Enterprise Africa April 2020

AFRICA

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR AFRICA’S INDUSTRY LEADERS

April 2020

www.enterprise-africa.net

Investment Lifecycle

Covered With Curo Exclusive interview with Curo Fund Services CEO Barri Maggott

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

SANSA / SAPO / Iemas Insurance Brokers / OIM Consulting

8 AGENCIES, ONE VOICE. Operating as a collective of creative businesses, our expertise encompasses shopper marketing; public relations and reputation management; UX/UI design; software and enterprise development; creative conceptual and design; experiential and event management; print and packaging design and production; digital and paid media strategy; and 2D & 3D animation with full post-production services.

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EDITOR’S LETTER

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EDITOR Joe Forshaw  joe@enterprise-africa.co.za SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER Sam Hendricks  sam@enterprise-africa.co.za SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER Tommy Atkinson  tommy@enterprise-africa.co.za PROJECT MANAGER James Davey  jamesd@enterprise-africa.co.za PROJECT MANAGER Chris Wright  chrisw@enterprise-africa.co.za PROJECT MANAGER Chris Fairhurst  chrisf@enterprise-africa.co.za FINANCE MANAGER Chloe Manning  Chloe@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 CONTRIBUTOR Colin Chinery CONTRIBUTOR Benjamin Southwold CONTRIBUTOR William Denstone

Published by Chris Bolderstone – General Manager E. chris@cmb-media.co.uk Rouen House, Rouen Road, Norwich NR1 1RB +44 (0) 1603 855 161 E. info@cmb-media.co.uk www.cmb-media.co.uk CMB Media Group 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 Media Group Ltd 2020

People over profit – that is the message coming out of almost all businesses right now.

Thankfully, most companies are not willing to place their people in danger in pursuit of financial results. Much of the country is working from home, key employees are working differently, and South Africa continues to be praised for its ruthless approach to battling coronavirus.

But many still talk of ‘when this is over’ and ‘when we get back to normal’. Unfortunately, normal is not going to return to the market for some time. Combine the profound economic impact of the pandemic on global markets with the Moody’s downgrading and you have a recipe for business meltdown.

There will be unemployment, currency crashing and slumping demand across all sectors.

Those companies that have positioned themselves strongly are those that might ‘come out the other side’. And, importantly, those that continue to communicate with the market about their plans, are those that will be remembered by customers as good corporate citizens.

Our lead features this month come from those that may prove to be vitally important during tough times. Iemas Insurance Brokers, one of the country’s leading short- and long-term businesses, is going digital so that more people can access products quickly and easily. Curo Fund Services is also investing in improved digital services so that its clients can realise a more seamless service than ever before.

Perhaps this outbreak, and the associated social distancing, will be the catalyst for more and more businesses to speed up their digitisation strategy so that they can truly take advantage of the modern technological age. Or maybe it will be the end of society as we know it.

Let us know what you think. How is working from home?

What is the market like while the news continues to worsen?

We’re online through LinkedIn and Twitter.

Joe Forshaw EDITOR

GET IN TOUCH  +44 (0) 1603 855 161  joe@enterprise-africa.co.za www.enterprise-africa.net

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

90/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

9/ CURO FUND SERVICES Investment Lifecycle Covered With Curo Curo Fund Services is ready to ride out the current downward cycle and is actively looking to the future with an appetite for growth to ensure its position as the industry leading third-party asset management and investment administrator is not affected. CEO Barri Maggott tells Enterprise Africa that the company is digitising to de-risk and is achieving its mission to look after its clients’ assets with care.

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CONTENTS

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: FINANCE

INDUSTRY FOCUS: PROPERTY

9/CURO FUND SERVICES Investment Lifecycle Covered With Curo

62/ORYX PROPERTIES Shining Star in a Strained Market

16/IEMAS INSURANCE BROKERS Your Caring Partner, More Than Ever Before

INDUSTRY FOCUS: INFRASTRUCTURE

27/STANDARD LESOTHO BANK Digitisation to Aid in Battle Against COVID-19 INDUSTRY FOCUS: MINING 33/OIM CONSULTING To Win in the Marketplace, You Must First Win in the Workplace INDUSTRY FOCUS: TECHNOLOGY 42/SANSA Award-Winning SANSA Continues to Boost African Profile INDUSTRY FOCUS: LOGISTICS 52/SAPO SA Post Office Keeping Up With The Times

68/RAND WATER A Vital Tool in Curbing the Spread INDUSTRY FOCUS: RETAIL 75/CHOPPIES Keeping You Safe, Secure and Well-Stocked INDUSTRY FOCUS: ENTERTAINMENT 79/PHUMELELA GAMING & LEISURE Phumelela Continues to Set the Pace in SA Gambling INDUSTRY FOCUS: MANUFACTURING 85/CAPEWELL SPRINGS AND METAL PRESSINGS Demonstrating the Opportunities in Local Manufacturing

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Finance Minister Tito Mboweni ahead of 2020 National Budget speech in Parliament, Cape Town. [Photo GCIS]

WATER TANKS DELIVERED IN GAUTENG A total of 1482 water tanks have been delivered to various parts of Gauteng to ameliorate protracted water shortages in communities and avert their susceptibility to the spread of Coronavirus.

The department implemented the measures following a call by Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, to make water accessible to communities that continue to face water shortages.

Sisulu’s call is in line with measures announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa aimed at ensuring that poor communities are not severely impacted by the virus.

In cushioning the vulnerable communities, the department has to date deployed water tanks to some of the densely populated areas in the different municipalities across the province.

So far, the department has made 410 water tanks available to the City of Joburg, 190 to the City of Tshwane and 166 to the City of Ekurhuleni.

The Sedibeng District and West Rand District Municipalities have received 254 and 462, respectively.

DWS Gauteng Provincial Head Sibusiso Mthembu said the department is making significant strides aimed at ensuring that the vulnerable were not disproportionately affected the spread of the Coronavirus.

Mthembu said communities that lacked access to water were particularly at risk during this time, adding that the intervention of the department would go a long way to ensure that the guidelines of public health received resonance with needy communities.

He said the department is also partnering with other stakeholders to provide not only water but soap and sanitisers to communities to enable them to practice proper hygiene.

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TREASURY ANNOUNCES COVID-19 TAX MEASURES Finance Minister Tito Mboweni announced exceptional tax measures to counter the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“The Minister of Finance has announced the following exceptional tax measures as part of the fiscal package outlined by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 23 March 2020 in his speech on the Escalation of Measures to Combat COVID-19,” said the Ministry of Finance.

These measures are over and above the tax proposals made in the 2020 Budget on 26 February 2020.

The tax measures include: The introduction of a tax subsidy to employers of up to R500 per month for the next four months for private sector employees earning below R6 500 under the Employment Tax Incentive.

This will help over 4 million workers.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) will accelerate the payment of employment tax

incentive reimbursements from twice a year to monthly to get cash into the hands of compliant employers as soon as possible.

Tax compliant businesses with a turnover of R50 million or less will be allowed to delay 20% of their employees’ tax liabilities over the next four months and a portion of their provisional corporate income tax payments without penalties or interest over the next six months. This intervention is expected to assist 75 000 small and medium term enterprises.

“The tax adjustments are made in light of the National State of Disaster and due to the significant and potentially lasting negative impacts on the economy from the spreading of the COVID-19 virus,” said the ministry.

It said there is a critical need for government interventions to assist with job retention and assist businesses that may be experiencing significant distress.

NEWS SNAPSHOT CONSUMERS ADVISED TO MAKE USE OF CREDIT LIFE INSURANCE The National Credit Regulator (NCR) has advised consumers to make use of their credit life insurance, which can provide some relief for those unable to earn an income as a result of COVID-19.

“As South Africa is battling with the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, many consumers have been left with the inability to earn an income,” said the NCR, adding that some citizens were unemployed, while others are receiving less income due to reduced working hours.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a national 21-day lockdown to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which came into effect at midnight on 26 March 2020.

“The NCR advises consumers that where applicable, they first consider the option of using their credit life insurance benefit as a relief in this difficult period,” said the regulator’s Chief Executive Officer, Nomsa Motshegare.

Credit life insurance is an insurance that a consumer signs up for when applying for credit or a loan and it covers the outstanding debt in the event of unforeseen circumstances such as death, retrenchment, unemployment, inability to earn an income, disability and others.

Motshegare said some credit providers have pronounced interim debt relief measures for consumers, who have been hard hit by the pandemic.

The regulator advised that in

the event of the consumer becoming unemployed or unable to earn an income, the credit life insurance cover provides that credit providers must settle/pay the consumer’s debt for a period of 12 months, or for the remaining repayment period or until the consumer finds employment or is able to earn an income - whichever period is shorter.

“Many consumers may not be aware that they have credit life insurance in place and that the premium for this insurance is already included in the cost of credit. To check if this insurance is in place, consumers must contact their credit providers and where applicable, consider use of this benefit to provide relief,” Motshegare said.

SA REMAINS COMMITTED TO REFORMS, DESPITE FITCH DECISION As rating agency Fitch announced its decision to downgrade South Africa from ‘BB+’ to ‘BB’, placing the country further into non-investment grade, government has emphasised its commitment to implement structural economic reforms.

In a statement, government said it has noted the decision by the agency. In its decision, Fitch cited the lack of a clear path towards government’s debt stabilisation, as well as the expected impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) shock on public finances.

The agency also cited economic growth as the reason for the downgrade.

“To assure all South Africans, government is seized with addressing and minimising the impact of COVID-19, implementing measures to improve economic growth and setting government finances on a sustainable trajectory. This work requires close collaboration and coordination across

various sectors of the economy,” said the Ministry of Finance.

Treasury said the negative outlook reflects the prospect of further significant upside pressure on government debt and additional downside risks associated with the global shock.

Moody’s already announced its decision to downgrade South Africa’s long-term foreign and local currency debt ratings to ‘Ba1’ from ‘Baa3’, and maintain the negative outlook.

South Africa’s credit ratings by Moody’s are now one notch below investment grade.

In the midst of the prevailing financial market stress emanating from COVID-19 and credit ratings downgrades

by Moody’s and Fitch, government reiterated its commitment to implement structural economic reforms to address the weak economic growth, a constrained fiscus and ailing State-owned companies.

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CURO FUND SERVICES

Investment Lifecycle

Covered With Curo PRODUCTION: David Napier

Curo Fund Services is ready to ride out the current downward cycle and is actively looking to the future with an appetite for growth to ensure its position as the industry leading third-party asset management and investment administrator is not affected. CEO Barri Maggott tells Enterprise Africa that the company is digitising to de-risk and is achieving its mission to look after its clients’ assets with care.

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As the coronavirus pandemic continues to sweep the globe, leaving more than a quarter of the world’s populations locked inside their homes, governments and big businesses are coming together like never before to find solutions to the raft of problems that have emerged.

Aside from global emergencies such as this, it is rare that you would find such collaboration from what are usually competing organisations.

Without doubt, the results will be positive and people will be able to look back at the cooperation as an example to follow.

In South Africa, while major competing businesses coming together is an unusual situation, it has happened in the past with great outcomes.

In 2012, two of the country’s and continent’s biggest asset managers joined forces to solve a common problem. Sanlam and Old Mutual had been outsourcing investment and asset management administration

to JP Morgan. Prior to this, Sanlam had created a business in 2001, Tasc, to handle investment administration activities. Tasc was purchased by JP Morgan, retaining Sanlam as a client, before adding Old Mutual’s administration function to the portfolio.

But JP Morgan eventually pulled the plug and discontinued its service provision in 2011. This was devastating for both Sanlam and Old Mutual. The pair came together in what was a catastrophic situation and quickly went about establishing their new thirdparty outsourced investment and asset management administration business.

Curo Fund Services was formed, and the company has grown to employ 300 people, administering more than R2 trillion in assets under administration.

“Overall, the business has built a brand that is recognised in the industry and that is a major milestone, essentially creating a business that started off in a crisis,” says CEO, Barri Maggott. “If your fund administrator cancels your

contract and then hands the business back to you, that is not the ideal way to start. To achieve sustainability and being able to meet client’s needs, when we had the start we did have, it really is significant for the business.”

He is confident in the partnership that has been formed, saying: “On almost every other front, you would find these two large insurance companies slugging it out in the marketplace as competitors but for this particular business, they are collaborating. At the end of the day, they both require a very similar service and so collaboration makes sense – so far, it has gone well.”

BACK OFFICE FUNCTION Many asset managers prefer to outsource their administration function for three key reasons. Firstly, it can provide cost savings and flexibility.

Secondly, it allows for quality as the provider will usually have a large pool of skilled resources to work with. Lastly, is simply to allow asset managers to

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: FINANCE

concentrate on what they do best, centering on their core focus.

“Asset managers who manage funds and portfolios on behalf clients are focussed on managing the money and making investment decisions.

The rest of it is handled by us,” explains Maggott.

Much of the unseen work – the less sexy activity that keeps transactions moving – is so vital, but often overlooked. But it is important and valuable. This is why Curo goes above and beyond to ensure the process is smooth for clients.

“On a daily basis they will buy and sell various instruments to help deliver the type of performance that their clients are looking for. Those trades have to be processed, settled and accounted for,” details Maggott. “Settlement, confirmation, accounting and ultimately repricing the fund on a daily basis is what we do. Front office is about trading, back office is about accounting and settlement and the rest. From a strategic point of view, we are trying to create a very seamless service for our client so the asset manager can focus on trading and performing their front office functions of portfolio management and buying and selling as they need to and the back office happens seamlessly in the background.”

// THERE IS A LONG ROAD AHEAD TO RECOVERY FOR OUR ECONOMY BUT WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE WE WORK TOGETHER

BY SUPPORTING EACH OTHER AND USING TECHNOLOGY AS AN ENABLER TO ENHANCE SERVICE // 10 / www.enterprise-africa.net

// IF YOUR FUND ADMINISTRATOR CANCELS YOUR CONTRACT AND THEN HANDS THE BUSINESS BACK TO YOU, THAT IS NOT THE IDEAL WAY TO START // As and when the portfolio manager makes buy and sell decisions, they will flow seamlessly into the Curo environment and the company can pick them up and handle all of the functions required to develop a new net asset value for the portfolio and other reports that are required. “We support the asset managers in achieving their business objectives,” states Maggott.

DIGITISING TO MANAGE RISK South Africa’s financial industry went through a wave of digital upgrades in the early 90s and that progress has continued unabated ever since. Today, the appetite in the industry for more technological advancement is strong.

Curo is well-aware of the demands of the industry and is investing properly to ensure its clients are well catered for and its model remains at the cutting edge.

Digitisation has long been a part of the company’s strategy and today plans are in place to overhaul processes, removing unnecessary human interaction and reducing risk.

“The investments that we are making are to help implement that strategy,” confirms Maggott.

“Technology is an important aspect of our business so we are looking for high levels of automation, seamless processing, high levels of integration between front and back office, and the tools and technologies we are implementing will give us the ability to operate in that way.

“It’s about being able to automate the flow of information from the asset manager to the administrator and back again.”

Recently, Curo struck up a partnership with international industry leader, Temenos, to move funds to a

new accounting platform.

The product from Temenos is called Multifonds and provides simple architecture, enabling more automated exception-based processing to increase efficiencies, reduce costs and open up new opportunities for growth.

Curo is busy migrating more than 3000 funds from its five legacy fund accounting platforms to a single Multifonds Global Accounting platform.

“We are in the process of moving from our existing system onto Multifonds, supplied by Temenos, and it will help us to focus on our new model that will bring us into a more digital position,” says Maggott.

Temenos was equally proud to onboard South Africa’s largest thirdparty administrator.

“We are delighted to form this new partnership with Curo to support its business,” said Oded Weiss, Managing Director of Temenos. “Curo, like many fund administrators, are viewing their technology platform not just through the traditional lens of efficiency and cost, but the future opportunities it can create by helping them enter new markets, launch new and innovative services, and win new business.”

For Curo, the switch helps to provide cost effectiveness, but this is not the key driver. Delivering quality service for clients is the most important target, and by reducing human input and reducing risk, the company is better placed to offer best-in-class service.

“A process that has manual intervention where people are capturing information has a high level of risk. If you make a mistake you can strike the incorrect price, and that has an impact on the client and the market,” explains Maggott. “If it were to happen,

INDUSTRY FOCUS: FINANCE

it would mean that we would need to make good on those errors. We need to run a tight ship and when you have manual intervention your risk goes through the roof. Automating systems helps to operate consistently. Manual processes are impacted by people being off on leave, having a bad day or struggling with volumes. In the market these days, there is a lot of volatility and this causes the volumes to creep up. The only way you can really hedge against that is to increase your levels of automation that help to provide straight-through processing.”

With the advent of digitisation, robotics and AI across many industry sectors, Maggott is keen to ensure the

human touch is not lost altogether. For a third-party administrator, people analysing data and making decisions is vital.

“Robotics have a role to play but you need to guard against automating weak processes. We want to focus on fit-for-purpose solutions by increasing automation as much as we can but only where it makes sense,” he says.

BEST-IN-CLASS, GLOBALLY Working with the likes of Temenos and other industry leaders to digitise and de-risk the business, Curo is hopeful that in the future it will be able to expand beyond South Africa’s border and provide administration services in new geographies. Both of its anchor clients

// WE SUPPORT THE ASSET MANAGERS IN ACHIEVING THEIR BUSINESS OBJECTIVES //

Barri Maggott - CEO

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are active globally, and its new system is internationally recognised. In the longterm, Maggott is certain that Curo can be successful in other markets.

“At this stage, it is not explicitly on our agenda although we have had the growth strategy discussion with the board and we are actively preparing for international markets,” he says.

“It’s certainly a longer-term goal. Our three to five year focus is on the local market and growing market share here.

And then we will look at international markets and that is why we are ensuring the products we are building now are suitable. Growth is definitely a long-term strategy but for now we need to build a service that embraces global best practice. That is why we are selecting tools like Smartstream and Temenos/Multifonds which is actively used in overseas markets.

“We believe there is a similar opportunity globally for delivering a much more highly automated, straight through process from asset manager to administrator. That is not a service that we see being run well across the globe so there is definitely opportunity there. Our initial focus is on building the product for the life sector of our local market.”

Following Sanlam and Old Mutual, Curo would potentially look at the UK and European markets as first targets.

The regulatory environments are similar and, importantly, the two big customers are already active there. “It would make sense for us to adopt that strategy by following our clients into international markets where they already operate.”

But as the brand and its expertise become recognised, there is no reason that the company can’t go further afield. Current growth targets include dominating the local asset management market, gaining 50% share in three to five years. Equally, the company is focussing on life insurance companies with a dedicated asset manager – a niche that Curo wants 80% of.

“Our strategy of approaching life-backed asset managers has opportunities in North America

CURO FUND SERVICES

and Australia where we believe the product we are building will have some relevance and impact.

“We definitely have aspirations to chase after bigger markets than we have already.”

It is important not to rush into growth strategies with haste and Curo will work on its current push over the next three to five years as it wants to guarantee a harmonious tech integration that will advance its position.

“We need to make sure we deliver the benefits we have set out by building this product and making sure it works effectively for our existing clients,” insists Maggott. “We will then look to grow our client base. We don’t believe you can do it at the same time as trying to grow on top of a complicated base adds unnecessary complexity. We are trying to streamline the product, make sure it gives us the edge in the market, and then go after the volumes with new clients.”

PEOPLE PUSH Asset and investment management third-party administration is a unique industry and you cannot simply fall into a job without some knowledge, training and experience. With the skills shortage present in South Africa today, across all industries, for administrators to attract the best talent, you must stand out. This is why Curo has sought accreditation from the Dutch-based Top Employers Institute, a global organisation that reviews and awards recognition for companies that go above and beyond for their people.

Curo has achieved the Top Employer status for 2020 and Maggott is proud. “It has been a clear focus for us and we now have the recognition which is great,” he says.

“We believe that we need to be recognised by the market and clients for having a fully engaged and focussed team. The research shows that companies with disengaged workforces

or teams are less likely to achieve their objectives. We believe that having an engaged team has a direct impact on our client’s experience. We are a client facing business and much of what we do is measured by how well we are servicing our client or how good the client experience is. We believe it is important to have teams that are happy, focussed, engaged and motivated, and as much as that sounds like traditional soft HR talk, we believe it’s pretty hard stuff.”

According to the Top Employers Institute: “Curo Fund Services 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.”

Of course, a certain level of competence is needed when joining the Curo team, but Maggott explains that the recruitment process is made

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: FINANCE

more challenging by a lack of mindset traits rather than basic skills. Most job roles can be taught, but attitude and mentality are more difficult to instil. This is a problem in traditional recruitment says Maggott.

“For us, it’s less about finding industry skills or people who understand fund accounting. The bigger challenge is finding people with the mindset that we need to transform the business. We are looking for people that are proactive around client needs, looking for digital solutions, leveraging technology and challenging what has become the norms of how we operate.

It is more difficult to find people with this mindset who can think in the digital economy, who can assimilate the potential impact of new technologies, and how we can leverage those for the benefits of our clients.

“People with leadership potential, people who are prepared to challenge the status quo, and those who are open to new technologies and innovation – all underpinned by attention to servicing the client – that is what we struggle with more.”

As digitisation is achieved throughout the business, human error risk will be reduced but the target is not cost savings through reducing staff

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numbers. Automation in some areas will free people up to develop new competencies for clients, therefore growing the business.

“We can’t bury our heads in the sand and hope that disruptive technology and automation will pass us by,” states Maggott.

“We will seek to add more value to the client by adding more skills than we currently provide, and that will need people with greater skill. It’s all about staying relevant for our clients. For us to say we want to push away automation or we want to push away technology, that would be the wrong approach. We need to embrace it and adapt to new technology quickly so we can use it to benefit our clients.”

ECONOMIC BATTLE While Curo is extremely wellpositioned in the market, with robust clients and a large base under administration, it will have to adapt its approach to successfully navigate the coming months as coronavirus fallout and economic sloth in South Africa are magnified.

For Maggott, the key is remembering that markets are cyclical and a prepared company is a wellplaced company.

“In our business, our revenue stream is linked to the value of the assets that we administer. When the JSE goes the way it has, that impacts our streams as the value of the assets we administer is reduced and our fees are based on that value,” he says.

“There is a very real short-term revenue implication. But we believe that markets are markets – there are always things that happen that cause volatility and cause drops. At the same time, our clients – the asset managers – will be saying to their clients, don’t panic, this is a crisis but we have seen crises before and we will come out on the other side.

We share that sentiment and recognise that this does have a short-term impact on us and our revenue but markets are cyclical and it will correct. It’s about having the robustness in the business to manage through the crisis until revenue streams return. In the meantime, it does require us to be smart about the way we manage our costs and looking carefully at the way we spend our money as there will be a lasting impact from the virus on the markets, but we certainly believe in correction over time.”

For the most innovative and creative companies, times of crisis present opportunities. Those that are investing cleverly during hard times are

CURO FUND SERVICES

often those that boom when the tide turns. Curo’s approach to digitisation will help keep costs down for clients, and this is a major attraction right now.

“By managing our cost base, we will not pass on additional cost to clients and that will assist them to see this current cycle out. In an asset management business, fund administration or outsourced services is a big cost on the income statement so for us to help keep rates flat will be a significant support during these tough times.”

The approach of the CEO, who has been with Curo for four years but in the industry for the majority of his career, is to keep calm. Perhaps easier said than done during times of market calamity, but Maggott is certain that businesses must remain calm to ensure no chance is overlooked.

“If we allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by the economy and all of the issues we have had in the country, we may run the risk of missing opportunities. We certainly believe in and are committed to the success of team South Africa and there is a long road ahead to recovery for our economy but we have to make sure we work together by supporting each other and using technology as an enabler to enhance service.”

CARE, LOOK AFTER, MANAGE The Latin word Curo holds the meaning of managing, caring for or looking after.

This is the very heart of the what the business does and guides its mission: “Take care of our staff, look after the administration of our clients’ assets, and manage business well, with honesty and integrity in all that is done.”

Asked if the company is achieving its mission, Maggott is happy but certainly sees more potential for improvement. “I am happy to say that we do. I would add that we are not yet 100% satisfied with the way we do things,” he says.

“Over the last two years, we have made significant progress towards a much more digital way of doing things and that will ultimately improve the skills of our staff and the experience of our clients. There is also a lot we are doing in the way we manage the business to ensure we look in the mirror at a good corporate citizen. We do still have ambitious goals and we think we can make drastic improvements across the business to achieve our goal in a much more meaningful way.”

As the company embarks on its growth plan over the next three to five years, Maggott is filled with confidence citing aspirations that Curo set out when

he started now becoming realities.

“There’s a lot still to be done and a lot still to achieve,” he says. “Even in recent weeks and months we are seeing the results of the visions that when I started were like pipedreams. For me, that is very exciting as things materialise and new opportunities come about. As we continue, there will be a lot more to get excited about and that is what drives me.”

With a bright future ahead of it, albeit dimmed somewhat by recent circumstances, Curo is without doubt an example to follow for those companies seeking sustainability and strength. Beginning as a result of an unheard-of partnership, growing to become an industry leader, and looking to the future for opportunities, Curo Fund Services is the epitome of professionalism.

“We still believe there is a lot of opportunity if we go about it in the right way,” concludes Maggott.

WWW.CUROFUND.COM

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IEMAS INSURANCE BROKERS

Your Caring Partner,

More Than Ever Before PRODUCTION: Karl Pietersen

By accelerating the digitising of its product range, Iemas Insurance Brokers is doing everything in its power to reach more groups of people who could benefit from proper financial wellness advice and risk protection. Managing Director Piet Wolmarans talks to Enterprise Africa about how this historic business, one of the key divisions of Iemas Financial Services Co-operative (Iemas) is sharply focussed on the Iemas ethos of “we care” by walking the lifelong financial journey alongside its clients.

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Iemas Insurance Brokers is a wholly owned subsidiary of Iemas Financial Services, South Africa’s leading financial services co-operative. Established as the Iscor Employee Mutual Aid Society in the 1930s, Iemas Financial Services has a long history and has been a dedicated servant to its clients through social, political, economic, and historic cultural changes.

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In the early 90s, Iemas Financial Services broke away from Iscor (now Mittal Steel). Opting to focus on its core – steel production – Iscor allowed Iemas Financial Services to become an independent entity. The name Iemas Financial Services had become so well known in the market that it was decided it would be kept but not as an acronym - as a name that associates with care for customers.

Iemas Financial Services was formed, and after more than two decades it became clear that the insurance side of the business needed its own focus. In December 2016, the Iemas Board accepted a recommendation that a new company should be formed to focus solely on providing financial advice and providing insurance solutions and thus Iemas Insurance Brokers (Proprietary) Limited (IIB) was born.

INDUSTRY FOCUS: FINANCE

“Iemas Financial Services has its own FSP license and the insurance business was originally created to secure the assets that Iemas financed such as vehicles,” details Managing Director Piet Wolmarans. “Over time, that has evolved into other classes of insurance as well.

“In April 2017, we became fully operational and I was personally involved, leading the project and getting ready all of the regulatory approvals that were needed to be in place. A lot of operational things needed to happen – we had to register the company as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Iemas Financial Services; we had to transfer all contracts from service providers at the time; we had to move over employees; and get all operational capabilities in place according to full compliance regulations required by the Financial Service Conduct Authority.”

Now a FSCA-registered member and a holder of its own FSP license, Iemas Insurance Brokers is looking to the digital future with an appetite. It offers hand-picked short-term and long-term insurance products, including car, home, life, and business lines.

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DIGITISING In February 2020, EY detailed in a research report on the industry how insurers in emerging markets are embracing a digital future. “While mobile and digital applications are targeted to specific markets, such as funeral insurance, major initiatives are transforming back-office operations to become more cost-effective and reliable,” said the EY report.

According to Oxford Economics, 37% of South African customers use their mobile phones or computers for the initial process of browsing and identifying policies. Clearly, digital R&D and investment is necessary, and Iemas Insurance Brokers is already wellpositioned in this regard.

“We have already created operational capacity in the business from a systems and operations perspective.

This includes two systems for both shortterm and long-term,” says Wolmarans.

“Since inception until now, we have signed up more than 20 product partners and have added more than 50 product variances in our environment.

“We have created an array of digital functionalities on our platform,

accessed through either our website and/or mobile app. This includes online quoting for short-term insurance and a mobile app which has a very interesting component where our members can refer friends, and we can track that and reward them. As part of our long-term insurance solutions, we have developed a digital self-serve portal for financial planning - including retirement, disability and death – so that people can go and discover for themselves. We have a total online solution for funeral, life and disability, backed by a team of advisors. Currently we are busy with the implementation of robotic enhanced processes – customers can now engage with us 24/7/365 meaning we can now provide funeral cover without any human intervention whatsoever. It pushes data through to the client; they can take up the product and we can issue the policy, without any intervention from a human. With many customers not able to interact with us during their workday, this provides a mechanism that will assist ease of access at more convenient times to our customers, which we fondly refer to as our members.

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: FINANCE

“Our team of field agents are ready to assist our members if they prefer not to transact online and they can help in a very quick, efficient and friendly manner,” he adds.

As a broker, Iemas Insurance Brokers is reliant on quality products from its partners and chooses the best insurers to work with. As the global market is changing and having to rapidly evolve its digital offering, new partners are coming on board for Iemas Insurance Brokers, and already

delivering fantastic results for members.

In May 2019, Iemas Insurance Brokers partnered with Cape Town-based Simply – an Insurtech company – to help digitise its online platform.

“It is part of our strategy to make sure that we partner with the fintechs of the world to offer clients end-to-end, online delivery. Simply is an Insurtech business that specialises in fast, simple processes and easy-to-understand products. We’ve partnered with them to deliver a flexible,

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digital solution containing life, funeral and disability in one simple combo. The Simply products work well for both individuals and domestic workers. Individuals can take cover for themselves or their domestic workers in less than 10 minutes from start to finish. If business employers want to insure their employees, they can do so in four simple steps without traditional underwriting or paperwork.

It’s very efficient and very beneficial,” states Wolmarans.

“The partnership brings together innovative life insurance products and a strong grassroots distribution network. Through this partnership, we can reach far more customers than we could independently,” says Simply CEO, Anthony Miller.

For Iemas Insurance Brokers, the platform creates ease of transacting for the client and helps to keep prices at an affordable level compared with traditional insurers.

“We have rolled it out and received feedback from the market, and we are now busy rolling out phase two of the initiative with some additional productand channel features. We are looking forward to a long-term relationship there,” confirms Wolmarans.

As innovative, new solutions come to the market, such as modular insurance where users can ‘turn on and turn off’ insurance for specific periods of time (for example, when a car is in use and when it is parked in the garage), Iemas Insurance Brokers is keeping track of developments and positioning itself to deliver what its members require - even during the COVID-19 lockdown period.

ENSURING ORGANIC GROWTH Servicing a large customer base from 29 offices around South Africa, Iemas Insurance Broker’s 145 people are always on the lookout to assist.

Though the company is now investing primarily in digital technologies, investment in new office space to support a healthy countrywide spread, should demand dictate, is certainly on the agenda for Wolmarans.

IEMAS INSURANCE BROKERS

“At the moment, our strategy is for organic and digital product growth,” he says. “We are looking at the market where there is currently widespread consolidation. There are independent brokers that may be viable for us to join forces in certain areas so we could look at that, and that would naturally come with their existing infrastructure.”

In a strained economy where GDP growth remains weak if not negative, unemployment remains high, and with the global economy facing the COVID-19 pandemic, major physical expansion is often no longer a viable option. This is why the digital roll out has become an important – and urgent growth strategy.

“We are cost conscientious, especially in this day and age, and we are pushing digitalisation to manage costs and to have instant contact with our policy holders,” Wolmarans explains.

“There will always be a balance between bricks and mortar and digital. At the moment, we are widely spread and we are where our current members want us to be. If new employer groups come on board and we need to expand, we will certainly look at it.”

Future growth of the business can be achieved through accessing new groups or communities for each product.

Currently, Iemas Insurance Brokers is strong on the short-term side in the middle to affluent income market, and strong on the long-term side in the middle to entry-level market. In the future, Wolmarans is keen to use digital assets alongside other strategies to bolster market presence in all sectors, for both short- and long-term insurance.

“We are in the middle to affluent market through our wellness hub and our digital offering where people can access our services online easily. The need that we have identified for that market is predominantly for a faceto-face distribution. We are looking at different distribution models and how we can partner with some of the product providers to deliver through new and exciting channels.

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: FINANCE

// OUR PURPOSE IS TO ASSIST OUR MEMBERS WITH THEIR FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT. OUR DREAM IS TO BE THEIR PREFERRED BROKER. OUR BRAND PROMISE IS TO BE THEIR CARING PARTNER // “We foresee that in 2020 we will be in a position to roll some of this out - we are far down the road of investigating options,” he says.

INDUSTRY WITH OPPORTUNITY Unlike some developed markets, the insurance industry in South Africa – and Africa – remains relatively fertile and provides many opportunities for companies that enter with the right proposition which includes financial wellness training and education.

According to PwC, Africa’s insurance industry is largely underdeveloped, and insurance penetration levels are very low by global standards. The African insurance industry has also been in a state of continuous disruption since the 2008 global financial crisis, and growth has been sluggish.

For Wolmarans, a veteran of South Africa’s insurance industry, there is certainly more that can be done and it all starts with education.

“The market is divided in three segments. Affluent, middle, and entry

level. In general, I think the products and solutions on offer from insurers are welldefined and would suit the needs of the individual,” he says. “I think there is still a lot of education needed to inform the wider population of the benefits of these products and the different solutions that are available – and the embedded benefits to them in case of need.

“From a regulatory perspective, in the entry level the market, the regulator is doing a great job of cleaning up the market and making it more professional, ensuring proper advice is rendered to the consumer. The regulator could perhaps relax some of the current requirements at entry level to create more jobs, keep more people in the industry, and attract younger people - it has become a little cumbersome because of regulatory compliance requirements.

“The majority of vehicles on the

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IEMAS INSURANCE BROKERS

South African roads are still uninsured,” he adds. “We do not have compulsory third-party insurance and there is opportunity for expansion. The regulator and government could easily introduce compulsory third-party insurance; from a business perspective, there is a lot of room to move people who are underinsured to insured.

There is certainly appetite for product development to make insurance more accessible and more attractive.”

South Africa’s roads are not the only place where insurance has not yet realised national uptake. Currently, only 6% of the South African population is in a position to retire. Very few have appropriate savings and investments plans in place and Iemas Insurance Brokers is confident that it could assist for people to understand this and then they could reap the benefit in their later years.

“As hard as we try to ensure people understand the need for insurance, there is still the perception of it being a grudge purchase and other things coming first.

“There is massive opportunity to get out there and educate and we are heavily involved in that with our target market so that people understand the risks involved.”

But how do you go out and improve share in a growing market when faced with a raft of quality competition from both international and local businesses?

According to Wolmarans, you must be transparent and clear to customers.

“You have to clearly define your operating model and understanding the market you are operating in – be clear in what you want to do, who you want to do it with, and how you want to do it,” he says. “We are clear on our target market, our product range and our value proposition.

We try to create a value proposition around providing financial wellness throughout the lifecycle of the individual from when they leave school through to post-retirement.

We build a journey alongside our market through their lifecycle.”

For Iemas Insurance Brokers,

www.enterprise-africa.net / 23

INDUSTRY FOCUS: FINANCE

business is about leaving a lasting impression and caring for clients. It’s not about pushing whichever product will make and earn commissions. This is what differentiates the company from the rest.

“Commissions will come at the back end, as long as you provide quality advice and ensure there is a holistic approach for the customers so that they come back to us,” confirms Wolmarans.

DECADES DOWN, DECADES DUE After many decades of success, Iemas Insurance Brokers is not resting on its laurels and looking back at what has been achieved. There is a hunger throughout the business to impact the lives of as many people as possible,

bringing much-needed products to people around the country.

For Wolmarans, continuing to deliver in the future will come down to three elements of the business that he is confident the company has already mastered, but equally adamant that it will never stop seeking to continuously keep on improving on customer experience and continuously adapt to consumers’ ever-changing needs.

“Our key focus areas are our: products, processes, and services, for the betterment of our customers.

“We must stay abreast of best practice and develop in all key areas, but the real differentiator is that we walk the walk with our customers through good times and tough times, providing

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR PIET WOLMARANS

24 / www.enterprise-africa.net

// WE CEMENTED A VERY STRONG PRODUCT BASKET FROM PRIOR 2017 UNTIL NOW WHERE WE HAVE MORE THAN 20 PRODUCT PARTNERS AND MORE THAN 50 PRODUCT VARIANCES IN OUR SPACE // proper advice, even if we don’t sell a product. It’s all about building trust so that people have confidence in what we are telling them. That will remain a game changer for us – we are selling an emotional product so trust is vital. That will always be at the heart of what we do, hence our brand promise of being a caring insurance partner.”

With financial services one of the only positively contributing sectors of the economy in the final quarter of 2019 (2.7% increase within a wider 0.8% contraction), it is vital that reliable and strong businesses are allowed to thrive.

“The economy is a concern, enhanced further by the Coronavirus, and low growth impacts employment,” admits Wolmarans. “Looking at the SA economy, there are a number of public and private enterprises busy with downscaling and this has an impact on the wages of employees. Our experience is that there is less take up of new solutions because there is less disposable income, and there is a higher chance of cancellation.

We have seen our number of return debit orders increase but, at the same time, our opportunity is to make sure we put proper retention strategies in place to ensure that individuals under financial burden or stress can talk to us and we can then look at their portfolio

IEMAS INSURANCE BROKERS

and find alternatives where possible.”

The worst thing you can do, he says, is to simply cancel insurance policies leaving yourself unprotected against real risks. In the motor space, the better choice is to engage with

// THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A BALANCE BETWEEN BRICKS AND MORTAR AND DIGITAL. AT THE MOMENT, WE ARE WIDELY SPREAD AND WE ARE WHERE WE WANT TO BE //

Iemas Insurance Brokers and discuss alternative cover – perhaps moving from comprehensive to third-party.

There is always a solution, even in the toughest of times, to ensure that stakeholders are continually empowered to make sound financial decisions. This mantra will help the business to further develop its reputation for future generations.

“We’ve been around for many decades and I’m sure we will be around for many more,” insists Wolmarans.

“Our long-term vision, backed by our board and management team, is to make sure each and every member of the Co-operative is assisted with a financial wellness road map. If we can achieve that, the numbers will follow.”

This is one of the companies truly driving the roll out of proper insurance cover across the country, and

helping to ensure long-term financial independence for members. If Iemas Insurance Brokers can continue to develop the trust that Wolmarans cites as so important, the business and its members will be happy.

“Our purpose is to benefit our members and our dream is to be the preferred insurance broker by offering a 360-degree insurance solution to suit any need and pocket. As mentioned earlier, our brand promise is to be a caring partner in insurance. That is the model to which each and every employee here works to – even if you don’t sell, provide quality advice properly,” he concludes.

WWW.IEMASINSURANCEBROKERS.CO.ZA

www.enterprise-africa.net / 25

STANDARD LESOTHO BANK

Digitisation to Aid in

Battle Against COVID-19 PRODUCTION: Karl Pietersen

Long before the global outbreak of coronavirus, Standard Lesotho Bank has been busy investing in a digital strategy to keep it accessible to customers around the country quickly and easily. This strategy is also helping to promote financial inclusion across Lesotho in a time when it is desperately needed. www.enterprise-africa.net / 27

INDUSTRY FOCUS: FINANCE

//

The Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion still rates Lesotho poorly in terms of access to modern financial services.

Less than half of the population (over the age of 15) have a formal bank account. Less than 40% made or received digital payments in the past year, and less than 15% received wages or government transfers into a formal bank account. In a world ever increasing in levels of technology, automation and digitisation, Lesotho cannot afford to be left behind. That is why Standard Lesotho Bank – the country’s biggest – has been investing in new digital solutions for some time.

In July 2018, Chief Information Officer, Samuel Koatla told Enterprise Africa that the bank was busy rolling out a digital strategy which involved moving major services online. Various offerings would be digitised and new ATMs would be added to the portfolio to ensure banking is available for everyone. Initially, uptake was slow.

Koatla put this down to the infancy of digital services in Lesotho and the lack of internet provision outside of metro centres.

28 / www.enterprise-africa.net

“In places where banking services are not readily accessible, we will place ATMs so that we can bring service to the people. We are looking at adding four or five ATMs this year and those will be in much more rural areas of the country.

“The uptake on the digital side is ok. It is not where we want it to be.

“We have to make sure we align ourselves to our customers in terms of what access they have to technology,” he said. “One thing that all banks are looking at is the ability of mobile devices. That is the direction that we are taking, and we are developing for both feature phones and smart phones. We are available on both phone types and we have USSD, internet banking and a smart app.

That covers all phones and all devices.”

But high data costs were still leaving many out of the reach of the full suite of digital banking services.

In 2019, Enterprise Africa asked Koatla again about the progress that was being made, and he was positive.

DIGITISING, SLOWLY “Currently, we have converted two branches to become fully digital

branches. Every branch that we work on, every way that we can touch it, we are trying to make it digital. We are forced by the clientele to still go semidigital and semi-brick and mortar. It has been so far, so good and we are seeing the take up being ok and we hope it can increase from there,” he said.

He was also keen to point out that collaboration with mobile money players was assisting the company to go digital faster.

“The use of mobile money is really assisting in terms of financial inclusion.

We, as banks, are trying to integrate the mobile networks in cases where we don’t offer such, so that we can continue to generate financial inclusion.”

He cited the World Bank’s statement on financial inclusion through digital improvements as the main driver for the business.

“Financial inclusion is critical in reducing poverty and achieving inclusive economic growth. When people can participate in the financial system, they are better able to start and expand businesses, invest in their children’s education, and absorb financial shocks,” said the World Bank.

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: FINANCE

BANK OF THE YEAR And at the end of 2019, all of the work that Standard Lesotho Bank had undertaken was recognised when it was labelled as Bank of the Year at a ceremony in London held by industry publication, The Banker.

The publication noted that Standard Lesotho Bank has emerged as the country’s top bank, thanks to a recovery in profits, the financing of Lesotho’s nascent medicinal cannabis market (providing a M11 million loan facility to MG Health, formerly Medigrow, for the establishment of a state-of-the-art laboratory for testing and the quality control of medicinal cannabis), and programmes designed to support local entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

“We think that Standard Bank’s South African and Africa-wide network is unmatched in its breadth, depth and robustness – and we work hard to ensure that all our capabilities are at the service of our clients, 24/7, 365 days a year, on digital channels or in person,” said Thabiso Tsenki, Acting Chief Executive of the Bank.

“Our success is a result of careful planning on the back of the upgraded core banking system,” added Tsenki. “We are now positioned to become the ‘bank of the future’.”

30 / www.enterprise-africa.net

Standard Lesotho Bank has also been a keen contributor to the development of SMEs, launching an entrepreneurship development programme in 2018 which includes a physical hub for entrepreneurs to use, along with a training programme for selected SMEs and various loan packaged for businesses starting up in the country.

Winning of this award was an important milestone for Standard Lesotho Bank, ensuring its clients that business was very much running as normal despite the loss of CEO Mpho Vumbukani in September. Vumbukani had been with the company since 2011 and was thanked for his contribution by the board. His replacement was announced recently as Kenrick Cockerill who will take over from Acting CEO, Tsenki as of April 1.

LEADERSHIP CHANGES Cockerill is a Standard Bank veteran boasting 32 years with the company and experience all over Africa. He has headed teams in South Africa, Botswana, DRC, Nigeria, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique and most recently in Tanzania.

Now is a challenging, difficult and interesting time for Cockerill to make the move to Lesotho as the global

coronavirus pandemic engulfs the entire global economy in its much-feared grip.

Many of Lesotho’s neighbours are taking unprecedented measures to slow the spread of the virus, and this has taken its toll on the economic climate. Movement restrictions and trade slowdowns

// WE THINK THAT STANDARD BANK’S SOUTH AFRICAN AND AFRICAWIDE NETWORK IS UNMATCHED IN ITS BREADTH, DEPTH AND ROBUSTNESS – AND WE WORK HARD TO ENSURE THAT ALL OUR CAPABILITIES ARE AT THE SERVICE OF OUR CLIENTS, 24/7, 365 DAYS A YEAR, ON DIGITAL CHANNELS OR IN PERSON //

STANDARD LESOTHO BANK

have resulted in banks being asked for patience and adaptation.

Lesotho has yet to feel major effects from the outbreak (at time of writing), but most expect it to cause at least some discomfort in the small African nation.

Standard Lesotho Bank has been monitoring the situation and is prepared to help. At the end of March, the company announced that preventative hygiene measures would be rolled out at branches and ATMs. Delivery of sanitisers and extra cleaning was started immediately. The bank then encouraged the use of digital solutions to reduce gathering in numbers.

GO ONLINE, BE DISTANT “With regards to your banking, we advise all clients to use all electronic banking channels for their banking as much as possible. These include Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, and App services. The use of these channels will limit visits to branches to reduce exposure. However, all branches and ATMs are being regularly sanitised to ensure a safe environment for clients whilst visiting branches. Whilst making use of electronic channels, utmost care must be exercised to ensure that due diligence is taken to avoid cybercrime.

Clients are always urged to ensure the safety of their PIN and passwords.

“As the banking sector, we reaffirm our commitment to join the world in combating COVID-19 and to cooperate with the Ministry of Health and other interest groups to arrest this pandemic.

The wellbeing of customers, staff and the nation is important to us. Let us all be vigilant and exercise all preventative precautions to be safe,” the bank said.

Later in March, as the situation worsened around the world, further information was released for those in Lesotho. Data free access would be offered up to those using the Standard Bank App via Vodacom (with Econet soon to follow).

“We are extremely delighted to introduce this development during such a critical time when we are facing the COVID-19 global outbreak. This new offering comes at a time when we, as the Standard Lesotho Bank are encouraging clients to reduce instances of going into branches and ATMs, in order to encourage Social Distancing, to help reduce the potential threat of coronavirus spread, which has now been declared as a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation,” said Selloane Tsike, Head of Personal and Business Banking.

At the start of April, the banking sector in Lesotho – made up of the Central Bank of Lesotho as the regulator along with FNB Lesotho, Lesotho

PostBank, Nedbank Lesotho and Standard Lesotho Bank – joined forces to donate M2million towards the fight against the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country. The money is set to be used to deliver vital educational measures that ensure Basotho are prepared.

More than two million people call Lesotho home and the economy thrives as long as its trade with South Africa and other neighbours remains strong. For now, that interdependence will be strained and the banking sector will be called on to assist as much as possible to help individual consumers, entrepreneurs and larger businesses.

Standard Lesotho Bank has been doing this for many years, and its efforts have been acknowledged. This ‘bank of year’ has a tough time to come, but is well-positioned as the industry leader to help its country.

As more and more are encouraged to go digital to minimise the spread of coronavirus, Standard Lesotho Bank offers the original and best service in the nation and is committed to helping its customers through to the other side.

WWW.STANDARDLESOTHOBANK.CO.LS

www.enterprise-africa.net / 31

OIM CONSULTING

To Win in the Marketplace, You Must First Win in the Workplace PRODUCTION: Manelesi Dumasi

OIM Consulting, one of the leading culture change consultancies in South Africa, is taking clients on a journey as they strive for improved efficiency, productivity and profitability. Steeped in academic tradition, the company has proven its methodologies and is now set to go global as more clients cry out for sustainable improvements. www.enterprise-africa.net / 33

INDUSTRY FOCUS: MINING

//

Perhaps one of the most challenging and difficult business tasks in existence, wholesale organisational culture shift is not to be taken lightly. Today, a positive and considered approach to company culture is widely accepted to have major benefits on operational performance.

According to behavioural scientist and author Dr Pragya Agarwal: “A positive workplace culture improves teamwork, raises the morale, increases productivity and efficiency, and enhances retention of the workforce.

Job satisfaction, collaboration, and work performance are all enhanced.

And, most importantly, a positive workplace environment reduces stress in employees,” she writes for Forbes.

Poor culture quickly leads to disengagement in staff. “Disengaged workers had 37% higher absenteeism, 49% more accidents, and 60% more errors and defects. In organisations with low employee engagement scores, they experienced 18% lower productivity, 16% lower profitability, 37% lower job growth, and 65% lower share price over time,” says research from Harvard Business Review.

This is not just a challenge for SMEs. Even the biggest have to constantly monitor and adapt their culture strategy in order to maintain

// IF ANYONE WANTS TO KNOW WHAT THE AVERAGE COMPETENCY OF A SUPERVISOR IS IN SOUTH AFRICA, WE CAN TELL THEM IT’S CURRENTLY RUNNING AT 12% - JUST 12% OF YOUR SUPERVISORS ARE COMPETENT // 34 / www.enterprise-africa.net

a high-performing and results-driven team. Google, one of the world’s most famous companies, is renowned for its sparkling culture, where employees are heavily invested in with outcomes coming as a result. On the other hand, there are major companies like Uber – a world leader in its industry but with a reputation for bad culture, where results are invested in with employees coming second - literally used as a vehicle for achievement of success, whatever the cost.

So how can you go about shifting culture? What is the key to corporate culture success? Of course (unfortunately), there is not one single answer. According to leadership consultant and author, Steve Denning: “Changing an organisation’s culture is one of the most difficult leadership challenges. That’s because an organisation’s culture comprises an interlocking set of goals, roles, processes, values, communications practices, attitudes and assumptions.”

However, he hints at the right place to start – within the leadership team.

LEADERS MAKE CHANGES By clearly defining the goals, aspirations, values and ethos within a company, people can begin to relate to it – what it does, why it does it, who it is doing it for, and how it works. Corporate culture defines a business, and this is vital in the eyes of customers. It all starts at the top, filters down to every employee and influences every activity.

In South Africa, this was recognised early on by famed management consultant, Robert Tusenius. The Dutch-born culture change expert was a pioneer in building South African company philosophy by overcoming racial, religious, cultural and geographical boundaries. In 1985, he founded OIM Consulting. Operational Improvement Management (OIM) is today one of the foremost groups of thought leaders when it comes to development of managers in business.

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// THE PRODUCTIVITY OF STAFF WENT UP FROM AROUND 21,000 TONS PER PERSON TO 32,000 PER PERSON. THE AMOUNT OF GOLD THAT THEY RECOVERED IN THAT TIME PERIOD WAS INCREASED BY 41% // Arjen de Bruin, OIM is rooted in social development and cross-cultural bridge-building. Helping to develop people and culture by enhancing core competencies, the company will equip your business with the tools to effectively execute responsibilities.

Currently focused on South Africa’s mining industry, OIM is helping to create long-term improvements by developing those at supervisory or frontline level. The company has a tried and tested method for achieving results, based on academic principles of Lean Six Sigma and INVOCOM. “Analyse.

Improve. Sustain.” is the mantra to which the company subscribes.

“We are implementation consultants,” says de Bruin. “We don’t write reports. We implement what we find. We put feet on the ground and we walk with you for between six months and a year depending on the size of the project. We don’t fly in, do analysis, write a report, and then leave. We take the reputation that whatever we say is implementable and you will see the benefits.”

For companies that have developed a clear vision, turning that into a universal culture is the next important hurdle. OIM encourages the use of INVOCOM methodology – Involvement through Communication. INVOCOM is used to engage everyone in the organisation, mobilise them around

OIM CONSULTING

goals and build a climate conducive to strategy execution.

“Until 2010, was what OIM was really known for - the implementation of a cultural framework through INVOCOM,” states de Bruin.

When culture change is underway and new values are beginning to bed down, next is process improvement.

For OIM, this is managed through the Lean Six Sigma methodology – a modern adaptation of Frederick Winslow Taylor’s and Walter Shewhart’s principles of scientific management, and process control and continuous improvement. The idea involves use of several integrated tools to ensure universal uptake of improvements throughout a business.

By using different tools for different applications, the company can build culture, improve process, gain efficiency,

impact talent, and drive profitability.

“The methodology that we have built and used can be applied in any industry. We’ve been able to apply it in fashion retail, manufacturing, food, mining, and public sector. The methodologies are well-thought out and well-structured,” says de Bruin.

Typically, OIM prefers to roll out an entire suite of services, developing big results at the end of the process.

But, if needs are different, the company can provide just one of four main product groups.

“In 2010, when I joined the business” explains de Bruin, “OIM’s clients realised they had a great cultural framework but they had efficiency problems and leadership development needs too. OIM then added efficiency arm – OIM Operation Solutions, before adding OIM Leadership Talent.

“Then, we started providing projects which linked culture to efficiency, and that is our real differentiator. Our whole mantra is efficiency interventions without a cultural change and the relevant leadership development is unsustainable.

“From 2010 until now, we have enhanced the leadership and talent arm and we had a major focus on frontline leader and supervisory development where we show that if you build them competently, performance coach them, you can lift efficiency by 20-30%.”

The improvement process is not a one size fits all approach and while the OIM methodology can be applied across different scenarios, customisation is important, and all elements of the Lean Six Sigma have to applied to solve problems. Part of the approach

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: MINING

is the DMAIC phased system – Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control.

“You can’t go to a Lean Six Sigma methodology and decide you’re going to take out the D (define) - then you’re not following the principle anymore. You have to adjust and customise, but you can’t take out the heart of the implementation. If you take performance coaching out of a supervisory offering, you’re not doing it right as that is fundamental.

“We can apply the cultural framework separate from the rest. We can apply the efficiency framework with the principles from Lean Six Sigma and MOS (Managing Operating Systems) separately, we can offer the talent and supervisory offerings as stand alone. The methodologies have been created in such a way that if the clients want individual services, we can do it. We do have clients that need everything and so we have to integrate the whole package,” says de Bruin.

OIM Management Team

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PROVEN UNDERGROUND Among OIM’s key clients are some of South Africa’s big mining companies.

Perhaps it comes as no surprise that the industry is calling out for help after years of financial trouble, reduced efficiency and culture deterioration.

This is the kind of environment in which OIM thrives. Operational hurdles, people issues, and profit challenges – its perfect for a competent consultancy to step in.

At the end of 2018, OIM was summoned by one of the top 10 global gold mining companies, listed on the JSE and NYSE, to help one of its mines in South Africa.

“The mine, 2.9 km down, was sitting on one of the largest ore bodies in the world and losing a lot of money every month when we arrived,” remembers de Bruin. “It was immensely unprofitable.

They had so many initiatives that had failed. We were called in in late 2018 and they asked us to put together a programme to turn the company around. It was one of those projects that

we found both challenging and exciting as we were told this was the graveyard for consultants.”

Step one – identify problems.

Quickly, OIM confirmed its suspicions.

Those employed at supervisor or frontline level needed to become more competent in executing their daily tasks and the company’s culture was disjointed.

“We put together a programme that included all of our four pillars.

We wanted to shape the culture in the mine, we wanted to increase productivity by focusing on improving supervisors (middle and frontline team), and we would do it by analysing competencies, giving relevant training, and performance coaching for 16 weeks. That would ensure improved execution every day. We also looked at management and processes and implemented the management operating report which basically sets new standards on how you should work.

We coached line managers to become

OIM CONSULTING

// WE HAVE ONE VERY DEDICATED AIM AND THAT IS TO BECOME THE THOUGHT LEADERS IN THE FRONTLINE OR SUPERVISORY SPACE // coaches and equipped people to carry on our work to ensure sustainability,” explains de Bruin.

After a comprehensive programme was undertaken between January and December 2019, results were seen very quickly. By focussing on building the culture and giving leadership the ability to advance change, the fortunes of the mine started to turn.

“I recently bumped into the CEO of the company at the airport, the day after they released their year-end results and he mentioned to me that he was sceptical when he first met us. But he said the massive difference we made helped turn the company around,” de Bruin recalls.

“We are proud of playing a part in turning the company around to profit making. Some people thought it was to

do with gold price but that was not the case. The productivity of staff went up from around 21,000 tons per person to 32,000 per person. The amount of gold that they recovered in that time period was increased by 41%. It went from a negative profit to a positive profit and there was a 102% increase in net profit over the time. I’m not saying that we can claim all of it but the client said the ROI of the project that we did was around 25/1.”

Clearly, there is something to be said for culture shift and performance coaching. With the onset of coronavirus and the challenging conditions that the wider local and global economies now face, efficiency improvements are more important than ever been before. Soon, it will become simply unfeasible for a mine to operate if it cannot do so in a productive manner.

“We capacitated leadership, we developed a whole new culture, and the mine that was well known for underperforming suddenly turned a profit. It has helped us as a consultancy to raise our profile,” admits de Bruin.

MINING FOR FUTURE WORK This new status as a star player in the local market makes for an interesting pipeline at OIM. After also demonstrating its ability with Africa’s largest iron mine, two top 10 global diversified mining companies have

lined up future projects.

“We have just been given the go ahead to start with a minerals sands project in Richards Bay, South Africa. We have also been given the go ahead with the largest global platinum producer on a three-year programme. If we can show success, they want to take us to other sites globally. Those are the two projects that we are very excited about right now,” enthuses de Bruin.

“Both projects are focussed on supervisor development, with some culture engagement.”

Internationally, OIM is eyeing expansion as it sees many opportunities beyond South Africa’s fertile land.

Whether it’s global mining houses with activities around the world or different industry sectors in Africa, by applying modern thought leadership tactics, OIM can help to achieve prosperity.

For de Bruin, a particularly exciting project is underway right now in Rwanda – one of the up and coming economies of the sub-Saharan region.

“One of the other exciting projects we are involved with is working on the CIMERWA cement plant in Rwanda. We have done the efficiency side and the supervisor side, and we have now been asked to look at the culture side. With Rwanda’s previous history, that will be exciting for our guys to get stuck into and help to create a fresh company culture.

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: MINING

// WE DON’T WRITE REPORTS. WE IMPLEMENT WHAT WE FIND. WE PUT FEET ON THE GROUND AND WE WALK WITH YOU FOR BETWEEN SIX MONTHS AND A YEAR DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE PROJECT //

“The Rwandan people have a thirst for knowledge which is phenomenal.

We found that when we started doing training there, we were offering training workshops for 20 people, but double would turn up – they just want to learn.

They want to do things better; it’s incredible. There is an active drive for improving themselves and bettering their position by becoming the best they can be to grow the economy. There is such a mindset difference and we really enjoy working in that beautiful country,” he says.

In the longer-term, OIM’s aspirations are certainly international and the opening of a new office in London is helping the company to test the waters with potential clients listed on the London Stock Exchange.

“We’ve opened up with a business development arm and the reason is that many of the mining companies we work with are on the LSE. We have found that

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when you sit in South Africa, you can talk to international mining companies but there are many that you cannot get to because they are not located here.

“The business development arm is first and then, after speaking with the Department of UK Trade and Industry who will help us with regulatory compliance, we aim to have a company registered and established before the end of the year. We want to take our methodologies to a global audience, specifically though companies that are listed in London,” details de Bruin.

Listed on the LSE are major mining houses including Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Glencore, BHP Billiton, Vedanta, and more.

“We understand the African market very well but there are also Australian and Canadian companies on the London exchange who have assets in Africa so we will target them.

We want to talk to the execs in London

about how we can help them with their assets in Africa. It will likely lead to hybrid consultancy teams where we bring resources from SA, the UK, and Europe so we can implement our methodologies in North America as well as Africa,” predicts de Bruin.

WORKING HARD FOR ROI After years of consistent delivery of ROI for its clients, OIM is continuing to invest in itself to ensure sustainability and growth. Currently home to around 35 of the best consultants available, OIM hopes to grow to 50+ by the end of the year. This will help to deliver the overarching target of doubling the business by the start of 2021.

“We are looking at doubling the business this year,” smiles de Bruin. “A few years ago, we were speaking to more local mines but over the last two to four years, we have started working with tier one mining companies.

OIM CONSULTING

// OUR WHOLE MANTRA IS NOW EFFICIENCY WITHOUT A CULTURAL CHANGE IS UNSUSTAINABLE // Through that, we have been able to expand and our whole strategy is now about working with the international mining companies so that we can gain credibility with other big global names. Depending on the impact of Coronavirus, we are looking at doubling this year, and then doubling in the following two years again.”

As well as industry-leading knowledge and thinking, OIM will soon be in a position to offer tailored software to clients, developed inhouse with specific outcomes in mind. This development tool is aimed at the

advancement of frontline leaders and supervisors, and is unique in its contribution. “We believe that through selling the system to clients and offering the services around it, we should be able to add 10-15% income,” says de Bruin.

This, alongside international expansion and publicity with new global mining brands, should help to propel the OIM name into the top echelons of the sector. While the company remains well-known locally, its international counterparts still claim significant brand recognition, and OIM wants a piece of the market. “We are trying to overcome that by investing in marketing,” admits de Bruin.

Combine marketing efforts with extremely strong relationships with educational establishments (some of the world’s best in the mining sphere) and you have a clear strategy for increasing engagement.

“We have one very dedicated aim

and that is to become the thought leaders in the frontline or supervisory space. We work with the University of Witwatersrand Mining Institute to keep ourselves apace of the trends and to see what competencies are needed by individuals. We want to be the go-to people when it comes to development of frontline leaders or supervisors. That is our stated goal and that is what we want to be known for,” confirms de Bruin.

Over the years, the company has built up a significant data portfolio and can clearly offer a differentiator from others – first-hand, up to date, relevant statistics.

“If anyone wants to know what the average competency of a supervisor is in South Africa, we can tell them it’s currently running at 12% - just 12% of your supervisors are competent, the others are not. We have been building data as we do projects so that we can tell clients and the market that right now, the challenge with digitisation is

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: MINING

giving big data to people who don’t know how to handle it and the result is that you lose on your investment into systems and digitisation,” offers de Bruin.

SINCE 1985 How has OIM managed to grow into a position of influence over the past 35 years? By sticking to its focus area of culture and leadership development.

Certainly, the business has evolved, but the work is still based on the ideas set out

by Professor Robert Tusenius in the 80s.

“At that stage, he was the head of the University of Stellenbosch Business School,” recalls de Bruin. “Professor Tusenius was a Dutch national and he was active in the Second World War. During his involvement in the war, he started asking questions about culture.

Why does one culture seem to be better than another when both have similar problems and opportunities, even though there might only be a river dividing the two? How can you improve culture on both sides?

He came to South Africa within the apartheid era and he started to reach out politically to the diverse racial groups in the country, starting conversations between the different races.

“A famous story tells that he looked at one of Cape Town’s prestigious buildings called the Golden Acre and he said to an audience, how do you perceive this building? The white people

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said: ‘It’s prestigious and beautiful and it makes a statement’. He replied: ‘how would black people view the building?’

They viewed it as hard work, a building that is not for their use, and something that was painful to create as they could not enjoy the fruits of their labour.

Those were the discussions he started having, stating that how people see things actually does matter. He realised the divide needed to be crossed and people needed to come together.”

After gaining a following for his academic work at the University, Tusenius was approached by companies who saw him as the answer to their culture issues while they employed people from so many different backgrounds, with different religions, languages and ways of life. This is when OIM really came into being for the first time.

“He said ‘let’s take all of the backgrounds in SA – not just racial, but tribal and religious – and find out how to make a company thrive with such a mix of cultures’. He helped to build the framework around how you can improve the company’s culture and make it an excellent company to work for with the right leadership style, right focus, and create a structure with an engaged forum where people are willing to work for the company,” explains de Bruin.

But even with a rich history, a strong pipeline, and a brilliant offering

// YES, WE WILL HAVE FULLY AUTOMATED MINES, BUT IT WILL NOT BE AS EASY AS PEOPLE THINK// for clients, is the business ready to navigate the web of issues that will result from the coronavirus outbreak, global economic slowdown, and drop in oil pricing? De Bruin remains confident.

“Just looking at the SA market, the Rand is weak. We can provide South African skilled resources to overseas markets so our resource model for clients is pretty good because we are not charging Dollars. Right now, we are in a good space because the SA economy, even though it’s weak, the majority of our work is in mining which talks to a global audience and less to a local economy,” he says, insisting that the only threats to the business would come from things beyond its control.

“We try and always provide value for money consulting – that doesn’t mean we’re cheap but it means we will always provide good value,” he adds.

HUMANS RELEVANT? The other potential risk facing OIM in the future comes in the form of automation, technology, robotics and AI. What use is culture and leadership development if a team consists only of machines? For de Bruin, this future remains some way off right now, but it is inevitably coming. OIM will always be available to its clients and ready to assist, even in a situation where retraining and reskilling is required.

“The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a must and has to happen but rolling it out cannot ignore the current situation of where companies are and what their culture is,” he says. “Technology will always outstrip the mindset of the people in the company so how do you ensure that people have the right future work skills? Everyone says they

OIM CONSULTING

like to retrain people, but the truth of the matter is that you can’t retrain every single person. We try to challenge our clients and tell them they must automate but it won’t happen over night because you decide to put a new system in. You have to tackle culture and you have to discover what new skills are needed. As we are the thought leaders in that space, we can help you. It’s a very exciting space to be in; we are very positive about digitisation and where people fit into it.”

For the mining industry specifically, many companies are already turning to automation for cost and safety reasons.

PwC said in its 2019 mining report that South Africa’s mining industry ‘requires a revitalisation to regain its lustre’. Gold in particular faces challenges as overall output continues to decline when compared to historical figures. ‘In the absence of new technology, halting this decline seems unlikely’, said PwC. Quickly replacing entire teams of people with machines, while sounding like a fix, is not the solution for de Bruin. OIM sees a much more phased approach.

“When mining companies say they will be people free, we don’t see it. Most of the mines in the African environment will be a hybrid of automation, semi-automation and conventional mining. It will be very difficult to move away from that,” he says. “The chances of going fully automated are there, but we are looking at a long way from now. It will be at least five years before there are good stories to tell. Shallow and open cast are easier versus underground mining. But even without people in the mines, you still need engineers to look after the equipment.

“We find that there are the same problems with maintenance people on the competency side that are faced by normal miners. You will always need people to look at data and make decisions. Will it be at current supervisory level? Because that means we have a problem. Currently, the worst competency of supervisors is planning

Arjen de Bruin - MD, OIM Consulting

and organising. Third worst competency of a supervisor is analysis and problem solving. By giving a supervisor data about automation, you could get nothing. You need to look at the whole value chain and decide where decisions will be made. Yes, we will have fully automated mines, but it will not be as easy as people think. There are so many issues to take into consideration before we get close to fully automated operations.”

Arjen de Bruin worked in financial services as the industry embraced a move towards complete digitisation. In the 90s, new systems and technologies were implemented to help reduce human error and streamline for efficiency. But people did not change the way they worked.

“Management had failed to shift the mindset and they didn’t know how to use the technology correctly,” he says. This is why effective culture shift strategies are essential, even in a digital environment.

To win in the marketplace, you must first win in the workplace is the famous

quote from entrepreneur Doug Conant.

For OIM this is true. It is winning in its own workplace and beginning to display ascendancy in its marketplace. Now, if it can help its clients to do the same, perhaps negative organisational culture in South Africa’s mining industry can be banished to the past?

“You have to package your methodology according to the circumstances, but we don’t change the methodologies. We find that is always very successful,” says de Bruin.

Giving OIM Consulting your assignment is a venture into creation of long-term value and investment opportunity, becoming an employer of choice, and a sustainable business partner.

WWW.OIMCONSULTING.COM

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SANSA

Award-Winning SANSA

Continues to Boost African Profile PRODUCTION: Karl Pietersen

In a challenging time for the economy and the country as a whole, South Africa’s National Space Agency is continuing to undertake important scientific work to help government make crucial decisions, using first-hand data developed by SAbased experts. This is a public entity with all the confidence of the government, operating as a trusted partner to the nation and continent.

//

Perhaps more so than at any point in recent history, science and technology is now more lauded and expected to deliver results.

South Africa, and the rest of the world, desperately looks to the scientific community for a solution to the coronavirus pandemic. Governments around the world seek the advice of the scientific population, technology innovators are working day and night to come up with products that would normally take years, and analysts are desperate for data to improve decision making and forecasting. If there was

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ever a time for science and technology to prove its worth, that time is now.

But being under pressure to drum up results and justify investments is not a new scenario for scientists and technologists. Ever since the two vital disciplines became a part of everyday society in the 19th century, expectation has been heaped on those involved to underpin economic advances, improvements in health systems, education and infrastructure. Today, science is a driver of government decision making.

In October 2017, Dr Valanathan

Munsami CEO of the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) told Enterprise Africa that he was keen for SANSA to aid in the use of science and technology – especially space information – for government policy making and future planning.

Enterprise Africa speaks to SANSA once again, this time to MD Space Science Dr Lee-Anne McKinnell to find out what progress has been made. She confirms that Munsami’s vision is materialising.

“We have developed policy briefs for government to use on specific issues,

INDUSTRY FOCUS: TECHNOLOGY

we are making sure that we are sitting on government committees – our execs are on committees for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, earth observation, space weather and communications and navigation – so we are ensuring our expertise are used to aid decision making in the country.

“Our visibility as a Space Agency over the past few years has really increased. I think the future is looking very good for SANSA. The challenges like what we are currently experiencing will come over the hill and we have to be prepared but we need to keep in touch with our government partners and our ministry to ensure we deliver on what they want and expect, so that they can demonstrate the incredible benefits SANSA provides for government, industry and all citizens of this country.”

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POSTPONED NOT CANCELLED Even while studying space and outof-this-world phenomenon, SANSA is not immune to challenges faced on earth. The coronavirus outbreak has wreaked havoc in the agency’s diary, and in March it was announced that the international conference on space operations, SpaceOps 2020 – set to be held in May in Cape Town for the first time on African soil – had to be postponed.

“The health and safety of our employees and guests is paramount in everything we do so we didn’t take the decision lightly,” insists McKinnell.

“We used facts from our government and other governments and we are happy that the international organisers have agreed to postpone for a year and not cancel completely. We still feel that Africa is a great location and we

would like to be the agency that hosts the conference for the first time on the African continent. We are looking forward to doing so in 2021 and because it has been postponed and not cancelled it means that all of our preparations have not gone to waste and all of the great things we have promised will come to fruition.”

Major travel restrictions in place all over the world, clamp downs on public gatherings, and concerns over spread of the virus have resulted in too many being unable to attend. “One of the things we believe in very strongly is that the work we do must be open to all,” says McKinnell.

SANSA is not alone in its feeling of disappointment that gatherings have had to be postponed. Many shows around the world have been cancelled or rescheduled and this is an extension

UKZN STUDENTS’ PILL APP

HELPS FIGHT ANTI-MICROBIAL RESISTANCE THE UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL (UKZN) HAS RECENTLY BEEN PROACTIVE IN DEVELOPING ITS STUDENT ENTREPRENEURSHIP POLICY IN ORDER TO EQUIP AND EMPOWER STUDENTS WITH INNOVATIVE SKILLS TO KICK-START THEIR OWN BUSINESSES IN A BID TO BOOST JOB CREATION AND ECONOMIC PROSPERITY. AN EXCITING SPIN-OFF OF THIS IS TEAM PILL-ALERT - A CREATION BY TWO YOUNG MEN DETERMINED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD. They are fifth-year UKZN Medical student Mr Kapil Narain and his first-year colleague Mr Mohamed Hoosen Suleman, who have designed cell-phone technology to send automated alerts via SMSs to patients reminding them to take their medication.

Narain and Suleman have now been selected by the World Health Organization and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the United States to present their creation - which the students believe will help fight Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) - to an international panel of experts.

To ensure patients take their medicine as stipulated - a major factor in combatting AMR – the app sends automated alerts via text messages (SMS) to patients to remind them to take their medication on time.

Narain and Suleman hope to integrate and implement their intervention in low and middle income countries with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa.

They also aim to foster partnerships with the South African National Department of Health, and the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology in collaboration with the World Health Organization, ReAct Africa and other stakeholders to make their invention widely available.

South Africa is experiencing the negative economic and health consequences of vital medications becoming ineffective and coupled with the emphasis on substitutes for antibiotics as well as the shortage of new diagnostics, vaccines and medicines to fight AMR, Higher Education Institutions in this country have been put under pressure to unearth innovative ways to help meet the objectives of research, making them relevant and accessible to society.

This mobile health solution is patient specific ensuring users receive the reminders at designated time-points with instructions on how to take the medication as set Through the Team Pill-Alert app, UKZN is showing it is out in their prescriptions. leading the way in this field.

INNOVATE4AMR WAS ORGANIZED BY: Associations (IFMSA) ReAct–Action on Antibiotic Resistance Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and The South Centre with support from the World Health Organization - http://www.who.int/ For more information, visit: www.ukzn.ac.za

INSPIRING GREATNESS

* UKZN UNDERTAKES IMPACTFUL RESEARCH IN THE FOLLOWING FOUR FLAGSHIP AREAS:

• • • •

SOCIAL COHESION - ADDRESSING INEQUALITY AND PROMOTING NATION BUILDING AFRICAN HEALTH - SAVING LIVES BIG DATA AND INFORMATICS COMPUTING SOLUTIONS AFRICAN CITIES OF THE FUTURE CREATING LIVEABLE CITIES

INDUSTRY FOCUS: TECHNOLOGY

from left: Dime Kekana, Lesiba Tsoeleng, Nale Mudau (project leader), Morwapola Mashalane, Mahlatse Ganyago, Nosiseko Mashiyi, Asanda Lamba and Willard Mapurisa

of the difficult conditions imposed by governments to protect citizens.

“We are not running as normal. We have had to cut travel altogether. Our business is global so people are feeling it and many people are nervous. The situation will only push us faster into the age of teleconferencing and the use of virtual technology platforms.

SANSA has put all efforts in place to ensure business continuity and our staff have been equipped to continue to deliver on our mandate by working from home during this difficult time.”

SpaceOps 2020 has been rearranged for 3 – 7 May 2021 and will take place at Cape Town International Convention Centre.

PROJECTS COMING TO FRUITION Recent events aside, the past financial year has been a positive one for SANSA. As trust and respect in some StateOwned Entities has waned significantly, SANSA has operated without financial mismanagement or state capture, and has consistently delivered on its promises, adding to decision making capability and knowledge base for the country.

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Even as the South African economy has hit rock bottom, SANSA’s work has resumed, and the company continues to create international relationships that are fixing the country’s position on the map.

“We do not sit back and say ‘there is no money and government can’t help us’. We are a public entity and we feel very strongly that we have a very important role to play in the SA government landscape,” says McKinnell.

“Part of that role is ensuring the value we bring to the nation is significant.

While we might be waiting for the tide to turn, it is important for us to be working on the things we do have control over; working on ensuring the country understands our value and the services we provide to the African continent, while continually finding new ways in which we can use space to benefit the daily lives of mankind – that is important in Africa.”

Currently, SANSA is busy planning the launch of a new space weather centre, where scientists will use ground-based infrastructure to scan the skies and predict space weather that could impact earth, such as solar

flares. Space weather has the potential to be devastating for life on earth if it is not monitored. Some events could knock out power and utility grids, disrupt communications, endanger transportation, and much more.

The new centre, which will be located at SANSA’s site in Hermanus, will demonstrate a huge leap forward for the use of space knowledge on the continent, and will act as a beacon for scientists around the world who need to collate data. SANSA received designation by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to be one of two regional suppliers of space weather information including forecasting to the global aviation industry.

“The project is at the end of its first year and the first year included a considerable amount of planning and prep,” explains McKinnell. “We will be putting up an entirely new building dedicated to space weather monitoring and research on our site in Hermanus and we are just about to appoint an architect who will do the design so that we can break ground this year. We have done a lot of product and service

SANSA

development in the background. We have a very strong research team and we have been pushing for products that come out of research to be used in space weather prediction and forecasting. We are into the development phase and we are proud of the team for moving this project forward in a short space of time.

“Our participation on an international level in the space weather arena, which we need in order to promote the centre, has been incredible,” she adds. “We have participated in meetings with the aviation sector, we

// THERE HAS BEEN A NEED IDENTIFIED IN AFRICA THAT OUR SPACE COMMUNITY IS HELPING TO ADDRESS, AND I THINK THAT IS A VERY POSITIVE THING //

have participated at a very high level at the European Space Weather Week and other space weather conferences across the word. We have strengthened our partnerships, joining forces with a consortium of European countries to make sure we can provide space weather information along a consistent latitude line. The project is on the way and we are hoping to see tangible outputs from the project in 2021.”

Currently, SANSA runs a limited focus space weather centre and has proven itself by serving various South African industries for a decade. The next big milestone in the project lifecycle will be breaking ground for the new centre.

“The project is about taking our capability and building on it and turning out a fully operational centre with dedicated staff and dedicated operational resources, with the ability to serve a wider range of customers.

“The centre will provide 24/7 forecast predications and verifications of the impact that space weather events will have on our technological systems. We are focusing on highfrequency communications, navigation

systems, radiation exposure at aviation altitudes, and satellite communications,” states McKinnell.

If SANSA is able to undertake forecasting and predictions across these four areas, it can serve defence, energy, aviation, communications and many more sectors. “We have looked carefully at how we can ensure our 24/7 operational centre can maximise our ability to serve the largest number of sectors. Through our designation as the space weather regional warning centre for Africa it is our ambition to be the experts on the African continent.

We are working closely with our American and European partners to ensure that we provide a global service where they see us as their African experts,” details McKinnell.

AFRICAN CONNECTIONS All at SANSA are clear that space operations are not a South African privilege. The international community must benefit from research and development beyond our atmosphere.

But with well-established and wellfunded operations, other regions of the

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: TECHNOLOGY

// OUR AIM AND AMBITION IS TO HAVE A PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN, FULLY DEVELOPED AND BUILT SATELLITE IN SPACE VERY SOON //

world are catered for when it comes to utilising important space-based knowledge. This is why the work of SANSA must benefit Africa as a whole and add to the already fantastic work going on around the world.

In 2020, SANSA will continue with projects on the continent, rolling out more infrastructure and monitoring equipment to help with decision making, while partnering with regional players.

“Up until recently, when we have put space monitoring instrumentation in place all over Africa, it has been for research purposes only and that means you run the instrument in campaign mode,” explains McKinnell. “As long as it is sitting there running and capturing data, you’re fine. But when you want to run in operational mode so that a centre can use the data as it is collected, it becomes a whole different ball game.

You need ensured reliability, power sources, internet access and we have been looking at African partners who can provide that.”

Already active with the major

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African space players – Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Ghana and Morocco – SANSA is keen to further develop continental relations. Partnerships are being garnered in Namibia, Zambia, Uganda, Ethiopia and more.

“We are growing our African collaborations hugely,” states McKinnell.

“Egypt has just won the rights to host the African Space Agency so they are a key partner for us. We will be signing an MoU with the Egyptian space agency later this year. With recent developments, that has been delayed but it will happen. We had a team out in Zambia commissioning infrastructure installations with a Zambian partner.

Uganda is also coming onboard; after just promulgating their national space programme they are now looking for partners. We already do a lot of work with Uganda in universities as previously they would send a lot of their students to be trained at SANSA on space related subjects. We also do a lot of work in Namibia where we have two permanent geomagnetic field stations.”

The new SANSA space weather centre will further the development of these relationships while the agency gets feet on the ground to continue to provide solutions to real problems.

“There is a lot of water resource and disaster management applications that are coming out of the continent.

These are based on the needs of various African governments that our space community is helping to address, and I think that is a very positive thing.

“Our position as a regional warning centre for space weather over Africa has also opened many doors for us.

We are now sitting on international organisations around the world where we are seen as the experts in Africa.”

PROUDLY SA SATELLITE In 1999, South Africa launched its first satellite into orbit from an Airforce base in America. SUNSAT’s (Stellenbosch UNiversity SATellite) purpose was to enhance engineering capability at the university, build international collaboration, and buoy interest in

SANSA

technical careers and space science among youngsters. In 2009, South Africa’s next satellite was launched onboard a Russian rocket from Kazakhstan. SumbandilaSat was a fresh experiment in space tech viability and affordability, and was designed to monitor and manage disasters such as flooding, oil spills and fires within Southern Africa.

These projects served as the perfect base for the satellite industry to boom in South Africa, and with the onset of CubeSat technology – miniature satellites with powerful research and communication powers – there has been a surge in development.

“In the last two years, South Africa has seen a growth in the CubeSat industry,” confirms McKinnell. “Around 2002, there was just one university in South Africa with a programme on CubeSat technology. They successfully launched the first CubeSat and after that, things really took off. We now have several universities or educational centres running CubeSat projects

and South Africa has two successful CubeSats flying – 1 x 1U and 1 x 3U – and we are currently working on the third. Government is investing in this as it ticks a lot of boxes. It’s educational, its proudly South African, and it encourages students into the field as they can be part of the project from concept to launch.”

All of South Africa’s current efforts have been launched in collaboration with international agencies and partner organisations. In the future, SANSA is keen to put a totally South African satellite into orbit, further demonstrating its expertise as the industry leader on the continent.

While McKinnell cannot set a concrete date for when the launch of a more sophisticated instrument might take place, she is certain it will happen.

“It is expensive so it is taking a bit longer but we still have that in mind,” she says. “While we are extremely good at measuring space from the ground, our aim and ambition is to have a proudly South African, fully developed

and built satellite in space very soon.

“The economic outlook of the country, and the region, does have an impact because a satellite build programme is extremely expensive.

But there has been a lot of very positive moves in the satellite industry. We have a very dynamic and growing space industry in the Western Cape where a number of SMME companies have been set up to provide satellite build services and most of them are getting international contracts because of the reasonable costs they can offer by doing this in South Africa. Part of SANSA’s mandate is to stimulate that industry and to advise government on satellite build programmes.”

RAISING THE PROFILE In this, SANSA’s tenth year of official existence, raising awareness of the work that is done and ensuring the South African public back the work of the agency has become more important. As the economy moves into emergency status, funding will

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: TECHNOLOGY

become more strained than ever, and it is vital that SANSA can continue to showcase its worth.

Fortunately, the agency has been on a good run of form recently. Striking deals with NASA and picking up global awards have gone a long way in promoting its value.

In November 2019, SANSA collected the Sustainable Development Goals GEO award in recognition of its work in producing earth observation data surrounding land consumption for Stats SA. The multi-stakeholder programme was awarded at a ceremony in Canberra, Australia.

“It was an incredibly proud moment for the agency as the sustainable development goals are extremely important for us. We try to align our strategy and work towards them. It helps to prove our value and proves the use of earth observation when solving real problems that countries have,” says McKinnell.

In February 2020, SANSA inked a new contract with NASA to further progress on the major Artemis project, investing in Deep Space Communications studies. The agencies will work together to advance technical and environmental research on the

// THE PROJECT IS ON THE WAY AND WE ARE HOPING TO SEE TANGIBLE OUTPUTS FROM THE PROJECT IN 2021 //

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potential to establish a ground station in South Africa that will support future near-Earth and deep space exploration, including the Artemis mission to send the first woman and the next man to the surface of the Moon.

Marcus Watkins, Director of the NASA Management Office, said: “Having worked with the South African government on numerous projects in the past, it is fitting to collaborate with SANSA on this study agreement, not only because of the geographical positioning of South Africa but more so the technical capabilities and the consistent quality of work produced by SANSA within the Space Operations arena over the years.”

McKinnell agreed saying: “The Deep Space Network and the partnership with NASA is also one of our priority projects along with the space weather project. It shows their confidence in us and we had done a lot of leg work to show that our site and South Africa is a very important geographic location for NASA’s Artemis programme. It also means that SANSA as an African space agency will be able to participate in some way in NASA’s moon and mars missions.

“That puts the wow factors back into space. We use space as a driver to create excitement around science and

technology and we need those bits of excitement to provide that wow factor.

Many people aspire to be a part of missions like this and so we are bringing it closer to the homes of South Africans.”

These developments are so important for an organisation like SANSA, under pressure to deliver results so as to not end up like other State-Owned Entities and totally lacking in confidence.

McKinnell is hopeful that the success realised in recent months can continue and catalyse the start of future projects and income generation.

“We cannot sit back and expect things to happen on their own. It is very important for us to keep our trust relationship with government.

Government has made a commitment to the agency and the projects we have on the table at the moment, and that commitment has given us the confidence to push forward,” she says. “The outcome and the results from these projects will grow our operations so we can overcome some challenges. Some projects will lead to revenue generating activities which will help with the economic situation, some projects will lead to bigger projects, and that will continue to put South Africa on the map. We have to use taxpayer money extremely wisely.

SANSA

What we have managed to do as an agency is show our value proposition to government and think outside the box in terms of what the country needs to put us on the map but also ensure sustainability of operations in the future.”

LOADED WITH OPTIMISM Despite current circumstances, McKinnell and SANSA look to the future with optimism. The realisation that space knowledge can provide tangible benefits in emerging economies is starting to result in a uniform acceptance of the field in many government strategies.

The technology utilised to explore and research space, from the ground and in orbit, is improving at an exponential rate, and the results of projects that make use of space are clearly demonstrating the benefits for enhanced space programmes.

“Over the last ten years, there has been a real elevation in the importance of space in Africa,” admits McKinnell.

This progress has seen the agency achieve a decade of excellence and that must now continue, and this is why a new strategy has been launched.

“The past year has been an incredibly exciting one, aside from the current pandemic. We have just launched a new five year strategy and that seeks to further integrate our knowledge with government decision making powers but it also shows that we will become more

focussed on Africa, representing Africa’s interests in the space community and non-space applications that you can gain from space.

“Growing our own space-relate knowledge and expertise is crucially important for the African continent. We need to ensure we are not only users of technology but also manufacturers, developers and implementers of technology,” says McKinnell.

Going forward it is clear that SANSA has an important role to play, both in the roll out of new strategic projects but also as a science and technology catalyst in the country. With a mission to ‘lead and inspire the South African space community to create a better future’, SANSA’s contributions are admirable and important for enhancing the country and continent.

“We have done a lot of work to make sure we are building national partnerships. We partner with South African Weather Services, we partner with Air Traffic Navigation Services, we partner with the CSIR – particularly on high performance computing – and we have partnerships with the universities across the country as well. We need to get young people involved in what we do so that we can build capability and capacity to get people excited about science, technology and innovation. The future of the space agency executive is out there and we

need to make sure we get them interested now,” states McKinnell.

For now, the agency is moving forward with the attitude set out by CEO, Dr Munsami regarding tough times. “If you are in a sailboat race and the wind dies down, it does not mean that the race is over,” he said at the Space for National Development Conference in November.

“What you do at the point when the wind is dead determines whether you win or lose the race. The one that sits back and says that there is nothing we can do, fails in the end. But the ones that clean up the boat and stand ready for when the wind picks up, those are the ones that actually win the race at the end of the day. That’s the approach we want to take as SANSA.” SANSA continues to map and monitor human settlement developments using high-resolution imagery to provide data that can be used for spatial planning, environmental and disaster management.

The hope is that this data can be used to support campaigns aimed at managing the spread of coronavirus to ensure that all communities are reached during mitigation and management of the virus – a clear example of science and technology being integrated in decision making to achieve outcomes for humanity.

WWW.SANSA.ORG.ZA

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SAPO

SA Post Office Keeping

Up With The Times PRODUCTION: Manelesi Dumasi & Sapo

The first post office in South Africa was opened in 1792. Is South Africa’s oldest institution evolving with the times? According to Zukiswa Ntsikeni, Group Executive: Operations, the organisation is well-equipped to continue serving South Africans whatever challenges the country may face.

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JHB International Mail Centre

INDUSTRY FOCUS: LOGISTICS

//

In a time of upheaval at one of South Africa’s most recognised institutions, the SA Post Office (Sapo) is developing a stabilisation strategy which will allow it to restructure and streamline before it advances with a growth scheme that will see it become a first-class government organisation that proudly serves the nation.

Threatened by legacy efficiency issues, public trust problems, stiff competition, capacity restrictions and now the coronavirus outbreak, Sapo is facing an uphill battle to reposition itself as the industry leader. But the business is resilient and is facing challenges head on, offering up innovation, collaboration, and cultural improvements to help overcome even the largest obstacles.

“In a fast-changing world, being well-established could easily mean being inefficient and outdated – especially if the organisation in question is a State-Owned Entity, constrained by much stricter and complicated legislation and regulations,” says Group Executive: Operations, Zukiswa Ntsikeni.

“Before the Post Office’s future plans can fly, it needs to be stabilised.

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We have progressed immensely along the road of stabilising operations. The future plans include launching an online e-commerce platform. It will be different from others in the sense that it focuses on small and medium enterprises in rural areas.”

But, while longer-term plans are starting to be rolled out, the issue at the forefront of most people’s minds is coronavirus. With the nation subject to movement restrictions and advice to stay at home where possible, delivery of essential mail has become more important than ever before.

Communication surrounding the best way to beat the virus has been largely digital, but physical mail will also play a part. However, there is a nervousness – both locally and globally – around all forms of human contact, even around a postman delivering mail.

Sapo is clear that all precautions are being taken and that the organisation will do everything to ensure a level of normality.

“The coronavirus has a very short life on surfaces and international mail operators have methods to eliminate possible contamination of items. Still, our employees are concerned, and

they have been issued with gloves and masks to wear when handling mail. This is available at our international sorting centres in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. We also give workers at other, smaller sorting facilities masks and gloves,” details Ntsikeni.

Pre lockdown, Acting CEO Ivumile Nongogo was crystal clear that Sapo would do everything to ensure South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) social grants are paid.

“We are designated to provide this important national service and we are cognisant of the importance of social grants for a sizeable part of our population constituting mostly vulnerable people.

“In order to minimise transmission risks, Sapo’s retail employees will be restricted to operating beyond one meter of each other.

“Measures have also been put in place to control the distance between queueing customers, as well as providing requisite queue marshalling services during peak times in the busy branches. Hygiene improving provisions such as sanitisers, gloves and masks are being made available to retail employees.”

SAPO

All SAPO branches remained open during lockdown and 882 were designated as vital in the delivery of social grant payments. Delivery of medical supplies and other essential items through the post office system would continue but mail services, parcel deliveries and other support operations were suspended alongside the Post Office customer services contact centre which was not available. All mail collections were also completely suspended during the 21day lockdown.

COURIER AND TRANSPORT Investments into fleet, processes and culture have seen Sapo come a long way in just two years. In 2018, Sapo had a very hard time delivering its two million items per day with only 586 vehicles – that’s more than 3400 items per vehicle.

To remedy the situation, Sapo signed contracts with Avis and FleetAfrica in 2019, bringing its fleet up to 1200.

“This has drastically changed the service levels,” confirms Ntsikeni.

“In 2018, our courier volumes had dropped to just over 100,000 items per month, performing at 40% of conformance to standard. Today, we are performing at 90% conformance in the courier division.”

Fleet investments played a big part in this improvement but culture change and communication among employees has also contributed. Continuous efforts to involve staff at all levels and ensuring the realisation of the importance of Sapo work is an ongoing effort.

“We have appointed our senior managers in Operations and are finalising our area manager

recruitments. When they start in their new positions, we will see a drastic improvement in service levels.

“We have reduced the control span which was previously excessive.

Where area managers used to look after 40 or 50 branches, we now reduced it to no more than 30 allowing the manager to touch each branch at least one a month.

“At first it will be necessary to visit a branch more than once a month, later it can be reduced. Similar to the area manager positions, we recruited tellers and branch managers internally. The benefit of that is that our employees see a career opening up for themselves, and we will train and upskill those that find themselves out in the cold,” explains Ntsikeni.

Continues on page 58

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WHAT FSS DOES FOR THE SOUTH AFRICAN POST OFFICE Choosing the right technology partner for managing grant disbursements was extremely strategic and a matter of national importance given the impact of the social grants program on millions of South Africans.

In addition to technology-related competence, SAPO needed to be assured of the vendor’s viability in terms of financial stability, quality of support, alliances and partnerships and management performance.

SAPO selected FSS ahead of several national and international vendors because FSS fulfilled its criteria on all fronts. FSS submitted a proposal that reflected its experience as a large-scale payment processor and a seasoned partner committed to long-term success of the project throughout the contracting process.

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THE DELIVERY AND IMPACT FSS implementation expertise gained from large-scale projects for Central regulators and Tier One banks helped SAPO successfully rollout the service within a record setting five weeks. As per its requirements and agreements, SAPO commenced the issuance of the new SASSA card on 1st April 2018. without any disruption. This has helped significantly in rebuilding beneficiary trust and faith in the service. To date, SAPO and SASSA have enrolled more than 8 million beneficiaries on the new system.

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: LOGISTICS

Continued from page 55

PROCESS IMPROVEMENT In terms of processes, Sapo has and continues to overhaul its entire system.

From local and international delivery to expedited mail to courier and transport services, all processes are being reviewed to drive improvements. The new Board, appointed in October 2019 to revive Sapo after a decade of losing money, has put profitability at the heart of everything it does.

“We have plans to implement a route optimisation system where drivers will be directed through the most costeffective routes,” details Ntsikeni. “This is a fleet management system that assigns a driver to a vehicle through a biometric system; it is allocated to a zone. When you leave the zone, or drive recklessly, the control room is notified.

“Mobile phones with the optimisation system will implement a system for electronic proof of delivery,” she adds. Currently, Sapo uses a manual

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system and details have to be captured after the event. The new electronic system will scan everything immediately and details will be uploaded right away via the mobile network. This information is vital for businesses to confirm that the recipient has signed for their goods.

“It will allow us to start billing quicker – great for our cash flow,” states Ntsikeni.

The system will also reduce cash in transit by allowing customers to transact in a contactless manner.

Some international parcels require the collection of cash by drivers, but Sapo is keen to eliminate this risk. In 2018, industry bodies declared the ongoing threat from criminals targeting cash in transit a national disaster. Sapo’s new system is centred around safety.

“The money will go into our bank account much quicker. It is a tap-andpin system so the card never leaves the customer’s hand, but the purchase is safeguarded through the PIN verification.

This is much safer and eliminates the risk, cost of cash and the inconvenience to the customer,” confirms Ntsikeni.

GLOBAL MAIL Another point of frustration, this time for those looking to ensure their parcels get to their destination from abroad, was the lacking tracking information available when parcels move from international transporter into South Africa. “‘Once the item is in your system, I cannot see it,’ said the customers,” admits Ntsikeni. “Those days are over.

The SA Post Office has switched to an international system - Universal Postal Union’s IPS tracking system. Items no longer get a new tracking label or new tracking number when they come into South Africa.

“The item can now be tracked seamlessly and we are able to use our employees far more productively.”

Integration internally has also improved capacity, and is allowing for parcels that arrive from international markets to be delivered more effectively.

“The Post Office used to work in separate units that shared very little,” admits Ntsikeni. “Logistics trucks would leave a mail centre with space to spare

SAPO

// BEFORE THE POST OFFICE’S FUTURE PLANS CAN FLY, IT NEEDS TO BE STABILISED. WE HAVE PROGRESSED IMMENSELY ALONG THE ROAD OF STABILISING OPERATIONS // – and then there would be incoming international mail that was left waiting for its own, dedicated transport. Now, with the integration of international and logistics departments, we make sure that transport is available universally. Where necessary, international mail drivers are also available for logistics.”

When it comes to sending items out of South Africa, yet again, there had been

serious hold ups in the past. Collaborating and partnering with South Africa’s Civil Aviation Authority has helped to ease the strain and Sapo is now a trusted service provider with the ability to clear outbound mail.

“We can detect the presence of items in parcels that are not allowed on aircraft and return that parcel to sender. We are now a regulated and licenced clearance agent. Our mail now leaves the country much quicker and we are saving money.

In fact, we can now clear mail on behalf of other service providers and charge them for it,” explains Ntsikeni.

Perhaps one of the biggest success stories has been Sapo’s ability to turn inefficient infrastructure into revenue generating capacity at the same time as helping rural South African communities.

For some time, Sapo long-haul vehicles would run various legs of journey at less than 50% capacity. “Empty space is wasted potential income,” states Ntsikeni.

Today, the sales force has managed to engage with other players in the transport and logistics markets to fill this

space. “This improves service standards on all sides and improves the bottom line.

“In remote rural areas our competitors have very little presence – the Post Office does,” reiterates Ntsikeni. “In line with the modern trend of partnerships, we have engaged our competitors here. The Post Office can collect and deliver their parcels in these remote areas for them, saving them exorbitant cost – and again benefiting the Post Office’s income.”

This collaborative approach demonstrates a new willingness to reach out and engage other companies in the country while achieving an end goal for clients. The idea was developed from a similar system which has been operating in China for some time where community stores have been put up to pool all parcels in rural areas.

FASTER, STRONGER In March, SA Post Office new Chairperson, Colleen Makhubele delivered a damming round up of the business as it stood.

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: LOGISTICS

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“After our appointment in October 2019, we found an organisation which has been losing money for the past decade; a qualified audit report that was not being adequately addressed; governance lapses; wasteful expenditures; a post office with no executive committee and right management to address the strategy; operational and financial risks and inefficiencies and low staff morale in almost all departments.”

Of course, this environment had resulted in inefficiencies but a strategy to reposition the business was quickly installed. Now, effective performance is measured like never before, innovation and technology adoption is encouraged at every opportunity, staff are involved in all communication, and results are showing, as Ntsikeni explains.

“Our general day-to-day performance for regular mail is consistently improving as a result of better equipment and a focus on employee communication.

Best of all, we are also improving when it comes to time sensitive Fastmail items.

The volume of Expedited Mail Service items from other countries rose by close to 20% after we introduced new measures to improve the service. In May last year, international volumes were around 500,000 per month. It is now 1.8 to two million items per month. EMS showed the same trend, from 6000 items per month to 10,000 items per month.

“We were very happy to see customer complaints drop drastically, and disappointed toward the end of 2019 when they showed a rising trend.

However, this is to be expected as mail volumes rise very much towards the end of the year as our customers order items online with a view to Christmas.”

For most companies, adopting a host of changes would then require time before tangible change is realised.

For Sapo, the interventions are already being felt, and fortunately its customers that are seeing the benefit. “The proof is in the pudding, and our customers have understood that our service has improved,” says Ntsikeni.

SAPO

DELIVERING UPSKILLING Currently, the Post Office is a large employer – home to thousands of people. Cultural improvements are high on the agenda of management and new programmes to upskill, retrain and restructure are underway.

“We’ve started the upskilling program with maintenance,” details Ntsikeni. “For example, if you are a postman, perhaps advanced in years and no longer comfortable with delivering mail through your walk, you can be trained to become a certified maintenance worker. We intend to form maintenance teams, starting in the major mail centres in the Gauteng province. We are already speaking to Human Resources in this regard and the great thing is that we can use the Unemployment Insurance Fund grant to train these people formally as artisans.”

She is happy that this delivers the correct message both internally and externally: Sapo is restructuring, but it does not want to dismiss people.

“We want to be sensible and not spend unnecessarily on contractors when we have capable people to do maintenance in-house.”

PROFITABILITY? With all of the reforms in place to take the business back to profitability, Chairperson Makhubele underlined exactly what the challenging job of management was targeted around.

“Our job is to strategically position SA Post Office and use its distribution network, warehouses and retail infrastructure as a service platform to be leveraged for profitability, innovation, service delivery and of course to enhance its universal social obligations,” she said.

At the same time, Sapo holds the vision of being the trusted exchange channel of service delivery in South Africa respected for relevance, reliability, reach and resilience.

So how will South African’s benefit from a new digital, efficiency, and people focussed strategy? The launch of the new online ecommerce

Vredefort Post Office

platform is one great example.

“Maybe you manufacture and sell curios to tourists in a remote village,” proposes Ntsikeni. “For the first time, you can now advertise your goods online, receive your orders through our system, and send them off for delivery from your local post office.”

Perhaps you require delivery of essential medication? “We deliver for the Department of Health to selected post offices. We plan to extend this service further, and we are planning to offer some exciting, and essential, services at our post office branches on behalf of Home Affairs.”

For South African drivers, Sapo has become an important tool. “The Post Office also sees itself as front office for government,” says Ntsikeni. “South Africans can already pay their car licence at selected post offices in seven out of the nine provinces. We will expand this success story even further – each financial year, more than three million motorists renew their car licences at a post office.”

Of course, efficient payment of SASSA will remain a priority. “Every month, more than 11 million South Africans

receive grant payments on time. Since the Post Office took over payment of SASSA grants, there was no month that beneficiaries were not paid. We wish to assure all South Africans that this social obligation will never change,” said Makhubele in March.

This new strategy, new structure, new focus and new optimism is propped up by two outstanding characteristics: more than 1500 branches all over South Africa, and an established reputation as part of society.

“As our network covers all of South Africa, there is sure to be a post office near you – an advantage we plan to use to the full,” says Ntsikeni.

Despite the issues that are sure to arise from the growing coronavirus pandemic, Sapo is there to serve the needs of South Africa and will continue to do so in a faster, better and more sustainable manner.

WWW.POSTOFFICE.CO.ZA

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ORYX PROPERTIES

Shining Star

in a Strained Market PRODUCTION: David Napier

Acting as an example to follow for those looking for sustainability in tough times, Oryx Properties continues to display strength, resilience and ambition in weak market conditions made worse by the global pandemic.

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: PROPERTY

// ORYX CONTINUED ITS DEFENSIVE STRATEGY TO INVEST IN THE GROUP’S ASSETS AND ADD VALUE THROUGH RENOVATIONS TO KEEP ASSETS RELEVANT AND IMPROVE THEIR OFFERING TO CONSUMERS’ //

//

Of all the developing countries in the world, few would have welcomed the coronavirus pandemic like Namibia. Already facing an economic slowdown that is seriously hampering conditions in the country, this new threat is set to further entrench negativity and uncertainty in the subSaharan African nation that was for so long an example of relative stability.

Pre-Covid, Namibia was already in a tough place. For a long time the economy had been in turmoil, producing little or no growth. Traditionally strong industries had waned. The last time Namibia recorded three months of growth above 4% was at the start of 2015. The third quarter of 2019 showed a N$372 million GDP decrease on the same period for 2018. Even during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, Namibia has not performed this badly. With more than 30% of the population unemployed the desperate reality is clear: not only is the country’s national cake not growing, it is in fact shrinking.

Former Finance Minister, now Minister for Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Calle Schlettwein said in October that consolidation was needed to bring stability to the market an avoid further downgrades and uncertainty.

“Achieving economic growth, which is the necessary condition for the reduction of public debt, revenue generation, the creation of jobs and the reduction of poverty and inequality, is by far the most important objective over the short and the long term,” he said.

RIPPING THE RUG OUT But even the most pessimistic of onlookers could not have predicted the impact that coronavirus would then have on the global economy, compounding Namibia’s issues and bringing further uncertainty, instability and fear.

“The coronavirus and its economic implications threaten to take out the bottom of our already fragile economy.

Investments to improve the productivity of the agricultural sector may offer the

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ORYX PROPERTIES

best opportunity for survival. Food security and prosperity are the two main objectives,” Schlettwein tweeted at the start of April.

“The negative impact on the economy must be minimised, but has to be accepted as collateral damage,” he had said in an earlier tweet.

Like governments around the world, Namibia’s has stepped up with bold words, claiming it will do whatever it takes to ensure stability of the economy during the pandemic.

Hage Geingob, while being sworn in for a second term, said job creation and economic stimulation would form part of a new plan.

“In the midst of challenging economic conditions, exacerbated by Covid-19, we will present an economic recovery plan to mitigate anticipated negative impacts on our economy. The

single-minded objective is to stimulate quality economic growth and generate more jobs.

“We will do whatever it takes to safeguard our economic sovereignty and humanity,” he stated.

For companies active in Namibia, what was a challenging time just got even more difficult.

But there is hope. For those businesses that are well prepared, with carefully planned strategies, and efficient operations, tricky times can indeed become times laden with opportunity.

STRONG & STABLE Oryx Property, the Windhoek-based NSX-listed property loan stock company, has emerged from the economic sloth of the past five years in a stronger position than most to battle in the future.

Established in 2001, the company listed in 2002 and has, over the years acquired a significant portfolio. Today, it owns 25 properties in premium-quality retail, industrial and office real estate.

Its mission, ‘to acquire premium quality retail, industrial and office real estate, as well as investments in listed property to generate growing income streams’, has largely been achieved year-onyear. The company boasts Windhoek landmarks including the Maerua Mall and the Gustav Voigts Centre as part of its portfolio.

Expansion into South Africa, and more recently into the European market, have proven the ambitions of this very-Namibian business. And now is the time for ambition. Leveraging all of its experience and knowledge, the company is busy rolling out a strategy to protect assets and maximise revenue

www.enterprise-africa.net / 65

INDUSTRY FOCUS: PROPERTY

Maerua Mall

in a strained economy. It will be hard in Namibia, but Oryx is positioned to undertake successfully.

For the year ending June 2019, the company posted decent results with CEO Ben Jooste saying that further diversification was necessary to avoid the impact of the slow local market.

“2019 was a continuation of the challenging year experienced in 2018 as most businesses had to tighten their belts and diversify or reinvent themselves to survive the current recession,” he said. “Oryx is heavily exposed to the Namibian economy and was not immune from these challenges. This resulted in an intense focus to strengthen and diversify our balance sheet from being overly exposed to the local economy.

Continued negative economic growth is forecasted as the Bank of Namibia (BoN) revised GDP growth forecasts downwards from 1.5% to (1.7%) for 2019. This is due to lack of growth in the primary industries (agriculture, mining and construction) and tertiary industries, which include wholesale and retail trade. Namibia’s long-term economic outlook was downgraded

by Fitch Ratings to negative, reflecting Namibia’s weak growth performance and

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prospects. This has adverse implications on government’s ability to stabilise the public debt trajectory.”

INTERNATIONALISING Against this backdrop, Oryx looked to externalise investments while drastically reducing its vacancy rate at home in Namibia. In July 2018, the company concluded a transaction which would see it enter the European market. Focussing on Croatia, the Tower Property Fund, which Oryx has invested 26%, gives the company exposure to property worth N$300 million. Since the transaction was concluded, Croatia has been on a better course than that of Namibia. Recording 18 consecutive quarters of GDP growth, including 2.4% in the final quarter of 2018, Croatia is a buoyant and growing European hub.

“All credit rating agencies upgraded Croatia’s outlook to positive based on a budget surplus and steady economic growth. The total value of commercial real estate transactions reached €800 million in 2018. Similar levels are expected in 2019 as demand continues to outstrip supply,” Jooste said. “We invested N$300 million in Euro (€) equivalent by acquiring a 26%

// OUR ACTIVITIES AND SOLID OPERATING PERFORMANCE HELPED CREATE A SUSTAINABLE PLATFORM FOR GROWTH THIS YEAR // share in Tower International Limited.

The underlying real estate portfolio was worth €93 million on acquisition.

It consists of four retail centres (three in Zagreb and one in Dubrovnik), and an office tower in Zagreb. The portfolio was revalued at €100 million in May 2019. Of the N$300 million investment, N$100 million was earmarked to acquire Yazaki, an industrial facility for a Japanese automotive manufacturer comprising two buildings, which was partially concluded during the financial year.”

In Namibia, work continued to ensure the company’s portfolio remained industry leading.

“Oryx continued its defensive strategy to invest in the Group’s assets and add value through renovations to

ORYX PROPERTIES

keep assets relevant and improve their offering to consumers’,” detailed Jooste.

“The GVC renovations were finalised at a cost of N$94 million. This project forms part of our commitment to regenerate assets within Windhoek’s central business district (CBD) and improve the offering to cater for shopper’s and business evolving needs. Oryx started development on its latest project, Urban Village at Elisenhein.

This new convenience lifestyle offering will serve about 1400 residents in the area. The project is a three-phase, mixeduse development. The first phase is a N$100 million project which includes the land cost of the entire three-phase development and is due to be completed in the 2020 financial year. This is the third investment project that Oryx undertakes in a recessionary environment. We further acquired Steeledale in Windhoek in December 2018 through a vendor placement and consideration. The asset’s location and makeup provide an excellent opportunity to create longterm value.”

In South Africa, where the economy has also been underperforming, Oryx disposed of what it classed as risky assets.

It continues to view South Africa as a long-term opportunity but is cautious

about ‘high-yielding, high-risk’ assets.

“Oryx continued disposing of high-yielding, high-risk assets in South Africa. The Isando Industrial Warehouse was the last property sold in June 2019.

This property was vacant for almost two years, following the liquidation of the tenant and accounted for 53% of the vacancy rate across the entire portfolio. Smaller, non-core assets have also been identified to be disposed of,” explained Jooste.

Demonstrating the strength of the company and its resilience in tough times, Jooste gave details of a reduced vacancy rate, alongside a large cost reduction. Clearly, Oryx is nimble enough to move with the times but large enough to weather storms.

“Our activities and solid operating performance helped create a sustainable platform for growth this year. Although rental income was under pressure during our GVC renovation project, overall rental income improved by 7.8% year on year,” stated Jooste. “We reduced vacancies to 3.2% (2018: 6.5%) since the first quarter for three consecutive quarters in this financial year. This is significantly below the industry average and an excellent achievement given the current economic

climate where vacancy rates are trending upwards. This achievement testifies to the Group’s focused approach to reduce vacancies. We successfully reduced expenses in a sustainable, long-term manner. This included reducing some large recurring expenses by up to 20%, including security, cleaning and information technology (IT) costs.”

As market conditions inevitably worsen, this will be a historic point in the history of Oryx – a business that has achieved so much in a relatively short space of time.

While the company remains well-positioned, even the strongest will be threatened in the months to come as economic slowdowns resonate throughout all industry sectors. By diversifying its N$2.326 billion portfolio, and streamlining its cost base in 2019, Oryx, like its namesake, should be able to survive and thrive, remaining strong while waiting for positivity to return to the market.

WWW.ORYXPROP.COM

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RAND WATER

A Vital Tool in

Curbing the Spread PRODUCTION: Timothy Reeder

Rand Water is the largest water utility in Africa, delivering a reliable, high-quality supply of potable water to the Gauteng province and other areas of the country in the face of considerable geographical and climate challenges. Its role has never been more central as the entire country, continent and world looks to water as arguably the key weapon in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: INFRASTRUCTURE

//

It is safe to say that water, and its security, has rarely ever been so crucial as it is at this moment in time. A vital resource and one whose provision is often taken for granted, it has taken on an unprecedented importance as the spread and effects of coronavirus continue to amplify.

“The first piece of advice that is essential for anyone worried about contracting the coronavirus is something your grandparents might have suggested: wash your hands,” South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) succinctly puts it.

“It’s at the top of the list for many of the players trying to prevent the spread of the disease,” it goes on. “This includes the World Health Organisation (WHO), the US Centers for Disease

Katse Dam Lesotho

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Control and Prevention and other health authorities around the world.”

Hand washing is one of those habits deeply ingrained from childhood, a tried and true, scientifically proven preventive strategy that reduces the likelihood of transmitting both viral and bacterialborne diseases. “If it became a habit for everyone in the world,” continues SAMRC, “it would not just prevent mortality and illness from coronavirus.

It could be the start of a more viable strategy to prevent death from other bacterial and viral diseases.”

SECURING CRITICAL SUPPLY The role that water plays in this is unequivocally central; without it, this critical and potentially life-saving process is rendered nigh-on impossible.

“Our vision is to be a provider of sustainable, universally competitive water and sanitation solutions for Africa,” Rand Water says, and it has worked tirelessly to develop and secure supply to metropolitan and local municipalities, industry and mining in Gauteng, and parts of Mpumalanga, the Free State, and North West provinces.

To achieve this, Rand Water is

// ENABLING COMMUNITIES TO ACCESS WATER IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING IF WE ARE TO COMBAT THE SPREAD OF THIS VIRUS //

CIDB Grading 7 CE, 7ME & 6 SO | 100% Black Owned | Over 10 years Engineering Experience

Lindokuhle Engineering, prides itself as an Engineering company that for over 10 years has been specializing in the field of water and waste water management. The company has grown tremendously over the years with offices in Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal & Eastern Cape. Lindokuhle Engineering supports public, private and mining sector in water infrastructure management. Within the value chain of infrastructure development and management we follow a methodology of Research, Design, Implement & Maintenance.

As a water solutions provider Lindokuhle Engineering, has restructured its business model in order to provide a full suite of services within the Infrastructure fields. Lindokuhle Engineering, now a subsidiary of a Group Company trading as Lindokuhle Infrastructure Solutions Group, (L.I.S Group) is a mother company to three arms of services namely, L.I.S Consultants, Peptha and Lindokuhle Engineering.

Gauteng Office: 1st Floor, Block 6, Pinewood office park, 33 Riley Road, Woodmead, Sandton, Johannesburg Tel: +27 (0) 11 466 6808 Fax: +27 (0)11 466 0488 info@lindokuhle.co.za KwaZulu Natal Office: 33 Laguna Seca, Lee Barnes Blvd, Ballito Tel: +27 (0) 32 947 2561/2 Fax: +27 (0)32 947 2978 info@lindokuhle.co.za Eastern Cape Office: 51 Jarvis Road, Berea, East London Tel: +27 (0) 43 721 1466 admin@lindokuhle.co.za

Lindokuhle Engineering (Pty Ltd) | www.lindokuhle.co.za | Construction management | Project quality management & assurance | Monitoring of the implementation programme | Contracts management & Project management | Water distribution networks | Bulk water supply pipelines, reservoirs | Pump stations and bulk pipelines | Water and sewer reticulations & outfall sewers | Water and wastewater treatment

L.I.S Consultants (Pty Ltd) www.lisconsultants.com

PEPTHA (Pty Ltd) www.peptha.co.za

| Feasibility studies | Condition surveys & capacity assessments | Engineering designs | Programme & Project management | Dam safety inspections & dam designs

| Provision of OHS services on construction projects | Ensure compliance to the construction regulations | Minimization of risk and incident investigation

INDUSTRY FOCUS: INFRASTRUCTURE

forced to overcome the challenges of a rainfall climate in South Africa which is infamously variable. In addition, South Africa has a wider variety of climates than most other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, coupled with lower average temperatures than other countries within this range of latitude.

Tasked with securing supply amid these myriad of demanding factors, Rand Water began full operations over a century ago in 1905. To overcome these challenges, Rand Water has, over more than 100 years, put in place a series of major schemes to respond to the demand for water in an area where it is notoriously scarce.

// OUR VISION IS TO BE A PROVIDER OF SUSTAINABLE, UNIVERSALLY COMPETITIVE WATER AND SANITATION SOLUTIONS FOR AFRICA // 72 / www.enterprise-africa.net

The Vaal Dam project was a major breakthrough development in 1938, yielding an unprecedented 354 Ml/d supply, and since 1998, the Lesotho Highlands Water Project has been Rand Water’s go-to source.

In 1954 the Natural Resources Development Council proposed that water might be obtained from Lesotho to bolster that of the Vaal River, which led to a ground-breaking three-phase scheme including four major dams: Senqu in Lesotho, Ash River in the Free State, Wilge River and the Vaal Dam. Total average daily demand for the Rand Water network is projected to increase to around 5,500 Mℓ/d by 2030, an average rate of demand growth of 1.75% per annum. Phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Scheme (LHWS), is expected to be completed by 2024 and will deliver more than 1,000 Mℓ/d.

CURBING THE SPREAD At the end of March it was revealed that the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) in Gauteng had delivered 187 water tanks and 20 water tankers to vulnerable communities across the province, in a bid to increase water

availability and curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Gauteng is currently the epicentre of the virus with a number of densely populated informal settlements lacking water to practice proper hygiene by regularly washing hands. The delivery of the water tanks and tankers will provide a lifeline for communities, prioritising mainly the more densely populated and vulnerable communities.

“Enabling communities to access water is the single most important thing if we are to combat the spread of this virus,” said DWS’s Gauteng Provincial Head, Sibusiso Mthembu.

Densely populated areas have been identified as a key focus in efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19. “We will need to urgently move some of our people for the de-densification to be realised,” outlined Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu at the end of March, warning that if the virus reaches densely populated areas, it will find fertile ground to spread.

“Land parcels to relocate and decant dense communities have been secured. This will not be far from the current place of residence.” The densely

RAND WATER

// SOUTH AFRICANS ARE KNOWN AND WELL RESPECTED FOR THEIR HUMANITY AND UNITY IN ALL CRISES AND FOR THEIR ACTIVISM // populated areas are mainly found in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and Eastern Cape, and the department’s interventions will focus on water services infrastructure, with the intention of improving water supply, access to sanitation and sanitising public spaces.

“We have put measures in place to implement our interventions,” Sisulu stated. “We have set up an Operation Centre at Rand Water, where we monitor the distribution of the services mentioned. We also have provincial command centres and have mobilised the regional offices of the Water and Sanitation Department, municipalities and Regional Water Boards to act as distribution centres.”

ANNIHILATE CORONAVIRUS As COVID-19 cases surge, there’s one consumer product critical in the battle to slow the pandemic: the humble, ancient and effective soap. When you wash your hands with soap and water, rather than merely wiping viruses off your hands and sending them down the drain, you’re actually annihilating the viruses, rendering them harmless.

Soap “is almost like a demolition team breaking down a building and taking all the bricks away,” says Palli Thordarson, a chemistry professor at the University of New South Wales to Vox. “It’s almost like a crowbar; it starts to pull all the things apart.”

The Rand Water Foundation has partnered with the Imbumba Foundation, in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Old Mutual to launch the #Soap4Hope campaign, with the aim of collecting anti-bacterial hand-wash soap and other alternatives to help curb and prevent unnecessary widespread infection within underprivileged South African communities.

“We have been witnessing the coronavirus rip through the global

community and decided that we needed to create a programme that will help address an immediate need for hygiene,” concluded CEO of the Imbumba Foundation, Richard Mabaso to IOL. “South Africans are known and well respected for their humanity and unity in all crises and for their activism; whether in groups or as individuals.

“Our people have continuously demonstrated the spirit of togetherness and so we call upon them, to once again, help us to inspire hope as we live through these trying times and try to shape a positive narrative that will see us through this period and beyond. Of course, access remains a huge barrier, however, we have resolved to undertake this task with enthusiasm, patriotism and heart.”

WWW.RANDWATER.CO.ZA

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CHOPPIES

Keeping You Safe,

Secure and Well-Stocked PRODUCTION: William Denstone

Choppies came to life in 1986 in Lobatse, Botswana with its first store, a Wayside supermarket. Since then it has added numerous fresh lines to its offering and a great many more locations from which to serve its public in Botswana. “Our ambition is to be the best service provider of FMCG in sub-Saharan Africa,” reads Choppies’s mission statement, and while bold, it is one it is achieving through a commitment to the core principles of freshness, variety and the highest levels of service.

//

Choppies is one of the leading supermarket chains in Africa, a supermarket retail offering which includes leading international food brands and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) products, as well as Choppies’ own private label for value-minded consumers. The Choppies story dates back nearly 35 years, and its journey to a Botswana FCMG mainstay has been riddled with expansion, celebration and innovation. “In 1986, Choppies commenced its operations with a single store in Botswana,” the company sets out.

“Over the past 34 years, Choppies has grown as a home brand in Botswana and spread its wings into seven other African nations and has become a significant retailer represented in the sub-Saharan African market.”

EXPANDING RANGE AND REACH For seven years the Wayside supermarket remained Choppies’s only location, but this all changed in 1993 with the opening of a second store, still in Lobatse. This catalysed one of the most important epochs in the Choppies story, bringing about a great expansion drive and numerous new stores opened in the greater Gaborone periphery as well as to more populated geographical areas of Botswana.

Amidst its many landmark events, the company lists the 2014 opening of a distribution Centre in Zimbabwe as chief among them. “Our foresight is to grow into East Africa, with emphasis in Tanzania and Kenya,” the company expands. “Choppies believes in potential of the African market hence the continued growth.”

Choppies also added a clothing brand to its armoury in 2016, a proudly

local line decking the whole family out in glamorous, value-driven garments.

“Everyday clothing for everyday people,” is how Choppies summarises its nononsense fashion offering.

“Our vision is to be a strong responsive provider of consumer goods at affordable prices,” Choppies summarises. “We strive to give customers the best value for their money, and to bring products to semi-urban and rural areas. We generate sustainable economic development by supporting local businesses and farmers and core value creation in the society,” the company continues of its economic focus.

“Creating new jobs and developing all employees to their highest potential to ensure proper skills transfer to the local workforce is also crucial for us.”

Choppies has a wide variety of shops to fulfil every possible need, a significant slice of comfort in these

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: RETAIL

BMS Foods Botswana is a specialist manufacturer of chilled processed meats based in Gaborone, Botswana.

We would like to congratulate Choppies on all of their achievements in the retail supermarket sector in Botswana, as well as in the rest of Southern Africa. We are proud suppliers to the group with some of their private label products in the chilled processed meat category.

We wish to also thank them for supporting us in business with building the Thompsons Tasty Meats brand throughout the country and look forward to strengthening our partnership in the years to come

GET IN TOUCH Plot 888 Commerce Park, Gaborone Tel: +267 3116445 sales@bmsfoodsbotswana.co.bw

76 / www.enterprise-africa.net

most trying of times. Choppies Valuestores have fewer service offerings and crop up primarily in rural areas with low levels of formal retail, with a target market of those consumers in lower income brackets.

Superstores are larger prospects with a full supermarket offering encompassing bakery, deli, fresh produce and financial services, and can house as many as 22,000 products. It is this model that Choppies plans to bring to the rest of Africa as part of its ambitious expansion intentions, such has been its success in Botswana.

In some cases nearly triple the size of a Superstore, the Hyper variant is by far the largest and most well-stocked of the Choppies trio. The spacious layouts are found out often in urban and peri-urban areas, geared toward more affluent consumers who are looking for greater variety in their grocery experience.

REACTING TO COVID-19 It is impossible to predict how the spread of coronavirus will impact upon human movements and liberty of choice, which makes the abundance and variety of Choppies stores more key than ever. No matter the size or type of store, common across everything that Choppies operates is a guarantee of the best and freshest produce available at the right price. Clearly, this takes on a new importance as the first cases of coronavirus are confirmed in Botswana.

Increasingly robust measures are being rolled out across Africa to halt the spread of COVID-19, and supermarkets are becoming some of the sole and key providers to keep citizens fed, healthy and secure.

Botswana had, on March 24th, already moved to secure its borders after neighbouring Zimbabwe recorded its first coronavirus-related death.

“The movement of people visiting neighbouring countries including Lesotho and Swaziland is restricted,” Botswana’s Vice President Slumber Tsogwane announced in an address to the nation on state television.

CHOPPIES

// OUR STAFF HAS BEEN ISSUED WITH CLEAR GUIDANCE ON HOW THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK MAY IMPACT THEM, AND THE MEASURES THEY CAN TAKE TO LIMIT THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS // The food-retail sector is inarguably one of the pivotal industries in these uncertain times, with a critical role to play as events rapidly evolve and change.

Food retailers must serve as reliable sources of food and essential items for people across communities worldwide, and it is vital that this is performed with the protection of customers and employees as the primary concern.

An environment that fosters social distancing or isolation is crucial, while frontline hygiene has to be at its highest level with human contact limited as much as possible. Food retailers have no

choice but to keep the lights on: stores and distribution centres must stay open, employees must continue to work, home deliveries must be made and customers must be served.

The virus is also bringing with it unprecedented spikes and declines in demand. Some retailers are seeing an 800% increase in over-the-counter cold and flu medicine sales, and sales for players such as convenience stores are drastically down, while others, like e-commerce businesses, cannot keep apace with demand.

CRITICAL SOLUTIONS Choppies has frequently demonstrated how seriously it takes its social responsibility. At home in Botswana it has partnered with Virgin Active Gaborone to organise a Wellness Day for staff members, and together with the Lady Khama Charitable Trust Fund, Choppies donated BWP 1.2 million in groceries to border patrol soldiers and nurses working over the Christmas holidays.

This benevolence has extended into South Africa with hampers donated to various causes, including Women Against Rape and a children’s community centre, and into Zambia in the form of support to Njovu Community Centre in Chibolya

province, which provides education activities and sponsorship for over 200 troubled youths.

Choppies is now leading the way in doing everything in its power to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in its stores. “Choppies would like to inform our valued customers that we are introducing social distancing at our till points to curb the potential spread of the COVID-19 virus,” the company announced, long before the first case was even confirmed in Botswana.

“Our staff has been issued with clear guidance on how the COVID-19 outbreak may impact them, and the measures they can take to limit the spread of the virus.”

Choppies on 26th March 2020 donated 100,000 litres of water, 10 tonnes of toilet papers and toiletries such as bath soaps, toothbrush and tooth paste to the collective cause. The company also donated 20,000 face masks through a Chinese firm. With extended opening hours and low-price guarantee on critical supplies, Choppies is doing all it can to lead consumers through the pandemic and enter into a new era of African dominance.

WWW.CHOPPIES.CO.ZA

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PHUMELELA GAMING & LEISURE

Phumelela Continues to Set the Pace in SA Gambling PRODUCTION: Benjamin Southwold

Over the course of the last decade South Africa has positioned itself as one of the most important gambling countries on the African continent. Horse racing in Gauteng was corporatised and totally restructured in 1997, the year of Phumelela’s formation, and alongside its sub-division, TellyTrack, it has grown to become the leading horse racing and sports betting organisation in the country. www.enterprise-africa.net / 79

INDUSTRY FOCUS: ENTERTAINMENT

//

Sports gambling revenue in South Africa continues to evidence healthy, yearly growth, with revenues ahead of Nigeria and Kenya. If the industry continues to grow in line with the predictions released by the National Gambling Board (NGB) in June 2019, forecasting a compounded rate of more than 5%, the South African gambling industry will be worth R35bn by 2021.

Casino and lottery dominate the share of gambling industry sectors, sports betting is responsible for 21% of gross gaming revenue in the country. “Recent football tournaments, including last year’s World Cup, have helped boost these figures,” Roy Coughlan, online acquisition specialist, and head of performance marketing at Kwiff, told iGB Affiliate,

“but sports betting promises further opportunities for expansion.”

A cursory glance at Google Trends indicates that the market’s potential is clear to see, showing how interest in sports-specific betting terms has increased since 2014. Many new operators have since arrived, with an influx of local and international players looking to make their mark; there are currently more than 40 active Western Capelicensed bookmakers in both the retail and online spheres.

“Traditional retailers are mobilising their online offerings and new online-only brands are offering the South African public a smooth and easy way to place their bets,” is Roy Coughlan’s take.

“The question is, what is the market betting on? Unsurprisingly, global

sports such as football and horse racing are taking the lion’s share of the money, followed by rugby, cricket and tennis.”

COLLECTIVE STRENGTH Phumelela is both a licensed totalisator (tote) and racing operator, and “from its inception, has set about implementing strategies to enable horse racing to withstand the impact of competition from other forms of gambling and simultaneously create a solid platform for racing’s longterm viability.”

A key aspect of its capturing of the SA market, and increasing horse racing’s competitiveness in the face of stiff competition, has been Phumelela’s recognition of the power of collaboration and cooperation. To address the needs of

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PHUMELELA GAMING & LEISURE

// SPORTS BETTING PROMISES FURTHER OPPORTUNITIES FOR EXPANSION //

an annualised negative impact of approximately R75m. The group has had no alternative but to take further decisive measures to cut costs, with in excess of 15% of the group’s workforce retrenched and premises closed,” Phumelela said.

MOVING FORWARD Phumelela reported a headline loss of R98.2m compared with headline earnings of R155.6m, and headline loss a share of 98.2cents a share compared with the headline earnings per share of 154.23c reported last year. Loss for the year amounted to R95.82m compared with a profit of R151.75m.

These figures of course did not make for pleasant reading, but Phumelela is not new to having to weather storms and defy the odds;

INTEGRITY, QUALITY & COMPETITIVE PRICING

horse racing as a sport, Gold Circle, Kenilworth Racing and Phumelela have co-operated in several areas, and perhaps most importantly in the creation of a combined national tote under the TAB banner.

The trio also manage the production of one national horse racing database, which forms the core intellectual property upon which informed betting is based. Tellytrack, meanwhile, is a joint operation which manages the production of televised horse racing as both a local and export product.

TellyTrack made headlines last year when it joined the World Broadcast to show live coverage of the Investec Derby, from Epsom Downs Racecourse in the UK. More than 30 broadcasters across the globe, among them major networks such as NBC, CBC, ESPN, ITV and SuperSport, covered the £1,625,000 what many see as the greatest flat race in the world.

Phumelela is having to rely more than ever on the strength of its partnerships following its latest financial report. Just beating the deadline set by the JSE to release its results for the previous year to the end of July, Phumelela posted its worst year since the business was first incorporated in 1997.

Phumelela had been facing suspension from the JSE after it failed to submit its provisional report within the three-month period stipulated in the listing requirements, putting the company’s securities at risk of suspension and possible removal.

The eventual release of the results did not bring cause for fanfare, sadly, It said its international

operations were continuing to perform at a high level but conversely the local operations, both horse racing and betting, had come in way below par. “International operations contributed R223.4million in pre-tax profit, but local operations lost a combined R332.4m, up from R51.9m compared to last year,” the group expanded.

Phumelela attributed its poor performance to a number of factors, including political turbulence, increasing unemployment, higher tax and inflationary administered prices.

“The increase in value-added tax (VAT) to 15% with effect from April 1, 2018, is a direct cost to the group,” it added.

“This cost the group approximately R26m for the fourmonth period to July and will have

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// THE GROUP HAS HAD NO ALTERNATIVE BUT TO TAKE FURTHER DECISIVE MEASURES TO CUT COSTS // back in 2016 it was able to achieve, as it put it, “solid progress in all business areas,” against a backdrop of low economic growth and continued pressure on consumers. It was also during a period of intensive investing in diversification and international growth.

Phumelela is moving forward under new stewardship, with the retirement of longstanding chairman Bernard Kantor prompting the announcement in January of his replacement, Moses Tembe, who joined Phumelela as lead independent director in 2018. “ The board would like to thank Bernard Kantor for his contribution and leadership as chairman,” were the warm wishes directed his way. “ The board also wishes Kantor every success in his future endeavours.” Tembe takes the reins as the group considers how to best shape the next stage of its story.

Since it came into being nearly a quarter of a century ago the group has enjoyed many momentous moments. The establishment of TellyTrack, its exclusive television channel for horse racing, perhaps reigns supreme; all horse racing in South Africa and selected overseas races are now screened live on TellyTrack, an independent television channel (239) on the DStv bouquet.

It has also been behind the introduction of major new events, including the Triple Crown, Africa’s richest series of races for threeyear-olds, Champions Day and

PHUMELELA GAMING & LEISURE

The Citizen is proud of its long-standing relationship with Phumelela Gaming and Leisure Ltd. The Citizen is a leading daily newspaper in South Africa 36 pages of fantastic horse racing weekly • 24 pages Racing Express • 4 pages Racing Express Extra • 8 pages Form Focus Saturday 15 February

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Banksa Stiavnica – How do you make your love grow? Deposit it in a love bank, of course.

The vaults of Slovakia’s Love Bank are covered in the 2 900 verses of a romantic poem and each deposit box is filled with keepsakes, such as wedding rings, World War II letters and even ticket stubs from the first movie that couples in love saw together.

The exhibition in Banska Stiavnica is housed in the cellar of the inspiration for the 1846 poem Marina – whose parents married her off to another man rather than letting her wed poor student and poet Andrej Sladkovic.

“I think the story is great when love, no matter the hurdles, lasted forever,” said Eliska Galisova, who was yet to choose what trinket her and boyfriend Rezny would leave for all-time. Matus – Reuters

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the SANSUI Summer Cup in 1999.

Champions Day and the Summer Cup now represent two of the ish Cherjob, your k ing “Big 4” on the South African Marwer horse wor runn s hard look racing calendar. best Phumelela will now look to make further history to add to a history stuffed with accomplishments. There has been an almost immediate bounceback on the part with a leap in January of the group share price by more than 13%, after Phumelela announced that it is considering capital raising initiatives.

“The company remains under cautionary as engagements with the MEC and the GGB are still in progress,” IOL reported from a statement to shareholders. “Should these initiatives be successfully concluded these may have a Picture:

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www.enterprise-africa.net / 83

CAPEWELL SPRINGS AND METAL PRESSINGS

Demonstrating the

Opportunities

in Local Manufacturing PRODUCTION: David Napier

By focusing on the delivery of high-quality, locally produced goods for the automotive, textile and consumer goods industries, Capewell Springs and Metal Pressings has secured its status as a vital cog in South Africa’s manufacturing industry. MD Emile Coetzee talks to Enterprise Africa about how the company will take advantage of new opportunities and avoid negativity. www.enterprise-africa.net / 85

INDUSTRY FOCUS: MANUFACTURING

//

While many in South Africa’s manufacturing sector continue to be dogged by negative statistics, economic uncertainty, and price wars with importers, those that have focussed on delivering highquality service to clients have enjoyed loyalty and development.

In early March, Stats SA revealed that GDP contracted by 1.4% in the final quarter of 2019. This contraction came as a result of challenges across a range of industries including manufacturing where there was

// IT IS GOING TO TAKE TIME FOR THE COUNTRY’S REPUTATION TO BECOME ATTRACTIVE FOR INVESTORS WHO WANT TO MOVE MONEY HERE //

86 / www.enterprise-africa.net

a decrease of 1.8%. December 2019 showed a 5.9% decline in manufacturing activity when compared to the same month in 2018.

But for Cape Town-based Capewell Springs and Metal Pressings - South Africa’s high-volume manufacturer and supplier of metal pressings, springs, wire forms and strip springs – a continued focus on making the most of the opportunities that do exist, and consistently delivering first-class products and service, has resulted in positivity.

12 months ago, Managing Director at Capewell Springs and Metal Pressings, Emile Coetzee told Enterprise Africa that installation of the new plating plant would help the company to improve quality and capacity, adding a valuable new service to the company’s portfolio.

Previously, more than 60% of the company’s products were coated through a plating plant which was ageing and in need of upgrading. Coetzee secured a new facility and contracted an engineer to install the plant. New customers were

quickly onboarded and new product lines were launched.

Now, Coetzee speaks to Enterprise Africa once again and details the successes that have been achieved as a result of that installation ELECTRO-PLATING “Business is still tough but, with regards to our new plating plant, we have seen an uptick in trade,” he says.

“We are seeing more clients specifically looking for plating services or products that require plating so there have been positive improvements there.

That plant is driving quite a bit of new business for us so that is great, but overall, it is still challenging.

“It has taken time to finally commission the plant. There’s a lot of fine tuning and capacity checking, and that is an ongoing process to ensure we are optimising the plant. In all, it has been a very positive experience. On the environmental side, it has been helpful.

The way we are treating our water now, it’s much better than what we were doing before – it’s very beneficial.”

CAPEWELL SPRINGS AND METAL PRESSINGS

The company is faced with price pressure from the East as manufacturers in China and other countries flood the market with products at extremely low prices.

Manufacturers in South Africa look to importers for cheaper components and this is damaging, but a new wave of localisation incentives as well as general sentiment towards supporting local businesses is helping.

“There’s a big drive for localisation in the automotive sector. The target, by the year 2035, to have 60% of the components used in the manufacture of cars here to come from local suppliers. With that comes a lot of opportunities,” says Coetzee. “The local OEMs are looking to invest another R50 billion into the automotive sector over the next five years so there is a buy-in from the OEMs. We have been approached by a client who is looking for the local manufacture of some products, including wire springs, and that equates to around 35-40% of our current turnover so we can definitely increase our business. It is very doable and it’s now about finding the right investment opportunity. We have the IDC and other organisations that can support us and help to set up this work.

Hopefully, in six months’ time we can confirm that all is going ahead.”

INVESTING IN LOCALISATION Currently, Capewell Springs and Metal Pressings has capacity to produce in its own internal tool room with metal presses and CNC wire forming machines.

The company can handle all aspects of manufacturing in-house, including metal forming, heat treatment, and now high-capacity electro-plating. But if it is to take on large scale orders from global auto makers, it will need further capital investment to build capacity.

“We have presented something to our head office in Germany but we are trying to drive it locally. I am busy putting business plans together for local companies that could help finance it as it would require some capex but it would create more sustainability for the business as a whole. Whether it really requires much additional employment remains to be seen but we would expect minimal additional employment.

“The automotive OEM we are in discussions with faced a situation where a shipping company had let them down, and their production would come to a standstill unless they could localise. It’s a great example of how we can assist,” explains Coetzee.

“If we had the machinery, we could have had the product moving straight away but we are just waiting to invest.

The client can have the product

// WE ARE HOPEFUL AND CHEERFUL, AND EXCITED TO SEE HOW THESE OPPORTUNITIES WILL PLAY OUT // immediately, on demand; they can make changes to their order, and they can gain automotive incentives.”

This is an issue that has been faced by many importers across various industry sectors. While supply is constant and reliable, the low pricing is acceptable but when you need quick communication, problem solving and turnaround strategies, dealing with a reputable local partner brings many benefits.

“That is our ongoing business philosophy,” confirms Coetzee, who explained last year that convincing SAbased companies to buy local was a focus for Capewell Springs and Metal Pressings.

“It depends on timing, price and client.

Typically, we find that some clients want to import but very often things go wrong and things quickly become costly. There are a lot of risks for importing. We like to sell local manufacturing as one thing that can help to eliminate those risks.”

www.enterprise-africa.net / 87

INDUSTRY FOCUS: MANUFACTURING

INTERNATIONAL EXPOSURE Operating as a South African business, Capewell Springs and Metal Pressings is owned by Schrambergheadquartered Kern-Liebers Group of Companies, a global industry leader in the manufacture of components for the automotive, textile and consumer goods industries.

Despite its global exposure, as a business with a presence across more than 40 countries, Kern-Liebers, like Capewell Springs and Metal Pressings, has been unable to completely sidestep uncertain economics.

“The global economy has influenced everyone and they have had a big drive globally in terms of cost saving,” says Coetzee. “Here, the economy hasn’t changed much as far as we have experienced. In terms of our expansion, head office has assisted greatly, and it has been nice to have technical support. We have the advantage of being part of a bigger group and that allows us access to technical knowledge and then share it

88 / www.enterprise-africa.net

with our colleagues and clients.”

But locally, challenges in the economy remain, and even for a thriving global business, a level of unease lingers so long as national growth figures are stunted and local manufacturing continues to decline.

“In the political space, people are realising that so much damage has been done but very few people realised the scope of the damage and how much money had left the country. The further we go, the more we realise about the extent of the trouble. It is not just about one individual solving all of these problems,” says Coetzee. “It is going to take time for the country’s reputation to become attractive for investors who want to move money here.

There is so much potential, across all of Africa. We are sitting on major opportunities but we are realistic – there are a lot of hard steps to be taken. There are strategic moves underway which should benefit the economy in the long run.

“For most of our clients, the numbers haven’t picked up over the past 12 months, and we have a broad range of clients across many industries.

Others in the industry who only focus on exports are booming. It all depends on who you speak to and the time you get them. A little advertising or marketing can help you pick up clients very quickly – there are definitely success stories from manufacturers who are increasing their volumes. We haven’t turned the corner quite yet – the general economy is still slow but we certainly see the potential.”

For almost 40 years, Capewell Springs and Metal Pressings has been delivering excellence and, by building lasting relationships, the company is ready to take advantage of all opportunities available to ensure it continues in a strong and sustainable manner for the next 40 years. While investments into new technology, such as the electro-plating plant, will help to build capacity and quality, the human touch within the business remains significant.

CAPEWELL SPRINGS AND METAL PRESSINGS

DEVELOPING OPPORTUNITIES “We have a strong technical team and everyone contributes. They all understand what needs to be done to make sure these opportunities are realised,” states Coetzee.

Currently home to about 50 dedicated employees, the future of the business will come through localisation of manufacturing, especially in the automotive sector. This is supported by government, business and consumers, and this is where Capewell can offer what others cannot.

// THERE IS SO MUCH POTENTIAL, ACROSS ALL OF AFRICA. WE ARE SITTING ON MAJOR OPPORTUNITIES BUT WE ARE REALISTIC //

“The last 12 months has not been where it should be in terms of our overall business, we have been sitting comfortably with our big clients for many years and some of that business has shrunk, but the last six months have been positive and we are seeing business return.

“There are a number of opportunities that I am working on that are very exciting. We are burning the midnight oil and grinding things out to see how we can get things moving. We are hopeful and cheerful, and excited to see how these opportunities will play out.”

It is this resilience, characterised in so many of South Africa’s robust businesses, that will help Capewell Springs and Metal Pressings to move exciting opportunities into crucial reality.

“There are many projects in the pipeline and many requests for information coming in,” says Coetzee.

“We just picked up some work for a German company who wants us to produce parts for Daimler. All of a

sudden there is an influx of work and its just a matter of getting in onboard and allowing it to influence our turnover.

“We have a few things happening and we are working on projects that have a lot of potential. In the next six months, we should have some idea about these developments.”

This is a business not interested in the challenges faced by the wider industry, and the negativity present in the economy. Capewell Springs and Metal Pressings is driving forward with a single purpose – to provide clients old and new with high-quality products, and efficient, flexible service that importers cannot guarantee.

WWW.CAPEWELL.CO.ZA

www.enterprise-africa.net / 89

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