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COMPANY PROFILE

2013

Bureau Veritas

Africa grows with the appliance of compliance

CompANY PROFILE

Africa grows with the appliance of compliance Editorial: Colin Chinery Production: Chris Bolderstone Driven by legislation and increasingly demanding international standards, compliance is a top agenda issue both for business and public. And from mining to power generation, Bureau Veritas Southern Africa is delivering the solutions to the region’s growing industrial base, as Vice President Bruce Xiste tells IndustrySA.

Energy shortfall is the great crack in South Africa’s economic armour. And with supply continuing to trail a demand expected to double in 15 years, every option for solution is now on the table; coal, oil, nuclear and alternatives. All of which positions Bureau Veritas at the frontier of opportunity.

Certification is the most credible way to demonstrate excellence and drive continuous improvement. And as a world leader, Bureau Veritas – founded in 1828 - offers a large range of customised certification and audit facilities in the fields of quality, health and safety, environment and social responsibility.

Certified to ISO 9001 for all of its activities throughout the world, Bureau Veritas actively participates within professional authorities and helping to develop international standards and regulations. And with a network of 850 offices and laboratories and over 63,000 employees in more than 140 countries, 280,000 customers are being served in industries across the world.

Coal, energy, mining, marine, power and healthcare, agriculture are among the sectors overseen by its Southern Africa division headquartered in Johannesburg, with Rio

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Tinto, Richards Bay Coal Terminal, Anglo American, Glencore and Eskom among its big brand clients. Bruce Xiste, Vice President Bureau Veritas Southern Africa, is confident about the region’s economic prospects.

“We have mainly invested in South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, and Zambia, with Botswana and Zimbabwe coordinated out of South Africa. The potential of this continent is huge.

“There are around one billion inhabitants in Africa, the region is growing fast and we are seeing continuing investment in areas like infrastructure and mining - despite all the problems and recent crisis.

“When you look at the potential for industry, a lot of countries today need more upgraded physical assets, more infrastructures, more power and more energy. Africa is certainly a big growth area for Bureau Veritas.”

NO EXIT FOR COAL Coal - which accounts for more than 70% of primary energy consumption in South Africa – is currently the Southern Africa division’s biggest operational sector, along with energy.

But faced with strict carbon emission restrictions, South Africa has turned to nuclear power as an alternative.

Bureau Veritas

The government wants to build six new reactors over the next 20 years to meet growing demand. And nuclear power is more of a necessity than an option, says the Department of Energy director-general Nelisiwe Magubane.

But Xiste discounts suggestions that King Coal is set to lose its crown. “Despite what’s happening now, I don’t see coal as a market without growth potential. Coal is still the major source of energy for power generation, a sector that accounts for 40% of the coal industry worldwide.

“So you can’t say coal is dead. It is still the major industry and South Africa is very very well placed in coal. If you start to build power stations all over Africa - and especially in the southern part - I will bet that 50% will be coal-fired.”

Meantime as part of the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission, South Africa is set to get an additional coal-fired power station - most likely situated in the Waterberg area of Limpopo. And what is certain is that Bureau Veritas is uniquely placed to serve Southern Africa’s coal industry.

On-site mine laboratories are in operation across the 14 member state SADC region, all equipped and manned to client requirements.

The Bureau Veritas advanced coal technology exploration

laboratory at Sunderland Ridge, Centurion, Gauteng is one of the largest and most comprehensive state of the art coal exploration laboratories in the world, and the recently acquired coal lab laboratory in Middleburg is the largest in Africa, a 3,500 metres facility dedicated to the coal industry in South Africa and other countries including Botswana, Mozambique and Madagascar.

NUCLEAR ROUTE But when South Africa takes to the nuclear route Xiste says Bureau Veritas is ready and waiting at the forefront.

“Because we have a long standing relationship with the French nuclear industry we are especially well placed for nuclear development in South Africa. We are working with all the main nuclear actors across the world, whether from the US, Korea, Japan, France, so if nuclear development happens in South Africa, clearly we have the services to provide.

“And already people we have recruited and trained in France are now back in South Africa. Obviously there has been some delay in this project kicking off, but this will happen one day and we will definitely be ready.”

The Middleburgh coal lab is among several strategic investments that have expanded the company’s asset base in

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CompANY PROFILE Southern Africa. The latest is the Sievert Group, a leading provider of non-destructive testing and related industrial inspection services in India and the Middle East.

Non-destructive testing is an attractive market, estimated at USD$3.5 billion, with a growth rate of around 9% a year. Demand is driven by growing needs, both in mature economies facing challenges related to ageing infrastructure, and in new economies investing in the construction of industrial facilities.

“We decided to implement its services in Southern Africa which we started one month after the acquisition and it’s been very successful so far,” says Xiste.

“Non-destructive testing is common in the oil and gas sectors along with the power and petrochemical industries. It means you can test a piece of metal without destroying it - for example in pipeline testing to see if a weld has been done properly, which is clearly very cost effective.

“The Sievert acquisition will increase Bureau Veritas’ technical capabilities in advanced non-destructive testing, reinforcing our market position and expertise and adding further added value services to our industrial clients.”

Meantime, while alert to further potential acquisitions, Bureau Veritas is targeting expansion across a number of key sectors.

“We need to get ourselves ready for the big oil and gas boom that we shall see in southern Africa. It’s a sector in which Bureau Veritas is extremely well known worldwide by the majors, but at present we are small in Southern Africa and we want to become much bigger.

“Another is the automotive industry. South Africa is a big platform for cars and auto manufacturing but we are not strong here. Yet we have got some very interesting services applied worldwide that could be very relevant in South and Southern Africa. So we have decided to invest here as well.

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“The other sector is agricultural-related services. At present we are not very well represented in Southern Africa, but if you look at Tanzania, Kenya or Mozambique for example, these are big agricultural regions where growth can certainly be taken.”

GLOBAL AND LOCAL Based on these and other regional growth opportunities, Xiste expects Bureau Veritas’ current capacity of 1200 people in South Africa alone to soar in the coming years. “By the end of 2015, we need to have around 2000 people in Southern Africa.

This implies that we will be recruiting new people, expanding in our markets, enlarging our service offering, broadening our customer base and so on.

“Our Best Employer rating is very good. Not only do we provide training for our own people but also our clients employees as well. The training is focussed mainly on industrial services, inspections, quality control, and quality assurance. We started in 2012 and this year we have got better and will be increasing our training products in 2014 and beyond.”

With a marketing background in power, mining, nuclear and offshore, Xiste has been in South Africa two years, and before that with Bureau Veritas in France and Scotland. “I am enjoying my life here. South Africa is an attractive country and the people are nice. There are very real opportunities in South and Southern Africa.”

Driven by legislation and increasingly demanding international standards, compliance is a top agenda issue both for business and public. “The market is looking for more compliance and as a highly local and customer-focussed organisation with all the resource benefits of a major global Group, Bureau Veritas Southern Africa is ideally placed to deliver and grow.”

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Bureau Veritas

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