Africa Outlook Issue 15 by Outlook Publishing

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Optimising AFRICA

ORACLE: STREAMLINING BUSINESS EFFICIENCY

Joy gLoBAL soUtH AFriCA 54 Joy global south africa is a worldwide leader in high-productivity mining solutions

invEstMEnt ProFiLE gHAnA 20

africa outlook takes an inside look at ghanaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business and investment potential

AtLAs CoPCo ZAMBiA 60 when it comes to innovation, atlas Copco have a clear grasp of what it takes to be market leaders

nAtionAL BAnK oF KEnyA 96

national Bank of kenya (nBk) have undergone one of the biggest transformations of an african financial institution

AFriCA oUtooK issUE 15 ALso tHis issUE: M A s t E r C A r D | K E n B L E s t g r o U P | C E M A i r | g U L F A F r i C A n B A n K

W E l c o M E Action Produces results

sustainable productivity has been a recurring approach to business that runs throughout the profiles in this month’s issue of africa outlook. Companies across various sectors are emerging from the global economic downturn and have begun to re-evaluate their business strategies, with a view on generating greater productivity over the coming months. a prime example of a company really embracing greater productivity is oracle south africa – our front cover story - who has implemented the successful oracle Partnernetwork across southern africa in order to further develop business infrastructures. the network helps members keep up to date with oracle’s growing product portfolio, providing partners with the tools to better develop, sell and implement oracle solutions; which has been greeted with enthusiasm. on page 60 we feature an interview with the Daniel Banister, general manager of atlas Copco Zambia, who promises sustainable productivity and solutions to their customers in the mining industry. the company have made significant refurbishments to their workshops as part of this shift in productivity focus. our interview with Colin oliver, managing Director of msa safety africa, on page 92 is very informative, detailing how the company have spent countless hours developing, testing and evaluating their products rigorously, to ensure they meet a very high standard. In the front of this issue, we have the final instalment of our top holiday destinations, featuring countries such as uganda, Rwanda and Botswana; and an exclusive interview with masterCard’s aaron oliver, head of emerging payment methods in Africa. The investment profile this month turns its attention to ghana where the capital, accra, has been voted the sub-saharan african city with the highest potential for growth over the next five years in a recent survey. this month’s magazine is packed with content that is sure to keep you entertained. Matt Bone “Action is the foundational key to Editor, Outlook Publishing all success.” – Pablo Picasso

EDitoriAL Editor: matt Bone matthew.bone@outlookpublishing.com sub-editor: emily Jarvis emily.jarvis@outlookpublishing.com

ProDUCtion Production Manager: Daniel george daniel.george@outlookpublishing.com MAgAZinE DEsign: optic Juice ltd martin mitchell | alex Cole | nick Bond | katherine Robinson

BUsinEss

sales Director: nick norris nick.norris@outlookpublishing.com sales Manager: eddie Clinton eddie.clinton@outlookpublishing.com sales Executive: Rahim ali Rahim.ali@outlookpublishing.com Projects Director: James mitchell james.mitchell@outlookpublishing.com senior Project Manager: arron Rampling arron.rampling@outlookpublishing.com Project Managers: Ben wigger ben.wigger@outlookpublishing.com Callum Philp callum.philp@outlookpublishing.com Donovan smith donovan.smith@outlookpublishing.com glen newton glen.newton@outlookpublishing.com serge utting Serge.utting@outlookpublishing.com sheridan halls sheridan.halls@outlookpublishing.com stuart shirra stuart.shirra@outlookpublishing.com tom Cullum tom.cullum@outlookpublishing.com

ACCoUnts Finance Manager: suzanne welsh suzanne.welsh@outlookpublishing.com Oﬃce Administrator: Donna Redpath donna.redpath@outlookpublishing.com iMAgEs: thinkstock DigitAL & it: hamit saka HELPDEsK: James lemay

oUtLooK PUBLisHing

Managing Director: Ben weaver ben.weaver@outlookpublishing.com Chairman: mark weaver ContACt Africa outlook / UK 22 wensum street, norwich, uk, nR3 1hy sales: +44 (0) 1603 559 145 Editorial: +44 (0) 1603 559 152 Fax: +44 (0) 1603 559 553 Africa outlook / sA the Colosseum, First Floor, Century way, Century City, Cape town, 7441 tel: +27 (0) 21 527 0053 subscriptions tel: +44 (0)1603 559 152 matthew.bone@outlookpublishing.com

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In this issue of Africa Outlook...

T e c h n o l o g y

orAcle oracle in Africa

Africa Outlook’s extensive look at Oracle in Africa, featuring interviews with some of Oracle’s key management

r e s o u r c e s

06 12

neWs

All the latest top stories across the month from Africa

mAsTercArD eXclusIve emerging Payment Methods in emerging Markets

MasterCard’s Aaron Oliver tells us about the exciting changes and growth in m-commerce

TrAvel AnD TourIsm The best holiday Destinations in Africa Part Three

In the final of a three part series, we take a closer look at the best holiday destinations Africa has to offer

InvesTmenT profIle ghana

sHoWcAsInG leADInG compAnIes

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Africa Outlook takes an inside look at Ghana’s business and investment potential

Tell us your story and we’ll tell the world

JoY GloBAl souTH AfrIcA solving Mining’s Toughest challenges Joy Global South Africa is a worldwide leader in highproductivity mining solutions

ATlAs copco global innovators

When it comes to innovation, Atlas Copco have a clear grasp of what it takes to be market leaders

104

cITY properTY cosmopolitan Property Management

City Property strives to employ industry best practice in its systems, management and staff recruitment

Gulf AfrIcAn BAnK Kenya’s Alternative to conventional banking

Gulf African Bank (GAB) are the first fully-ﬂedged Islamic bank in Kenya

l o g i s T i c s

f o o d & d r i n K

manufacTuring

GrInDroD InTermoDAl your comprehensive container choice

Grindrod Intermodal offer an all-encompassing service to importers and exporters of cargo

cemAIr standing out From the cloud

CemAir are raising the bar for South African aviation leasing leaders

c o n s T r u c T i o n

92 f

I.T.B. nIGerIA The growing Face of nigerian Development

I.T.B. Nigeria hopes to increase home grown interest in civil engineering, promoting African expertise at home and abroad

110

nATure’s GArDen We do the gardening for you

116

KenBlesT baking Family Values in every loaf

Nature’s Garden have been producing frozen vegetables and chips in South Africa for over 15 years

Kenblest have become the single largest bread producer in Kenya

msA AfrIcA Tailored safety innovations MSA Africa are fully committed to protecting the health and safety of their customers

nATIonAl BAnK of KenYA banking Made easy

National Bank of Kenya (NBK) have undergone one of the biggest transformations of an African financial institution

122

evenTs

Africa Outlook highlights the upcoming events across the continent

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T e c h n o l o g y Africa Magic GO Brings Exclusive African Movies and Series to the UK ultiChoice, the world’s largest television platform for original African film and television content, launched African Magic GO this month, an ‘on demand’ video service aimed at Africans living in the UK. Africa Magic GO, www.africamagicgo.com, is the home for the newest and highest quality, original African movies, series, documentaries and entertainment shows –made in Africa for Africans. For only £5 ($8) per month, the service is available to stream whenever you like, without any adverts. Included at launch is a one-week free trial period for new subscribers. According to Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, Regional Director at M-Net Africa, Africa Magic GO is the most accessible and easy-to-use service for African content in the UK, with hundreds of episodes from the most popular TV shows in Africa, and hundreds of hours of the best movies to choose from at anytime, including access to the red carpet and glamour of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, which recognises outstanding achievements from the star-studded world of African TV and film. “The service,” Mba-Uzoukwu says, “which will soon also be available as an iOS app, is aimed at Africa’s growing diaspora in Europe, estimated at over 10 million people, with 1.8 million people in the UK alone. “Given the limited quality of African content available to the diaspora living abroad,” she adds, “Africa Magic GO provides

audiences with original, flagship and high quality content, including a wide variety of series, movies and reality shows. As the service grows, additional features will become available to subscribers, which will include live streaming/pay-per-view of special events or reality shows, and expansion to Android devices and game consoles. The explosion of Nigeria’s entertainment industry in the 90s, and its pan-African appeal owed much to MultiChoice’s promotion of local talent and the creation of channels dedicated to local productions. In just 13 years Nollywood is estimated to generate £200m a year, making it the world’s third biggest film industry after Hollywood and Bollywood. Operating in 48 countries in SubSaharan Africa, MultiChoice is at the forefront of Africa’s booming and vibrant television entertainment industry, spurred by the continent’s rapid economic growth over the past few years. More and more, its people wanting local entertainment which reflects a world relevant to them, but with the same quality they expect from established industries like Hollywood. Africa Magic GO subscribers will get the chance to catch up on the Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards which this year included standout musical performances by some of Africa’s most

For more information visit: www.africamagicgo.com gifted artists, superstar red carpet arrivals that set the mood for a brilliant gala event and an impressive line-up of guest presenters but at the end of an incredible night. “We are delighted to bring Africa Magic Go to markets outside of Africa, where audiences who would potentially have missed the latest hit shows and blockbusters can now stream them online in their own home or wherever they have an Internet connection,” says Mba-Uzoukwu. “These shows encompass engaging themes that are universally pertinent and showcase the continent’s thriving culture and immense growth. This year alone, we are commissioning over 250 original feature films which will be shown on Africa Magic Go underpinning our continued commitment to Africans, wherever they may be.” “I am immensely proud that our passion for vibrant, high-quality and uniquely African content can be shared with wider African communities across Europe,” she concludes. To make use of Africa Magic Go, simply visit www.africamagicgo.com, sign up and before you know it you’ll be enjoying all the great stories from home, even when you’re thousands of miles away.

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L o g i s t i c s

Examining the Potential for the UK to Export to Africa

c o n s t r uc t i o n

Plans to Build a “Chinese-Controlled Economic Zone” in Kenya A 100-strong coalition of Chinese investors plan to build a “Chinesecontrolled economic zone” in Kenya, made up of skyscrapers and luxury residences; with a goal to “match the glamour of Dubai”. The proposed zone outside of Nairobi would include “at least 20 skyscrapers, boasting a shopping destination that stocks Chinese and other global products,” according to Construction Weekly. As investment increases in East Africa, they want to build a self-controlled pseudo-urban enclave of operation. Additionally, according to The Daily Nation, there are already two other tabula rasa city development plans in place for the same area: Konza Techno City, a $14.5 billion development aimed at becoming the place where “the African silicon savannah begins”; the other being Machakos City, promising dozens of skyscrapers and acres of suburban homes. All of them are related to Kenya’s Vision 2030 development plan, but it is not clear whether they will co-exist or be in direct competition.

The Managing Director of DHL Express in South Africa says that British small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should examine the potential for exporting their products to Sub-Saharan Africa, where a growing middle class is creating interesting opportunities. “The timing is absolutely perfect… We are seeing an enormous growth in the up and coming middle class, which means that from a consumer spend perspective they are now ready to spend their money somewhere. I think that opens up an entire new market for SMEs out of the UK,” Hennie Heymans said. According to Heymans, British companies should find it relatively easy to export to South Africa due to a similar business language and the fact that the two countries have a strong historic commercial relationship. “I think South Africa is in a wonderful position because the business language in South Africa is English, so…there should be no language barriers there. From a cultural perspective, [it should also be] pretty easy to do business. The two countries have been doing business with one another for an incredibly long period of time, so I think there is great sensitivity to one another’s cultures and ways of doing business.” In order to further explore this potential in Africa, Barclays bank conducted a survey in 2012 involving 250 prominent UK business leaders who trade with the continent. 64 per cent of UK companies currently exporting to Africa said they believe opportunities will grow in the next five years. Whilst the majority of respondents indicated that UK exporters will take advantage of

Africa’s improved trading landscape, only 17 per cent think these companies will truly maximise the opportunities. South Africa is rated the top African country for UK exporters, with 60 per cent of respondents saying they currently export there. Other important markets worth highlighting are Nigeria (37%), Egypt (35%), Ghana (24%) and Kenya (23%). Heymans stated that the fashion industry holds significant potential for British exporters, especially considering the growth of e-commerce in Africa: “I cannot tell you the amount of wedding dresses I’m actually importing from the UK for our base of customers in South Africa.” Sporting goods, especially cycling equipment, was also highlighted as an area for growth potential in Africa. Cycling is one of the fastest growing sports in South Africa and is predominantly practiced by high-income earners. Heymans says British companies need to make themselves known in the African market, and ensure that customers understand “they are a click away”. “I think the continent is absolutely ready to get some more products in from the UK,” he concluded.

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E x h i b i t i o n s SA Mining Industry in the Spotlight at Electra Mining Africa he South African Mining industry employs over half a million people, is the biggest earner of foreign exchange in the country, and contributes about R20-billion directly to tax revenue. Mining also makes a far larger contribution - as a buyer of goods and services and as a supplier of inputs to other sectors of our economy and other economies around the globe. Once again, these figures highlight the importance of the local mining industry to South Africa. The South African mining industry will take the spotlight at this year’s Electra Mining Africa, from 15-19 September at the Expo Centre, Nasrec, Johannesburg. As Africa’s premier mining, industrial, electrical and machines tools show, Electra Mining Africa is on the international calendar and has a proven record for being a strong catalyst for new investment opportunities with billions of rands worth of equipment being showcased. The show attracts stakeholders from all over the world. With increased exhibition floor space to accommodate the growing demand from exhibitors, this year’s show will have a world-class line up offering visitors the perfect opportunity to compare and plan future capital equipment purchases as well as to view all the latest technology. Exhibitors can meet with people in the buying chain to discuss products and solutions. “Influential decision makers from the mining, industrial, electrical and machines tools sectors are regular visitors to Electra Mining Africa. They travel from within South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and from a large footprint across the globe,” says Gary Corin, Managing Director, Specialised

Exhibitions Montgomery, organisers of the show. “Regular faces are seen returning to the exhibition year after year and it’s a time of industry reunions with vast networking opportunities as well as hub for purchasing decision-making.” Highly sought-after co-located conferences draw further interest from key industry representatives, who ensure that the conference dates are marked on the calendar well in advance. Events taking place at Electra Mining Africa 2014 include a Surface Mining and Naturally Metallurgy Conference hosted by the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM) in the Black Eagle on 16-17 September. The International Infrastructure & Investment Convention (IIIC) in association with Deutche Messe and the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be hosting an Infrastructure Conference in the Bateleur venue from 15-17 September. Clarion and Spintelligent will be hosting a Power Generation Conference in the Black Eagle on 18-19 September. All venues are at the Expo Centre and co-located with Electra Mining Africa.

For more information, visit: www.electramining.co.za F i n a n ce

Nigeria Becomes Africa’s Biggest Economy In April, Nigeria became Africa’s biggest economy, overtaking South Africa in an announcement from the government that examined the country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product). The long-overdue new calculations take into account changes in production and consumption since the last time the exercise was carried out in 1990, including an added focus on communications and the film industry. The data indicated that the economy grew to $453 billion in 2012, and not $264 billion as measured by the World Bank in 2012. According to the World Bank data, South Africa’s economy was at $384 billion in 2012. Estimates for 2013 indicated further expansion to $510 billion, Nigeria’s chief statistician, Yemi Kale, stated at a news conference in the country’s capital, Abuja. Despite its roaring growth of recent years and now a bigger GDP, Nigeria still trails South Africa in basic infrastructure - power and roads - necessary to lift its people out of poverty.

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T r a n s p o r t

Fastjet Launches Private Tour Operator Fares Fastjet, the low-cost pan-African airline, has launched private seasonal fares for South African tour operators offering travel packages to Tanzania. The fares are valid for 12 months and are not dependent on booking class availability, giving tour operators the ability to create, price and market cost effective Tanzanian travel packages well in advance. The fares, which include one item of checked luggage per passenger, can be accessed through the dedicated Fastjet agent booking portal at www.fastjet.com/za. The portal allows tour operators to check availability, plan itineraries, make and manage bookings and complete all general administration processes relating to their clients’ flights. “Tanzania offers a diverse range of destinations and activities, from the imposing majesty of Kilimanjaro to the vast savannahs that are home to Africa’s most prolific wildlife – not to mention the magnificent beaches and cultural experiences offered by Zanzibar,” says Richard Bodin, Chief Commercial Officer of Fastjet. “South African tour operators can now create cost effective packages that include some or all of these remarkable destinations, without being held hostage to exorbitant and highly fluctuating fares charged by the competition on the Johannesburg-Dar es Salaam route,” he adds. Fastjet operates internationally from Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg and Lusaka, and has a significant Tanzanian domestic network including flights from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza, Kilimanjaro and Mbeya.

For more information visit: www.fastjet.com/za B u s i n e s s

Techno Brain is now an Official SAP Africa Education Delivery Partner The ICT firm will leverage partnership to address skills shortages and build a world class SAP skilled workforce in Africa. Techno Brain, Africa’s leading IT Solutions, Education and Training services provider today announced that it has become an official SAP Africa Education delivery partner. The announcement was made during a plaque exchange ceremony between SAP Africa and Techno Brain at the latter’s corporate office in Nairobi, Kenya. “Our partnership with SAP to drive skills development is of strategic value. Our goals for this project are ambitious. As we grow as an organisation, the need for work-ready people grows too. Our mission is clearly aligned with SAP Africa’s goals to create IT skills and employment for the future in Africa,” said Manoj Shanker, Group CEO of Techno Brain. Techno Brain’s training division currently trains more than 10,000

people a year in nine centres across Africa. As an official SAP Africa Education delivery partner, Techno Brain plans to introduce a combination of SAP Education student training kits, SAP e-learning programs, as well as a hybrid classroom instructor-based teaching model across the continent over the next two years. There are three objectives to putting education and skills at the centres of Techno Brain’s expansion plan: to build their own workforce, enable business competitiveness and participation in the African economy and - in alignment with SAP Africa’s objectives - create centres of excellence. Techno Brain’s reach and scope into Africa strengthens SAP’s extensive partner skills building network on the continent. “Our partners in East Africa play a critical role in helping us to create a rich talent pool in Africa for the entire SAP ecosystem. We see huge business opportunities for our partners in East Africa and recognize that their support is key to our ongoing success,” said Andrew Waititu MD, SAP East Africa.

Techno Brain Headquarters

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Kenya has seen an impressive 67 per cent Smartphone takeover in the mobile phone market, compared to the total mobile phone sales in the market. This data comes from Safaricom, the largest mobile carrier in Kenya which is both the largest device retailer and has over an 85 per cent market-share.

“Safaricom will continue championing for the increased penetration of Smartphones from the current 67 per cent with a view to enabling more Kenyans to take advantage of the increasing solutions available for business and personal phones through the devices,” said Peter Arina, General Manager for the Consumer Business unit of Safaricom. With the Smartphone numbers expected to double in the next two years for the Kenyan and African markets, growth has been secured for the next generation technologies. Therefore, competition will be hotly contested, with new ideas entering the market in order to appeal to the ever-changing face of customers and the demand for technology of this calibre.

www.fastjet.com, or at any of the airline’s sales offices. Fares combining Proflight and Fastjet flights will include a free checked-in baggage allowance of 23 kgs. “Fastjet has cemented its reputation as a reliable, affordable low-cost carrier, maintaining excellent punctuality and reliability records,” says Richard Bodin, Chief Commercial Officer of Fastjet. “This collaboration with Proflight Zambia adds momentum to Fastjet’s vision of democratising air travel on the African continent, while boosting

growing traderelationships between Zambia and Tanzania. “An efficient aviation sector that offers passengers affordable, safe and reliable flights to the destinations of their choice is sure to boost tourism and commerce in both countries,” he adds. “The agreement signed with Fastjet is the latest step in our strategy to develop a network in the region, making air travel in Southern Africa more convenient and accessible,” said Captain Philip Lemba, Director of Government and Industry Affairs at Proflight. “We look forward to being able to combine the service and value for money that the joint initiative brings.” The agreement sees passengers able to book flights on a single ticket from any of Proflight’s destinations - Livingstone, Ndola, Mfuwe, Chipata, Solwezi, Lower Zambezi, Mongu, Kasama and Mansa, and Lilongwe in Malawi, all via Lusaka to Dar es Salaam, or via that city to Kilimanjaro, Mbeya and Mwanza in Tanzania, on Fastjet.

Tech n o l o g y

Impressive 67 per cent of Mobile Phones Sold in Kenya are Smartphones 100,000 Smartphones are sold each month in Kenya, making it a leading market for Smartphones in Sub-Saharan Africa. This can be attributed to the infrastructure setup, cheap internet costs and low cost of entry level Smartphones, AllAfrica reports. Prices for these kinds of phones in the region have been known to go as low as $50, this of course reflects on the mobile carrier revenues who see increased growth of data consumption in the country. T r a n s p o r t

Fastjet Signs Agreement with Proflight Zambia Fastjet, Africa’s low cost airline, is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with Lusakabased regional airline Proflight Zambia, enabling passengers of both airlines to travel easily between 15 destinations across Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania served by the two carriers. This alliance not only will see both airlines expand in reach but also establish Lusaka as a regional aviation hub. Fastjet will solely service the route between Dar es Salaam and Lusaka from 1 May 2014, as well as Tanzanian domestic routes from Dar es Salaam, while Proflight will service its existing domestic routes in Zambia, and its route to Lilongwe in Malawi, from Lusaka. Fastjet passengers are now able to book Proflight flights in conjunction with a Fastjet ticket online at

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Aurecon Signs Multi-Year Contract with Orange Business Services multi-year contract provides foundation to support business strategy and improve service delivery for more than 7,500 users. Orange Business Services will enhance collaboration and improve productivity and service availability for Aurecon, a global leader in engineering, management and specialist technical services for government and private sector clients, by transforming the company’s global communications infrastructure through a fully-managed, secure network solution and IT services. Optimised network prioritises applications and improves collaboration As part of a five-year contract, Orange will redesign, consolidate and manage Aurecon’s network infrastructure and deploy a high-speed global wide area network connecting 80 sites. The Orange solution comprises a robust MPLS backbone with Internet connectivity, cloud-based secure gateways and application performance optimisation connecting more than 7,500 users across Asia Pacific, Africa and Middle East. In addition, Orange will provide a fully-managed, integrated and optimised network solution that allows prioritisation of businesscritical applications. This robust platform enables end users to experience greater collaboration through the existing web, voice and video services.

Robust and flexible service management model supports Aurecon’s global operations Through the adoption of Orange’s industry-leading service management model, Aurecon will have complete visibility over its infrastructure and resources. This customisable service management solution, based on Aurecon’s unique environment and business objectives, will result in service delivery improvements and significant productivity gains. Sean Elwick, head of IS, Aurecon, said: “Aligning our services and network to enable our customers to win and collaboratively deliver projects is a key cornerstone of our IS Strategy. Global access to specialised skillsets and local expertise are critical for Aurecon to provide world-class engineering services. We are constantly looking for better ways to support our customers’ requirements across established countries and emerging markets. Orange’s network reach, technology

For more information, visit: www.aurecongroup.com platforms and industry-leading service model aligns well with our objectives and through this partnership we expect to ‘give back time’ to the business through tangible network improvements and service efficiencies.” Gordon Makryllos, general manager - Australasia, Orange Business Services, said: “We enable our customers to benefit from global collaboration with employees, partners and clients to improve productivity and efficiency. With our expertise in the resources sector, we understand the unique business challenges faced by Aurecon and are delighted to support them in their transformation journey. This engagement is an example of our collaborative approach with customers and differentiates us as a leading global communications integrator. We are committed to delivering innovative servicebased outcomes that add value for Aurecon’s business.”

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M a S t E r c a r d

E x c l u S i v E

masterCard have been around for 40-odd years, with world-renowned services that cover all continents, offering a card that is universally accepted Writer Emily Jarvis

n an exclusive interview with africa outlook, masterCard’s aaron oliver, head of emerging payments for the middle east and africa, spoke to us about how our interactions with money are changing; and how the excitement around the growth of m-commerce not only in africa but across the world is only just the beginning.

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our changing inTeracTions wiTh money The world of emerging payment methods has grown in different ways to encompass technological and consumer trends over the years. In his interview, aaron pondered on how our interactions with our money have changed. eFt/Pos (electronic Funds transfer/Point of sale) machines were initially rolled out in 1982 in the united states, during a time when other payment methods were exclusive to one bank. this meant that you would either incur a charge or be unable to use a money transfer associated with a different financial institution. “As a result of these changes, managing money became easier, providing a more convenient service for people to get access to their money. the idea that you would use a credit or debit card just to buy a cup of coffee was ridiculous really, and now in the modern day, this is helped along by the emerging mobile payment methods, ensuring it becomes the standard.” with the atm gaining further functions over the years, from being able to pay in cheques to mobile phone top ups, even the hole in the wall has been privy to more convenient payment methods.

Keeping up with Technology Trends Mobile money provides a 24/7 access to funds through a network of agents. Not only this, but it has made it easier to make transactions on a more reliable, fixed line. “In order for this to work, there has to be suitable infrastructure [people making transactions], therefore it is difficult for banks to service these markets.” With 42 million active users across Africa and over 16 per cent of adults having completed a mobile money transaction, banks now have a larger number of returning customers and are more comfortable investing into terminals, which are often swiftly replaced with contactless terminals to keep up with the demand.

However, it can prove difficult for banks to move as fast as the growing demand for mobile money, with the uptake of financial institutions getting involved on the rise. “With banks showing an understanding of the mobile money business model, the network will start to evolve,” Aaron exclaimed, excited about future prospects. “Take the M-Pesa service for example. This micro-financing service from Safaricom and Vodacom is the most developed mobile payment system in the world in operation across Kenya and Tanzania. As a result of the launch of this service, a number of new bank accounts with internet banking enabled were opened, so banks have a duty to keep up with the native trends in order to secure customers.”

The Typical African Customer First and foremost, you get a mobile phone to communicate with other people, banking is a secondary feature. With this in mind, there are a diverse range of customers to cater for, all with a different handset and different individual interface requirements as Aaron cites: “Our African customers range from the most affluent, to those rebuilding after trying times. With 52 per cent of African mobile money users in South Africa, the audience for mobile money is no doubt on the rise.” The advent of mobile banking in Africa created a revolution, where people would make a conscious decision to make sure they open an account with a bank that has an internet banking option. “Africa is considered under banked, people do not have the same level of access to technological advances due to insufficient infrastructure,” Aaron explained. “Less developed countries use cash but

it is becoming less and less every day in an identifiable shift towards mobile payments.” From a Western perspective, it is interesting to think that Africa have seemingly skipped a step due to the lack of sufficient communication and cabling infrastructure in place. By this I mean that here in the UK for example, online banking was first marketed for use on a computer, with the phone application being a secondary development; but due to the excellent mobile telecom services in Africa, mobile money was introduced with greater market reach. Ordinarily, a bank pays for POS terminals to be placed in an area where they will see a return. “By leapfrogging into mobile payments, an African bank doesn’t have to invest in terminals as the consumer do it all themselves,” Aaron emphasised, and when you think about it, the advantages of this to both the user and vendor are incredible.

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M a s t e r C a r d

E x c l u s i v e

Why is Mobile Money taking off? The uptake of mobile money has soared as a significant number of businesses now take part in the Africa network, particularly in South Africa. “South Africa is a developed market, so our mobile money services work in both the domestic and commercial market. We are working on methods of financial inclusion so that the m-commerce market really is available for all. By educating people to be mobile money literate and showing how secure the service is, we bring new customers who are able to manage, access and above all participate in these upcoming financial services in Africa,” Aaron highlighted.

With over one billion people in Africa, the need for mobile phones is compelling; with network vendors providing access to key portions of the internet for users so that they can make use of mobile banking, social media and other applications. It is important that we remember not everyone has a Smartphone (yet), but this is the direction the world is headed in. “Smartphones have a huge advantage over ordinary mobile phones; they can access data en mass, which in turn drives the cost of data down for every user on that network. Safe and secure transactions are made easier, and the payment industry is really benefitting from this.”

An Interoperable Mobile Money Service Around the world, there is a growing emphasis on the importance of the portability of money. Aaron explained how transactions between banks and other members is a crucial service, and MasterCard are looking at this opportunity in Sub-Saharan Africa to further improve the services available. “These are what we call Points of Interaction [POI] – the operating system of commerce - places where banks provide access to payments electronically; things have moved on from POS. The average phone user looks to get a new phone every 6-12 months, and the card a user has is good for 2-3 years. We are in the process of building our network to be digitally native; maybe you don’t have access

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to a terminal. Our new service, MasterPass, will provide a consistent experience for the consumer each time they pay.” MasterCard want to take this service and place MasterPass into the developing market, assessing how they can take this same digital experience and bring it to Sub-Saharan Africa in what they call an “interoperable mobile money service”. MasterCard have already achieved national ID status in Nigeria and Egypt, paving the way forward for the Sub-Saharan developments. “The bank doesn’t have a relationship with the card a customer uses. We want to take this to the next step and consider the devices a customer uses and the ways in which they can pay with it,” Aaron affirmed.

The 2014 Mobile Money Market

Aaron Oliver, Head of Emerging Payments, MEA, MasterCard

It is clear that Aaron sees 2014 as an exciting time for mobile money transactions: “Africa has a tremendous amount of opportunity and I am excited to be working in this area. Payments and infrastructure through the advent of increased Smartphone ownership is accelerating; the stories you have seen in the take-up of mobile money in recent years are really just the beginning.” He also strongly believes that it takes ten years for e-commerce - and the resultant m-commerce – to become an overnight success: “It takes time to build, but at this point, it is no longer to be considered a pilot or trial.” With MasterPass due to launch later this year in Africa, Aaron expressed in his concluding point that “the excitement is yet to come”.

Digitisation The digitisation of the payments industry can only be a good thing, Aaron explained the benefits to me: “It leads to new partners that may have already been there. For example, we have been able to team up with Syniverse, who provide secure mobile payments abroad. We partnered up so that we can bring together the 3-4 billion people with mobile devices, and connected this with the power of MasterCard so that the service could be adopted around the world,” he continued: “With partnerships like these,

we are able to create some super interesting things; and this is just the tip of the iceberg.” Some may question the security of mobile money payments, however Aaron assured me that MasterCard and other vendors are creating tools around the mobile network to make it safer for all. “The more people using mobile money means that fraudulent transactions can be detected more easily. For example, when you log on in another country, we can pinpoint your phone’s location and identify trends and patterns in your own spending.”

This is defined as interoperability; the ability to exchange information across local area networks. Through a digital encryption service, MasterCard are able to connect users to merchants and issue a “one time token” as Aaron describes: “Your device can be located and recognised as an individual device on a one-time basis, making a transaction with an international vendor a much simpler process. Cards will only be accepted online when the assessed risk is within acceptable limits.”

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THe BesT HolIDAY DesTInATIons I A f rn IcA

rT T H

our final search of the continent will be taking a closer look at the tourism highlights, examining the best holiday destinations africa has to offer Writer Emily Jarvis

iven the size and diverse offering of africa as a continent, the country offers plenty of destinations for all kinds of people. as the second biggest continent in the world, africa boasts an expansive landscape and formidable animal life and it is arguably the best land for any ambitious photographer. this being said, this destination is far less popular with British and european travellers when compared to visits to the united states, latin america and australasia. in the final part of this feature, Africa outlook takes a look at some of africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best holiday destinations on offer in this unique continent.

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rwanda

many are unsure about travelling to Rwanda given its tough history. however, the country is now stable and rest assured the rewards of the present outweigh the risks of the past. also known as Le Pays des Milles Collines (land of a thousand hills), Rwanda is a lush country of endless mountains and stunning scenery. In Parc national Des Volcans, the volcanoes form a natural frontier with the DRC and uganda. The capital Kigali is sprawled over hills and valleys, offering superb views over the intensively cultivated and terraced countryside and beyond. kigali memorial Centre is a must for all visitors to Rwanda as it documents the Rwandan genocide history of events. the shores of lake kivu are home to some of the best inland beaches on the continent. Deep in the southwest, Parc national nyungwe Forest is the most extensive and mountainous rainforest in the region, which is home to many primates.

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uganda

this country in the centre of east africa arguably has the best of everything the continent has to offer in one small but stunning destination. uganda is home to the highest mountain range in africa, known as the mountains of the moon, which are located in the Rwenzori national Park and are one of the possible locations for the source of the mighty white nile. uganda is home to the sanctuary gorilla Forest Camp, located in a rainforest in southwest uganda at a unesCo world heritage site. known as “Bwindi Impenetrable Forest”, it is home to half the world’s remaining population of mountain gorillas and more than 200 species of birds, butterflies and trees. The forest is also home to the volcanic Virunga mountain range which borders Rwanda and is dotted with waterfalls and lakes. . with about 700 mountain gorillas left in the entire world, 300 of which inhabit the area, these incredible animals are a great spectacle for any nature enthusiast. Camping tours are available and it is not unusual for gorillas to also make an appearance at the camping site, for those who do not wish to track them. this area of uganda is also home to the oldest inhabitants of the great lakes region of Central africa, the Batwa Pygmy community.

the white nile water safari around the Jinja area is a spectacular attraction that takes you to the source of the river, with river rafting and more relaxed boating to murchison Falls on offer. murchison Falls’ foaming pool at the base of the waterfall is known as the Devil’s Cauldron. Do not let the name put you off, it simply stems from the turbulence of the river near the falls, where white foam accumulates. along the way, there is a variety of nature to enjoy including primates, butterflies, birdlife, and game including the rhinos at Ziwa Rhino sanctuary. there are a selection of luxury lodges in the area including the 5* Chobe safari lodge, offering panoramic views of the great river. near the banks of lake Victoria lies the country’s capital kampala. this lively city boasts a long history as before the British, the city was the capital of the Buganda kingdom, and remains so to this day. the city sits amongst hilly ground with religious buildings on some of the highest slopes. kasubi hill is the home to the kasubi tombs, a sacred burial ground of Buganda kings. atop kololo hill sits the uganda museum, featuring a hands-on collection of traditional musical instruments.

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Zimbabwe

Although political fighting continues, Zimbabwe is no longer as cheap as it once was, but its richness in culture and colour remain. Perhaps one of the most beautiful countries in africa, the few who do visit the country can expect royal treatment. whilst the world media focuses on the fall of Zimbabwe, visitors will see a very different image of the country. From the wilderness of mana Pools national Park, to the ruins of great Zimbabwe and the mountains overlooking Mozambique in eastern Zimbabwe, to fine dining in harare or bungee jumping over Victoria Falls, the country offers something for everyone. local traditions are still prominent and boasting one of the world’s best climates, a camping safari is a great idea for the exploring type. Also on offer are game drives, canoeing, hiking walks and much more that knit together the country’s charm and magnificent wilderness.

boTswana

Botswana is widely considered an african success story, achieving democratic rule in 1966 and boasting three of the world’s richest diamondbearing formations within its borders. In the present day, the country enjoys a high standard of economic stability, education and healthcare. this largely road-less wilderness of vast space requires a considerable amount of time, effort and money to enjoy the country to its full potential. the landlocked country is as large as kenya or France and most of the country is at an average elevation level of 1000m above sea level. Vast sand-filled basins are characterised by shrub-covered savannah. the kalahari Desert covers nearly 85 per cent of the

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country including the entire central and south western regions. up in northern Botswana, the okavango river flows in from namibia which can be easily accessed via maun. these savannahs are teeming with wildlife, most of which are located in the moremi wildlife Reserve and Chobe national Park. abu Camp, in Botswana’s okavango Delta, is owned by microsoft co-founder Paul allen and is an exceptional property with a gym, pool, extensive library of books and wildlife DVDs and al fresco meals overlooking a lagoon. But it is also a lodge with heart, where staff run a pioneering elephant rescue and rehabilitation program and give guests a chance to bond with the seven-strong herd.

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democraTic republic of congo

Travel to the Congo remains difficult for foreign parties. nevertheless the country is host to a number of geographical wonders. a whopping two kilometres wide and usually containing a lava lake, the nyiragongo Volcano is one of africa’s most active volcanoes, whose last eruption was in 2002. the DRC, formerly known as Zaire, occupies a vast amount of land in the centre of the african continent. about the same size as western europe, the country is home to the mighty Congo River, which are some of the last remaining unexplored wildernesses on the planet. once political tensions settle, there is no doubt that this country is begging to be explored.

moZambiQue

Considered one of africa’s up-andcoming hot-spots, with stunning white beaches, excellent diving and offshore islands, Mozambique offers safaris, snorkelling, helicopter rides and many other activities that ensure you take in all the sites this country has to offer. The 10-minute helicopter ride across the Bazaruto archipelago to the azura Retreats lodge on Benguerra Island is worth it in its own right. this awardwinning boutique hotel set on a remote desert island is set within a marine national Park, giving you the chance to see whales, dolphins and dugong. Previously, many of these attractions were inaccessible due to a protracted guerrilla war.

now, mozambique boasts an upbeat atmosphere, overflowing with markets and a 2500 kilometre coastline just waiting to be discovered. southern mozambique is a good place to stay if you plan to travel by road as it has good transport links with its neighbour, south africa, with plenty of accommodation options to choose from. the capital city maputo is located in the south also, and is best known for its colourful markets and thriving nightlife. It is the best place to enjoy the country’s signature dish: sizzling peri-peri prawns with an ice-cold laurentina beer accompaniment.

we hope you have enJoyed The Journey...

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ghana africa outlook takes a look at ghanaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s investment potential Writer Matt Bone Source: GIPC

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GIPC

rior to colonisation by the British in the mid19th century, Ghana was the site of numerous kingdoms and empires. In 1957, it became the first African nation to declare independence from European colonisation. Nowadays, Ghana has a land mass of 238,535 km2, with 2,093 kilometres of international land borders. It is a democratic constitutional republic divided into ten administrative regions, with a population of around 25 million as of 2011. The capital city, Accra - with its estimated 2.2 million inhabitants - has a bustling economy including promising business in the financial and agricultural sectors, Atlantic fishing, the manufacture of processed food, lumber, plywood, textiles, clothing and chemicals. The Greater Accra Region in Ghana has seen its share of Africa’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects increase nearly six fold, from 0.8% in 2007 to 4.7% in 2013. The capital, Accra, was identified as the Sub-Saharan African city with the highest potential for growth over the next five years by the MasterCard African Cities Growth Index. “In the last few years, the city’s per capita GDP has grown rapidly, with population and household consumption also expected to expand,” states Ernst and Young Global Limited. “The city also benefits from a sound regulatory environment.” When it comes to the natural landscape, Ghana’s varied geography includes savannas, woodlands, forests, a coastal line, springs, cave systems, mountains, estuaries, wildlife parks and nature reserves. The coast of Ghana - which is comprised mainly of sandy beaches - stretches over 560 kilometres (350 miles).

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Why Ghana?

Ghana’s wealth of resources, democratic political system and dynamic economy makes it undoubtedly one of Africa’s leading lights. Gaining the world’s confidence with a peaceful political transition and a grounded and firm commitment to democracy has helped in expediting Ghana’s growth in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in recent years. Ghana has attracted the investment of international businesses, investing in all sectors of the economy. All these investors have come to Ghana because they recognise the conducive social, political and economic environment in which they can invest, grow and be successful.

Top Investment Sectors 22

In the last few years, the city’s per capita GDP has grown rapidly, with population and household consumption also expected to expand”

Building on significant natural resources, Ghana is committed to improving its physical infrastructure. Moreover, the country has recently embarked on an ambitious but achievable reform programme to improve the investment climate for both local and international investors. These efforts have paid off tremendously with Ghana being recognised by the World Bank Doing Business Report 2014 as the “Best Place for Doing Business in the ECOWAS Region”. Also with the difficult times during last year, where most countries did not show good growth levels due to the global economic downturn, Ghana had an economic growth rate of 7.4%.

Mineral Processing

Ghana is endowed with substantial mineral resources and has a well-established mining sector, which has grown considerably in recent years to represent an important pillar of the Ghanaian economy. The mining industry of Ghana is expected to generate an annual revenue of GH75.7 billion (US$35 billion) in 2014. The mineral extraction industry currently has thirteen large-scale mining companies and over three hundred registered small scale mining groups and ninety mine support service companies. Industrial minerals are geological materials which are mined for their commercial value. They are not fuel (fuel minerals or mineral fuels) and are not sources of metals (metallic minerals). They are used in their natural state or after beneficiation either as raw materials or as additives in a wide range of applications.

I n du s t r i al m i n e r al s t hat a r e p r o duced i n Gha n a i n clude: Diamond Kaolin Gravels Cement

Feldspar Granite Limestone / Dolomite Marble Salt Silica sand

The mining industry accounts for about 7 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and mineral exports make up 42 percent of total merchandise exports. Over the past decade, the mining sector has consistently been the highest gross foreign exchange earner. In 2011, export revenues from the mining sector amounted to over US $5billion. It currently contributes about 17.5 per cent of Ghana’s total corporate tax earnings and 28.3 per cent of government revenue. About 28,000 people are employed in the large scale and mine support services industry while over 1 million people are engaged in the small scale gold, diamond, sand mining and quarry industries.

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oil and gas

Due to the emerging nature of the industry, opportunities exist in virtually every area of the petroleum industry, both upstream and downstream. The government confirmed back in 2008 that they had finalised plans for the establishment of an onshore natural gas processing plant, to process the natural gas that will be produced from the jubilee oil and gas field. Due for completion in the third quarter of 2014 is the 150 million ft3 thermal gas processing plant at Atuabo, which is 50 km east of effasu and 100km west of takoradi. an 8km2 land area has been acquired to be developed into a petrochemical industrial park to house the gas processing plant and ancillary industries. oil production in ghana has been a positive aspect for the country over recent years. The Jubilee oil field is an oil field located in the Atlantic ocean, 60km off the shores of ghana. it was discovered in 2007 by kosmos energy and developed by tullow oil. It began production in 2010 and has a total reserve of around 2 billion barrels. state-owned ghana national Petroleum Corporation (gnPC) has pledged to invest us$20billion with its partners - including tullow oil Plc Corporation - in the next 10 years to boost production at its offshore fields to 500,000 barrels from the 100,000 barrels it is currently producing.

manufacTuring

ghana has a reputation for producing high quality, traditionally designed printed cloth. the widely celebrated kente cloth of the ashanti and ewe people are hand-woven and brightly coloured with traditional symbols and design. african textiles have gained an international reputation for their patterns, but national branding had not been promoted heavily in the past. Promoting high quality, traditionally designed fabrics adds â&#x20AC;&#x153;made in ghanaâ&#x20AC;? appeal to the niche usa markets that manufacturers are beginning to serve.

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Tourism

ghana is a nature loverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s delight. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sunny, equatorial climate and fertile, well-watered soils sustain an enchanting selection of wildlife, ranging from elephants to monkeys and marine turtles to crocodiles, as well as hundreds of colourful bird and butterfly species. More than 5 percent of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s surface area has been awarded official protection across 16 national parks and lower-profile conservation areas. out of these parks, the most popular tourist destinations are the vast mole national Park in the northern savannah and the forested kakum national Park near the coast. ghana is highly alluring to birdwatchers, with 725 species recorded in an area comparable to the size of great Britain. For casual visitors, it is colourful savannah birds such as gonoleks, rollers, parrots and weavers that tend to catch the eye, as well as the eagles and other raptors that inhabit the drier north. serious birdwatchers, however, are likely to want to seek out the more elusive residents of the shadowy rainforest interiors of kakum, Bui and ankasa, as well as the exceptional variety and volume of marine species that congregate on coastal lagoons such as keta, songor and muni-Pomadze.

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agriculTure

ghana commands a great share of the african quota of eu market in fruit and vegetable exports. other leading processed agricultural export products are tuna, cut fresh pineapples, other prepared fish and tomato paste. Cocoa has historically been a key economic sub-sector and a major source of export and fiscal earnings. ghana is the second largest cocoa-growing country in the world. the leading non-traditional products are fresh or chilled tunas, shea nuts, cashew nuts, fresh or chilled fish, yams, bananas and pineapples. the country is classified into three main agriculture zones. the forest vegetation zone consists of parts of western, eastern, ashanti, Brong-ahafo and Volta regions. the northern savannah vegetation zone includes the upper east, upper west and northern region, whilst the coastal savannah includes mainly the Central, greater accra and parts of Volta region.

food processing

the food processing industry plays a major role in ghanaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economy. major food crops in ghana generally consist of cereals and starchy foods. Cereals include maize, rice, millet, guinea corn and sorghum, while starchy crops include cassava, yam, cocoyam (taro) and plantain. Currently, food processing in ghana is done by medium scale enterprises. over the years, the government of ghana has implemented policies that add value to ghanaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s raw agricultural products (e.g. cocoa, cotton, oil palm, etc.). in recent times, intensive efforts have been made by the government to process some of these products; as such, the volume of cocoa beans processed locally has doubled in the last decade.

tHE MAin ProCEssED FooD ProDUCts ArE FroM: Cocoa oil palm soybean nuts

maize groundnut

Rice Cassava

ghanaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economy is expected to maintain strong growth over the next 2-3 years, bolstered by improved oil and gas production and the soon to be operational natural gas processing plant. with increased private sector investment, from both foreign and domestic parties, improved public infrastructure development and sustained political stability, ghana can be considered one of the best places to invest within africa.

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L e a d i n g C o m p a n i e s frica outlook is a leading business to business publication that promotes and showcases the leading companies on the Continent. The digital and print publications are aimed at boardroom and hands on decision-makers in a wide range of industries, reaching over 135,000 business executives every month. With over 11,000 unique visitors to our website on a weekly basis africa outlook is the platform to promote your business success. each month we feature leading companies and business executives by profiling their operations in their own words. Covering all aspects from supply chain, investments and developments, best practice, innovation, growth plans and future project and products we aim to promote all that is good about industry, economy and business. producing business profiles across all sectors and regions of africa we give companies the opportunity to tell their story to our readers.

Emily Jarvis Sub-Editor

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If you want to enjoy the exposure and coverage we can offer please feel free to contact me and we can discuss the opportunity at length. Tell us your story and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll tell the world.

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IN AFRICA By eliminating complexity and simplifying IT, Oracle enables its customers - 400,000 of them in more than 145 countries around the world - to accelerate innovation and create added value for their customers. The result is best-in-class products throughout an integrated stack of hardware and software, with every layer designed and engineered to work together according to open industry standards. Oracleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s complete, open and integrated solutions offer extreme performance at the lowest cost - all from a single vendor. Integrated, industry-specific solutions are engineered to address complex business processes across a wide range of industries. In this special feature, Africa Outlook interviews senior members of Oracle Africa including various country and project Directors and partners involved in the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN). Plus, we take an in-depth look inside the Oracle brand, and how Big Data and Cloud Computing are able to support the technology demands of the modern customer.

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Writers Matt Bone and Emily Jarvis Project Manager Donovan Smith

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ORACLE IN AFRICA The Diverse African Market The African continent cannot be described as a single entity. The countries comprising the African continent are vastly diverse in their political, economic, social and cultural character. “In the past few years we have seen intensification in the sense of urgency in both the public and the private sector.” There is an increasing awareness that information technology, as it has taken on a new form in the past two or three years, is now the tool to change the development game for all countries in Africa.” The mobile phone is now a vital device to do business with consumers and serve citizens better. Social media drives buying through sentiment and satisfaction. The massive amounts of data that are being generated in every business and government activity need to be used to innovate new products, deliver better service and develop infrastructure where it is most needed. Mobile, social media and big data are among the trends driving change in every facet of life and business in Africa. As economic recovery starts to gather momentum around the word as well as Africa, there is an unspoken world among companies that business will never be the same; Oracle will play a key role in this transformation.

Compelling Growth Strategy

The potential for growth in Africa is massive; inevitably, however, the success of the continent cannot be achieved in isolation. The world’s slowing economic growth has had an effect on Africa. “While the challenges in Africa are not uniform - but with the lack of IT skills being ubiquitous – they in turn can hinder the adoption of new technology.” Oracle recognised this years ago, and today puts tens of thousands of students through its academy programme

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to develop database and Java programming skills. A second challenge is the varying robustness of the communications infrastructure. Implementing a costeffective communications network in countries that possess areas that are sparsely populated and have varying levels of prosperity is a massive challenge. “Universal, reliable and affordable internet access is difficult in many countries. However, there is definitely a will to address the issue. Kenya, for example, have taken the steps to implement a fibre network to provide high-speed internet access to many parts of the country.” Oracle has two strings to their bow when it comes to their growth strategy. The first is to bring Oracle’s products to all countries in Africa. “We do this by putting ‘feet on the street’. We have been engaged in doing business in Africa for decades, and we know the importance of personal engagement with customers. We do this through our local partners – we empower them to provide customers with highvalue products and services, thus owning the relationship on a day-today, interactive level.” The second consists of creating skills capacity in a country. Skills and on-going workforce development are essential to create a stable, affordable, and most importantly local workforce. Innovation and change are key to the new way of doing business, local knowledge and experience combined with technology, giving rise to innovative products.

Two major challenges facing IT companies in Africa today are availability of skills and internet access. Although some governments have started to address the lack of bandwidth and slow internet access, we are yet to see a major effort in addressing the need for skills development. This not only poses a threat to the IT market growth in Africa, but to the economies as a whole on the continent. Oracle continues to invest in skills development from school to post graduate level and if we can get all industries to follow this investment, our continent will be a very different place in the near future.” Pieter Bensch - Vice President and Managing Director, South Africa

I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.’ –Mother Teresa. This quote is truly synonymous to our activity in Africa. The continent is changing. The political situation is changing. Countries are fast becoming more responsive to market and social needs. Oracle’s success lies in creating these smaller ripples through technology transformation on this continent.”

Cherian Varghese – Africa Transition Cluster

It is an exciting time for Oracle and the ICT sector in Nigeria. Through Oracle’s best-of-breed products and solutions, we’re transforming the way our customers do business, enabling innovation and new opportunities across various industries in the public and private sector. We’ve built a tremendous, solid customer base and are encouraged by the adoption of new technologies by Nigerian companies. As the largest economy in Africa today, Nigeria will continue to embrace technology to support its growth, and Oracle in Nigeria is well positioned to drive this.” Adebayo Sanni – Country Managing Director, Nigeria

Kenya is bursting with opportunity. Our customers are at the forefront of new technology adoption, looking to ICT to support their business growth with increased speed and efficiency. Oracle is working with some of the largest organisations in Kenya today, across many industries, simplifying their IT so that they can focus on innovation. We’re also committed to empowering the next generation of ICT specialists, working with developers, innovation hubs, partners, customers and the public sector alike to drive skills development.” Dr Gilbert Saggia – Country Managing Director, Kenya

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Oracle PartnerNetwork Making Partnering Simple, Strong and Effective

OPN has been set up to give Oracle’s partners the resources to strengthen their expertise

Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) is a critical component to their continued success. Oracle partners account for over 40 percent of global revenue and 80 percent of global transactions. They are an important asset, serving customers across Africa and are viewed as an extension to Oracle’s sales force with their commitment and dedication to the process. Through this mutually beneficial approach, Oracle established the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN). This programme helps members keep up to date with Oracle’s growing product portfolio, offering resources to train and support focused knowledge and providing partners with tools to better develop, sell and implement Oracle solutions. While companies have become more receptive than ever to the latest technological trends, they have also begun to demand more in-depth guidance and product knowledge from resellers to help them

The wealth of solutions we now offer cuts across every main industry. The extensive enablement programmes we have in place ensures our partners are capable of understanding our solutions and delivering maximum value to our customers. The choice a partner has today to learn and grow their business with Oracle is tremendous - we cater for the innovators, entrepreneurs and the specialist developers to expand and grow their business not only locally, but across several countries on the continent. I can truly say to partners and companies looking for a new direction, that there is no better time to be an Oracle Partner.” Donald Thomas - Alliances & Channels Director for Africa Operations and Transition Africa.

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navigate the fast-changing IT landscape. Oracle PartnerNetwork has been set up so that partners are given the enablement resources and tools to strengthen their expertise and offer such advice in a professional capacity. OPN Specialised features a streamlined organisation where Oracle partners can participate at the level that best matches their business model. For some partners, this means reselling selected Oracle products to midsize organisations through a Value-Added Distributor (VAD).

Innovation and Drive Although equipping their partners to find success in shifting market conditions has always been one of Oracle’s core goals, OPN will now have to evolve even faster to keep up with the current pace of IT innovation. One of the biggest differentiators for Oracle is their high performance IT solutions where hardware and software are engineered to work together. Not only do integrated technologies perform higher for customers, they also provide partners with the opportunity to sell combined solutions sets, rather than stand-alone products. Oracle has opened Partner Hubs in Johannesburg, Lagos and Nairobi during 2013, providing a comprehensive portfolio of services to drive the growth of partner organisations and their business. The concept of an Oracle Partner Hub combines Oracle’s technical knowledge, professional services and marketing support to help ensure the best possible support for partners.

Oracle’s commitment to its partner base has been the cornerstone –of successfully transforming our business into a 51 percent Indirect Partner-Led business. Instead of reinforcing historical customer behavior - in using Subjective Data as the basis of choosing an Oracle Partner - Specialisation allows our customers to recognise and choose a preferred partner based on Objective and Verifiable Data such as references and skills. You can’t go wrong in selecting a Specialised Partner.” Stefan Diedericks - Alliance & Channel Director and Cloud, BPS & SaaS Partner Programmes, Oracle South Africa

Risctec are a Platinum level member of Oracle PartnerNetwork that is committed to OPN and have focused on specialisations across the Oracle Red Stack, which enable us to provide a complete solution to the customer. Through OPN, we have a better understanding of the available technology and have come up with a more complete solution. The OPN programme also allows us to find other competent partners that specialise in a particular aspect of the Red Stack that we do not and consequently provide the customer with a fully integrated specialised solution.” Jeremy Hollick - Managing Director, Risctec

Copy Cat has been a long standing Platinum level member of Oracle PartnerNetwork. Being part of OPN has enabled Copy Cat to explore new business opportunities and drive key growth strategies. By achieving Specialisation on Oracle’s Products & Solutions, Copy Cat is able to accelerate its growth and also expand Oracle’s footprint in the East African region. Our association with Oracle has enabled us to be identified as one of the largest System Integrators in the region, providing quality services to our ever-expanding customer base.” Mr. Nazir Noordin – Managing Director, The Copy Cat Limited

We’re proud to be part of Oracle PartnerNetwork, and we’re having a great time doing business with Oracle. Being part of OPN, talking with colleagues, making new connections; it’s a wonderful reminder of the benefits of doing business with the best, highest quality organisation.” Mr Mike Njuki - Director, Neurotech Ltd Zambia

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D i m e n s i o n D ata S u cc e ss S to r y

Extreme efficiency, extreme savings xtreme performance: doing something faster, better, or more efficiently than it has ever been done before. It’s the hallmark of Oracle’s engineered systems and the ultimate embodiment of Oracle’s drive to simplify IT. Oracle SuperCluster engineered systems are Oracle’s fastest and most scalable engineered systems and are ideal for DBaaS Donovan Lawrence implementations, consolidating databases and Application applications, as well as private cloud deployments. Dimension Data recently purchased two Oracle Services Executive at SuperCluster T5-8 systems from Oracle and Dimension Data has seen a meteoric rise in the number of bluechip companies looking to utilise this advanced technology. Donovan Lawrence, Application Services Executive at Dimension Data, has been astounded by the level of interest from companies in using the company’s services: “Demand has raised massively from companies in Southern Africa looking to use our data So what is a SuperCluster? centres for their companies It is an integrated server, storage, IT infrastructure and cloud networking, and software system computing needs. When we that provides: acquired the SuperClusters, we were confident that 1. Maximum end-to-end database and Oracle’s proven track application performance record in delivering price 2. Minimal initial and ongoing support performance benefits and maintenance effort and unparalleled service, would 3. Complexity at the lowest total cost entice large multi-national of ownership clients to work with us. However, we did not think this many companies would show this level of interest so quickly.” Oracle SuperCluster helps businesses meet the demands of today’s diverse data centres by providing the ideal platform for consolidating third-party, custom and Oracle applications. Designed for extreme efficiency and cost savings, Oracle SuperCluster delivers

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one solution to handle all types of enterprise workloads.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing refers to a computing hardware machine or group of computing hardware machines, referred to as a server, connected through a communication network such as the Internet. Any individual user who has permission to access the server can use the server’s processing power to run an application, store data, or perform any other computing task. The client can now run the application from anywhere in the world. Dimension Data’s cloud computing services has gained a massive market footprint in Southern Africa, thanks in part to the SuperClusters. Lawrence is excited about the possibilities that are opening up for clients with the new services on offer: “Dimension Data’s Oracle Cloud Services are delivered on our Oracle Infrastructure as a Service platform. Hosted within a Dimension Data data centre, the Oracle IaaS comprises industry-leading hardware and software, utilising our magnificent Oracle SuperClusters, we can offer our clients high quality services that can be accessed anywhere in the world. We have packages to suit every business model and even short-term Pay As You Go contracts for SME’s.” Whether your goal is improving system utilisation, reducing energy consumption, conserving data centre floor space, or creating a cloud computing infrastructure, Oracle SuperCluster offers a fast, tested and certified platform.

Dimension Data African-specific solutions for its emerging markets When an organisation decides to enter Africa, it needs to understand that the rules are different. There are substantial operating challenges, but they’re not insurmountable. Finding innovative ways to overcome them can be rewarding and is the key differentiator for any businesses wishing to succeed in Africa. While many challenges in Africa are similar to those in other emerging markets, some require Africa-specific solutions: an underdeveloped infrastructure, a fragmented retail landscape, little reliable market research, unclear and everchanging Government regulations and skills shortages are common themes. But one of the best ways to navigate the continent is to partner with local stakeholders.

Tel +27 11 575 0000 Dimension.data@dimensiondata.com www.dimensiondata.com

Working with an organisation with local industry and business knowledge, market expertise and infrastructure can make the process far easier, simpler and more efficient. Dimension Data has partnered with many international and South African businesses entering Africa, and used its continent-wide footprint and Oracle expertise to implement the right solution. The key to success in Africa is to understand the impact of poor infrastructure on the supply chain, how Africa’s diverse consumers influence retail and that accurate consumer data is sometimes hard to obtain. Dimension Data is a technology partner that understands these challenges, and has the solutions to address them.

Dimension Data’s Application Services Executive, Donovan Lawrence says: “All businesses need real-time, accurate data for remote operations, and a standardised approach to managing operations allows this. Real-time visibility, central control and the adoption of well-established standard business processes, becomes increasingly important as multi-nationals invest further and deeper into Africa. We are already supporting clients to do just this using our established emerging market footprint in Africa and the Middle East. “We are a leading ICT company in Africa and have invested significantly in data centres, connectivity solutions and infrastructure. We offer a full menu of services across the Oracle spectrum to enable better business performance in the Middle East and Africa for our clients, many of which are importing their global business models.” Through its public and private cloud, Oracle is able to provide businesses wishing to operate in Africa the flexibility and cost efficiency required to grow from the ground up. When combined with the services, infrastructure and connectivity solutions provided by Dimension Data, Oracle solutions are a clear choice. African markets require African solutions, provided by African companies that understand Africa, and Dimension Data continues to invest in Oracle resources, technology and infrastructure to ensure it caters for client demands.

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Expanding your footprint in Africa? Africa beckons. A vast continent with unlimited opportunities but for many businesses, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unfamiliar territory. Not to us though. Dimension Data is Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest ICT services provider and a specialist integrator of the full suite of Oracle applications. With operations in 16 countries in Africa and preferred partners in many more, we have on-the-ground

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Private Cloud IT environments, whilst providing private cloud benefits through selfservice, automation and chargeback capability.” Oracle’s private cloud products offer compelling advantages by providing clouds at a variety of levels, namely application, platform and infrastructure levels. Pegrume says this can be a daunting task when key requirements of automation, self service, billing and overall security requirements are added.

Oracle’s Private Cloud Offering Includes:

Tom Pegrume Vice President Systems for Middle East and Africa Defining the Private Cloud The core elements of private cloud computing are best described in terms of the benefit enterprises expect to gain through adoption and deployment. “Oracle’s position as a provider of integrated solutions that span infrastructure, technology and business applications enables us to provide these benefits to our enterprise customers in a simplified manner through the delivery of increased agility through complete, fully documented, pretested, enterprise ready cloud infrastructure offerings. We are able to provide enterprise customers with a defined and tested route to simplify their

Applications - Oracle’s cloud applications are a comprehensive and modular set of enterprise applications, engineered from the ground up to be cloud-ready and to coexist seamlessly in mixed environments. The 100 percent open-standards-based business applications are there to change the way you innovate, work and adopt new technologies. Cloud deployment platform Oracle’s cloud platform solution provides a shared and elastically scalable platform that delivers cost savings through standardisation and higher utilisation of the shared platform across multiple applications. It simplifies both deployment and management through Engineered Systems; combining service deployment, execution platforms, storage and networking in a standardised, performant and secure package.

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CFAO TECHNOLOGIES CFAO Technologies has both the resources and the partners needed to implement the projects entrusted to it and guarantee the quality of the services it provides. From audit to drafting of specifications, and from help with IT system design through to the go-live phase, followed by system maintenance, development and engineering, user training and software integration. CFAO Technologies is organised around eight subsidiaries and is operating in 21 countries in Africa. “Our aim is to step up our efforts to develop our solutions offering and maximize your return on investment.” In order to capitalise on the anticipated growth of IT services in Africa, CFAO Technologies is stepping up its efforts to develop its innovative, integrated and high value-added solutions offering. Tel +225 21 21 21 21 Fax +225 21 21 21 20

www.cfao-technologies.com

Oracle’s position as a provider of integrated solutions that span infrastructure, technology and business applications enables us to provide these benefits to our enterprise customers in a simplified manner”

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We enable hybrid cloud deployments today with an unified and comprehensive solution to integrate disparate cloud and on-premise applications”

Cloud database deployment - Database consolidation is a key step in the journey to the cloud. Oracle Database 12c makes the process far faster and simpler, enabling a high density of schema-based consolidation without requiring changes to existing applications. Besides speeding the journey to cloud, consolidation also simplifies management, a huge advantage for organisations now managing hundreds, even thousands, of databases. Cloud operating systems and virtualisation Compared to other cloud infrastructure solutions, the virtualisation capabilities built into Oracle Solaris could potentially translate into savings of millions of dollars for installations with a large number of virtual environments. Add to this advancements in security, software-defined networking, manageability and enterprise level OpenStack functionality and it becomes evident why Solaris is termed ‘engineered for the cloud.’ Cloud management - Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c is the management solution for Oracle environments including Oracle applications, databases, middleware, virtualisation environments, and hardware including engineered systems. It provides management functions for cloud life-cycle management, as well as for application, platform, and infrastructure cloud environments.

Hybridisation of the Cloud Platform

Oracle has identified that there is a need for a hybrid cloud model, where enterprises can selectively deploy technology components and applications within their corporate firewall infrastructure while consuming select services from Oracle’s public cloud. “We enable hybrid cloud deployments today with a unified and comprehensive solution to integrate disparate cloud and on-premise applications. We can provide a flexibility to customers that suits their organisation’s strategy.” Pegrume says that Oracle has identified a strong demand from enterprises looking at gaining the benefit of Cloud Computing behind their corporate firewalls through private cloud deployments. To address this requirement, Oracle’s cloud infrastructure provides a complete selection of servers, storage, networking fabric, virtualisation software, operating systems, and management software to support diverse private cloud applications. The company engineers its hardware with application-aware virtualisation and management capabilities to enable the rapid deployment and efficient management of private cloud infrastructure.

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EXI Promoting Intelligence and Agility for economic benefit EXI was created in 1991 with the mission to help our customers in planning, building and operating their information systems in order to enable their efficient and effective business operations. In line with our objectives we have been able to grow and be profitable above average and we are considered to be among the best solution providers of the Mozambique market. Based on our application development capabilities and a deep understanding of local business practices and culture we are in a privileged position to help collaboratively in modernisation programs of companies and public sector. From a central position of application management services, we drive a network of high calibre and specialised providers originating from various markets that enable EXI to play the role of one stop shop provider. In our solutions we engage in the following kind of activities: Strategy, architecture and governance of IT Management, construction, implementation and operation of IT based applications & infrastructures After several years of sound cooperation EXI has become a service partner of various renowned manufacturers namely: Oracle ESRI Hitachi Fujitsu Partnerships which will enable us to serve this market with very effective and robust solutions. Tel +258 21 49 25 11 / +258 21 49 33 82 Email exi@exi.co.mz / info@exi.co.mz

www.exi.co.mz

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Public Cloud Khehar discussed with us how other clouds are often one or twodimensional, but in contrast, “Oracle Cloud delivers on all 3 dimensions of transformational technologies. We’ve embedded social, mobile and rich Business Intelligence capabilities for a more powerful and innovative experience, addressing a complete set of needs to execute a business process across functional application areas.” The idea of ensuring your customers and your employees are not only better informed, but collaborate better, allows Oracle staff to be more innovative in how they do their jobs and deliver value to their customers.

Arun Khehar Vice President of Business Applications for Middle East and Africa Core Elements of Cloud Computing Nearly nine years ago, Oracle embarked on an effort to completely rewrite and modernise their applications. Very few tech companies embrace and implement the new generation of technology because it is a huge undertaking that requires significant vision and commitment; being able to look at the future advantages and market opportunities. Oracle combined significant allocation of resources with key strategic acquisitions in the cloud applications and social space - to launch a comprehensive, flexible and modern suite of cloud offerings, consisting of SaaS (Software as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service), and IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service).

Meeting the Growing Demand and Beyond The demand for Oracle Cloud is on the increase, as the confidence of the market in the cloud continues to grow, with companies who adopt these technologies witnessing the benefits. “In today’s fierce competition, organisations need to innovate and run their business in a modern way. Cloud is one of the approaches that allow them to achieve this.” Over 29 million people around the world already use Oracle Cloud applications for access to the latest innovations with increased flexibility and lower costs. In order to increase this number, the company has just announced the ‘Oracle Customer 2 Cloud Program’, which enables organisations to use the cloud to support business transformation initiatives.

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Omnidata Omnidata was established in 1996, and has since then proceeded to exercise solutions integrator services, with a high technological know-how in the area of ICT. Omnidata present integrated offer solutions adapted to the real needs of the Angolan market. We seek to continually improve the level of excellence we have set and is the focus of all the shares of top management, whether by recruiting and retaining talent, investment in the continuous training of our staff and continued effort to improve the level of service and customer satisfaction. With the use of a team of talents Angolans and a bag of highly qualified consultants and trainers, Omnidata lend a high level of technical competence in the services and projects that we are undertaking. We value the trust relationships with our business partners and our employees.

Winner Of The BID International Quality Summit Award - 2012; Prémio Maior Parceiro Cisco Em Angola - 2012; Prémio Maior Parceiro Cisco 2012 Na Área Dos Provedores De Telecomunicações - 2012.

Tel +244 222 017 033 +244 222 017 034 +244 943 183 375 +244 914 368 680 Email info@omnidata.co.ao comercial@omnidata.co.ao

www.omnidata.co.ao

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In today’s fierce competition, organisations need to innovate and run their business in a modern way”

There has been a good uptake of SaaS in the African and Middle East regions, where Oracle is leading the way in some of these domains. “We see the demand across several industries from telecoms, professional services, airlines, in the public sector, and indeed across all sizes of organisation, from midsize to the largest of enterprises.” The multifaceted nature of Cloud means that organisations can focus on running their business rather than maintaining their previous enterprise applications. The continuous market uptake and embracement of social, big data, mobile and real time analytics are dictating the future of visionary organisations like Oracle and their Cloud software. “This uptake is already happening, so the future looks even brighter!”

DCDM Consulting LTD

CDM Consulting Ltd is a leading ICT solution provider which specialises in Consulting, Technology and Outsourcing. It has offices in Mauritius, Botswana, Kenya and South Africa. Its experience in projects for government, parastatal and private sectors enables successful implementation of IT and strategic business solutions in various industries such as agriculture, banking, financial institutions, manufacturing, retail, transport, telecommunication, tourism, among others. DCDM Consulting differentiates itself through its diverse and highly skilled workforce as well as its strong partnership with world-class vendors like Oracle, IBM, Microsoft and SAP. Its ingrained innovation culture allows the company to use cutting-edge technology to create the most suitable solutions to fulfil its customers’ needs. In addition to implementing systems of international standard, the company has valuable expertise in developing and customising ICT solutions and mobile applications. Through its advisory services, the company has the capacity to review customer processes and advises on how to enhance efficiency and productivity levels, through activities associated with Business Process Reviews, Quality Assurance, Project Management, Business Continuity, etc. DCDM Consulting values its personnel as one of its most important assets and thrives in providing its employees with an environment that is conducive to continuous self-development. Tel +230 405 7900 Email contact@dcdmconsulting.com

www.dcdmconsulting.com

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Over the past decade, DCDM Consulting has maintained a very strong and trusted partnership with Oracle Corporation. Its staff complement varies between 150 and 200, of whom more than 50 are experienced and around 30 hold professional certifications in Oracle technologies. The company has the reputation of implementing Oracle solutions of the highest quality standards, to the satisfaction of its customers across its territories. Its wide range of expertise in Oracle solutions includes E-Business Suite implementations, Oracle Custom Software Development, Oracle Business Intelligence, Oracle Database Management, Java Application Development, etc. In recognition to its valuable efforts, DCDM Consulting has obtained several awards for its achievements: • Member of the Oracle Partner Advisory Board Africa since April 2013 • ‘Oracle Platinum Partner’ level since 2010 • ‘Oracle Partner Specialisation Award’ for being the partner of choice in the Financial Sector industry for the region in 2010.

OFFERINGS Consulting

Technology

Outsourcing

DCDM Consulting employees pledge that they always use their in-depth knowledge of Oracle ERP technologies to implement solutions of the highest quality to exceed customer satisfaction levels.

PO BOX 41 Nexteracom Tower 1 | Level 1 Cybercity | Ebene | Mauritius T: +230 405 7900 F: +230 468 1348 GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE Indian Ocean . Eastern & Southern Africa . Europe

E: contact@dcdmconsulting.com www.dcdmconsulting.com www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com

BIG

Data

Shane Fernandes

Business Intelligence Leader for

Eastern Europe, CIS, Middle East and Africa Big Data is Everywhere

Big data is the collective noun given to all the information being generated by organisations and people using technology such as mobile phones, social media and the Internet to run their lives and their businesses. By analysing this data, many companies can now predict fairly accurately your next buying decision. For example, if you book a flight online to a holiday destination, you may find advertisements related to that destination popping up more frequently in the days following your booking. “Your buying patterns are being tracked so that companies can offer you a selection of products and services that best match your preferences. This information is only useful if it can be properly analysed, the relevant information retained, and the correct actions then undertaken.” From a technology perspective, there are several innovations that make big data management and analysis possible. “Companies need massively powerful computers and very sophisticated software to store and analyse this information. Using traditional hardware and software this exercise can be expensive, complicated and unreliable.” IT companies like Oracle have now developed faster, smaller, more

orinuX Our Solutions & Services: ‘Oracle Platinum Partner’, awarded in 2010 Analysis and advice in enterprise architecture and capacity planning Project management and solution integration Physical installation and connection of the various hardware components Installation and configuration of operating systems & databases Develop and implement Business Continuity Solutions Technical support Software Development Operating & Databases systems High availability solutions Backup and restore solutions Replication solutions Monitoring Tools Networking Security and other products Tel (+230) 466 5950 Email info@orinux.com

www.orinux.com

DATAFLEX

IT companies like Oracle have now developed faster, smaller, more powerful offerings to manage big data and turn it into useful information at speeds unheard of in the past” powerful offerings to manage big data and turn it into useful information at speeds unheard of in the past.

Adopting Big Data in Africa

In Africa, big data is the next step in the business analytics path

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e are one of Nigeria’s foremost Information Technology companies and have been in existence for over two decades. DATAFLEX has over the years developed itself to becoming a full systems integration company. Our business model continues to be to partner preferred ICT global brands in order to deliver a unique customer experience. Some of our partners include HP, Oracle, Dell, Netapp, VMWARE, 3D Cellular, Cisco and a number of other reputable brands. We pride ourselves in partnering strategically in order to deliver the right solutions to our clients, thereby meeting our customers’ expectations. We maintain a preferred relationship with most of the global ICT companies we partner and we are well positioned to deliver on our promise. Tel + 234-1-2713370-7 Email office@dataflexng.com

www.dataflex.com

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gdata that has many companies talking. Oracle has seen a very significant increase in the adoption of business analytics by the public and private sectors who want to use the information they have to deliver better, more competitive and more cost effective goods and services. “Companies and governments in Africa today are unlocking massive value simply by applying world-class analysis models to their existing data.”

What’s next for Big Data and Analytics?

Companies and governments in Africa today are unlocking massive value simply by applying world-class analysis models to their existing data”

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The biggest value derived from big data is the ability to “listen” and “respond” very quickly to customer or citizen needs. “The old business principle that if a company keeps 95% of its customers happy it’s doing well no longer applies. That 5% of the population that experiences bad service can seriously compromise a company’s business or trigger criticism of a local or country authority. They can do this by going onto social media and complaining the moment they have a bad experience.” Consumers are becoming more and more demanding, and expect faster, better service every day. The company that has the competitive advantage today is one that can not only deal with complaints and customer requests promptly, but also anticipate and personalise their customers’ experience. Fernandes says that consequently, “managing big data is crucial to attracting and retaining customers and crucial in order to achieve profitability.”

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HOW TO BECOME A

Quality Brand

Graham Mansfield Senior Director for Customer Experience at Oracle Middle East and Africa

pple, Google and CocaCola are three very different brands but united by one important factor: they were placed first, second and third in the Interbrand Best Global Brands listings for 2013. These are organisations which have good brand equity. Companies with good brand equity instantly strike a chord with their customer base, establishing an emotional connection. It goes without saying that to build such levels of brand equity is the dream of many businesses, but in order to fulfil that ambition, organisations must first determine what are their brand ‘promises’. “Where a brand promises to meet customer expectation is where we have the ‘moment of truth’, and it’s here where the emotional connection with a brand is won or lost. Explicit promises meet customer perceptions and it’s an understanding of what customers think and feel about a brand that underpins the advertising, marketing and pricing structure,” explains Graham Mansfield, Senior Director for Customer Experience at Oracle Middle East and Africa. When it comes to customer experience, businesses really do understand just how much things have changed over the years. The old methods of reaching the customer no longer fit the bill; the customer demands more than ever before, to achieve a brand experience delivered on their terms. “Oracle know that we need to build these real relationships with customers, connecting with them on an emotional level in order to win the loyalty of consumers.”

Legacy Companies Despite this awareness, it is the start-up community that have found it easiest to adapt to the needs of the modern consumer. Many businesses are failing to make the wholesale transformation required to

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prosper in today’s consumer-driven market and Mansfield says that there is one simple reason for this: “Legacy. The more established the company is, the more legacy challenges it has to deal with. Whereas a start-up has a blank page on which to write a whole new approach to managing the customer journey, older businesses are stuck with legacy leadership, legacy technologies, legacy practices and legacy ways of thinking.” Mansfield thinks that these legacy companies need to take a fresh look at what the customer journey looks like today: “Indeed, based on what they find they then need to rebuild their entire organisation around the new customer-centric reality.”

The Customer Journey For brands wishing to reach these heights, they must ensure that every part of their company is geared towards one goal: Delivering on their brand promise, this equates to meeting the customer’s functional and emotional needs in whatever way best suits that customer. To do that they need to fully understand the customer journey: from start to finish. Mapping the customer journey across the entire buyer cycle starts to uncover issue areas. As your customer is going through the buying cycle, what actions are they taking and what response are they anticipating? Does your brand fulfil this expectation? Does it exceed or fall short? Where are the weak links? Being able to answer these questions helps identify the powerful

C u stom e r

Exp e r i e n c e

emotional triggers that impact the emotion equation. Modifying these triggers allows organisations to enact change and directly impact how a customer thinks or feels about the interaction. Changing the way a customer feels about an interaction will likely have the follow on effect of changing their behaviour, and ultimately positively influencing their attitude.

Enter the Intrapreneur

The intrapreneur is someone who works within an established business but with an entrepreneurial flair as Mansfield defines: “Intrapreneurs are disruptors and mavericks; first adopters and trailblazers. They take on the critical task of forcing through the internal innovation that is so desperately needed by legacy-burdened companies. Intrapreneurs must fly in the face of scepticism and dogma from within the businesses they are trying to help and all too often have to fight for vital changes.” In this respect their job is harder than that of the entrepreneur, but arguably the rewards are greater and indeed, who would not be proud of overhauling a major international organisation and dragging it kicking and screaming into the 21st century? It seems that established businesses must follow the path set by intrapreneurs, fully embrace disruption, and focus on executing the wholesale changes required to cater for the modern customer. Customers expect both a high level of control when interacting with brands and a level of immediacy and ease. Consequently, consumers are increasingly being won over by the brands that are the easiest to do business with and those with seamless communication with their brand 24/7 using whatever modern means that suits them at the time. “Over the next few years consumers are only going to wrestle away even

more control from brands as web, social media and mobile services mature,” affirms Mansfield.

Over the next few years consumers are only going to wrestle away even more control from brands as web, social media and mobile services mature”

Securing Intrapreneurial Talents For customer experience professionals the onus is on them to take the challenge by the horns and see what they can do to change how their businesses understand and engage with the customer. They must transform themselves into intrapreneurs before they can transform the company. “The key for organisations now is to ensure they have the right intrapreneurial talent in place to help instigate and drive this disruptive transformation before legacy-free competitors win the race for market share,” Mansfield concludes.

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Capacity Building Orfhlaith Ni Chorcora Senior Director of Business Development

Why is there a big drive to invest in IT skills development? With more and more businesses relying on technology, the demand for a deep and rich pool of IT talent is increasing. However, high rates of unemployment particularly affecting the youth are still prevalent in Africa. It begs the question as to whether our youth are being equipped with the right skills, aligned to where the job opportunities are. Such jobs are not only in the private sector, but extend to opportunities for tech entrepreneurship and the creation of small businesses, which are already great contributors to the African economy. Furthermore, an increasing number of countries are looking to digitise the services they offer to citizens. E-government systems have the potential to offer something of a silver bullet. An e-government is defined as The utilisation of information technology (IT), Information and communication technologies (ICTs), and other web-based telecommunication technologies to improve and/or enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery in the public sector. It promises to promote social inclusion, combat corruption, expand the digital economy and enable broader links between citizens and governments, while at the same time dramatically reducing costs and improving efficiency. It goes without saying, however, that for e-government to be a success, nation states need to have access to people capable of setting up and maintaining these systems.

Why, in Oracle’s view, is capacity building critical to sustainable economic growth? If the IT skills gap represents a problem, it also represents a huge opportunity. For SMEs and African entrepreneurs, technology can open up new opportunities for efficiencies and increased business potential. For the current generation of students and graduates, the opportunity lies in gaining job skills that will allow them to work in any industry and across borders. For governments, solving the problem will allow them to future-proof their economies by

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encouraging business growth and facilitating much needed job creation. To realise this opportunity, we know - from talking to our customers and government bodies - that turning the skills issue into an opportunity requires a joint effort between governments, the private sector and the technology industry to address talent development and capacity building at various levels; from ensuring existing employees have the skills they need to keep pace with the changing technologies, to building new capacity through workforce development programs. Furthermore, working with national education systems - both secondary and tertiary - to place computer science as a core component of the national curricula, is also a key focus where Oracle lends its support. Recently, the Lagos State Government, in collaboration with Oracle Corporation, launched three IT human capacity building programmes to support the state’s objective to deliver services to the citizens more effectively. These programmes focus on employee readiness, workforce readiness and youth readiness. Together we need to build a vibrant and innovative skills pool in Africa that will form the basis for sustainable economic growth and a pipeline of “Made-in-Africa” innovative solutions to address the many unique challenges on the continent.

AT T E N D A N O R A C L E E V E N T N E A R Y O U, I N-P E R S O N O R O N L I N E, F O R T H E L AT E S T P R O D U C T NEWS AND TOOlS TO HElP ACHIEVE YOUR BUSINESS OBJECTIVES THROUgH TECHNOlOgY FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO REgISTER VISIT HTTP://EVENTS.ORACLE.COM/

game-Changing Technologies at Oracle Day

Innovation Days

Africa will experience Oracle Days for the fourth year in a row - bringing the latest news on game-changing technologies to the continent. Highlights will include Engineered Systems, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, Big Data,Mobile as well as news on Oracle’s future direction. The conferences in Johannesburg, Nigeria and Kenya will give access to local experts and international presenters as well as customer showcases on how top companies have transformed their businesses. Attendees will come away with a deeper understanding of how the world is changing and how to be positioned to take advantage of new technologies.

Coming up in June in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia are the annual Innovation Days. Very similar to the Oracle Days, but with a slightly different format, the Innovation Days will look at what’s transforming business today. local and international Oracle experts will share how you can take advantage of new technologies to drive innovation within their organisation.

ORACLE.COM/ORACLEDAY

H T T P :// E V E N T S . O R A C L E . C O M /

#OrACleDAy global Oracle Partner Network Kick Off Tune in monthly to view the live partner webcast series that provides partners with updates on Oracle’s current initiatives and roadmap. guest speakers range from Oracle thought leaders, line of The fy15 kick business experts and top Off podcast will partners. Our guests share be screened live the latest on product and on 25 and 26 industry strategies, empower June 2014! our partner ecosystem, and expand revenue opportunities.

HTTP://PARTNERS.ORACLE.COM

Oracle OpenWorld Oracle’s annual flagship customer event in San Francisco for decision makers, IT specialists, developers and partners takes places every year in September, attracting more than 50,000 attendees.

D O n’T M i S S i T! WWW.ORACLE.COM/OPENWORLD

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J O Y

G LO B A L

A FR I C A

Toughest S olv i ng Mi n i n g â&#x20AC;&#x2122; s

Cha l l e n g e s

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RESOURCES

oy Global Inc. is a worldwide leader in high-productivity mining solutions. With over 130 years’ experience in the manufacture, sales and service of original equipment and related parts for the surface and underground mining industries, Joy Global have become one of the biggest suppliers of products and related services to the mining industry in Sub-Saharan Africa. The first Joy Global sales office in Africa was opened in 1929 in Johannesburg and has steadily grown to now boast a staff compliment of over 1500. The company’s products are used extensively for the mining of coal, copper, iron ore, oil sands, gold and other mineral resources. Matimba Mahange, Sales & Marketing Director for Underground Mining at Joy Global Africa, explains just why Joy Global has been so successful: “We pride ourselves on providing a full range of value-added aftermarket services for the mining industry. Our focus is on mining and mining only. We are committed to assisting our customers’ needs and requests at every turn. To achieve this, we use a Life Cycle Management approach, which places the highest value on continuous and exceptional customer support.”

Advancing the Industry

Joy Global have become one of the biggest suppliers of products and related services to the mining industry in Sub-Saharan Africa Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Tom Cullum

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Joy Global Africa have invested over R80 million in a new distribution and service centre at their Wadeville Plant in South Africa. This new plant will enable them to better service their customers from a central localised base. “With the opening of this new distribution facility, we can continue in our effort to provide our customers with world class service,” Mahange cites. Furthermore, Joy Global Africa introduced the largest front end wheel loader, the P&H Brand Series

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P&H Brand Series, LeTourneau L-2350 loading a large Haul Truck

LeTourneau Series L-2350 front end wheel loader, to the South African mining industry which is currently being used at one of the world’s largest iron ore mines in South Africa. In March 2014, Joy Global Africa introduced a new Joy 12HM37-C continuous miner developed to meet high productivity requirements of today’s underground mining industry. This miner has a cutting capability of 30tonnes per minute, which has greatly reduced cutting times for Southern Africa’s high seam coal mining. New product development remains a key focus for Joy Global and their future plans. Joy Global has invested R70 million in hard rock mining research and development in South Africa. This is exclusive new mining research that will benefit the global

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mining industry and allow the company to expand its footprint beyond South Africa into new green field projects in Sub-Saharan Africa.

We have started to realign our business models, during these tough times, to ensure that our service remains of the highest quality for our customers”

Market Forces

Over the last 3 years, industry-wide market challenges have been a big factor for Joy Global. The global mining market has been in a decline with the demand, specifically in the USA, on the decrease. Mahange has an optimistic outlook on the markets though: “We see how the current market conditions not only here in Africa, but on a global scale, have changed over the last few years and we are prepared to combat this. We have started to realign our business models, during these tough times, to ensure that our service remains of the highest quality for our

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technoloGy

Breakthrough productive solutions. Long recognised for our ability to engineer productive equipment, Joy Global is taking production to even higher levels through the enhancement of cost-focused technologies. Our proven productive solutions are setting the standard for surface and underground mining world wide.

Steeledale, Johannesburg South Africa

JoyGlobal.com

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customers,” he states, adding that “our customers always come first in the business.” Although the market is proving very challenging for the company, Joy Global are still able to identify vast opportunities for their business in Africa. “We are seeing more mining houses expanding their business opportunities beyond Southern Africa, and we need to ensure that we are ready to support them in all their mining needs,” Mahange remarks, clearly feeling that the market is not as suppressed in Africa as it is elsewhere. Infrastructure in South Africa has been a challenge for the mining industry, which relies very heavily on rail and road links to supply coal for the export market. Even though RBCT has a capacity of 91Mtpa coal capacity

Joy 12HM37-C continuous miner, developed for high productivity mining

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at present, due to rail infrastructure, they only export 71Mtpa. RBCT would like to expand the capacity by 2018 to 81MTPa coal. Rail is seen as integral to the overall success. Private sector investment in the development and operation of the expansion of coal loading terminals plays an important role in the industry going forward.

Improving on Success

Matimba Mahange, sales and marketing, Joy Global South Africa

Joy Global have seen their company achieve great success in Africa due to operating their business within a direct service model as Mahange explains: “At Joy Global, our field service team will attend the mines to resolve any service issues that may arise. We do not rely on third parties to service our equipment; our people are passionate about working directly with our customers to solve mining’s

mahange is keen to show that Joy global have a strong awareness of the environment in which Joy global operates: “we are proud to be in partnership with a community-based organisation, supporting initiatives aimed at preventing, managing and treating tB and hIV/aIDs. Joy global have contributed towards the building of a tB clinic which serves the greater ekurhuleni area, in south africa.” a large part of the company’s spend on socio-economic development goes towards basic and essential needs to support local communities and those in some of the poorest parts of the country, where education alone cannot alleviate the problems.

reinvesting in the Country

toughest challenges. we believe that being close to our customers enables us to partner with them to continuously improve our products, processes and services to assist them in driving zero harm targets, resulting in higher productivity at the lowest cost possible.” a key factor in the company’s success has been exposure on a wider scale. having previously attended and been well received at several mining conferences and expo’s, Joy global are proudly exhibiting at the 2014 electra mining expo in Johannesburg in september. this expo will give potential clients and customers a chance to speak with the company and better understand just how Joy global can become an integral part of their projects. Partnering with customers is becoming increasingly important within the mining industry, and Joy global are ensuring that they fulfil this. “we need to work together with customers to solve the toughest challenges of safely increasing

production while lowering operating costs. this is creating growth in our direct service and support network, namely our smart services centre where we can monitor equipment remotely and anticipate when a customer may need a particular part or service, so the mine can continue to operate at optimal levels,” highlighted mahange. Joy global opened their smart services centre in south africa in 2009. since then, Joy global have added five additional smart services centres in 2013 globally and more will be added this year.

Joy In the Community

Joy global have been working with a great vigour in projects that give back to the community. one such is a community-based organisation, aimed at preventing and managing hIV/aIDs, which has already proved to be much needed in the local area. the company have also helped build a tB clinic, which will help people in need in rural areas in south africa.

one of Joy global’s biggest commitments is to the south african market as a whole. they have consistently poured investment into the people, by means of training and up-skilling local workers and investing significantly in apprentices who will be trained as boiler makers, electricians and so on. these apprentices help build up the local community, who in turn generate more money for the local economy. It is this cyclical approach to investment that has truly put Joy global at the heart of local business in south africa. even in the business markets, Joy global africa maintains a strong level of commitment to their customers. they currently have over 70 engineers on site and on call, ready to help with any problems that may arise and can be dispatched to locations across the country. mahange emphasises that the company is always on hand to help: “We offer a complete system solution to our clients, from design through to service. we aim to help our customers get the most out of every product they buy from us.”

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Global INNOV

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novATors

the atlas Copco brand promises sustainable productivity, offering products, services and solutions which are more productive, lower cost and safer for the customer Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Eddie Clinton

wedish giant atlas Copco established themselves in Zambia in 1949 and have consequently been supporting the Zambian mining industry for over 60 years, with a staff size of 143 locally. As a worldleading provider of sustainable productivity solutions, the company has evolved alongside the latest technological advances, delivering unparalleled levels of efficiency to the resources sector. the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s products range from compressed air and gas equipment to construction and mining equipment and industrial tool and assembly systems. Boasting a diverse product and services range, atlas Copco Zambia provide end-toend solutions for their customers and suppliers in Zambia and the DRC, including full aftermarket support to a number of mines and contractors.

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AnDrEA MACHinists LtD

ndrea machinists ltd., was established in 1966 in Zambia to serve the local mining and private industry, with its primary objective to manufacture replacement parts and to support the emerging plastic packaging industry. we manufacture a variety of equipment parts from various grades of steel and other material including: shafts, gears, Conveyor Pulleys, Bushes and large Bolts & nuts. we specialise in the manufacture and maintenance of various types of equipment and in particular moulds for the manufacture of rubber, polyurethane and plastic components.

“As a triple certified organisation in africa, we live and breathe our core values and our brand is what makes atlas Copco such a prominent name in the mining industry,” explains Daniel Banister, general manager of atlas Copco Zambia. with businesses in more than 170 countries and a diverse group of employees, atlas Copco are a truly global company, who continue on their way to success, securing the best mining solutions for their customers. atlas Copco aim to provide complete end-to-end solutions to buyers and customers via their three core values of interaction, commitment and innovation. “these values form our past, created our present and will guide our future. Combine this with what we offer our employees: A caring culture, a change for individual responsibility through internal career possibilities and development opportunities; then you get an insight into what it is like to work for us and what makes our company stand strong,” says Banister.

Recent Productivity Improvements

most recently, atlas Copco Zambia have refurbished their workshop in Chingola in order to increase productivity. these facilities are designed to handle component rebuilds and Banister is pleased with the result: “We have re-shuffled the layout and improved the productivity flow, investing heavily into tooling and equipment for training and also quality assurance in order to increase productivity. we believe this will add further value for our customers.” atlas Copco always look to innovate, always striving to achieve more energy efficient products with less of a carbon footprint. the company do this through their research and development arm of operations. at the moment, they are looking at how we can become greener, mirroring current global trends. “a lot of innovations in our products come as a result of the interactions we have with our customers, to make improvements to existing equipment.”

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we carry out repairs to equipment including crushers, gear boxes, truck and trailer axles and various pumps. we can perform small fabrication work, manufacture flanges, water towers, equipment support structures and base plates, ‘u’ bolts etc. andrea machinists ltd caries a large stock of various grades of steel round bar including mild steel, en8, en19, en24, and en36, we also stock Bronze in both solid and tube, steel tube, nylon, cast rings, (for gears where the diameter exceeds 450 mm), we stock a wide range of stainless steel, cast iron, brass, copper, aluminium, and tool steel. Andrea Machinists owns a fleet of 10 forklifts ranging between 2.5ton and 7ton which can be hired out on long term or casual basis. tel 217678 / 217062 / 211254 Fax 217877 Email andreamc@kitwe.microlink.zm

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CArgo MAnAgEMEnt & LogistiCs

argo management and logistics limited (est. 1995) is a freight forwarding company specialising in freight movements into and out of Central and southern africa, with the Zambian market being the primary focus. Company offices in the uk and major cities / borders within Zambia are complemented by an extensive global network of trusted agents and partners. the company is equipped to handle local import / export procedures within the region and through longstanding relationships with industry leaders such as atlas Copco, has gained experience in the movement of a variety of cargoes. these include mining machinery, project cargo and a variety of commodities. tel +44 (0) 1883 730333 Email info@cml-ltd.co.uk

www.cml-ltd.co.uk

industry Challenges there are a number of economic indicators that dictate growth or a slowdown in the mining industry, which atlas Copco have to combat regularly. “the Zambian kwacha lost 26 percent against the us dollar, reaching an 8 month low. Furthermore, as a result of the slowdown in China, the price of copper has been quite badly affected. Combined, these issues mean that foreign investors are starting to look elsewhere to get better and potentially safer investment opportunities,” Banister comments, keen to highlight the impact these issues have on rising costs, which impact both atlas Copco and their customers. however, the company are doing their best to mitigate against the currency and other factors to ensure they remain cost efficient. “The mining industry is having a tough time right now, so

we have to continue to try our best to provide sustainable solutions to our customers in order to give us a competitive edge.”

Comprehensive In-house Training Atlas Copco group have a fully-fledged training policy that is rolled out across its countries of operation, in order for them to stay ahead of the game and nurture staff talents effectively. “here in Zambia, we are exceeding the mandatory 45 hours of training, investing heavily in e-learning and technical courses in marketing, sales, administrative courses and so on. 70 percent of our training is given in the field, keeping staff abreast of changes in products and identifying local needs,” Banister highlights. the Zambian operations partner with key training providers to develop a competent workforce, providing the opportunity for staff to develop their careers within the group.

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siLiCon ELECtroniCs LtD silicon electronics limited is registered to supply, service and install instrumentation, It, electrical and electronic equipment. In 2001, we registered with a variety of mining organisations to service and supply instrumentation, ICt solutions, CCtV, tools, electronics and general electrical equipment. we have clients not only in Zambia, but across the globe including PartsFinder Co, south korea, mF Communication uk, and honeywell audiovisuals , linkcent technology China, gulin hivision technology and distributors for Farnell uk and Zimtech uk. We offer reliable, quality hardware and goods as per client-brand requests at competitive rates. tel +260 212 312775 Email sales@siliconelectronicslimited.com

www.siliconelectronicslimited.com

Res

CML Zambia is fully licensed by the ZRA and offers a full range of clearing/forwarding/bonding/warehousing and distribution facilities, with a total of 14 offices located throughout Zambia. Ndola (Northern Region) Tel. Intl +260 21 2650486 / 2650885 / 2650886 / 96 999221 Fax. Intl +260 21 2650880 Email. ethan@cmlzambia.co.zm

Lusaka (Southern Region) Tel. Intl +260 21 1272352 / 1272339 / 96 6999219 Fax. Intl +260 21 1272301 Email. john@cmlzambia.co.zm

www.cml-ltd.co.uk

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Good people are key to the success of any organisation. Without passionate people, we would not have the great product range we have today”

“An effective supply chain is crucial for us”

Atlas Copco Zambia import the majority of the products they supply to the country and Banister sees this as a crucial part of their global business success: “Most of our imports come from Sweden, Belgium, US, China and Japan; therefore having an effective supply chain is crucial for us. Given the lead times, it is important for us to be able to forecast with customers and shareholders globally in order to enable a smooth supply chain.” As Zambia is landlocked with several other countries, Banister recognises that it is important to maintain strong and healthy relationships across the borders: “We export to the DRC from our central warehouse in Zambia and there is often congestion at the border, so we have to make sure we not only include this possible downtime in

the forecast to our customers, but also maintain strong relationships.” As a triple-certified organisation, Atlas Copco Zambia conduct a supplier evaluation once a year in order to track areas for improvement. “With our key suppliers, we use this as a platform to highlight areas where we feel either party could improve, whether it be to do with relationships or the processes for a more effective supply chain.”

SWHAP Wellness Program Atlas Copco Zambia are part of a comprehensive wellness program called SWHAP (Swedish Workplace HIV/AIDS Program), which contributes to the response to HIV / AIDS. The Swedish initiative involves confidential screening, counselling and peer educators which Banister says is vital in the local community: “It is important for us to share

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Walter Genius Ltd

alter Genius Ltd is a Zambian owned full-fledged courier and freight company that prides itself as a breath of fresh air to the freight industry. Only established in 2011 but has managed to be among heights of service providers to many well known entities including Atlas Copco. With fully trained staff, service excellence speaks for itself and team work makes efficiency inevitable. Understanding of the International and domestic Courier and Freight industry helps provide logistic solutions that are uncompromised. Walter Genius Ltd holds no limits to areas of delivery which include all provinces on the domestic side in Zambia and all countries on the international side. Tel +260-211-840295 Email marketing@waltergenius.co.zm

www.waltergenius.com

Res

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this initiative with our customers, employees and their families through the SWHAP wellness program. The services are complementary and we have heavily invested in them in order to provide the best level of education and health to all.”

Strong Company Culture

We have to be innovative not only in our products, but in the solutions we provide our customers today”

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Atlas Copco’s Zambian operations emulate a strong corporate identity and culture that encompasses their vision and successful people-management process. Banister believes that the focus on developing people within the organisation has been key to their success: “Good people are key to the success of any organisation. Without passionate people, we would not have the great product range we have today. Through our core values, it is important for us to ensure that we listen to our customers and interact with them. We have to be innovative not only in our products, but in the solutions we provide our customers today. We are not in an age where we can just sit back and sell a product, we now have to able to provide end-toend solutions to buyers as well as end users, rather than just supplying a product.” The Atlas Copco brand promises sustainable productivity, offering products, services and solutions which are more productive, lower cost and safer for the customer; and when it comes to innovation they have a clear grasp of what it takes to be market leaders. Last year, Atlas Copco Zambia won an award for image and quality from the Global Trade Leaders Club, held in Madrid, Spain 2013. Banister proudly told us that the company are extremely honoured to have won this internationally recognised award and hope to achieve greater things in 2014.

+971 4 3364917 | bsi.me@bsigroup.com | bsigroup.ae

THE PROFILE STORE atlascopco.com/profilestore

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G r I n D r o D

I n T e r m o D A l

Your compreHensIve

coNtaiNEr choicE

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Grindrod Intermodal strive to be the first choice service provider to the containerised freight industry, developing strong partnerships on the way Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Tom Cullum

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G r i n d r o d

In t e r m o d a l

rindrod Intermodal are the transport and logistics arm of Grindrod Group, listed on the Johannesburg stock exchange. Grindrod Intermodal was formed six years ago through a consolidation of four successful companies under one name: CMC Grindrod depot company, Cross Country Containers transport company, Grindrod J&J Logistics warehousing company and Unitainer container company. Last year, a fifth company joined the list, Grindrod Stock, specialising in the transportation of commodity by road. The company specialises in transport, warehousing, container sales and rental services and the operation of container depots across South Africa. “Operating under strict

health, safety and environmental regulations and policies, we offer a fully comprehensive service to importers and exporters of cargo, taking an item from the production line, packing it in containers and importing/exporting through the ports of South Africa. Having our own outfits allows us to be flexible, meeting the needs of any customer requirements, without the involvement of sub-contractors,” states George Georgiev, Corporate Communications Officer for Grindrod Intermodal. “Therefore, we take on a huge responsibility, and have built a strong reputation on our efficiency, so there is no one else to blame if there is a problem.” Understanding customer needs and building a quality relationship with customers are two of the vital elements to the success of Grindrod

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Intermodal. “As everything hinges on our performance, we have a duty to meet customer expectations and we provide a one stop shop offering to the local market. We wanted to achieve the common interest of the five companies in the merger: container shipping. The name ‘intermodal’ came from this idea as we offer several different modes of transport for the transport of goods,” explains Georgiev. Additionally, Staff are one of the most important parts of Grindrod’s business and Georgiev is proud to say that they value every member of their team: “As such, we have a number of different internal and external programmes related to staff development - such as training and graduate programmes – available for all members of staff whether they be managers or general workers.

With New Facilities Comes New Business Opportunities This month, Grindrod Intermodal opened a $200 million rand facility in Maputo via a one year contract, which Georgiev says has placed the company at the forefront of the logistics sector: “This new facility is in the port area, which positions us at the forefront of activities in Maputo, further enabling us to secure new contracts in shipping all types of commodities. There is limited space in the port area, so our services will be much appreciated here for importers and exporters.” Further to this, Grindrod Intermodal are keeping busy with a new $200 million rand development in Johannesburg, which is due to be completed by November this year. This container facility provides all your logistics needs in one place, including its own railway line

The major challenge is to create new business in order to get the facility working up to its full potential. This is not an easy task as the cost factors are quite high and the markets are still picking up after the economic global depression”

connection, which is a convenient feature that directly links to some of the major ports in South Africa. Along with these projects comes the continued desire for Grindrod Intermodal to grow their African footprint into the surrounding countries in the future. “We are in the discussion stages and are looking for potential partners to open new facilities, allowing us to enhance our offering and grow our business,” Georgiev comments. However these new development projects are expensive to construct and the biggest challenge comes after completing the facility as Georgiev explains: “The major challenge is to create new business in order to get the facility working up to its full potential. This is not an easy task as the cost factors are quite high and the markets are still

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CrUsADEr LogistiCs

rusader logistics was born out of a small transport brokerage called Crusader Carriers in early 2000. At first Crusader logistics distributed paint and hardware around the kwazulu natal area, this subsequently grew into distribution of plastics between Durban and Johannesburg. whereas in the beginning the company focused on the plastic industry it soon appeared clear to the owner that a bigger and more diverse approach was needed. hence today Crusader logistics distributes a diverse range of cargo around south africa including cross boarder to gaborone (Botswana). no 9-10 transport Park 9 otto Volek Road new germany 3610 tel +27 31 705 5393 Email stuart@crusaderlogistics.co.za

www.crusaderlogistics.co.za picking up after the economic global depression.” In order to combat this issue, grindrod Intermodal are out there in the marketplace, with their dedicated sales team interacting with potential customers and looking for new companies that are interested in securing a long term partnership based on the reliability and commitment that grindrod can offer. grindrod Intermodal are focussing on completing these projects, but are always open to the idea of new developments or expansions, with the goal of becoming one of the main players in logistics and transport in south africa and even africa as a whole in the longer term.

grindrod’s Culture giving back to the community is very much a part of grindrod Intermodal and the values that are emulated throughout the entire group. In south

africa, grindrod Intermodal helps develop schools by building classrooms, libraries, supplying computers and other much needed equipment. “Corporate social Responsibility is a key part of our culture, and we are pleased to have been able to help in such a big way,” states georgiev. grindrod apply the same level of care and compassion shown in their CsR work within the community, in the relationships they build with their customers, which georgiev believes is the key to the success of the company: “we really understand our customer needs and the importance of meeting their expectations. everything within the grindrod culture is linked to this, and if this is achieved you can be successful.” through the careful development of relationships, based on core company values, grindrod have seen their customer base grow steadily over the years and can consider several clients as repeat business customers.

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PoWErHoUsE sECUrity

s a proudly south african company, we are able to offer a combination of services and we aim to be your first choice and fully integrated security company. Powerhouse security service is a security service provider with more than a decade of combined services and experience in the security industry. we are committed to excellence by providing premium and unsurpassed security officer services and fulfilling the needs of our clients. ‘large enough to satisfy all your security needs, yet small enough to give you personalised service’ 9 hazeldene Road seaview Durban kwaZulu natal 4094 tel +27 31 459 0011 Fax +27 31 459 0010 Email info@powerhousesecurity.co.za

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THE MOST TRUSTED SECURITY COMPANY IN THE BUSINESS SPECIALISTS IN: CORPORATE SECURITY INDUSTRIAL COMMERCIAL DOMESTIC SECURITY

Powerhouse Security Services have partnered with Grindrod Intermodal for a decade, ensuring that speciic security measures are in place to achieve our goals

24HR ARMED & UNARMED GUARDS V.I.P PROTECTION SPECIAL EVENTS GUARDING & ACCESS CONTROL ARMED ESCORTS BODY GUARDS GUARD DOGS

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c e m A I r

cloud sTAnDI nG ouT from THe

Cemair has been placed in a strong position to cement their standing as one of africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top aviation leasing specialists Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Stuart Shirra

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ased in south africa, Cemair are a specialist aircraft leasing company who operate a large fleet of Beech 1900 airliners 3 Bombardier CRJ’s. the company offers the leasing of turboprop and regional jets on flexible short, medium or long-term contracts to a variety of clients including oil and gas companies, humanitarian charities and businesses. the service provided can be tailored to a customer’s requirements, which can include a full maintenance team, operational support and pilots. miles van der molen, Ceo of Cemair, is very pleased with how far the company has come since its inception in 2005 and is keen to highlight the vast experience they have amassed since that time: “we have gained considerable experience in operating and supporting our aircraft in a variety of conditions since we began the company in 2005. we place a strong emphasis on maintaining first world standards in third world environments, striving to achieve high levels of reliability and international operating standards.” the company has operating and leasing experience throughout africa and the middle east, including afghanistan, nigeria, tunisia, Democratic Republic of Congo, sudan, south sudan, ghana, mozambique and south africa.

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C E M AIR

Cemair Offices and Hangar at OR Tambo International Airport – aircraft and staff

The Fleet CemAir grew from a partnership which began in 2002 with the acquisition of a Cessna Grand Caravan. The partnership developed further with the purchase of several piston powered aircrafts and following the procurement of the first of several Beech 1900’s in early 2005, the operation was formalised as the company known as CemAir today. “We currently have a fleet of 15 planes including Beech 1900’s and Bombardier CRJ’s, but we are in negotiations to purchase several more to take our fleet to over 20. This will be a big acquisition for us, it will further increase our availability to our clients and bring in more business,” states van der Molen. Aviation companies are very much aware that their aircraft will always need replacement parts and CemAir are no different. However, CemAir stand out in African aviation as they have their own spares and parts operation in the US, which has a supply of equipment and parts that can be sent to South Africa on short notice. “Having an office in the US, that can send us parts and equipment when needed, gives us a big advantage over potential competitors. We

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A company is the sum of its people. We hire staff with the right attitude and philosophical fit with the company. We then train for skill and encourage the following of a developmental path. Longer relationships and loyalty means you can continually invest in staff and reap the rewards in the future. If the individuals in an organisation are growing, the organisation develops. If the individuals stagnate, so does the company. This doesn’t require constant change, just an openness to new ideas and the belief that there is always an opportunity for improvement.” Miles van der Molen - CEO, CemAir

CemAir is focusing on the development of our domestic scheduled flight network. We currently operate between five destinations in South Africa, being Johannesburg, Margate, Kathu, Plettenberg Bay and Cape Town and foresee substantial expansion of this operation. With the addition of further Bombardier CRJ aircrafts, we aim to expand our reach to include regional flights and offer business and leisure travellers both new destinations as well as an alternative on serviced routes. The Beech 1900 is ideal for smaller centres where markets need to be developed and passenger loads are thin. Our capabilities in this market make us the ideal partner for airlines across the Africa looking for service provider to provide leased regional aircraft” Miles van der Molen - CEO, CemAir

Miles van der Molen, CEO

spend much less time having a plane grounded due to waiting on a replacement part than if we were forced to source that spare, which could take days or weeks and cost three times as much. This can be the difference between making a profit and being forced to turn down a contract,” van der Molen remarks.

Expanding Their Horizons

Cemair’s aircraft Beech 1900D, ZS-CEM first arrival at Plettenberg Bay Airport 28 March 2014 by A&M Photography

CemAir’s steady and manageable growth philosophy remains a good basis for future expansion. The company are aware that there is a strong need for them to evolve in order to remain energetic and dynamic. This evolution is not just in terms of new equipment for the fleet, but also in their business model. Van der Molen is confident that CemAir will evolve, but they will do this carefully and only in the company’s best interests: “Expansion and evolution are always important in the business world. If you don’t expand you will never survive and if you don’t adapt and evolve, you will quickly get lost in the crowd. We have plans to expand the service and

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C E M AIR

parts sector of the company, as this is an area that will always be utilised by our operation teams and can greatly reduce the amount of time our aircraft are grounded, but we will do this carefully and keep within our budget.” CemAir’s focus has now turned to the regional jet market, following the acquisition of the company’s first CRJ in February 2012 and van der Molen has identified this as an emerging market where CemAir can really make their mark: “We foresee significant growth for this type of aircraft in the regions in which we operate and intend to enhance our fleet to create a commanding position in this market. A lot of our business comes from word of mouth and corporate recommendations, which can really make a difference to the bottom line of a company. We pride ourselves on having a stellar reputation among African aviation companies in the regional market.”

Setting the Standard

CemAir have always ensured that they are as highly qualified as possible when it comes to international accreditations in aviation. The company’s main focus is on “reliability, safety and quality, using constantly evolving internationally recognised standards.” As a full member of the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF), CemAir has access to the latest safety information and initiatives which they will act on accordingly. Additionally, the FSF conducts regular aviation safety seminars and since their establishment in 1947, have become the global hub of aviation safety information. CemAir are a BARS (Basic Aviation Risk Standard) certified operator. BARS is a Flight Safety Foundation initiative, created to establish a common aviation standard and auditing process to evaluate aviation operators to ensure safety for aviation activities.

CRJ in front of Cemair hangar

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RESIDCO RESIDCO is a U.S. based transportation equipment leasing company with a 30-year history providing leasing and financing for the airline and rail industries. We lease and finance a wide range of assets, including commercial aircraft types from turboprops to wide-body equipment worldwide. We creatively structure transactions utilizing in depth asset and valuation knowledge combined with expertise of debt and equity placement. We effectively function either as a principal or intermediary. We are highly respected with airlines and large financial institutions. We have closed well in excess of a billion dollars in transactions. We are proud members of ISTAT and ELFA organisations. Tel +1 (800) 273-1600; +1 (312) 726-0695 Email admin@residco.com

www.residco.com

Honesty and Equitable Dealing Over 30 years serving the Aviation Industry In-depth Aircraft and Engine Valuation Knowledge Over $1 Billion in Transactions Completed

RESIDCO supplied CemAir’s CRJ-100LR

Experts in Leasing and Financing Commercial Aircraft and Engines Experts in other Transportation Equipment, including Rail

www.residco.com 70 W. Madison St., Suite 2340 Chicago, IL 60602 Scott Daniels, Director Aero Marketing Tel: +1 561 766 2142 Email: daniels@residco.com

Ethical and mutually beneficial relationships with our customers and suppliers are an essential part of our strength. This gives us a dynamic mixture of agility and stability. On a continent of many challenges, turning relationships into partnerships creates a value chain of greater resilience. This enables us to enhance the safety and reliability of our airline and optimises the value proposition for the end user of our services. The integrated business model has worked well for us and our partnerships and network will remain a focal point of development in the future.” Miles van der Molen - CEO, CemAir

President Guebuza of Mozambique greets President Barroso of the EU Commission. RESIDCO provided the aircraft and nancing to CemAir for the CRJ-100LR

Van der Molen is proud of the certifications and accreditations that they currently hold: “We are the holders of Aircraft Operating Certificates (AOC Part 121) issued by the South African Civil Aviation Authority, and we hold licenses for both Domestic and International Air Services for scheduled and non-scheduled services and these are a clear indication that we do everything by the book.”

A Strong Position

CemAir are able to carefully select the clients and business that it undertakes. “For many companies, business is business, no matter who the client is and they will gladly take all comers. However, for us that is not the case. We can hand-pick our clients and partners to work with, because we have spent many years carefully expanding our business and gaining international standards, which other companies do not have. This has enabled us to offer our services to a different type of clientele, who come with their own recommendations from other aviation companies,” says van der Molen. With CemAir’s accreditations and strong business acumen, the company has been placed in a strong position to cement their standing as one of Africa’s top aviation leasing specialists.

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I T B

n I G e r I A

Nigerian development THe G roWI nG fAce of

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.t.B. nigeria limited, part of the construction division of the Chagoury group, was formed in 1995 in lagos. a growing demand for specialist, civil engineering services, enabled I.t.B to focus its energies on developing an african market for its expertise. the company is proud to proclaim it is one of the only civil engineering and construction firms whose head office and main operations are based solely in africa. I.t.B. hopes to increase home grown interest in civil engineering, promoting african expertise at home and abroad and eventually taking african engineers into the global export market. with over 2500 employees, I.t.B. has become the growing face of nigerian development. Fadi sawaya, I.t.B’s managing Director, believes the company’s main strength is in its ability to work on a project from scratch: “the company has always been able to undertake any construction project from conception to completion. we are very much design and build-orientated, this gives us a competitive edge as we can create plans based on project requirements and can implement cutting-edge ideas into our projects.”

turning the Corner

I.t.B are a company that have withstood economic challenges and come out of it stronger and with a greater self belief Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Ben Wigger

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over the last two years, nigeria has seen a slowdown in the number of construction projects being undertaken, due to the lack of serious investment from both domestic and foreign companies. the economic climate has further compounded the problem, but sawaya thinks that the worst is now behind them. the upturn that has been seen in construction markets in lagos over the last 6 months is cause for optimism: “we have seen a small number of projects being offered for tender, but no where

I . T. B

N i g e r i a

near the level we had seen before. However, there is a silver lining to this lack of smaller projects; we have been able to take stock of the company and develop new advances in construction that we are now ready to use.” With governments and private companies beginning to offer new projects in the construction industry, the market has become cyclical in that if the current trend continues, by 2015, construction in Nigeria will be back in the ascendancy and well on its way to hitting the market peaks of 2010/11.

Supply Relationships

The construction industry relies heavily on having a strong network of suppliers who can deliver their services on time and on budget. I.T.B are no different. Having been a staple of the industry for the last 19 years, they have grown a small network of local and foreign suppliers, into a global network of dedicated, reputable partners who can be relied on to deliver niche

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We always ensure we maintain friendly, professional working relationships with all our suppliers as we rely on them as much as they rely on us”

items at short notice. “Our supply chain is very much centred on local companies who deliver the bulk of our raw materials, however, if we need a bespoke item or something that is not available in the country, then we will utilise our complex global network in order to procure the item. It is a twoway street for us, we always ensure we maintain friendly, professional working relationships with all our suppliers as we rely on them as much as they rely on us,” Sawaya cites. The Nigerian government has brought into place a number of new measures to help kick-start the Nigerian economy, one of which is to set targets for the number of local companies/suppliers used on civil projects. While this is not stopping contractors using foreign companies to complete a project, it is giving Nigerian businesses the opportunity to showcase their work and skills sets, while money is being re-invested into the economy.

EKo Atlantic

eko atlantic is a planned district of lagos, nigeria, being constructed on land reclaimed from the atlantic ocean. It is located on lagos’ Bar Beach. the development will also have a positive environmental impact; its purpose is to stop the erosion of the lagos coastline. the new city of eko atlantic is one of the most impressive urban development projects in nigerian construction. according to the eko atlantic website, “eko atlantic will be a new home to 250,000 people and the workplace of another 150,000. the ten square kilometre development will have waterfront areas, tree-lined streets, efficient transport systems and mixed-use plots that combine residential areas with leisure facilities, offices and shops.” i.T.B are proudly associated with the multibillion usD project as one of the main construction companies tasked with building upon the 10 million square metre land reclamation site. “this is a huge project for us to be a part of and something we are very proud to be working on. this city will be the new ‘eldorado’ and it will showcase our talents and expertise to the global markets. our sister company south energyx is the company responsible for the infrastructure works in eko atlantic, so it is a good opportunity for us to work closely together.”

A Positive Future

with such a large scale project being undertaken in nigeria, the next 12-24 months will be a very busy time for I.t.B. and it does not stop there. In 2013, the company signed a big project to work on the International Conference Centre in abuja, estimated to cost more than us$500 million, which is financed by the Central Bank of nigeria. I.t.B have built conference centres before-one

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i . t. B

N i g E r i a

intEgrAtED PErForMAnCE MAtEriALs

ntegrated Performance materials’ aim is to provide the most advanced technical solutions to the construction industry in west africa and to become the preferred supplier of chemical products and solutions to the cement and construction industries. We offer custom and proprietary solutions for the concrete design, finishing solutions, concrete repairs, building restorations, water proofing and specialized flooring systems. iPM also provides the training and support to the construction industry with the new application methodology. we are dedicated to satisfying our customers’ needs and honouring the commitments that we have made to them. tel +00234 1 7740500 | +00234 1 7910469 +00234 1 7910470 Email sales@ipmng.com

www.ipmng.com

in lagos and another in oyo- but promise that this one will be the most impressive. “we have been working on the ICC in abuja since last year, and although there have been a few technical setbacks, we are very much moving forward with the construction and we are always in discussion with the client to facilitate their requirements accordingly. this is a big project for us to work on and hopefully other investors and clients will see our work and want to work with us in the future,” sawaya says, confident in the company’s ability to manage high quality projects. I.t.B are a company that have withstood the economic test and came out of it stronger and with greater self belief. sawaya puts this down to two main factors: professional management and vision. “we are a market leading company but we do not just sit back and enjoy that title, we are constantly looking for new ways to make the company even better and more advanced than before. technology and industry practices are always changing and I.t.B will always change with them. If you do not adapt to the times, then you will be left behind, that is how our company operates.”

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C I T Y

PROPER T y

Property C o s m o p o l ita n

Ma n ag e m e n t

City Property are a caring and trusting business who maintain a high standard of quality and business practices, which are delivered by their staff Project Manager Arron Rampling

ity Property Administration (Pty) Ltd is a residential and commercial property management company that has been operating since 1968, headquartered in Pretoria with a supporting office in Johannesburg. The managed portfolio consists of nearly 700 buildings, including over 10,000 flats, with a combined lettable area of commercial space in excess of 1.4 million square meters. City Property strives to employ industry best practice in its systems, management and staff recruitment. This ensures the efficient administration of over 14,000 tenants. Their property portfolio is diverse in nature ranging from traditional shopping malls, convenience shopping centres, industrial workshops, warehouses, offices, retail shops and residential flats. Their major clients include two listed property investment companies: Premium Properties Limited and Octodec Investments Limited, as well as a large number of private clients.

Diverse and Sophisticated Management City Property transforms buildings and injects fresh vitality into Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inner cities. The company provide sophisticated, modern and cosmopolitan retail spaces, offices, warehouses and apartments that ensure that those who live and work in the CBD (Central Business District) enjoy the best South Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cities have to offer. City Property has a wealth of experience in both property management services and the asset management of property holding companies. As the company strive for excellence in all they do, they have a duty to remain forthright in their values and

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C i t y

P r o pe r t y

have created a positioning statement to reflect this: By ‘addressing’ the future, we provide commercial and residential addresses. By ‘addressing’ the future, we take care of the needs of the future. By ‘the future’, we mean future generations, indicating our longterm commitment. By ‘the future’, we also mean all those who will play a role in the cultural, social and economic revival of our city centres.

Interglobal Products Interglobal Products are leading suppliers of steel kitchen units to the building industry and have been one of the main suppliers to City Properties for almost a decade.

City Property transforms buildings and injects fresh vitality into Africa’s inner cities”

City Property’s most notable projects include multiple shopping centres including Elardus Park in Pretoria, Gezina City in Pretoria, Kempton Place in Kempton Park and Killarney Mall in Johannesburg.

We pride ourselves in quality products, competitive prices and reliable service. Many City Properties buildings have Interglobal kitchen units in use, with very low maintenance over the years, and they still retain their attractiveness in the kitchen. Interglobal Products have a very amicable relationship with City Properties and we are proud to be associated with them. Tel (011) 887-7117/9 Email mirels@jhbmail.co.za

Antz@Work

Antz@Work, a Corporate Social Responsibility venture, was established in May 2011 in order to address the needs in the local community. It is in the progress of registering as a non-profit organisation that conducts corporate social investment initiatives for City Property, Octodec Investments Ltd and Premium Ltd. Antzchoice gives City Property staff the opportunity to help a charity or organisation of their choice. Every rand donated by staff is matched by City Property. The venture focuses on the needs of children in the Pretoria and Johannesburg areas, with the objective to inspire young people to become contributing members of society. The Antz@Work committee are in charge of the day to day running of Corporate Antz, including the choice of charity or organisation and the benefits received. The committee must comply with the NPO’s (Not for Profit Organisation) constitution. The organisation or charity must be located within a reasonable distance of the City Property business area

We fit Wrappe doors where required onto our cabinets in whatever colour is specified.

www.interglobal.co.za which is currently in the Pretoria and Johannesburg areas to allow the company to work as closely as possible with each organisation. “By instilling a culture of giving within City Property, our staff will be empowered to make a difference in our community,” the website states. The funds collected are evenly split between departments. Each department democratically chooses a charity or organisation to assist. Departments are allowed to join forces to assist the same charity or organisation. Departments are encouraged to approach other business for donations to be used solely for their charity/organisation.

Frederic’s Place

The Joburg Residential Department of City Property undertook yet another successful, very touching and emotional project in 2013. They chose a retirement home and care centre

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in Coronationville. The centre, known as Frederic’s Place, is home to a number of the community’s elderly; providing them with 3 meals a day, frail care, complete medical care and is a generally peaceful home for the older generation. Frederic’s Place has become “home” for most of these elders who have sadly been displaced in the latter part of their lives. The Joburg residential team spent the better part of a day at the home engaging with the elderly by playing card and board games, bingo, dance and song and simply taking the time to get into conversation with the old folks. The team also supplied much needed items such as a hi-fi system, board games, kitchen equipment, irons for laundry, a sewing machine and heavy duty hair clippers for hairdressing. The management of Frederic’s Place and the 85 senior citizens were very touched by the initiative which resulted in the team leaving the centre having successfully answered the wishes of many at the centre. Boasting success in property management and consistently making an impact within the local community, City Property are a caring and trusting business, who maintain a high standard of quality and business practices, which are delivered by their staff.

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m s A

A f r I c A

tailored s A f e T Y I n n o vAT I o n s

msa africa spend countless hours developing, testing and evaluating their products rigorously, to ensure they meet a very high standard Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Tom Cullum

sa are an organisation fully committed to protecting the health and safety of their customers. the company spend countless hours developing, testing and evaluating their products rigorously, to ensure they meet a very high standard. Founded in 1914, msa has grown from humble beginnings to become an internationally recognised brand, with more than 5,300 employees across the world, protecting workers in more than 140 countries through their expansive product range of over 15,000 products. “we’ve never forgotten who we are, or who we work for: our customers. their

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satisfaction and safety are our top goals every day,” says Colin oliver, managing Director of msa africa. the company took root in africa in 1940, making these operations the impressive age of 74 this year. “we have stood the test of time and retained our market position where others may have struggled. this year we are looking at 600 million rand revenue,” cites oliver. the msa africa footprint covers the majority of the african continent through either branches or partners, strategically placed across the continent for the ease of access to their services and products. Zooming in on the african operations, msa have a reputation as the premier technology safety equipment provider in sub-

saharan africa. the company sell over 5000 products to the african market, 20 percent of which are manufactured in south africa. this includes gas detection devices, head protection and a wide variety of respiratory equipment from full face masks to disposable ones. new mineral and resource discoveries have meant the company have seen great success from geographically positioning themselves within the local vicinity, in order to secure new business. “our products and services are of an extremely high quality and we implement high standards through all of our practices. Focussing on the technology aspect of our products means we are able to produce top of the range hi-tech equipment for the mining and petroleum and gas sectors,” explains oliver. Furthermore, the company cover all major industries in africa including construction, military, law enforcement and many other sectors. msa’s biggest market however, is the mining and petroleum industry which provides 70 percent of their business in africa.

Focussing on the technology aspect of our products means we are able to produce top of the range hi-tech equipment for the mining and petroleum and gas sectors”

“We are in a growth sector” the mining industry is booming, and this is coupled with a greater emphasis on safety becoming ever-more paramount to both the wellbeing of staff and reducing operating costs to improve efficiency. “We are in a growth sector for these well-known reasons, one of which is because africa has many underground resources still untapped. however, there will always be cost pressures because of the nature of the industry. over the last 18 months, market softness has led to challenges such as wage issues and industrial actions, but whilst we cannot directly address this we can make working conditions safer which is half the battle,” highlights oliver. msa’s products for the mining industry are focussed on reducing operating costs for a more efficient mining operation.

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M S a

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the company tailor their innovations by investing heavily in r&d specific to a customer’s needs, to help them meet their individual needs and objectives whilst also meeting their own. “It is a win-win situation and we will continue to focus on this. we need to stay abreast of what the customer’s needs are and incorporate those needs into new product innovations to come out on top,” he adds.

Dynamic Customer Expectations

MSA Africa is a business that has stood the test of time, customers can depend on the MSA brand for support in all their safety products and service needs”

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oliver explained two key challenges for msa africa in his interview: “Firstly, africa has a very dynamic and fluctuating set of customer expectations, where requirements and demands change very rapidly. therefore, we have to package our product solutions in a way that we can ensure the successful delivery of customer requirements.” secondly is the well-known issue of counterfeit products circulating in africa. “msa is a reputable global brand. we do not want to dilute the brand that we have fought very hard to create in africa. as such, we have no quibble with recalling a product if there is a problem; we are a company all about maintaining integrity. we spent millions making sure that our customers are safe, so it is important that we have a trusting relationship with our customer, no matter where they are in africa or even the world,” oliver emphasised. msa have adopted a somewhat unique process when delivering on their products. They send qualified members of staff to provide product training to the end users, tailoring their service to the individual. this is particularly effective in the gas and petroleum sector in the western gulf of africa, where the company often send staff for weeks at a time to provide technical support and services. even with this exemplary level of service, Colin oliver still strives

M a N u f a c t u r i N g

Colin Oliver, Managing Director

INTRODUCING THE

6500

SERIES

Rugged Comfort

in the Harshest Environments

Quick Release Feature

to improve msa’s customer-end-user experience: “this is a global project, but we have tailored our solutions for specific geographical areas in Africa and we have taken measures to ensure that we drive our customer improvement strategy.”

“We would rather walk away from a deal than compromise on integrity and ethics”

INTRODUCING THE 3M™ HALF FACEPIECE REUSABLE RESPIRATOR 6500 SERIES Designed with tough and dirty worksites in mind. For more information on our safety products or to reserve your seats for the executive launch of the 6500, please contact: Peilin Zuo +27 11 806 2000 or pzuo@mmm.com Bongani Ntuli +27 11 806 2065 or btntuli@mmm.com 3M.co.za

oliver states that first and foremost, MsA are a business that thrives on their quality of both the product ranges and the level of customer service the company provide: “we have been very successful in coming up with innovative new products and bringing them to market. Furthermore, we will continue to remain close to our end users to understand their changing needs and adjust our services and product market accordingly.” msa africa have just received an award for best local content development oem partner award in nigeria from secretary general – nigeria local Content Board, mr ernst mwapa. The award solidifies all the hard work amidst the challenges msa africa face, empowering the company and their development of local content as a local business. From a global perspective, msa have proven over their many decades of operation that they are excellent at developing innovative products and launching them on a continual basis. msa africa are clearly well positioned to face the challenges in the safety industry, providing for the workers as well as the sector as a whole. “africa remains a growth potential area on a global basis. msa africa is a business that has stood the test of time, customers can depend on the msa brand for support in all their safety products and service needs,” concludes oliver.

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n A T I o n A l

B A n K

o f

K e n Y A

Banking mADe eAsY

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After a recent rebranding, National Bank of Kenya are expanding their reach with the help of skilled staff and by embracing new technologies Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Sheridan Halls

n recent years, the National Bank of Kenya (NBK) have undergone one of the biggest transformations of an African financial institution. From its inception in June of 1968, NBK used to be entirely government-owned bank, with the sole objective of creating credit access for Kenyans. At this time – immediately after independence – most of the banks were multinationals and so the government wanted to ensure that they had their own hand in the finance business. After this period in time, there was a realisation that the bank would need to extend its reach in order to continue doing business to meet the changing needs of the public. Therefore, NBK made a decision to list its shares on the Nairobi stock exchange. This is when NSSF took a 48.5 percent stake in the bank, with the government through National Treasury retaining 22.5 percent and 29 percent going to the public. “This shift in ownership meant that NBK was no longer considered a government bank. Of course, we owe our founding days to the government, but right now, we are moving forward with new found vigour,” explains Chris Kisire, Chief Financial Officer of National Bank of Kenya.

Rebranding In May 2013, NBK rebranded and transformed in an effort to stand out from the crowd and Kisire is pleased with the outcome: “The reason for the rebrand was that we wanted to come out of the old National Bank image people used to know. One thing that takes you to a new level is to have a new image – to come out and say we are now different. We wanted to tell the market ‘here we come, we are new, we look different, and we have different products that are more relevant to you, and that we can serve you better’. This makes

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customers look towards us and see that we are unique and different.” the rebrand was such a great success that the bank was awarded the Rebrand Global Award last year. Further, the managing Director/Ceo mr. munir sheikh ahmed won the CEO of the Year in the recent East Africa Banking Awards. the bank also won 2nd runners up in product innovation and 2nd runners up in the fastest growing bank. these awards solidify the bank’s achievements and put the bank in good stead for the future.

Chris Kisire, Chief Finance Officer

ediant International limited was incorporated in the year 2007 to offer information & Communication technology and Banking equipment solutions in kenya. our products and services include a wide range of products and services that have enabled us to penetrate the market and expand our market base to the expanded east african Community (eaC). mediant has a great tradition and reputation for relentlessly pursuing innovative solutions, and constantly growing our knowledge base with an uncompromising passion for excellence whilst exceeding all stakeholders’ expectations. we are dedicated to the company’s growth and rapidly expanding regional operations.

Business growth For the last few years, nBk have been trimming the bottom line of some of the non-performing loan books in order to focus on growing their business. as a result, there is a new found emphasis on revenue growth, which is the basis for the balance sheet growth of the business. In his interview, kisire discussed in detail the key areas for the bank’s success: “Firstly you must have a good network of branches that are easily accessible for your customers. In order to achieve efficiency and excellence in all that our staff are doing, we have had to centralise our operations to take some of the pressures away from our individual branches. this has enabled them to focus on selling and growing the loan book and customer deposits.” nBk are also seeing a growth in Islamic Banking, with the hope that in the next two years it will become a subsidiary of the bank. Further to this, nBk have also invested heavily into the latest banking technology in order to provide excellent service to their customers. “we replaced our core banking system in 2012 and have since implemented other new software across the entire bank’s

MEDiAnt intErnAtionAL

tel +254 20 341919 Mob +254 722 705104

www.mediantinternational.com

operations. Further, we are looking at improving the back support in finance, procurement, project management and so on to give better service to our clients; whether they are customers or vendors, we are making efforts to ensure that we have faster processing systems and good infrastructure in place.” nBk are hoping to implement a robust financial system (erP), which is a piece of business software that allows complete integrated management of many banking operations. “we want to ensure we have integrated our business processes in order to process information quickly and efficiently,” kisire added. nBk are embracing new technologies in the banking space starting with the re-launch of their internet and mobile banking services in the coming weeks. “mobile banking is the in-thing and customers

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Misys The New Benchmarks for Trade and supply Chain Finance the misys trade services RoI study has revealed great new benchmarks for trade finance businesses. over 200 banks, who were part of the study rely on misys’ integrated trade and supply chain finance solution to streamline trade processing and deliver value added traditional trade, open account and supply chain finance services to their international customers. Running leaner means increased value from existing revenue streams. Deploying an international solution means scalability to deliver competitive services in new regions, 24/7. with a unified approach, Misys clients cut costs, increase revenue, beat the competition and keep customer loyalty high.

www.misys.com/contact-us

Mediant International is a young Banking Equipment and ICT company established by smart working, creative, experienced, flexible and honest people dedicated to meeting their clients' needs and beyond. In just a few years of operation we have delivered what others promise, we are being promoted by the solutions we offer. We believe our customers are the reason why our offices are open and We welcome challenges because they make us stronger

We take pride for having partnered with Masterwork Automodules (MA) one the leading manufacturer in cash counting and detecting machines. The machines have the highest counting and detecting speed, can record serial numbers of over 10 major currencies, they are upgradable, robust, durable and user friendly. Please call us for a free demo. No matter your cash handling needs we have a solution for you! Large size TFT display, graphic based user interface, easy to use.

P.o. Box 72539-00200 Nairobi, Moi Avenue, Development House 11th Floor Suite 1111

Tel: +254 20 341919/243368 Cdma: +254 20 3544310 Fax: +254 20 340346

Email: Info@mediantinternational.com, Web:www.mediantinternational.com

CASH COUNTING & DETECTING MACHINES ELECTRONIC QUEUE SYSTEMS

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & NETWORKING

Customer is the king

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are now quite knowledgeable on the mobility of gadgets that can access banking applications. As such, the re-launch is important in order for us to take as many services to the doorstep of the customer as possible. Mobile banking is driving the money convenience business and it is an area which we stand to grow business from,” affirms Kisire. To accompany this, the bank have grown its ATM network to include offsite ATM’s – those not attached to their own branches and through agency recruitment. “We have brought on board a further 1,400 agents in collaboration with the Postal Corporation, Postbank Savings Bank and Kenswitch which will extend our channel distribution points countrywide,” Kisire says.

Moving into Insurance Now that NBK has an excellent framework in place to support Kenya’s Investment Secretary Mrs. Esther Koimett smiles after officially opening the state of the art Sameer branch. With her is the MD National Bank and Eng. Erastus Mwongera, a member of the Board.

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Raerex

R Mobile banking is driving the money convenience business and it is an area which we stand to grow business from”

aerex (EA) Limited is a household name in the East Africa region in the fields of air conditioning, mechanical ventilation and cold storage. We also supply, install and maintain Toshiba VRF, a leading brand in variable systems. We are registered by the National Construction Authority under category 1 and Ministry of Public Works & Housing to undertake projects for both private and public institutions; awarded the Top 100 Club of 2013/2014 by KPMG for midsized companies. We take pride in being the distributors of top ventilation brands, including light commercial Xpelair fans in East Africa and heavy commercial Casals fans from Spain. Our motto is to provide clients with the Ultimate Cooling Solutions Tel +254 20 2427004 Mob +254 722388993 | +254 733607190 Email info@raerex.co.ke

www.raerex.co.ke

the fast-growing nature of their business, the financial institution has been able to focus its efforts on the insurance arm. National Bancassurance Agency is a legal entity owned by NBK with its own management outfit, encouraging customers to give priority to their own insurance agency when taking out loan products with the bank. “We have identified that for quite some time, the insurance market was not allowing banks to have a Bancassurance relationship with customers. But this has since been approved, allowing NBK to become like a one stop shop for the customers. As you can imagine previously, for a customer coming to us to take out a loan and then having to tell them that they have to look for their own insurance cover from a company of their choice was very impractical,” Kisire emphasised.

The chairman of the National Bank, Board of Directors, Mr. Mohammed Hassan plants a tree at the launch of the Bankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Annual tree planting day, in October last year.

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MD Munir Shekh Ahmed proudly displays his CEO of the year award

It is clear that good people are key to the success of any business, especially in the service industry”

Expanding the Bank’s reach 2014 is an exciting year for nBk. after rolling out 10 new branches last year, nBk will continue to expand its branch distribution network, with 4 new branches already opened this year and a further 4 expected by the end of the year. moreover, they are looking to expand beyond the kenyan borders into south sudan and uganda, with an aim to be east African giants as Kisire identifies: “there are a lot of opportunities across the border and it is now time that we tend our business beyond kenya.” assisting in these plans is the new vibrant, experienced team of staff, who are driven by fresh performance management systems. “with around 120 new mid to top level managers, we can really change the way we work.” in addition to new staff, nBK have allocated an entire floor at their headquarters to its learning

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centre for training. “we look for talent, develop and retain it. we implemented a robust performance management system to reward high achievers and at the same time put those who are performing below expectation in a performance improvement program. this is one of the ways of delivering value through utilisation of human capital.” management are given the opportunity to pass on skills to new members of staff as Kisire cites: “This is a good model that really works and we want to look into this further as it is clear that good people are key to the success of any business, especially in the service industry.” with all these internal and external transformations running through to 2017, there is a need to secure resources. therefore, nBk have decided to go into the market to secure additional capital through Rights Issue. “we want our

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shareholders to put in more money and unlock the potential of the bank. the positive feedback we are receiving from our transformation cannot be ignored.” the strength of the rebranding and operational excellence coupled with an efficient iT infrastructure and improved service delivery to customers are ensuring that nBk are taking the necessary steps to grow its business in a more effective manner than ever before. By implementing better risk management and new mitigating factors, the bank are working hard so that their customers get the best service. “this is by no means an easy feat, but we have come a long way, including the advent of a customer services department which is equipped with the new back support technology. we have adopted a systematical approach and are seeing the benefits come through,” kisire surmises.

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leading KenYA’s

IslAmIc BAnK

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gulf african Bank are an award winning financial institution – on both a local and international scale – and are the first fully fledged islamic bank in Kenya Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Sheridan Halls

ulf african Bank (gaB) are the first fully-fledged Islamic bank in kenya, whose transactions are based on model Islamic economics - forbidding interest, and is an alternative to conventional banking. this mode of banking, a flagship of the gulf african Bank locally, has spread widely, attracting both muslims and non-muslims alike. the bank have maintained a sustainable business model based on rapid customer acquisition and retention; a calculated expansion strategy, and a firm commitment to their mission, vision and core values. the bank is a bona fide Islamic financial services provider and all of the bank’s products and services are shari’ah compliant. “gulf african Bank is definitely an informed choice, for anyone from any faith, thinking about a perfect place to keep their money and seek financing in africa and beyond,” cites abdalla abdulkhalik, Ceo and Board member of gulf african Bank. gaB are an award-winning financial institution on both a local and international scale. last year, the company was crowned the best bank in Financial management and Productivity and Quality at the annual Company of the year awards (Coya). “this is a big achievement from a very credible source. the bank also emerged as the Best Islamic Bank in kenya in 2013 during the annual Islamic Finance news awards in Dubai,” abdulkhalik proudly says.

reliable and Unique Banking

the success story of gulf african Bank finds its origin in the tremendous growth of shari’ah compliant products and services within the region, which is in itself, a unique selling point for the

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institution. “Islam is the back bone of interest-free banking. Moral principles and objectives play a more important role in its operations. Islamic banking and finance are a part of the Islamic economic system, the basis of which revolves around justice and morality hence the prohibition of Riba or interest,” explains Abdulkhalik. There is always an agreement between two persons or more (bank and customer) on sharing of both profits and losses, known as Musharaka. The bank’s mark-up scale, popularly termed as Murahaba, enables the bank to share in the risk of ownership in the case of financing an asset like a house for example. “These and many other aspects make us a favourite for anyone looking for financing,” Abdulkhalik states. The genesis of Gulf African Bank can be traced back to 2005, when a group of motivated Kenyans envisioned establishing an Islamic bank as an alternative to conventional banking in the country. By conducting business on the principles of Shari’ah, the bank would provide an ethical and fair model of “banking for all”. The bank also leveraged on the strong historical links between the Gulf and Africa to establish a channel for attracting investments into Kenya. Today this vision is a reality, and the GAB name went on to become a symbol of the partnership between the region and Africa.

2013: An Exciting Year of New Launches Gulf African Bank have been very successful in their banking operations, by coming up with new product ideas, initiatives and services which are Shari’ah compliant. During the year-end 2013, the bank was involved in many projects including expansion

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Abdalla Abdulkhalik, GAB CEO

Gulf African Bank is definitely an informed choice, for anyone from any faith, thinking about a perfect place to keep their money and seek financing in Africa and beyond”

and new product launches. GAB expanded their flagship womenonly product centres, Annisaa, to Mombasa. The bank also launched its mobile banking platform, GABPesa, and most recently, the Salary Advance product. Gulf African Bank prides itself as an SME bank. As such, the bank have signed an agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) that will seek to refine GAB’s capabilities in a number of ways including capacity building across the 6 main areas of business banking, expansion of products, developing credit processes for SME lending and further developments in banking for women. “These developments will see the bank triple its business banking book to Kes 6 billion in the next year, allowing us to increase the capacity of the SME department at the core of GAB,” Abdulkhalik confirms. However, plans do not stop there as Abdulkhalik states: “In the wake of current competition where other banks are opening Islamic-friendly windows, we need to aggressively market our products and services in order to obtain new clients and retain our current ones.”

Maintaining Growth Momentum

Despite the challenging macroenvironment that prevailed last year, the financial sector is set to maintain its growth momentum, underpinned by increased regional presence of Kenyan banks and the adoption of innovative and cost effective methods of offering financial services like the internet, agencies and mobile banking. Abdulkhalik is positive that GAB will see a good return based on these growth patterns: “Most banks posted increased profits in the 2013 financial year, which points to greater things. The Kenyan

market is also attracting other financial services providers from Africa and beyond, characterised by partnerships, acquisitions and mergers. The industry is certainly looking up.” The banking industry is adapting to technology at a very fast rate, and Gulf African Bank are making a point not to be left behind either. “Investment in IT is a top priority and so is agency banking, another trend that is being taken up fast in Kenya. In the near future we will be rolling out agency banking in strategic areas within our market areas to grow our number of transactions per day and enhance customer service. Regional expansion is also a trend in the industry locally and Gulf African Bank has its sight on East Africa for this venture. We have ambitious plans to open two new branches every year, starting with our bank’s 14th branch at Sameer Business Park, soon to be launched in Nairobi.”

A Bank that Cares for the Community Gulf African Bank is a socially conscious organisation that believes in continuous investment and involvement in the community. Through the bank’s Shari’ah bursary scheme, for instance, Gulf African Bank is currently supporting over 500 students from primary school through high school to university across the country. “We are also supporting different organisations in the health sector as corporate partners. These include Nairobi Hospice, who care for patients with life limiting illnesses, cluster foundation which cares for patients with spinal injuries and the Kenya Society for the Blind amongst others,” emphasises Abdulkhalik. Recently, the bank made a donation

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of wheelchairs to Coast General Hospital, Kenya, a referral hospital that serves a primary population of 1 million and a secondary population of about 2.7 million.

The banking industry is adapting to technology at a very fast rate, and Gulf African Bank are making a point not to be left behind”

Timely Problem Resolution and Turnaround Time (TAT) Continued re-invention of GAB’s products and services to serve the customer better is one of the bank’s major strengths. “As a Shari’ah compliant bank, we offer an alternative mode of thinking as opposed to a conventional one. We have a reputation as a professional and trustworthy institution, listening to our customers - both potential and longstanding –coupled with timely problem resolution and Turnaround Time (TAT). This and many other things is what makes us tick!” Abdulkhalik concluded the interview by stating that “the sky really is the limit” for this leading East African bank.

AMS Insurance Brokers Ltd

MS Insurance Brokers Ltd is a brokerage firm regulated under Insurance Act and locally incorporated having been established in 1996 and gradually grown to be one of the largest insurance broking firms in Kenya. The company has been complying with rigid requirements specified under the Insurance Act through Insurance Regulatory Authority. As Insurance Professionals, we guide customers in identifying the type and level of Insurance necessary, and help them purchase the correct policy for their unique needs. Our motto is Professional & Quality service to the satisfaction of our clientele. We highly value our customers and give them our best of service at all times. Our service is exceptional and this has played a great role in retaining our customers and expanding our portfolio. Our task involves helping individuals and businesses manage risks to protect themselves from catastrophic losses. Tel +254 41 2228455/65 Email md@ams-insurance.net

www.ams-insurance.net

Abdalla Abdulkhalik, GAB CEO, proudly holds the Financial Management award up high at COYA 2013

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CorPorAtE FinAnCing ProDUCts AssEt FinAnCE This product is offered through ijara/& or diminishing Musharaka. We offer financial solutions for fleet owners, purchase of trucks, acquisition of machinery, plant & factory installations etc. under Ijara, gaB leases the asset to the client for the agreed maximum repayment tenure, whilst under Dm, gaB co - owns the asset jointly with the clients at a ratio of 80:20. stoCK FinAnCing This product is offered through Murabaha Financing mode. Clients who have financing needs in stocks, mostly short term are offered this facility. examples include petroleum dealers, commodity traders, first moving commodity goods, hardware dealers etc. strUCtUrED FinAnCing We offer tailor made financing solutions be it in trade

finance, stock finance, construction, which involves a mixture of the different islamic products Murabaha, Ijara or diminishing musharaka. CoLLAtErAL FinAnCing ArrAngEMEnts For clients who have financing needs, but they do not have any security to offer. The bank offers financing solutions to this pertinent financing requirement, by taking the stocks to be financed as collateral. The bank will manage the stocks jointly with established collateral managers in the country. the client will access the stocks after paying directly to the bank. Products financed through this scheme, includes sugar, rice, fuel, fertilizer, and all first moving commodity goods. FinAnCing synDiCAtions gAB partners with other financial institutions to cofinance big projects, and also cross border financing deals which will involve other banks.

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G A r D e n

We Do THe for You

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ature’s garden have been in the business of producing frozen vegetables and chips in south africa for over 15 years. throughout this relatively short period of time, the company have grown vastly but have adhered to a strong set of ideals originally set out when the company began. nature’s garden still believe in sourcing only the best quality vegetables from hand-picked local farmers and delivering them in perfect condition to their customers. with a constantly changing market, nature’s garden have always aimed to offer the perfect balance of quality, taste, variety and convenience to its customers. Families in south africa are becoming far more conscious of their diet and eating habits and are looking towards companies in the food industry to become as conscious with their products. with many people juggling a busy, modern lifestyle, nature’s garden proudly highlight that growing all your own vegetables is simply not a realistic option, so instead they will do the gardening for you. It is this simple mantra that has made nature’s garden the successful company it is today.

From Fields to Freezers

nature’s garden have always aimed to offer the perfect balance of quality, taste, variety and convenience to its customers Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Callum Philp

nature’s garden believe their vegetables are of the highest quality because they handpick only the best farms and farmers who share in their commitment to deliver quality and sustainable farming. the company proudly highlights that they have over 50 hand-picked farms across south africa, who grow vegetables for nature’s garden. all 50 farms are continuously

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L.P. ArtisAn rECrUitMEnt CC

.P. artisan Recruitment CC is a non-racial, non-discriminatory company and therefore our selection policy is based purely on merit, qualifications and the ability to perform the task to our client’s satisfaction. l.P. artisan Recruitment CC complies with all the statutory requirements, and are registered with all needed institutions. all candidates are thoroughly assessed and screened with all records, experience and references validated on client request. we work across all industries. oUr sErviCEs:

researching new varieties and farming methods to provide the best quality products for the customers. to ensure that a strong working relationship between themselves and their suppliers is always maintained, nature’s garden have agreed contracts with all their producers to ensure they have a stable income. this means that the producers and farmers can be rest assured that the food being grown is bought at a fair and agreed price, helping to stabilise the farming economy all year round.

Fresh vs Frozen one of the bigger debates around food produce is the difference in taste and quality between fresh vegetables and frozen ones. Frozen vegetables can be more nutritious than their fresh counterparts, several studies have found. Fresh vegetables can lose up to 45 percent of their nutrients by the

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time they reach the dinner table. with the produce spending long periods in storage, being transported and sitting on the shelves in supermarkets, meaning the food can be more than two weeks old from being picked to being on your plate. By contrast, produce that is frozen close to the point of harvest, such as that prepared by nature’s garden, maintains a higher level of several vitamins and nutrients, which are much better for you. In a recent survey, eighty percent of shoppers think the fresh vegetables sold in supermarket are less than four days old. In truth, they can be up to nine days old when they arrive, and sit on the shelf for a further four. when you then include the amount of time these vegetables are potentially stored at home before being eaten, these ‘fresh’ items can be more than two weeks old. studies have found that in these circumstances green beans can have

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l.P. artisan Recruitment CC do permanent, contract and temporary placements, which allows our clients to have the flexibility to adjust their staff requirements at any time to accommodate their specific needs. we offer payroll & administration duties, including providing monthly and weekly payroll cycles, including reports and security sealed pay slips. to this end, all administrative functions are our responsibility, i.e. disciplinary hearings & employee files. we provide a quality outsourcing service, geared to meet the needs of our client. 363 sandvygie Crescent sinoville ext 2 0182 Po Box 908577 montana 0151 tel 012 – 543 0250/2 Fax 012 543 0745 Email marietjie@lpartisan.co.za

www.lpartisan.co.za

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lost nearly half of their nutrients. Broccoli and cauliflower can lose up to 25 per cent, peas around 15 percent and carrots just 10 percent. The key nutrients the vegetables contain are vitamin C and iron, magnesium, vitamin A, which are said to block the development of cancer. Researchers have concluded that consumers should ignore the popular mistaken viewpoint that “fresh” produce sold in supermarkets and shops is always better for us than frozen food. Frozen food can be nutritionally equivalent or in some cases can be more nutritionally beneficial for you.

A Positive Process

By utilising the Flash Freeze™ process for all of their vegetables, the company is able to preserve the vitamins naturally occurring in the vegetables for maximum taste and health benefits”

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Like any good food manufacturing company, having a strong process in place for the produce’s journey from the field to the freezer, is paramount. Nature’s Garden start this process by turning only the richest of soil, then planting the best variants of vegetable seeds available at the most fertile moment. The seedlings are fed and nourished until they grow healthy and strong and are then harvested the moment they peak. Because all of the vegetables used by Nature’s Garden are grown locally, they can be harvested and sent for freezing within hours. With the state of the art, efficient Flash Freeze™ method, Nature’s Garden are proud to proclaim that they have “managed to capture the goodness of Nature’s Garden for you.” That said, the company also pride themselves on delivering a product that is defined by both its taste and its quality. By utilising the Flash Freeze™ process for all of their vegetables, the company is able to preserve the vitamins naturally occurring in the vegetables for maximum taste and health benefits. The Nature’s Garden freezing method locks in nutrients and studies have shown that this offers a

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higher concentration of nutrients than lower-quality or older fresh produce. This also means that the vegetables are available all year round as opposed to being seasonal options only.

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A New Design In September 2013 the entire Nature’s Garden range received a fresh new look with totally redesigned packaging. The new designs showcase Nature’s Garden’s commitment to only the best quality vegetables while creating appetite appeal through the mouth-watering images on the packaging. With the new look in place, the company hope even more consumers will be inspired to experience the delicious farm fresh taste and locked in goodness that Nature’s Garden offers. The new packaging goes hand-in-hand with a new logo design that features a tractor motif, emphasising the fresh-from-the-farm credentials of Nature’s Garden. With Nature’s Garden always ensuring that the vegetables they produce and freeze for their consumers are always of the highest quality and with as many naturally occurring nutrients, consumers can be assured that they are making the right choice when it comes to feeding their families.

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family values BAKInG

In everY loAf kenblest have a proud heritage and history as a family run business, baking bread of the highest quality in kenya Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Callum Philp

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enblestâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s roots can be traced back to 1937, with the incorporation of Shah Kanji Ladha and Company in thika, kenya, by kanji ladha shah. the shop located in the centre of thika town, traded in textiles and general goods. this humble beginning was to pave the way for diversification throughout the years until mayur mohanlal shah joined in 1981, having graduated as a pharmacist from John moore university and completed a Diploma in Baking in the united kingdom. given the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strong understanding and experience of the kenyan market, the directors identified a large gap in the industry for good quality bread; and so plans were drawn up to expand into the bakery industry, resulting in the incorporation of kenblest limited. In august 1982, the kenblest bakery was commissioned with the prime objective to manufacture and deliver

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GROU P

Polyflex Industries LTD Polyflex Industries Limited is a flexible manufacturing company established by hard working, creative, experienced, flexible and reliable team who are dedicated to their clients and their packaging requirements. We believe that good partnership with our clients & suppliers gives our products outstanding quality which means more than utility convenience and high performance for both our clients and suppliers. We find solutions by thinking out of the box. We are not tightened by market limitations. This makes us very flexible in dealing with customers packaging problems and needs. We stand close to our valued clients & suppliers. Mon-Fri from 8am to 5pm Tel +25473361299/714222244 Email info@polyflexind.com

good quality and affordable bread to Kenyan consumers. Since 1982, the company focused heavily on combining international business practices into the workings of Kenblest bakery. Through dedication and hard work, coupled with strong business acumen, Kenblest flourished and within four years the bakery expanded its capacity from 80,000 to 230,000 loaves per day. Expansion in 2006 increased daily production capacity to 330,000 loaves per day, making Kenblest the single largest bread producer under one roof in Kenya. Jinit Shah, CEO of Kenblest, is extremely proud of how the company has continued to grow each year and shows no signs of stopping: â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have always been strong contenders in the market here, but now we find ourselves in an even better position. We are in the process of constructing two new 150-tonne wheat and maize mills in Thika, which will raise our milling

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capacity greatly. we will always strive to continue our growth, as long as it is financially prudent to do so.â&#x20AC;?

A Changing industry the food industry in the country is one of the largest for revenue and, within that, the bakery industry is widely considered to be the biggest. most of the working population who commute into the cities each day, buy bread for their lunch from kiosks outside office buildings. â&#x20AC;&#x153;eating habits have changed dramatically over the last few years in kenya. more and more people are turning to bread and bread products for their lunchtime meal. It is easy to purchase and is considered a fast food by many, while remaining filling and cheap. it has been a big source of our sales revenue rising,â&#x20AC;? remarks shah, pleased with this change in the market. one of the biggest factors that have affected Kenblest in the market

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has been the growing number of amateur bakeries springing up in rural areas and saturating the industry. these bakeries are becoming more prominent due to the lesser overheads involved in producing the bread, which in turn means a cheaper price for the consumer. “Rural bakeries have become a challenge for us in recent years. with rural wages far lower than those in the cities, customers cannot afford to buy our bread, so they turn to ‘amateur bakeries’ to supply them with the product. the concern is that although the quantity being produced is far lower than our output, the quality of the product is also greatly reduced and in many cases, the hygiene process employed in modern baking is not used in these locations. this can lead to serious health implications, which can quickly become widespread,” explains shah.

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supplying the Market

We have recently upgraded our fleet of trucks by purchasing 100 new ones from Tata Africa Holdings and these will keep our products rolling out to the various cities in Kenya”

kenblest have built up an impressive workforce and supply chain including a logistics set up that transports the goods from one end of kenya to the other. this year, the company purchased 100 new trucks, ranging from 1 tonne haulers to 7 tonne movers. the trucks being used are replaced every four years to ensure that the level of supply never drops due to trucks being in for repair or unusable. “we have recently upgraded our fleet of trucks by purchasing 100 new ones from tata africa holdings and these will keep our products rolling out to the various cities in kenya,” shah comments. First and foremost, kenblest are very keen to press the point that they are a company who pride themselves on working with and hiring local people. with a workforce of over 700 and strong relationships with local vendors and companies, kenblest are focused

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www.kaeser.com on giving back to the kenyan economy and populous where possible. “we have worked closely with local communities and companies to ensure that the relationships we have built up over the years remain as strong today as they did 30 years ago. our supplies are always locally sourced and our partners are as well. It is so important for us to maintain and nurture our business connections, so in times both good and bad, they will stick with us, and we will stay with them,” shah emphasises.

Keeping the Mills turning Bread manufacturing has been in existence for centuries and machines used in the manufacturing of bread have evolved over the last 30 years. however, this evolution comes at a price. the newer, more advanced milling machinery is very expensive and as shah explains, is not a realistic option for most companies: “some of our competitors are using machinery

Our machines are much newer and can handle greater volumes, which has enabled us to push on with our production”

that is 30 or 40 years old and that breaks down on a regular basis. our machines are much newer and can handle greater volumes, which has enabled us to push on with our production. that said, there is now an emphasis on greener, more economical manufacturing and we have seen former competitors unable to adjust their processes and machinery to fit this green regime; their revenue has suffered greatly.” kenblest have a proud heritage and history as a family-run business. shah is confident that the reason they have been so successful is down to offering customers a personal touch and constantly working with local workers and companies, who have remained loyal throughout the years: “I believe that as the third generation of the kenblest family have joined the group, offering our customers a high quality product that is fairly priced will always be a winning strategy.”

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ILTM Africa

International Convention Centre Convention Square 1 Lower Long Street Cape Town South Africa

2 8 - 3 0 May 2 0 1 4 www.iltm.com

en Cement Business and Investment Africa Conference (CBI) Crowne Plaza Hotel Johannesburg South Africa

1 0 - 1 1 J u ly 2 0 1 4

www.prescon-int.com/cbi2014

SURIMEP 2014

Chamber of Commerce Expo & Conference Centre Paramaribo Suriname

17-19 June 2014

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Roofing Africa

International Conference Centre Harambee Ave Nairobi Kenya

26-27 June 2014 www.roofingafricaexpo.com

East Africa Healthcare Summit Hyatt Regency Dar Es Salaam Tanzania

1 - 2 J u ly 2 0 1 4

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VC4A (Venture Capital for Africa) Vallon L2 Abidjan Côte D’Ivoire

2 4 J u ly 2 0 1 4 www.vc4africa.biz

4th Annual Enhancing Customer Experience, Loyalty and Retention in Telecoms

Tech4Africa

Focus Rooms Sunninghill, Sandton Gauteng Johannesburg

9-10 October 2014 www.tech4africa.com

Africa Oil & Gas Expo Sandton Convention Centre Johannesburg South Africa

9-10 October 2014 www.africaoilexpo.com

4th Mining Business and Investment Conference (MBI) Safari Park Hotel Nairobi Kenya

Venue to be announced Johannesburg South Africa

16-17 October 2014

4-5 August 2014

21st Africa Oil Week: Africa Upstream

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Electra Mining Expo Nasrec Expo Centre Johannesburg South Africa

15-19 September 2014 www.electramining.co.za

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Cape Town International Convention Centre Cape Town South Africa

3-7 November 2014 www.petro21.com/events/?id=873