers of industrial chemicals worldwide, largely thanks to its ability to leverage technologies and by effectively employing the expertise of its staff currently working across 33 countries.

By combining this talent with its technological advantage, Sasol has been a leader in innovation for over six decades now.

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In order to continue to deliver longterm shareholder value sustainably, Sasol has had to be especially sensitive to changing market needs and stakeholder expectations, and as such invest heavily into the development and updating of its methods, facilities and products to ensure progress. As a result, Sasol is frequently spoken of as one of the country’s largest investors in capital projects, skills development and technological research and development.

What drives Sasol is a recognition of the growing need for countries to secure their supply of energy and chemicals, and for many, specifically those with abundant hydrocarbons, incountry conversion of these resources

into liquid fuels and chemicals goes a long way toward boosting national economies.

With concerns around energy and fuel more pressing now than ever, it has been a frenetic start to 2018 for Sasol, with its spirit of enterprise and innovation burning as bright as ever at the dawn of a new year. Paris-based Air Liquide is a giant in its own right, the multinational world leader in gases, technologies and services for industry and health and present in 80 countries, with approximately 65,000 employees serving its more than three million customers and patients. In South Africa, Air Liquide production facilities are situated in the three main industrial hubs, namely in Gauteng, KwaZulu-

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: ENERGY

Natal, Eastern and Western Cape with over 20 national branches strategically located to serve its customers.

The inauguration by the French company of the world’s largest oxygen production unit at the beginning of the year represented the continuation of a strong partnership with Sasol, with investment to the tune of around €200 million paving the way for the construction of an Air Separation Unit (ASU) in Secunda, where the world’s only commercial coal-based synthetic fuels manufacturing facility is operated to produce synthesis gas through coal gasification and natural gas reforming.

The ASU has a total production capacity of 5,000 tonnes of oxygen per day - equivalent to 5,800 tonnes per day at sea level.

Part of this project’s significance is in its representing the first ASU that Sasol has chosen to outsource to a specialist of industrial gas production at the Secunda site, where Secunda Synfuels Operations receives coal from five mines in Mpumalanga. This only serves to underline the importance of the long-term relationship between the two parties. The start-up of the

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air separation unit, which supplies Sasol with large quantities of oxygen used for the production of fuels and chemicals, represents a new milestone in the partnership between Air Liquide and Sasol and brings the number of ASUs delivered by Air Liquide over the last 40 years to 17. The new ASU has been completed to schedule in under three years from design to commissioning, and also provides Air Liquide with a new source of liquid gases to allow it to supply the growing industrial gas market in South Africa.

François Jackow, a member of the Air Liquide Group’s Executive Committee supervising Middle East and Africa, commented on the importance of the successful start-up.

“We are proud to be consolidating a strategic partnership built on trust and long-term commitment with Sasol.

This project illustrates Air Liquide’s capability to manage very large innovative projects. This new unit sees, for the first time, Sasol outsource its oxygen needs at its Secunda site, confirming our leadership in oxygen production technology as well as our commitment to contribute to

South Africa’s economic and social development.”

In addition, Bernard Klingenberg, Sasol’s Executive Vice President, Operations, underscored the strength in unity the partnership offers. “The successful start-up of this world class ASU unit cements Sasol’s long-standing strategic partnership with Air Liquide, bringing first rate oxygen supply expertise and long-term reliability to our Secunda operations. Furthermore, this important milestone ensures that our integrated Southern African value chain provides a robust platform for Sasol’s long-term growth and sustained contributions to the country’s economy.”

Sasol’s own economic outlook is also looking stronger than ever, as it indicated at the end of January that its second-half results would be positively affected should the recent rise in oil prices to levels approaching $70/bbl be sustained for the remainder of its financial year. “We have seen a steady increase in most commodity chemical prices,” Sasol remarked, “and despite the volatile macro-economic environment, average margins for most of our specialty chemicals products increased over the first six months ended December 31, 2017.” It is such results that have prompted David Shapiro of Sasfin to label Sasol, “the big star in miners,” at the beginning of this year.

“Investors are getting excited about their Louisiana project,” he continued, referring to the world-scale petrochemical complex near to Sasol’s existing site in Southwest Louisiana. The $8.9 billion project will roughly triple the company’s chemical production capacity in the U.S. and enable it to build on its strong positions in robust and growing global chemicals markets.

“I think with both the oil price and chemical prices going up, people are turning their attention back to Sasol,” he concluded.

WWW.SASOL.COM

Proud Service Providers to Sasol Group Services Mechanical • Electrical Instrumentation • Inspection Welding • RPAS Operations www.cg-holdings.com +27 11 461 6401 office@prommac.com

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EXHIBITION CALENDAR

KEY UPCOMING EVENTS ACROSS THE INDUSTRY Our regular update to help you keep track of important events and exhibitions taking place across the spectrum of industry sectors.

INVESTING IN AFRICAN MINING INDABA Cape Town International Convention Centre FEB 05-08 THE AFRICA PRINT AND SIGN AFRICA EXPO 2018 Durban ICC FEB 07 – 08 EGYPT PETROLEUM SHOW Cairo International Convention & Exhibition Centre FEB 12 – 14 INVESTEC CAPE TOWN ART FAIR Cape Town International Convention Centre FEB 16 - 18

THE AFRICA PRINT AND SIGN AFRICA EXPO 2018 FEB 07 | DURBAN The Africa Print Expo will be a showcase for the entire digital print process and will feature from sheetfed A3 machines up to Grand format digital equipment and will include both suppliers and manufacturers of commercial and digital printers, finishing equipment, software, media and consumables.

The Sign Africa Expo will showcase all aspects of wide format digital printing, garment decoration, screen printing and signage and allows visitors to explore the latest technologies and trends right in their own city.

These regional events give industry professionals an opportunity to see solutions in their own city. Both co-located exhibitions will aim to educate and inspire all visitors on the powerful capabilities and commercial benefits of digital print, in its entirety.

Each of the regional events held so far have had a great response from visitors, with even more expected in 2018.

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MY BUSINESS EXPO: SOUTH AFRICA 2018 FEB 21 | JOHANNESBURG World Famous Events in association with the NSBC, brings you My Business Expo: South Africa 2018 – Africa’s largest business expo, conference and networking event for anyone serious about starting or growing a business.

With more than 25,000 delegates, 250 exhibitors, 100 top of the line seminars and sessions, it’s the most successful show of its kind in Africa.

It’s where business gets personal with top of the line speakers, business experts, incredible interactive exhibits, cutting edge solutions, new trends, world class networking, incredible ideas and opportunities, in-depth education and off-the-chart experiences.

INVESTEC CAPE TOWN ART FAIR FEB 16 | CAPE TOWN Investec Cape Town Art Fair showcases a diversity of work that represents the forefront of contemporary art in Cape Town, Africa, and the world.

The city boasts a vibrant arts

MY BUSINESS EXPO Gallagher Convention Centre FEB 21 – 22 MEETINGS AFRICA Sandton Convention Centre FEB 26 – 28 NIGERIA OIL & GAS 2018 Abuja International Conference Centre FEB 26 – MAR 03

scene, driven by top galleries on the African continent. Thanks to its diverse cultural heritage and geographic beauty, Cape Town is a compelling destination for both art world professionals and collectors alike.

MAKE EVERY WORK ZONE A SAFETY ZONE. At Dromex we believe that all employees are entitled to maximum protection and that employers should never have to compromise on the quality of the protective products they supply. We believe that it is our responsibility to supply products that will deliver on this promise and its not something we take lightly.

Know safety. No injury. Know Dromex.

HEAD OFFICE Unit 1, 1 Blase Road, New Germany, 3610 T. +27 (0)31 713 1960 F. +27 (0)31 705 6508 E-Fax. 0866 844 595 Email. sales@dromex.co.za Web. www.dromex.net