Unique offering for transport

TRANSPORTATION

Unique offering for transport

With a healthy balance sheet, global experience in structuring publicprivate partnerships (PPPs), as well as expertise in the operations and maintenance of transport infrastructure, Egis Operation South Africa is well positioned to help transform the local industry.

Part of an international group in the mobility services and transport projects sectors, Egis Operation South Africa was incorporated in 2020. According to Laurent Bouchacourt, CEO of Egis Operation South Africa, while the South African subsidiary is new, the Egis Group has been present in Africa for over 30 years. “Egis Operation South Africa builds on our African experience and this will prove invaluable for our local operational rollout,” he explains.

PPPs

In Africa, Egis Group investments include the Abidjan Airport in Ivory Coast. In Congo-Brazzaville, Egis currently operates 550 km of the 2 000 km highway, which is being incrementally rolled out, and it has invested in three of the country’s airports (Brazzaville Airport, Pointe Noire Airport and Ollombo Airport).

“The Egis Group is recognised as a worldclass developer of PPPs in the transport sector. Its experience in the financial and contractual structuring of complex projects within international environments has generated a large network of relationships with numerous institutional and private investors worldwide,” Bouchacourt explains. “The private sector is in the best position to ensure the integrity of infrastructure and its funding. Government should provide a strong regulatory framework where companies compete against each other to provide the best possible and cost-effective service,” he continues.

Laurent Bouchacourt, CEO of Egis Operation South Africa

Operations and maintenance

By taking a life-cycle approach to transport solutions and asset management, Egis Operation South Africa can help achieve lower operational costs, longer usable life of assets, improved user experience, and greater levels of safety, interoperability and integration of transport networks.

“Our international operations and maintenance experience, together with South African capabilities and knowledge of the local market, will create a unique offering to the transport sector – both in greenfield and

brownfield projects,” says Bouchacourt. With the belief that additional capital expenditure or completely new systems are not always necessary to improve public transport, Bouchacourt explains that better asset management could extend the life of transport infrastructure and improve the experience of customers using it. “A lot more can be done with existing infrastructure, and we believe that our Operations and Maintenance Division will grow in size exponentially,” he explains.

Customer-centric approach

“It is vitally important to put commuter or customer needs at the core of mobility services. There is always a huge focus on the engineering part of transport projects, and little attention is paid to providing the best possible service to a customer. Systems need to be built around the user, which is why Egis will always place itself in the shoes of the commuter,” says Bouchacourt.

He adds that even though significant capex has been spent on the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project, Gautrain and taxi recapitalisation, the commuter experience has been suboptimal. “I think that this is largely due to the failure of integrating various modes of transport. Everything is fragmented. Furthermore, a culture of maintenance and asset management still needs to be cultivated,” he says.

Centralised payments, as well as easy access to scheduling, customer loyalty rewards and reliable and safe transport can create a better user experience.

“With a transport project, the surrounding communities need to be consulted and included in all plans. This ensures that there is better alignment, and that assets are looked after and not vandalised,” adds Bouchacourt.

Urban mobility

“It’s clear that the South African government has a desire to develop smart cities (and the

EGIS OPERATION SOUTH AFRICA BURSARY PROGRAMME

Egis Operation South Africa is committed to offering education and training opportunities, particularly to those from previously disadvantaged groups, and to developing programmes that ensure local skills transfer and exposure to global best practices. Committed to contributing to the development of the next generation of both technical and engineering professionals, Egis has launched a bursary programme in partnership with the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE).

required urban mobility), as well as redress issues of the past in terms of spatial planning that needs to be more inclusive. It is faced with dilemmas on how to subsidise current modes of transport and facilitate uniform forms of payment,” he explains.

Historically, Egis has completed successful urban mobility projects in Egypt and Morocco with light rail and high-speed rail. The group has also focused on projects aimed at decongesting megacities in East Africa, such as Nairobi.

In addition to roads and highways, Egis Operation South Africa plans to focus on light and heavy rail. The aim is to continue contributing to Africa’s rail renaissance together with Gautrain, Prasa and Metrorail, as well as with Transnet on the heavy rail side. Ports and border posts, as well as automated fare collection for bus rapid transit systems are also of interest.

Bouchacourt believes that all transport projects require areas of expertise in engineering, operations, maintenance and project structuring. The Egis Group delivers a project from cradle to grave, and absorbs the turnkey risk, without doing the construction itself. “Every country is different, and it is difficult to be competitive in every market. We therefore add an element of flexibility by outsourcing construction. In South Africa, this will provide opportunities to exempted small enterprises (EMEs) and qualifying small enterprises (QSEs) who would traditionally never have had access to these types of projects,” he explains.

In the next five years, the Egis Group has an aggressive path. It aims to double turnover and become one of the world's top 5 engineering companies, from its current position in the top 10. The South African market and the Southern African region are important parts of that plan.

www.egis-southafrica.co.za