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SWAKoP URAnIUM 48 swakop uranium own husab uranium mine, the second largest uranium-only mine in the world
gRASSRIDge WInD FARM
64 africa outlook spoke to Innowind, developers of grassridge wind Farm
ZEP-RE 116 Zep-Re provide first class insurance and reinsurance services to clients in africa
InVeSTMenT PRoFIle
MoZAMBIqUe 20 africa outlook takes a look at mozambique’s business and investment potential
AFRIcA oUTooK ISSUe 19 A l S o T h I S I S S U e : S e R e W I n D F A R M | V I l l A c R o P | o R A c l e e M e A | M o V I T e l
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W E L C o M E Why Follow When you can lead?
In this issue of africa outlook, we feature companies who are widely considered to be market leaders in their respective industries including the mining, technology, finance and renewable energy industries across africa. although each company differs greatly in their approach to cementing their positions at the top of the ladder, all of them have a desire to ensure that clients are always at the forefront of company strategy and focus. our front page feature interview is with Rob De vos, Divisional managing Director for spaR lowveld, who oversees the company’s full range of logistical services for the south african region. Retaining competitive prices alongside clever advertising and brand promotion has allowed the company to expand into mozambique; with De vos keeping up with supply and demand of supermarket goods, wherever the store. on page 48, we have an interview with grant marais, Director of Communications and stakeholder Relations at swakop uranium. this mining giant is the owner of the world’s second largest uranium-only mine in namibia. uranium oxide is a good source of fuel for low cost, environmentally-friendly, nuclear power within the country and is widely seen as a potential fuel source for many years to come. Further, our oracle emea feature on page 78 presents a series of Q&a’s with some of the company’s top directors in product strategy, product development, security and identity solutions and many more key business idents. as always, the focus for oracle is on shaping the future of computerrelated technologies. In the front of the magazine is a business case study on mozambique-based movitel. additionally, we take a closer look at standard Bank’s recent study into the substantial growth of south africa’s middle class over the past 14 years. our regular investment profile takes a look at mozambique, whose economy remained one of the most dynamic on the continent in 2013, with a 7% rate of real gross domestic product (gDp) growth. with mozambique land-linked with south africa, it is little wonder that so many of the feature companies in this issue are venturing across the border to enjoy the strategic advantages so close to home. “The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.” Matt Bone -John maxwell, american Editor, Outlook Publishing motivational speaker.
eDIToRIAl
editor: matt Bone matthew.bone@outlookpublishing.com Sub-editor: emily Jarvis emily.jarvis@outlookpublishing.com
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In this issue of Africa Outlook...
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NEWS
All the latest top stories across the month from Africa
africa’s growing Middle class
Standard Bank report confirms strong growth in Africa’s middle class
the story of Movitel
An in-depth look at how Movitel has changed the lives of people in Mozambique
INvESTMENT PROFILE Mozambique
Africa Outlook takes an inside look at Mozambique’s business and investment potential
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MANUFACTURING
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SERE WIND FARM striving for a greener south africa
Sere Wind Farm is Eskom’s first full scale renewable energy project in the Western Cape
T E C H N O L O G Y
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SPAR DISTRIBUTION the Beating Heart of sPar
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SPAR Distribution Lowveld has a dedicated fleet of 26 multi-axle trucks at their disposal
Villa Crop Protection introduces between 40 and 50 new products a year to the farmers of South Africa
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SWAKOP URANIUM namibia’s Uranium giant
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GRASSRIDGE WIND FARM Winds of change for south africa and the Former Homelands
Swakop Uranium own the second largest uranium-only mine in the world
Africa Outlook spoke to InnoWind, the company behind the Grassridge Wind Farm project in Port Elizabeth
vILLA CROP PROTECTION dedicated crop Protection
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ORACLE EMEA oracle in eMea
Oracle has become one of the largest technology companies in the world on the strength of its extensive portfolio of software and hardware products to facilitate this simplification
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TIGO TANZANIA talking tanzania
Over the last 18 months, Tigo Tanzania have been busy expanding their network to bring their range of services to a wider audience
ZEP-RE insuring africa’s development
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EvENTS
Africa Outlook highlights the upcoming events across the continent
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He added that good policies were essential in attracting investor confidence urging regional economies to enact investor friendly policies. “No one puts his or her money in a country whose policies are not business friendly. FDI is a sign of good policies from government and good corporate governance,” noted Jere. Jere said FDI figures indicated that the continent was making incremental gains. “Some of the numbers you see may not be big but they are
small moves towards the bigger picture of the attractiveness of the continent,” he said. Turning to South Africa, Jere welcomed FDIs into the country saying this was useful for the country’s recovery process. South Africa was the hardest hit economy by the global recession of 2008 if compared to the rest of the continent. Jere urged the government to communicate better, saying currently there was a discord between government departments. “Sometimes it seems there is miscommunication with regards to policies government puts out,” he noted. “An example is seen in the department of regional integration and home affairs where regional integration seeks to promote the integration of economies with the home affairs enacting policies that seem to contradict that.”
economy due to booming sectors like information technology. “ICTs are important in the fields of business and trade in the sense that most processes until now have been manual which consumes a lot of time with examples such as documentation filing, processing of claims and filing of tax returns,” Gupta noted. “All these processes are now automated with the use of technologies and related systems which has reduced significant time in processing.” Gupta added that ICTs were making it easy especially in international trade as information exchange was being facilitated easily. “Previously there were challenges with regards to interchange and exchange in international trade between different agencies but with the advent of ICTs these challenges have been averted
as different agencies can now easily exchange messages,” he noted. However, Gupta lamented the slow pace in embracing ICTs among other economies urging countries to scale up in utilisation of ICTs innovations. “Not all countries are at the same platform as far as the use of information technology is concerned, some countries use ICTs at a greater extent with some employing technology at a lesser extent,” he said. Gupta noted that certain countries were facing challenges with acquiring the much needed human resources, infrastructure and financial requirements to improve their ICTs infrastructure. Gupta also noted that it is important for other countries to learn from those who have done well so as to improve business processes.
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Africa’s FDI Reaches 5.7%, South Africa Tops the List The African continent received 5.7 percent of global foreign direct investments, its highest level in a decade, with South Africa accounting for 24 percent of all FDI projects in Africa between 2007 and 2013. According to the EY report, the number of new FDI projects in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) increased by 4.7 per cent, although the total number of new FDI projects declined by 3.1 percent due to the political uncertainty in North Africa. “What assisted South Africa’s attractiveness was the independent power programme that the country has launched,” says Dumi Jere, Head of Strategy for AfriCatalysts. Jere added that there was room to gain more especially when one looks at the mineral base held in the continent. T e c h n o l o g y
ICT Critical for Africa’s Business Processes The World Bank’s Doing Business Ranking show that countries like Malaysia, Singapore and United Arab Emirates which have used ICTs extensively, have seen their economic rankings improve. Assistant professor at the World Trade Organisation, Gupta noted that countries that had embraced ICTs were rising on doing business indices. The use of ICTs in Africa has seen economies such as Mauritius becoming more competitive and successful in the region. Mauritius has realised a remarkable economic transformation from a mono crop economy to an emerging status
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Sumesh Rahavendra, Head of Marketing for DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa
DHL Takes Innovative Approach to Grow Retail Footprint in Sub-Saharan Africa by 1000% taying true to its reputation for speed, passion, teamwork and a can-do attitude, DHL Express has grown its retail footprint in sub-Saharan Africa by an astonishing 1,000% in less than three years. In what could become a business school case study, the company’s number of service points increased from 300 to over 3,300, not by building its own bricks and mortar branches but by partnering with local business owners who act as DHL resellers. Thousands of vendors – such as an electronics store in West Africa, a travel agent in East Africa and a small grocery shop in Southern Africa – now allow their customers to send DHL shipments alongside their normal offerings. These small businesses benefit from commission on all DHL sales, an increase in foot traffic as well as being associated with a global brand. “It’s really a win-win approach. We have given these small shop owners a unique business opportunity to grow their revenues and gain credibility by aligning themselves with an international brand. If they do well, we do well,” explains Sumesh Rahavendra, Head of Marketing for DHL Express Sub Saharan Africa. The company is willing to partner with any entrepreneurial business that sees value in becoming a DHL reseller. All partners are provided
with a complete branding kit and go through an extensive training programme to ensure compliance with DHL’s requirements and procedures. DHL has also forged similar partnerships with larger companies such as mobile network operators, retail business centres, supermarkets and fuel retailers. Not only is partnering with existing vendors more cost effective than building its own branches, it also brings DHL closer to its customers. An entrepreneur in Ghana can send a sample to a client in the US from the same place he picks up his daily newspaper, whereas a mother in Mauritius is now able to ship a birthday gift to her son in France while her car is being filled up at the fuel station. DHL also simplified its pricing and packaging options to fit in with the needs of its customers as opposed to the other way around. To make people aware of its retail offering, the streets of Africa are often painted yellow and red through tactical advertising campaigns involving dancing, singing and special DHL giveaways. “Through the passion and energy of our 4,000 employees across Sub Saharan Africa, we have changed the perception that DHL only caters
for multinationals and big business. Our retail customers no longer have to sit in traffic to send a document or parcel, but can literally find a DHL service point right around the corner,” says Rahavendra. “Perhaps most gratifying is the fact that we are empowering business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs across Africa with an additional opportunity to earn money and live better.” He tells the story of a DHL reseller in Kenya whose mobile phone accessories shop is located right opposite a DHL corporate-owned store. When asked why customers would ship with her rather than go to the fully-branded DHL outlet, she said the average person relates much better with her shop, perceiving it to be affordable and less formal than the one across the road. “In a continent like Africa where the informal economy rules, a company’s retail strategy cannot revolve around high-end shopping malls,” adds Rahavendra. “You have to operate on a level where customers can understand, feel and relate to your product. You really need to ensure that your brand connects to the average person on the street,” concludes Rahavendra.
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as this training is central to the success and sustainability of the Simulation Lab. Philips will also provide training to the academic employees and clinicians on the correct and most effective use of all the new technologies and products which they have installed in the simulation laboratories. oyal Philips in collaboration with the University of Peter van de Ven, Vice President, Johannesburg (“UJ”) inaugurated a state-of-the-art Philips Healthcare Africa, says: medical training simulation lab on the University “Through our ongoing partnership premises during the Johannesburg stopover of with one of the most respected Philips’ fifth consecutive pan-African Cairo to Cape universities in South Africa (UJ), Town roadshow. This pioneering project will contribute to the Philips is contributing much hands-on training of medical students in South Africa by providing needed resources to ensure accurate simulations in imitated medical emergency settings. that there is a highly trained and qualified healthcare workforce for the public to rely on. We are The Simulation Lab project is part disciplinary laboratory that would helping to transform healthcare of Philips’ ambition to improve focus on teaching and assessment in South Africa by enhancing the the quality of healthcare in of clinical skills in a simulation South Africa through meaningful environment. As a company focused individual performance of the next generation of healthcare solutions, innovations and on innovations in the healthcare professionals, which will ultimately partnerships. Recognising that sector, Philips has proved to be the lack of availability of trained and ideal partner to bring this Simulation benefit the patients in the form of good, reliable care.” skilled healthcare professionals Laboratory concept to life,” says The partnership between Philips is an increasing challenge across Dr Craig Lambert, Head of the and UJ (established during Philips’ Africa, Philips has been putting Department of Emergency Medical a lot of emphasis on education Care, at University of Johannesburg. Cape Town to Cairo roadshow in 2013) will run over a three-year and training. Philips has equipped The South African Department period and will support research the Simulation Lab at UJ with of Higher Education and Training opportunities related to new medical equipment and diagnostic played a key role in this project by technologies in the emergency devices intended to facilitate awarding a clinical training grant to care environment. These learnings the exposure of emergency care assist UJ in improving the clinical students and academic staff to competencies of health professional will contribute to Philips’ investments in healthcare research current medical technologies graduates, and getting the and development. and adequately prepare them to Simulation Lab up and running. Professor Andre Swart, operate under a pressurised and The Simulation Lab is divided into intense work environment. four wards: an ambulance simulation Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University “It is important that students room, an emergency department of Johannesburg concludes: have a fully incorporated representing casualty simulation, a “Philips is a company known for curriculum with simulation as a general ward and an intensive care its commitment to enhancing key component of teaching and unit (ICU). University departments healthcare across Africa and assessment. Up until recently, of Emergency Medical Care, uplifting healthcare in the staff and students made use Biomedical Technology, Nursing educational space. The partnership of classrooms that were not and Radiology will benefit from the between Philips and UJ is a purposefully designed for training at the new Simulation Lab. mutually beneficial opportunity; simulation-based learning. We Appropriate implementation for UJ to expose our students to started to explore ideas around training (on a “train the trainer” new technologies and for Philips to creating an integrated, multibasis) will be provided by Philips,
Philips and ‘UJ’ Inaugurate Medical Simulation Lab to Support Clinical Education and Training
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R e s o ur c e s
EnergyNet Calls on African Energy Ministers to Support ‘Wind for Prosperity’
For more information please follow the Cairo to Cape Town roadshow on: www.philips.com/africaroadshow introduce their latest innovations into the African healthcare environment. We look forward to a long and sustainable partnership dedicated to training a solid and reliable medical workforce for South Africa to depend on.” The penultimate stop on the fifth pan-African Cairo to Cape Town roadshow Johannesburg is the Philips’ annual flagship Cairo to Cape Town roadshow (from 14 April to 4 September 2014) which focuses on key challenges facing Africa today - the need for energy-efficient lighting and the revitalisation of African healthcare infrastructure. In contribution to the Post-2015 Development Agenda, Philips calls for improving universal access to healthcare and reducing the double-disease burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as additions to the current Millennium Development Goals. The Roadshow has made its way across seven countries and ten cities in Africa; and will conclude in Cape Town on 4th September 2014.
As Africa’s star continues to rise and governments are becoming increasingly mindful of the importance of delivering electricity beyond city and industrial boundaries, EnergyNet has partnered with ‘Wind for Prosperity’ - a Vestas initiative to deliver electricity to some of the poorest off-the-grid citizens across Africa. With more than 1.3 billion people across the globe lacking access to affordable and reliable electricity, creating dramatic consequences for human health, education, and economic well-being; ‘Wind for Prosperity’ can support the government’s plans for industrial electrification by delivering electricity beyond the grid. ‘Wind for Prosperity’ will create a world of new opportunities by accelerating access to clean water, healthcare, irrigation, education, communications infrastructure, and has other social and economic benefits. It is different to most other corporate initiatives to alleviate poverty as the concept is commercially based and is more scalable and sustainable than efforts purely reliant on philanthropy and donations - it is business as a force for good. Morten Albæk, Group Senior Vice President and CMO of Vestas commented: “Every day at Vestas, we think about solutions to make the world’s energy mix more sustainable and maintain our position as the global wind leader and technology developer. With more than 61 GW of
installed wind turbines, comprising close to 19% of total global capacity, we understand the importance of delivering viable energy programmes and we’re delighted to partner with EnergyNet in Africa to increase the chances of delivering electricity to all corners of the continent, often overlooked due to challenging financial conditions.” EnergyNet’s MD Simon Gosling added: “The potential for such an offgrid solution to support government objectives is huge both economically and politically and we’re delighted to partner with Vestas on such a potentially game changing venture; indirectly supporting industrial development, directly supporting local development. Excitingly, ‘Wind for Prosperity’ ties in with our own ‘EnergyNet Student Engagement Initiative (ESEI)’, which supports African student engineers from across the continent where we’re supporting the development of nationals from across the continent, providing opportunities which otherwise may not be realised. ‘Wind for Prosperity’ is a similar venture and one we hope governments will give full backing to help us succeed.”
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of which way government wants to go,” she explained. The entity had been without a permanent CEO since the end of March, when former CEO Brian Dames left following his resignation announcement in December 2013. Collin Matjila had been appointed as the acting CEO since 1st April 2014. The minister said she would like to strengthen leadership at the parastatal. “Part of the problem at Eskom is actually also a leadership problem. One of the things that Matona understands are the current debates that are raging
in our environment and he will have to make decisions about which way Eskom is going to go in the next short while. He has to deal with what is wrong in Eskom from an insider,” she said. In recent months, Matona has played a key role in the Inter-departmental Task Team comprising the Departments of Public Enterprises, Energy and National Treasury which have been working with Eskom and the National Regulator to formulate a solution to the immediate challenges facing Eskom. The Task Team should present its report to Cabinet this month. Additionally the CEO will also have to implement the correct energy mix for South Africa as well as also deal with what role the private sector can play in future projects. The government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Programme (REIPP) is expected to continue so as to take advantage of wind, solar, biomass and other technologies.
towards the targeted 3,725 megawatts and towards socio-economic and environmentally sustainable growth, and to start and stimulate the renewable industry in South Africa. An energy expert says current plans of intensifying on renewable energy are being stalled by seed funding that is being held back in the energy space. Gavin Maxwell, Chairman of Coolfin Partnership Ireland, told CNBC Africa that some geographies were classified more risky than others which was ultimately affecting funding. “South Africa is leading the way with many renewable energy projects together with Kenya which is also doing a good job with renewables,” Maxwell noted. Maxwell said that building relations was critical to ensuring energy
supply in the country: “I think forging relationships is about getting the ability to seed more projects and getting more projects off the ground more quickly, especially for new developers and independent power production companies.” He added that the key question was in creating renewable energy options that were sustainable in the long term. Renewable energy is defined as energy derived from resources which are naturally replaced on a human timescale such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves and geothermal heat. About 16 per cent of global final energy consumption presently comes from renewable properties, with 10 per cent of all energy from traditional biomass, mainly used for heating, and 3.4 per cent from hydroelectricity.
Eskom Appoints New CEO Current Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) Director General Tshediso Matona has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of power parastatal, Eskom. “Mr Matona brings with him a wealth of experience and is conversant with the challenges facing the State-Owned Company,” Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said, adding that Cabinet had approved the appointment at its meeting held in Cape Town. Eskom is among the entities reporting to the DPE. The announcement confirmed media reports of Matona’s appointment. Matona was also in the past appointed as the Director General of the Department of Trade and Industry. The minister said Matona brings with him a wealth of experience with the challenges facing Eskom. “He has a clear understanding R e s o ur c e s
South Africa Gears up for More Solar Power Investment The Department of Energy has said that South Africa has a high level of renewable energy potential and presently has in place a target of 10,000 gigawatt hours of renewable energy. The energy minister is committed to ensuring that 3,725 megawatts (MW) is generated from renewable energy sources so as to ensure the continued non-stop supply of electricity. The DoE website says that the Independent Power Producer Procurement programme (IPP) has been designed so as to contribute
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Weetabix to Invest KSh200 Million in Kenya Cereal manufacturer, Weetabix Food Company, intends to invest 200 million Kenyan shillings in its Kenyan subsidiary and double its capacity. The global manufacturer is seeking to double its volume tremendously in the East African nation in the next three to five years in order to increase Weetabix’s market penetration. “We are investing in Nairobi mainly for the Kenyan market because we believe in the growth opportunity, so our businesses have been growing well. The Weetabix business is all about offering families around the world a healthy and nutritious start to the day. We are investing the money to deliver more capacity, so we can grow as well as introduce new innovations of different formats into the market base,” Giles Turrell, CEO of Weetabix Food Company told CNBC Africa. The firm intends to use the Kenyan hub to expand its business across East Africa as well with manufacturing being solely in Kenya. According to Turrell, Weetabix in Kenya has grown immensely. Earlier in the year, the company announced that demand for cereals in the region had increased to 8.5 million kilograms from 1.5 million kilograms per day. “We have seen good growth and last year the company grew by 16 per cent here in Kenya, we are focused on 20 per cent growth. I think at the core of it is the fact that we are the healthiest breakfast. So if you think about whole grain, and the benefits of whole grain [and] fibre in the diet as well as vitamins and minerals and having to eat Weetabix
with milk, it is a great way to start the day,” Turrell said. In April this year, the manufacturer said it will begin sourcing 60 per cent of its raw materials from local farmers. This initiative will help cut down the company’s rate of wheat importation for production. “Our business model is always to try and source our raw material locally, that is what we aim to do but there are two provisos. One is quality, can we get the right quality and two can we get the right price? So if you look at our business in the UK, we source all of our wheat within 50 miles of the plant, our ambition would be to do that the same where we manufacture around the world and work in partnership with local farmers.”
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Bharti Airtel to Sell over 3,500 Telecom Towers in Africa to Eaton Towers Bharti Airtel will sell more than 3,500 of its mobile towers in six African countries to telecommunications tower firm, Eaton Towers, in a bid to reduce costs. Bharti Airtel will lease back the towers from Eaton under a 10-year pact, the companies said in a statement. They did not disclose financial details of the deal. The agreements are subject to statutory and regulatory approvals in the respective African countries. Back in July, Bharti Airtel had agreed to sell about 3,100 towers in four African countries to Helios Towers Africa. “This agreement [with Eaton] represents the next phase of Airtel’s growth journey in Africa. We are strong proponents of telecoms infrastructure sharing, which results in industry-wide cost efficiencies,” Manoj Kohli, Chairman, Bharti Airtel International Netherlands BV (BAIN), said in a media statement. Eatorn Towers Chief Executive Alan Harper said this “transformational deal” would give Eaton Towers the most diversified tower portfolio across Africa. “We are proud to be chosen by Bharti Airtel as their key partner in these six countries,” Alan Harper, said in a statement. The agreement will expand Eaton Towers’ Africa coverage to 7 countries with over 5,000 towers. The latest tower sale is part of India’s top mobile operator’s plans to divest most of its 15,000-plus towers in Africa, in a process that could reportedly raise up to $2 billion. The latest pact with Eaton will enable Bhari Airtel focus on its core business and customers, help it to deleverage through debt reduction, and will significantly reduce its on-going capital expenditure on passive infrastructure.
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Africa has experienced substantial growth in its middle class over the past 14 years, according to a study by Standard Bank Writer Emily Jarvis
Standard Bank Senior Political Economist Simon Freemantle
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Africa’s Middle Class he report, entitled ‘Understanding Africa’s middle class,’ found there are 15 million middle-class households in 11 of sub-Saharan Africa’s top economies this year, up from 4.6 million in 2000 and 2.4 million in 1990 - an increase of 230% over 14 years. However, of the total number of households across these focal economies, 86% of them remain within the broadly “low income” band, emphasising the nascent maturation of many of the continent’s markets. The report also found that the combined GDPs of the 11 measured economies had grown tenfold since 2000. The study uses a proven methodology widely employed in South Africa. The report, based on the Living Standards Measure (LSM), gives investors to Africa data on which to base their investment decisions.
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In the past, the conventional wisdom was that as many as 300 million Africans are categorised as ‘middle class’. The report points out that investors using an unquantifiable assumption might find individuals they had thought were middle class were in fact highly vulnerable to lose that status in any economic shock. The report suggests that while the middle class may be smaller than previously thought, two factors should give investors greater comfort: by any methodology Africa’s middle class is growing strongly; and Africa’s income accumulation is far more broad-based than had previously been thought. Standard Bank senior political economist Simon Freemantle, author of the report, says the new report is cause for optimism among investors as it suggests even greater scope for future growth, and indeed the
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report forecasts acceleration in the accumulation of middle-class households in Africa. Commenting on the lower than anticipated total number of middle class households, Freemantle says any view “concerning the undoubted ongoing improvement in Africa’s economic performance has to be tempered with the reality that the level of this growth and the nominal size of the continent’s middle class had not until now been adequately measured”. He argues the previous figure of 300 million ‘middle class’ Africans was viewed as a best-estimate that has now been confirmed as to trend if not as to the total aggregate. The report cites the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) influential 2011 study, ‘The Middle of the Pyramid: Dynamics of the Middle Class in Africa’, which by its
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methodology attached middle class status to individuals earning just USD4 to USD20 a day, and even a “floating class” of individual earning USD2 to USD4 a day, thereby categorising fully one-third of Africa’s people (over 300 million of them) as ‘middle class’. “In fact, such individuals would still be exceptionally vulnerable to various economic shocks, and prone to lose their middle-income status,” explains Freemantle. South Africa’s LSM measure as a methodology is not income-based but rather uses a wider range of analysis. The report covers 11 selected sub-Saharan African countries which combined account for half Africa’s total GDP (75% if excluding South Africa) and half its population. The methodology identified LSM5 and above as middle class and categorises
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household income into four distinct income bands: low income; lower middle class; middle class and upper middle class. “Standard Bank has attempted to fill the knowledge gap by using comprehensive household income data and adopting our own measure of the middle class using South Africa’s LSMs as a framework, in order to provide cross-quantifiable reference points for peer African economies.” The 11 focus economies are: Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. This methodology found there was an undeniable swelling of Africa’s middle class irrespective of which methodology was used. “Looking ahead, an even greater elevation in income growth is anticipated in the next 15 years; between 2014 and 2030, we expect an additional 14 million middle-class households will be added across the 11 focal countries – tripling the current number. Including lower-middleclass households, the overall number swells to over 40 million households by 2030, from around 15 million today,” the report states. Furthermore, while figures for 1990, 2000 and 2014 all contain more lower-middle class than middle class households, by 2030 it is expected that “there will be notably more middle-class households than those in the lower-middle-class bracket (19.2 million versus 22 million).” Freemantle says: “The swifter pace of middle-class growth is critical in its suggestion of a more marked income ascent in the next decade and a half, compared to the period since 2000.” As a caution, the report states: “Though there has been a meaningful individual lift in income, it is clear that a substantial majority of individuals in most countries
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While the scale of Africa’s middle class ascent has, we believe, been somewhat exaggerated in line with the at times breathless ‘Africa Rising’ narrative, there is still plenty of scope for measured optimism regarding the size of the middle class in several key SSA [Sub-Saharan Africa] economies”
we looked at still live on or below the poverty line (measured as those with a daily income of USD2 or less).” Income discrepancies are vast among the 11 economies, with almost 86% of the 110 million households in the focal grouping falling within the low-income band. This is expected to fall to around 75% by 2030. “In conclusion, while the scale of Africa’s middle class ascent has, we believe, been somewhat exaggerated in line with the at times breathless ‘Africa Rising’ narrative, there is still plenty of scope for measured optimism regarding the size of the middle class in several key SSA [SubSaharan Africa] economies. Reliable and proven data should if anything spur more interest in the continent’s consumer potential by adding depth to what was previously conjecture,” concludes Freemantle.
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t H E
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THE STORY of
MOvITEL
How Movitel has Changed the Lives of Mozambicans From house helper to boss – the story of movitel’s Director and subsequent company success Writer Emily Jarvis
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fter 2 years entering mozambique’s telecom market, movitel has achieved significant successful business and with a rapid revenue and subscriber growth rate over 120% per year to reach nearly usD155 revenue and 5 million subscribers in 2013, making up 32% market share. however, what people were impressed most by was the operator’s contribution to the society. movitel has popularised telecom services in rural and underserved areas, significantly changing the communication landscape in mozambique and contributing in various ways to enhance the life of people here through many of its social programmes.
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In order to enable telecom services including mobile, fixed phone and Internet accessible to rural population, movitel has invested in a network of 2,800 towers, 25,000km fiber optic cable covering 100% districts and highways, 80% population and a distribution channel to every village. Besides, it also provides service support and social programmes including free Internet to schools, subsidising handset cost for rural users, offering a special package designed to support low-income users such as farmers or students. movitel has provided free Internet to 2,500 schools, supporting mozambican government by implementing an e-government programme. nearly
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600,000 people in at least 5 rural districts have been covered and served telecom services for the first time in life. with movitel, telecom services are now available to everyone, giving them opportunities to improve their living standard.
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Mozambican President, Armano Emilio Guebuza (third person from left), pressed the button to officially launch Viettel’s Movitel network 2
Sustainable Development in Mozambique with a philosophy of integrating business development with social responsibility, movitel has taken part in the sustainable development of mozambique and helped change the lives of people here, particularly the poor and the rural population. It has generated nearly 20,000 jobs in rural areas. after employing local people, the company will train them until they can independently handle the work themselves. after that, expert managers from headquarters shall be retreated, leaving the positions for the local people to take over. By doing it this way, movitel not only give people a means of living but also a dream to pursue. antonio - District Director of Ilha de mozambique is one such person. as a result of their tireless effort, on July 8th 2014, Movitel was granted the “Best mobile Innovations award” - the most notable prize among the 18 others of the mobile Innovations awards for business across the emea region (europe, middle east and africa), and became the only telecom operator in africa winning 3 reputable prizes from prestigious and leading international organisations within only 2 years of business. Formerly, it won the Rural telecom award of the africaCom awards in 2012 and the Competitive strategy leadership award by the american Research and Consulting firm Frost and sullivan in 2013.
In order to enable telecom services including mobile, fixed phone and Internet accessible to rural population, Movitel has invested in a network of 2,800 towers, 25,000km fiber optic cable covering 100% districts and highways, 80% population and a distribution channel to every village”
Viettel’s Movitel shops in Mozambique.
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During his speech at Movitel’s launching ceremony, Mozambican President Armano Emilio Guebuza highly appreciated Viettel’s contribution to Mozambique
Antonio Edmundo: The Story Behind Movitel’s Director antonio edmundo, 23 years old, is currently the Director of the movitel’s district centre island Ilha de mozambique, nampula province. Just two years ago, he was only a house helper in the office business center of movitel, sa – a joint venture between vietnamese company viettel and mozambique’s spI Company. antonio’s journey from a house helper to a master might surprise many people; through hard work and determination, this man’s dreams became a reality. whilst working for movitel from January 2012 as a house helper since the company opened stores in the district of namialo, antonio was highly appreciated by the District Director of namialo – mr. khanh, who hired him due to his enthusiasm, hard work and loyalty.
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With a philosophy of integrating business development with social responsibility, Movitel has taken part in the sustainable development Mozambique and helped changing the life of people here, particularly the poor and the rural population”
khanh had an intention to train him to be store staff, as antonio had already obtained knowledge of the store’s daily operations knowing where and how to store the merchandise - and understanding the work of each member of staff. after some time, noticing the extremely agile and quick understanding of the “house helper”, Director khanh assigned antonio to manage a mobile sales team. every morning, after a decent cleaning the entire store, from 8am, antonio led the team to go out selling goods in remote areas. In september 2012, antonio was promoted to the salesman of the shop; however, he still took care of the house cleaning at the same time. But from that time on, antonio’s work expanded. In addition to leading mobile teams, he was also in charge of managing and delivering goods to points of sale.
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Pupils in Mozambique enjoyed free Internet connections provided by Viettel’s Movitel.
Movitel not only gives the people a means of living but also a dream to pursue”
step by step, antonio had gained experience and upped his game until in February 2014, he officially took over mr.khanh’s position as the Director of the Ilha island. he is now a “real boss”, managing the entire business of the district center with 9 staffs and 01 technical team. So far, Ilha district ranks the second highest in term of mobile penetration in the branch with 21.5% (11,237 subscribers out of 52,202 people). the story of antoino is one among many other interesting stories from movitel, and it represents the changesthe company brings to the staff and people where it runs business.
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INvESTMENT PROFILE 20
Mozambique africa outlook takes a look at mozambique’s business and investment potential Writer Emily Jarvis SOURCE UNCTAD & AFDB
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A Dynamic Economy
mozambique’s economy remained one of the most dynamic on the continent in 2013, with a 7% rate of real gross domestic product (gDp) growth, in spite of the major flooding which occurred during the first quarter and the politicomilitary low-intensity confrontations between government and the opposition movement. the main drivers of growth are foreign direct investment (FDI), focused mostly on the extractive sector, and increasing public expenditure. the fastest growing sectors in 2013 were the extractive sector, propelled by a boost in coal exports, and the financial sector fuelled by credit expansion and increased income, mostly centred on urban areas. other dynamic sectors are construction, services, and transport and communication, broadly correlated with infrastructure development and very large-scale projects, known in mozambique as mega-projects. the agriculture sector, employing 70% of the population, lacks the same economic dynamism, although it is growing at above 4%. assuming a stable political environment, prospects are positive for 2014 and 2015, with growth forecast to remain above 8%, supported by increased coal production, continued public
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ith a population of 25.2 million, the mozambican market is relatively small in comparison to other developing african countries, with limited but increasing purchasing power. however, its integration into the southern african Development Community (SaDC) offers investors easier access to the main market in southern africa, including south africa and the other 12 member countries.
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Maintaining Political Stability
It is crucial that political stability is maintained so that the country continues to attract FDI that enables infrastructure and human development. mozambique’s current residual role in global value chains (gvCs), mostly limited to the aluminium smelter plant of mozal, could be transformed by the development of specific industrial clusters related to natural gas and energy. other sectors, such as the agriculture and light industries, may profit from an enhanced connection with the regional and world markets brought about by these anchor industries. mozambique has two key opportunities in 2014 to cement its stability and future growth prospects. The first is the execution of smooth and orderly presidential elections
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in october, and second is to attain the final investment decision on the lng plant. however, the military and political situation is bound to remain uncertain and tense throughout 2014.
Areas of Opportunity: Summary
this section emphasises promising areas of investment opportunity in which an investor can expect a strong development interest on the part of the government. these areas are agriculture, where aqua-culture, cashew nuts and cotton are of prime importance; the development of mineral and energy resources, including gas and oil; and telecommunications, an area with great potential. During the last decade, agriculture progressively increased its share of gDp to 32%, over the secondary sector (24%) and services (44%). the services sector is mostly dynamic in telecommunications, financial services and retail, servicing the urban final consumer. The recent prominence of the extractive sector has brought about little transformation. economic activity occurs mostly at the primary input level, with little added value both on the upstream and the downstream processes. During the last decade, with the exception of the mozal aluminium plant, the industrial sector presented the lowest growth rate, employing just 2.8% of the labour force. some studies point to a labour shift from more productive to less productive activities, such as agriculture. the average productive capacity of mozambique is lower today than in 1975. according to a joint report between the government of mozambique and the university of Copenhagen, the country presents one of the lowest productivity levels of sub-saharan africa, particularly at the sme level, which constitute the bulk of companies. Recent evidence indicates that imports of intermediary products by smes decreased between 2006 and 2011, signalling a possible decrease in links to gvCs.
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A G R I C U LT U R E
investment and the forecast start of the preparatory work for the multi-billion dollar liquefied natural gas (LnG) plant. the mozambican economy presents little structural transformation, relying mostly on mega-projects in the aluminium, extractive industries and the energy sector. Its capital intensive nature does not generate enough jobs to provide sufficient opportunities for the fast growing young population. Fiscal revenues cover little more than 65% of the annual budget, while megaprojects benefit from generous fiscal incentives. the weak human capital and the country’s deficient infrastructure seriously cripple economic and social development. Increasing public spending on infrastructure and salary increases contributed to the widening fiscal deficit, while the narrow tax base limits revenue collection growth. at the same time, external aid is declining. the rise in external debt levels to fund the public investment programme, particularly from non-concessional borrowing, increases the demand that public investments generate positive economic returns. the misuse of debt to fund poorly performing projects will result in medium- to long-term unbalances.
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land, research and human resource development. private marketing and improved productivity are also a priority. mozambique has immense agricultural potential, with an estimated 36 million hectares of arable land. the wide diversity of soil types and the diverse climatic conditions in the country are suitable for a large variety of crops. most of the agriculture practised in mozambique is nonirrigated. however, mozambique’s network of more than 60 rivers has allowed the construction of irrigation schemes. total potential irrigated area is estimated at 3.072 million hectares.
sUgar
The government has defined sugar as a priority agricultural commodity, along with cashews, citrus, cotton, tea, tobacco, timber and copra. There has been a serious effort to create helpful economic conditions for the
LiVestock
mozambique has excellent climatic and land conditions for the development of livestock. livestock population throughout mozambique declined sharply in the 1980s because of the civil war and collectivisation policies. the rearing of cattle, pigs, goats, rabbits and poultry has great potential as the existing supply does not meet domestic demand, with significant volumes of meat, poultry and dairy products
ForestrY
mozambique has an estimated 19.2 million hectares of productive woodland. the niassa province remains one of the few places in
industry but the potential of the industry is still far from being fully utilised. the sugar industry in mozambique currently comprises six different companies with their own factories and cane plantations.
currently being imported, mainly from south africa and europe. local production covers only a small fraction of the existing market demand. the government has given priority to the introduction of animal stock extension and rearing programs. of particular needs in the immediate short term are investments in poultry and pig production and in the supply of feedstock to these industries.
africa capable of providing sufficient land to develop a major export orientated forestry industry, in excess of 500,000 hectares.
FisHeries
The fishing industry is the largest primary for 81 percent of the value of mozambique’s resource sector. By far the most important fisheries exports in 2008, at over 7,311 tonnes exports, frozen shrimps and prawns, accounted a year.
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souRCe: www.afdb.org & www.unctad.org
The government has long defined agriculture as the basis of the country´s economic development. this sector accounts for about 29 percent of gross domestic product, 66 percent of exports and 80 percent of the work force in mozambique. It is divided into two sub-sectors: the “family” sector and the “commercial” sector. the family sector covers about 3 million families and each household cultivates about one hectare using low-level technology and family labour. this sub-sector is totally dependent on rainfall. For agricultural growth, both domestic and foreign investments must stimulate extension of arable
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In July 1997, the mozambican parliament passed a law liberalising the electricity market, which is now open to private-sector generators. the country has enormous resources for the production of energy: large hydro resources, coal, natural gas, biomass and high levels of solar radiation. Despite this potential, mozambique uses the least energy in the region, and 80 per cent of the energy used comes from biomass. less than 3 percent of the population has access to electricity.
Mineral resources: Mining and Processing mozambique is known to have large mineral deposits – specifically of coal, natural gas, rare earth minerals, gold, titanium and non-metallic minerals. there is also a great potential for oil and diamonds. exploration work carried out over the last 20 years has led to the discovery of important deposits of heavy mineral beach sands, coal, gold, tantalum-niobium and other rare metals, graphite, black granite, gemstones and other dimension stones. the result of this increased geological knowledge has been an increase in investment by leading international and regional mining companies, particularly in mining for gold, diamonds, gemstones and titanium. the recent discoveries of largescale natural gas reserves that allow for the construction of a multi-billion dollar lng plant, together with the extensive coal basins already being exploited, have opened the possibility of
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developing value-added products locally, such as iron, steel, power and a diversity of downstream hydrocarbon related industries. the aluminium industry, however, is well integrated in the gvC via the mozal megaproject. established in 1999 as the country’s first megaproject with an initial investment of usD 1.34 billion, - increased to usD 2.2 billion in 2003 - the aluminium smelter plant is currently the second largest in africa. the investment in the plant took advantage of the country’s comparative advantages, such as its geographic favourable position, the availability of low cost electricity (provided from mozambican hydropower sources) and extensive fiscal incentives. Moreover, Mozambique benefited from the european union under the lomé Convention, which allowed aluminium to be exported to europe tax free.
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Recent analysis from Frost and sullivan reveals that mozambique currently has around 4.5 million mobile subscribers. By 2015, this could reach 30.7 million at a compound annual growth rate (CagR) of 30 percent. this number includes both active and inactive subscribers and will be boosted significantly by the growing number of tourists visiting the country and purchasing sIm cards just for the
duration of their stay. the churn rate (the number of users that become inactive) is therefore also expected to be high. In 2012, vodacom mozambique’s churn rate was 77 per cent. Frost and sullivan found that the mobile communications market in mozambique was worth $300m in 2008 and will multiply six-fold by 2015 to reach $1.8bn. these high revenues will be partly due to the high cost of services, especially data. mobile phone penetration, which averages at about 70 percent of the population elsewhere in africa, is closer to 34 percent in mozambique. a mere 4.9 percent of mozambicans have access to internet, compared with 43 percent in neighbouring south africa. since vodacom’s entrance into mozambique in 2003, mobile phone penetration has grown more than 1,500 percent. Yet the introduction of the third mobile operator, movitel, in 2012 has yet to change the underlying challenges of the sector: inefficient cost structures and insufficient infrastructure. In recent years, growth has slowed to 6.5 percent growth in 2011 and less than 1 percent growth in 2012, according to the world Bank.
F O R F U R T H E R I N F O R M AT I O N O N M O Z A M B I Q U E, V I S I T: W W W. A F D B . o R g & W W W. U n c T A D . o R g
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souRCe: www.afdb.org & www.unctad.org
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
technological change has transformed the telecoms industry over the last decade in mozambique. the exchange of information in digital form is breaking down barriers that have traditionally existed between the telecommunication industry and other related industries. the development of the public telecommunication network in mozambique is driven by complex relationships between external environmental forces and developing technologies. two major contributions to the success of telecommunications of mozambique (tDm) are its establishing of relationships with the international community and its concentration on the use of technology to enhance its core business.
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Spar THE BEATING HEART OF
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spaR Distribution lowveld oversee logistic ser services to twenty nine spaR stores eighteen supeRspaR’s, twenty seven tops liquor stores, eleven savemor stores, and two pharmacies in the lowveld region Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Callum Philp
paR lowveld is one of the six main distribution centres for spaR south africa, one of the biggest supermarket chains in southern africa. Spar Lowveld offers a full range of services to: 29 spaR stores 18 supeRspaR’s, 27 tops liquor stores, 11 savemor stores, and 2 pharmacies in south africa’s lowveld region, ranging from komati in the east of the region, to Carolina in the west, and phalaborwa in the north, as well as in swaziland and mozambique. these services include a full marketing function (buying of grocery items at competitive prices which are then passed on to the stores themselves), advertising and promotions, retail operations management advice (include in-depth financial advice and services), store development assistance and logistical services. the objective of spaR lowveld is to put independent small, medium and
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large retailers in a position to compete with the major chains, as well as dominate the convenience markets. whilst their core businesses are is product procurement, warehousing and distribution services, they exist to service independent retailers operating under one of the spaR banners. their focus is the development and support of these independent retailers to be the best operators in the markets they serve in terms of retail offering, exceptional customer service, and meaningful community involvement. Rob De vos, Divisional managing Director for spaR lowveld division, states that although lowveld is the smallest of the six spaR divisions,
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The objective of SPAR Lowveld is to put independent small, medium and large retailers in a position to complete with the major chains, as well as dominate the convenience markets�
it does not stop them expanding their market where possible, as long as it is strategically viable: “when it comes to bringing the spaR brand to new regions, we do not just walk into a new area and set up shop. we spend a great deal of time strategically looking at the best locations and places where the spaR brand can flourish, and of course sourcing suitable store owners.� In 2009, spaR lowveld moved into mozambique and by December, began to distribute goods to their flagship store. now, spaR has three stores, all of which have been well received, so much so that spaR plans to open an additional five stores in mozambique over the next two years.
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Cross Border Challenges
When it comes to expanding a business across country borders, challenges do arise that may have long term impacts on the viability and success of company expansion. Even though Mozambique borders with South Africa and the two countries have a good relationship, SPAR Lowveld have had to negotiate several key challenges both in logistical and social terms, in order to create a new network in-country. Lowveld distribution centre is only 180km from their current stores in Mozambique, and this has made transporting goods into the country more viable. Mozambique as a country is going through a phase of infrastructure rebuilding, including the repair, upgrade and new development of roads, and this has assisted in terms of logistical operations. “We found there was a lot of red tape to traverse in order for us to open our first SPAR store in Mozambique, mostly concerning the transportation of
We spend a great deal of time strategically looking at the best locations and places where the SPAR brand can flourish, and of course sourcing suitable store owners”
goods across the Mozambique - South Africa Border. It has been a big learning curve for us, but when we look at what we have achieved after moving into the country, it was worth the early setbacks,” remarks De Vos. The social challenges faced by SPAR were not as problematic as the border regulations, but still required
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Rob De Vos, Divisional Managing Director of Spar Lowveld
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Like any good brand, we soon won over the locals with our competitive prices and stores offering many high quality goods”
time to negotiate. Although SPAR is a worldwide brand with a very prolific store presence in Southern Africa, Mozambique residents were not as familiar with the products or the brand as other countries. Some had heard of or seen the name from South Africa, but for the majority, it was a relatively unknown brand opening up new stores in their country. “Although the SPAR brand name is very well known in Southern Africa and Europe, not everyone in Mozambique was as au fait with us as they could have been. But like any good brand, we soon won over the locals with our competitive prices and stores offering many high quality goods, services, and a superior shopping experience,” cites De Vos.
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An early challenge for SPAR in Mozambique was that consumers wanted a very different product offering to those found in South Africa. To meet this need, SPAR Distribution Lowveld procured a new set of products from varying suppliers in order to facilitate the needs of the consumers. Some of SPAR’s competitors have also made the decision to venture into Mozambique but brought
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with them South African store managers, who have struggled to see the same success that SPAR have and De Vos believes this is down to lacking local knowledge:
Broleigh Instore Systems
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roleigh Instore Solutions (BIS) are manufacturers of top quality instore furniture, fittings and storage systems. Our core focus products are a variety of checkout cash point counters. Expanding on the checkout range, we have developed impulse units, gondola ends; kiosk, high value and express checkout counters; through to food preparation and serving solutions as well as various options for fruit and veg display. We also offer a full range of merchandising units i.e. slat wall systems, magazine and flower stands and shelf enhancers - to complete our quality range. Then our store design and project management division will provide the necessary expertise from concept to completion. We are proudly approved suppliers to many major chain stores and independent traders. Servicing supermarket and wholesale retailers, our products are built to withstand the vigour of the industry and satisfy the aesthetics of the store design. At the core ethos of BIS, we believe that a strong customer relationship is essential to delivering first class service and our instore solutions confirm our ongoing commitment to best practice.
Tel 031 569 2799 www.broleigh.co.za/bis
Adding a great
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Proudly approved suppliers to many major chain stores and independent traders. Servicing supermarket and wholesale retailers, our products are built to withstand the vigour of the industry and satisfy the aesthetics of the store design.
Head Office & Factory: +27 82 652 5831 / bruce@broleigh.co.za
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With new additions to stores like the Pharmacy at SPAR being very well received and used by the consumers, I think it is only a matter of time before we double or even triple the number of SPAR pharmacy stores” “All of our store owners in Mozambique are natives to the country and we think this is very important to the success we have seen over the last 12-18 months in the region. With native owners and managers, we already have a degree of understanding of what products and requirements would be needed. Local knowledge plays a massively important part in our stores as does being able to comply with laws, legislation, procedures and different systems which was something that was made that much smoother by tapping into the local expertise we had in terms of our business owners and their staff.”
Expansion SPAR Lowveld has plans to develop their South African network by adding an additional eight new stores by the end of 2015. Furthermore, expansion into Mozambique is being regarded as a big success. As such, SPAR is looking to concentrate its focus on continuous improvement at locations which they are already present in, and the company is already looking at an additional five stores being opened in Mozambique by 2016/17. One aspect of the SPAR brand that is currently being expanded is the Pharmacy at SPAR. For the past 2 years, SPAR has been offering this
Parmalat
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armalat, one of the major players in the local dairy industry, has been active in the South African dairy industry since 1998. Parmalat also boasts manufacturing, sales and marketing operations in Mozambique, Botswana, Zambia and Swaziland. Known for its dairy innovations and quality, Parmalat’s annual top performances at the prestigious SA Dairy Championship is testament to the company’s delivery on its promise of producing products on a par with international best standards. Parmalat Cheese recently won the TGI Icon Brand survey’s Cheese Category for the second year running. Parmalat also claimed yet another first-class performance at the 2014 SA Dairy Championship, winning an unbeatable 13 SA Championship awards as well as a coveted Qualité mark of excellence for Simonsberg’s Low Fat Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese. Parmalat values its long-standing relationship with SPAR Distribution. We are proud of this successful partnership to ensure that consumers can conveniently get quality products and look forward to building and extending the partnership in future. *Parmalat’s product basket includes award-winning cheeses under the Parmalat, Simonsberg and Melrose brands, iconic flavoured milks such as Steri Stumpie, a delicious range of creamy yoghurts and long-life milks, as well as butter, ice cream, cream and fruit juice.
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Michelle
4 years Parmalat quality controller Fussy, particular, choosy, discerning, demanding, difficult to please, meticulous and knows what she likes.
At Parmalat we focus on quality At Parmalat we aspire to meet the highest quality and safety standards in our production processes and with the milk we use to make our range of products. The Farmers’ Pledge signed by Parmalat’s milk suppliers warrant that no rBST hormones are used. (rBST hormones are synthetic hormones that are used to artificially stimulate milk production in cows.) We are also proud of our overall focus on food safety practices and our milk suppliers share this journey with us. They participate in a food safety programme that has been designed to ensure good safety practices, environmental protection and animal well-being. Parmalat’s products are already synonymous with exceptional quality and the numerous awards our products receive annually is testament to our commitment towards producing innovative and quality dairy products. We go the extra mile to ensure that your expectations of quality and delicious dairy products are met.
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www.parmalat.co.za
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STARKE AYRES
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TARKE AYRES was established in 1877, and has since entrenched itself in Agriculture on the African Continent. We have become one of Africa’s premier seed companies, proudly exporting from our base in South Africa to over 40 countries worldwide. Our values of quality and service delivery have excelled us internationally.
timesaving and convenient solution that is accessible to all. SPAR is one of the most trusted brands in Southern Africa and the new pharmacy offering compliments this attribute by providing quality medicines and products to care for the whole family. Although there are currently only two locations offering this service in Lowveld’s regional network, De Vos believes it is only a matter of time before more pharmacological locations are added: “With new additions to stores like the Pharmacy at SPAR being very well received and used by the consumers, I think it is only a matter of time before we double or even triple the number of SPAR pharmacy stores in the Lowveld region. “
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The introduction of warehouse management software, RF scanning and a more streamlined process has contributed hugely to improved performance at the Lowveld warehouse” Customer Adaptation
The general economy in South Africa has been sluggish over the last 12 months, mostly driven down by external sectors, labour unrest and several strikes in the mining sector. The mining sector holds great sway over other sectors due to the sheer level of income generated from the market and the number of sectors that have revenue tied up in mining activities; such as logistics,
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We supply to everyone from the small scale farmer, the garden flower enthusiast to the large scale commercial farmer. Our products are available in various sizes, packaging, and an extensive range so that we can cater to our client’s individual needs, wherever they may be. With breeding programs in various hybrid crops, we have established ourselves as leaders in developing seeds with required protection for African and world conditions. With “My Spar” we found an ideal partner to further our sales into various sectors and countries. With the incredible international growth of Spar, we have grown alongside their success into countries like Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Mauritius, Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa. We are proud to be associated with Spar and all their future endeavours. Tel 0860 782 753
www.starkeayres.co.za
BUY YOUR VEGETABLE, FLOWER AND HERB SEEDS FROM YOUR NEAREST SPAR SEEDS OF SUCCESS
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manufacturing, retail, engineering and finance. When there is labour unrest in the mining industry, this in turn has an effect on consumer spending and spaR’s revenue stream. this knockon effect is not just localised to South africa, it is felt through the majority of the southern part of the continent and as such, spaR have looked to combat the downturn in consumer spending by working hard to improve their in-store offerings and continue looking at ways to raise the level of customer service found in every store. “we believe that with customer spending curbed due to mining strikes, shoppers will only buy their goods from stores who not only offer great value, but also make a real effort in terms of a superior fresh offering, delivering exceptional customer service, and adding meaningful value to communities,” cites De vos.
The introduction of warehouse management software, RF scanning and a more streamlined process has contributed hugely to improved performance at the Lowveld warehouse” there is an ongoing regeneration of all spaR stores in the lowveld catchment area, with new services being offered to the everyday customer. Bulk payments and the facilities to withdraw social grants and pensions from the government have been added to stores over the last 12 months. these services are not viewed as profit driving services, but more as value added services which enhance the consumer experience in store. “the majority of consumers come to our store for groceries and their fresh requirements, so offering them new value added services such as a cash point to withdraw their pensions or grants from reinforces our commitment to customer experience,” explains De vos.
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BRITISh AMeRIcAn ToBAcco (BAT) SOUTH AFRICA
B
at is a global manufacturer and supplier of quality tobacco products. Bat operates in over 200 markets across the world and is very proud to be the largest supplier of cigarettes in south africa. Cigarettes are fast moving consumer goods and this makes the supply chain crucial to ensuring Bat south africa’s continued success. like spar, one of Bat south africa’s key partners, we have focussed on our supply chain within south africa over the last four years. Improvements in our supply chain have enabled us to reach more retail customers directly, each week. During our supply chain work, we have implemented different service models so as to better meet the needs of –our customers, from servicing sophisticated spar Distribution Centres to servicing independent and more informal spaza / houseshops. at the heart of our supply chain are our sales representatives, who build the relationships with each one of our customers and who ensure regular and reliable weekly service.
For more information please visit our website www. batsa.co.za.
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Investing in Supply
Parallel to the ongoing investments being made at store level, SPAR has secured significant spending to develop their supply chain capabilities, expanding them where possible. “The introduction of warehouse management software, RF scanning and a more streamlined process has contributed hugely to improved performance at the Lowveld warehouse. We also see major advances in transportation with the application of scheduling and routing software and telemetrics. This results in considerable advances in service level and reduction in running costs and CO2 emissions. The investment has allowed for significant growth in the volume delivered to SPAR stores. This was achieved by increasing the capacity of the existing distribution centres and constructing new perishable facilities.”
Lowveld Packaging (PTY) LTD Lowveld Packaging is the leading supplier of Food Packaging Material and a wide range of related products to Spar Lowveld. The success of our 21 years partnership with the Spar group lies in reliable service delivery, flexibility; value for money and strong relationships at store level.
The main reason behind the success we have seen can be put down to how powerful, wellknown and loved the brand is in Southern Africa”
Lowveld Packaging’s reach extends across Mpumalanga and Limpopo in South Africa as well as Mozambique and Swaziland. This makes us the ideal, full service partner in our Industry for Spar Lowveld and other players within the retail and hospitality industry. Tel +27 (13) 755 2788 Email roland@lowpac.co.za
SPAR and SCJ join hands in WAR ON WASTE (WOW)!
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CJ has shown true commitment towards SPAR shoppers and retailers! Due to their commitment and high involvement in the account, SCJ was nominated to support SPAR in their 2014 War on Waste project. The project was about implementing the correct range on shelf, in line with their (SCJ) optimal share of space. This assisted the retailer in identifying WOW factors such as overstocks, out of stocks, slow moving lines, over ranged categories, and also helped to reduce returns. The project was a great success and resulted in positive results giving shoppers a pleasant shopping experience through onshelf visibility and availability.
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POOLBRITE PoolBrite is a long serving and established supplier to the mass with a full range of quality products for all ones pool maintenance requirements. The range includes known products such as Month Mate, Clarity, Whamo Shock Xtra Blue, Tru Blu, Green-Go and Black-Go, to name a few. In choosing any PoolBrite product, you are using the latest that technology can offer. We are also a proud sponsor of the PinkDrive initiative, in support of free cancer screening for all women in SA, with our pink head floater that is available in most leading outlets. Tel Toll-free 0800 004 663
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SPAR Distribution Lowveld has a dedicated fleet of 26 multi-axle trucks at their disposal. A single lorry will service different stores across the distribution network, although with some stores over 300km away, the average stores serviced by one vehicle is two stores a day, with the full fleet operating virtually 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. “Another key area SPAR has been focusing on is the fresh produce and chilled goods and how we can ensure that the goods being transported from the distribution centre reach the stores in perfect condition. With the stores in Mozambique 180km away, the fleet of top end vehicles can deliver the goods from the warehouse without any loss of quality,” remarks De Vos. The 21,000m2 warehouse at Lowveld distribution centre caters for 60% of retailer needs in terms of the products available.
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SPAR are always looking to work with local farmers and the local people to strengthen the bond between store and community”
The remaining 40% is available direct from suppliers on a drop shipment status. Lowveld are involved in negotiating prices with drop shipment suppliers and also handle payment from stores to the suppliers as well. Taking both direct and indirect influence in the supply of goods to stores, Lowveld Distribution centre oversees about 85% of retailer needs from start to
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finish. “All told we look after about 85% of store product requirements. The remaining percent is normally made up of local suppliers such as dairy farmers or local producers selling their stock to their local SPAR shop. SPAR are always looking to work with local farmers and the local people to strengthen the bond between store and community,” highlights De Vos.
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POOL CHEMICALS Keep your swimming pool sparkling clear all year round with our full range of PoolBrite Chlorines, Shock Treatments, Algaecides and Balancers
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Reg. No. L8824 Act No. 36 of 1947 Reg. No. L5773 Act No. 36 of 1947 Reg. No. L8825 Act No. 36 of 1947 Reg. No. L3327 Act No. 36 of 1947
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SPAR Success
The success seen by SPAR in Southern Africa has been something to behold. De Vos believes it is down to two key reasons: “The main reason behind the success we have seen can be put down to how powerful, well-known and loved the brand is in Southern Africa. Consumers really do vote with their money, and based on how many lorries we send out to stores, business is good. The second reason is business philosophy. SPAR stores are owned by independent business owners, who own and manage their businesses, and in most cases they live in the local communities; ideally placing them to be able to address key community issues and to develop an offering tailored to the particular
The majority of consumers come to our store for groceries and their fresh requirements, so offering them new value added services such as a cash point to withdraw their pensions or grants from reinforces our commitment to customer experience” community. This means you can opt to buy or develop a store and become a part of our success, bringing your own experience and marketing prowess as well.” SPAR have placed a lot of emphasis on leadership and support, by employing people to go out into the field and liaise with store managers and owners and build up strong, mutually beneficial relationships. Seeing the expansion into Mozambique as a sign of things to come, SPAR will look to not only cement their position as one of the top food and drink retail stores in Southern Africa, but retain the top spot for many years to come.
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swakop uranium is constructing and developing the husab uranium mine, approximately 65km by road from the coastal town of swakopmund in namibia Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Tom Cullum
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Eleven giant Komatsu haul trucks have been assembled and handed over to the Husab project mining team.
wakop uranium was established in 2006 to explore, evaluate, develop and produce uranium oxide as a source of fuel for low cost, environmentally-friendly, nuclear power. swakop uranium has identified as its first task “to deliver to its shareholders and the namibian nation one of the largest and most efficient uranium mines in the world,” says swakop’s Director: Communications and stakeholder relations, grant marais. Cementing its place as one of the largest resource drilling projects globally, swakop uranium has completed over 800,000 metres (or 800km) of combined reverse circulation and diamond core drilling since april 2006. the husab area was targeted as an exploration area of interest in 200607. the geological reasoning behind this was that similar rock formations to those hosting the Rössing mine to the north were interpreted to be concealed beneath the desert plain in the northern part of swakop uranium’s exclusive prospecting license (epl). the discovery holes were drilled in late 2007, the chemical assay results for the three discovery holes were returned from the laboratory in early 2008 and released to the market in February 2008. until april 2012, swakop uranium was a 100% subsidiary of Extract Resources, an australian company listed on the australian, Canadian and namibian stock exchanges. however, in april 2012, Taurus Minerals Limited of hong kong became the new owners following a successful takeover of Extract Resources. at the end of June 2014, swakop uranium moved its corporate head office from Windhoek to Swakopmund. The new offices, previously owned by areva, will be referred to as the husab tower.
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Namibia is an investor-friendly country which has a great attitude towards foreign investment and securing the technical skills required for the job”
Husab Uranium Mine Project Details in-Brief
swakop uranium is constructing and developing the husab uranium mine, approximately 65km by road from the coastal town of swakopmund in namibia. The mine is planning first production by December 2015 and will reach nameplate production by 2017. the namibian government granted swakop uranium a license on 30th november 2011 to develop the husab mine, a project that will create about 1,584 permanent jobs and an additional 6,000 temporary jobs during construction. this will increase the number of people employed in the namibian mining sector by approximately 17%. the project will furthermore create up to 16,000 indirect job opportunities as a result of the mining-multiplier effect. The husab project officially kicked off on 18th april 2013 with a groundbreaking ceremony on the mine site.
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Just over a year later, on 8th may 2014, the start of mining operations was declared officially open by the namibian president, his excellency hifikepunye pohamba. on the previous day, the permanent road from the B2 transport route to the husab mine was officially opened by namibia’s Founding president, he Dr sam nujoma. the road project included a 160m bridge over the khan River, linking the mine to the main B2 transport route leading to swakopmund. this is the longest bridge built in namibia since the country’s independence in 1990. the surfaced road connecting the mine with the namibian road network, stretches over 22km. swakop have received exceptional support in constructing roadways, water and power networks to the mining site. “namibia is an investorfriendly country which has a great attitude towards foreign investment
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To signal the start of mining operations on the Husab project, HE Hifikepunye Pohamba, President of the Republic of Namibia, and other high ranking dignitaries set off a virtual blast accompanied by a loud bang. With the President are form left Mr Zheng Ke Ping, Swakop Uranium’s CEO, Mr Cleophas Mutjavikua, Governor of the Erongo Region, HE Dr Sam Nujoma, the Founding President of the Republic of Namibia, Hon Isak Katali, Minister of Mines of Energy, HE President Pohamba, Mr. Wang Yiren, Deputy Minister of China Atomic Energy Authority, Mr He Yu, Chairman of China General Nuclear Power Company (CGN) and Mr Zheng, Senior VicePresident of CGN.
and securing the technical skills required for the job,” says marais. husab is being developed as a low-risk, conventional, large-scale load-and-haul open pit mine, feeding ore to a conventional agitated acid leach process plant. the mine has a potential life of more than 20 years.
Developing Namibian Infrastructure
Since the husab project was officially approved in october 2012, swakop uranium has made significant progress. Construction of the 37 hectare husab contractors’ village is complete. the village is a showcase in namibia, comparing well with the standards of mining companies around the world. before officiating at the Commencement of mining operations on 8th may, president pohamba visited the husab project construction village. he inspected the living quarters, the dining room, the kitchen,
DRA GLOBAL
D
RA is a multi-disciplinary engineering group that delivers mining, minerals processing and infrastructure services from concept to commissioning as well as comprehensive operations and maintenance services. We have established ourselves as leaders in these areas in Africa and are rapidly expanding our business in other parts of the world, with in excess of 300 active projects worldwide. Our expertise cover a wide range of commodities including uranium, gold, platinum, coal, ferrous metals, diamonds, base metals, potash and rare earths.
Minerals Processing
DRA has specialist capabilities in the design of mineral processing plants for a wide range of commodities and are recognised for our expertise in processes such as comminution, flotation, gravity concentration and hydrometallurgy. Our expertise extends to all fields of worldclass process engineering – electrical and instrumentation, process, mechanical, civil and structural, infrastructure – as well as materials handling. We can tailor our services to meet the needs of our clients, offering both total engineering and customised project solutions.
Mining
Our mine design and engineering team, consisting of integrated teams of mining, mechanical, electrical control and instrumentation specialists, offers engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM).
We supply specialised mining services as well as total mining service solutions. Our success with technically challenging mining projects sets us apart – a distinction achieved through value engineering, innovation and the support of our world-class project management systems.
Winders
Since 1999, DRA has developed a unique capability in the design of winder systems. Our electrical, mechanical and civil engineers complete the design and we work with a number of manufacturers who fabricate the winders.
Infrastructure
We maintain the capability to complete large scale infrastructure, structural and civil engineering designs as well as manage related projects through the procurement and implementation phases and have developed a reputation in the contracting industry for consistently delivering successful projects.
Our vision has been to deliver a complete service to clients anywhere in the world, building on our reputation for quality and safety and the ability to deliver on time and under budget.
Operations
DRA Operations, known in South Africa as Minopex, specialises in the operation and maintenance of mineral processing plants on a contract basis for our mining clients. Globally, we employ over 2,000 people and are recognised as leaders in the provision of outsourced operations and maintenance services.
Safety
Our People-Based Safety® approach strives to go beyond behaviourbased safety. This approach enhances regulatory compliance with empowerment, ownership and trust, creating a Total Safety Culture. Our people-based approach to safety has allowed us to achieve a remarkable record of over 18 million man-hours without incident.
DRA PROJECTS (PTY) LTD Tel +27 11 202 8600 (South Africa) Fax +27 11 202 8807 (South Africa) Email info@DRAglobal.com
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Civil construction and thickener steel construction of the Counter Current Decanting (CCD) area.
Swakop Uranium gives special attention to the recruitment of females in a male dominated mining world.
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the ablution facilities and recreational areas. he also spoke to several of the residents in the village. During his speech later in the day, he praised swakop uranium on the excellent quality of the accommodation facilities in the village, where up to 4,000 workers will be housed during the life of the project. “the facilities are even better than some windhoek hotels,” he said. he further encouraged workers to cherish the employment opportunities at the husab project: “as a national workforce, namibians should all focus on improving their productivity,” he said. By the end of august 2014, the onsite project workforce stood at 3,500, of whom 87% were namibian citizens. “higher levels of namibian citizens are targeted as we reach the production stages, as local human capital is important to us,” marais adds. swakop uranium has also confirmed plans to build a 500,000 tonne sulphuric acid plant at the mine. sulphuric acid is a key chemical used to recover uranium in an ore body. Construction of the sulphuric acid plant will start in october 2014. the husab mine is expected to utilise all the sulphuric acid produced at the envisaged plant. additional acid, if needed, will be imported or sourced locally.
Komatsu Haul Trucks
Stripping activities in Husab’s Zone 1 pit. After twenty years of mining, the Zone 1 pit will be about 3km long, 1km wide and 412m deep.
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manufacturing and assembly of the massive komatsu haul trucks that will be the primary movers of waste and ore on the husab mine, is well in progress. the trucks, each with a payload of 327 tonnes, are delivered in a knockeddown kit form to the husab site, where they are being assembled. the tyres, which are 4m in diameter and weigh 5.3 tonnes each, are shipped from Japan as part of a supply agreement between swakop uranium and Bridgestone. the first 11 trucks have been commissioned
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RocKWell AUToMATIon Rockwell Automation supplies control system for Swakop Uranium’s Husab Mine Rockwell automation has been selected to supply and integrate the complete automation and control architecture at swakop uranium’s husab uranium project in namibia. the project represents the single largest investment by China into africa and, once completed, will be the second largest uranium mine in the world. Rockwell automation will supply the complete control system software and hardware; low voltage variable speed drives; soft starters and intelligent motor protection; as well as the engineering and integration of the complete process control system. while the cost of a control system makes up a very small percentage of the overall project capital cost, its failure jeopardises the entire project capital value, which is why Rockwell automation was selected as the integrator of the process control system. Rockwell automation provides a high degree of certainty and reliability of project implementation through a standardised approach, coupled with strong domain expertise and one of the largest teams of control and electrical engineers in the region. Rockwell automation sub-saharan africa is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rockwell automation, Inc. headquartered in milwaukee, wisconsin, Rockwell automation, Inc. is the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and information, employing over 22,000 people serving customers in more than 80 countries with an established reputation for innovation, quality and reliability. enquiries: michelle Junius Field marketing specialist Rockwell automation Tel +27 (11) 654-9700 Fax +27 (11) 654-9706 cell +27 (82) 785-4107 Email mjunius@ra.rockwell.com
www.rockwellautomation.com/za
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ABeco TAnKS
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BeCo tanks is no stranger to the water storage tank industry and a name that has stood its ground for over 30 years.
Swakop Uranium involved a group of scientists to assist with the removal of some of the Welwitschia plants that had to be sacrificed because of the construction of the Husab mine and associated infrastructure.
and handed over to the mining team. the next batch of 12 trucks will be handed over by the end of 2014. Swakop uranium will use a fleet of 43 of these haul trucks, which will be the primary movers of waste and ore on the husab mine. the husab mine has also put two eRs7495 electric rope shovels and two Fs6060 hydraulic face shovels into operation. swakop uranium will use three rope shovels in tandem with four hydraulic face shovels. the third units for both eRs7495 and Fs6060 are currently being assembled. Rope shovel assembly started in December 2013, while components for support equipment such as water trucks, dozers, graders and frontend loaders are arriving on site as planned. while the eRs7495 shovels will load between 105 and 110 tonnes per scoop, thereby filling a 327 tonne Komatsu haul truck in three loads, the Fs6060 has one size bucket loading 62 tonnes.
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each shovel takes 15 months to manufacture and deliver to site. unlike the trucks, the shovel components are assembled into an operating shovel for the first time on site. The CaT rope shovel was the first shovel of that size and make that was assembled in namibia by the Barloworld team. while hydraulic face shovels are mainly used for ore production and more precise mining capability, the rope shovels are used mainly for waste mining. Four large le tourneau front-end loaders and three drill rigs will also be used on the husab mine. Drills typically take 12 months to manufacture and deliver to site. the drills arrive essentially complete and all that is assembled on site is the tall boom.
Operational Readiness Programme
In the meantime, swakop uranium has started filling permanent positions well in advance of the
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established in 1983 by then founder and now Ceo, mannie Ramos identified a need for water supply to communities with limited resources and set about to satisfy this need without compromising hygiene, safety or quality. 30 years on and aBeCo tanks continues to deliver on this promise, having successfully installed over 20,000 tanks across 32 countries. they are also the only manufacturer of pressed steel tanks that is saBs approved and Iso registered. aBeCo tanks has recently modernised its factory and invested in the latest equipment allowing them to adapt to the demand in the industry. In keeping with its commitment to deliver uncompromised storage solutions, aBeCo has been awarded the exclusive rights to represent tank Connections and provide precision Rtp (Rolled, tapered panel) tanks to the african market. aBeCo offers a full design manufacture and installation services for ground level, elevated and circular galvanised water tanks and have a division that focuses purely on special custom tanks. they have also paid particular attention to the design of all its types of tanks to ensure they are easy to install and transport especially to remote locations where resources are limited.
Tel +011 616 7999 Email rhys@abecotanks.co.za www.abecotanks.co.za
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opening of the mine as part of the operational Readiness programme. This will ensure that staff will be sufficiently trained and ready to hit the ground running. to this end, swakop uranium has initiated a scholarship programme to reduce the skills shortage in various fields in the longer term, signing various agreements with namibian universities. “where possible, we will take students on for work experience and tours in order to develop the human population of the country,” marais states. moreover, swakop uranium publically supports the namibia Institute for mining technology (nImt) and continues to assist in skills development for unemployed individuals. Graduates will be afforded the opportunity to develop their skills and gain experience with swakop uranium through a structured graduate training programme, thus providing the base to develop future leaders. to ensure development to a postgraduate level, the company will sponsor highly motivated and talented namibians to study abroad and obtain postgraduate master’s degrees at a university in China. Junior level employees will have specific training programmes to ensure upward mobility in the organisation. the mining training programmes are on-going and progressing very well. six simulators were delivered to site and are in full operation supporting the training programmes.
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n Various nationalities and cultures are represented at the Husab project, all working in unison towards the same goal.
His Excellency Hifikepunye Pohamba (left) and Mr He Yu, Chairman of Swakop Uranium’s shareholder, China General Nuclear Power Company.
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Tel +264 (0) 64 405 460 Email info@namspace.net
www.namspace.net
PURolITe
p Swakop Uranium Foundation Trust, assisted the Asser Kepere pre-primary school in Arandis, to build a fence around the school and fix the cracks in the classroom walls.
urolite is a leading manufacturer and developer of ion exchange, catalyst, adsorbent and specialty resins. established in industries such as hydrometallurgy, water treatment, power and ultra-pure water, purolite brings more new products to the market than any other resin company. we are proud to supply ion exchange resin for the recovery and upgrading of uranium to swakop uranium’s husab mine. our proven technologies efficiently and economically extract thousands of metric tons of uranium, gold and other metals for customers around the world. with the largest international technical sales force, global production and dedicated R&D, we work hard to develop solutions to complex problems. Contact purolite to see how we can improve your processes.
SheR Policy
safety is the most critical element to any construction or mining business and swakop are proud to have completed approximately 3 million man hours without accident. “this reinforces the entire safety culture we have put in place. we would like our workers to go home in the exact same state they arrived at work. our rigorous sheR
amspace specialises in prefabricated modular buildings, standard and customised mobile units of all sizes and turn-key mine and construction camps. Based in the namibian coastal town of swakopmund with a seaport on their door step, namspace is strategically situated for projects throughout namibia as well as along the west-coast and central regions of africa. Its latest flag-ship project, the 4300-man construction camp and 2600m² EpCM office buildings for swakop uranium’s husaB uranium mine, has been successfully completed within the stipulated time frame of 12 months. the camp included various accommodation units, diners, kitchens, recreational rooms, laundries, cold and freezer rooms and more.
Grant Marais - Director, Communications and Stakeholder Relations
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Tel +27 (0) 11 792 8251 Email sales@southafrica@purolite.com
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A section of the 22km road that runs from the B2 highway to the Husab Mine. The road offers one of the most beautiful drives in Namibia.
FRASeR AlexAnDeR our construction capabilities are embedded in a seamless combination of skilled manpower and specialised equipment which is deployed across a variety of challenges. Bulk earthworks Infrastructure development pipelines Landfills Concrete structures pollution control Tel +27 (0)11 929 3600 Fax +27 (0)11 397 3006 Email construction@fraseralexander.co.za
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safety programme ensures safety above all,” marais highlights. environment and health are also equally as important to make sure that radiation levels remain at low levels. “our safety, health, environment and Radiation policy manages any and all aspects of safety in the workplace accordingly,” marais comments. “mining is not just about extracting ore. For us, it is more important that we create a sustainable future for the area in which we are developing the husab mine; in particular focusing on the socio-economic side of the business which we feel is in dire need of assistance.” as such, swakop uranium have put in place a sustainability programme that looks after the triple bottom line. what’s interesting about the location of the husab project is that it is built in the native area of the endangered welwitschia plant. this 1,500 year old plant grows extremely
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slowly and is only present in parts of namibia and angola. swakop uranium have taken it upon themselves to preserve the plant as marais further explains: “we want the environment to be as close to what it was before we were present here, to preserve these plants for the next generation. Consequently, we have invested significant resources in researching this plant and its root structures, placing a gps point to the 50,000 we have discovered in the area; photographing each one and recording their state of health, gender and size. we have even moved roads to avoid disrupting the welwitschia plants, and of course this is not just limited to preserving this one form of vegetation; it extends to all plants and trees in the area.”
Wage Agreement
another highlight was the signing in september 2014 of a substantive agreement between swakop uranium
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enVIRonMenTAl conTRol engIneeRIng & SeRVIceS
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Ce’s core business is the design, supply and installation of air conditioning, ventilation, refrigeration, climatic and air pollution control systems. eCe’s specialized climatic control and mechanical engineering expertise embraces a diverse base, which includes the mining, metallurgical, steel, paper, food and general industrial sectors. we remain independent of all equipment suppliers which allow flexibility when sourcing and supply equipment appropriate to each specific application. the management of eCe own the company. this means that we can both promise and fulfil our commitment to give all our clients every possible assistance and attention as we are personally involved with each project. Tel +27 (0) 11 791 2950 Fax + 27 (0) 11 791 2955 Email ece@eceworld.co.za
www.eceworld.co.za
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The perfect solution is within your reach
Fraser Alexander is a leading mining and industrial services company able to develop solutions to complex problems in collaboration with clients. Our construction capabilities are embedded in a seamless combination of skilled manpower and specialised equipment which is deployed across a variety of challenges: Bulk earthworks; civil structures; pipeline construction; construction of waste sites; are a few examples of our capabilities. Tel: +27 (0)11 929 3600 • Telefax: +27 (0)11 397 3006 E-mail: construction@fraseralexander.co.za
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and the metal and allied workers union of namibia (manwu) which covered contractors’ employees for the remainder of the husab mine’s construction period. according to the agreement, manwu members working on the project will receive a wage increase. a fair negotiated settlement was reached on hourly pay rates for the contracting company’s employees which took all macro and micro economic factors into account. according to percy mcCallum, swakop uranium’s vice-president of human Resources and Business support, the negotiations with the employee representatives and manwu represent a further step in a smart partnership between the parties. “this milestone is important to all parties as it ensures industrial peace and commitment from manwu and contractors to build the husab project on time thus ensuring completion of namibia’s most significant project,” he added. manwu is committed to, and will support the contractors in improving productivity initiatives and encouraging manwu members to refrain from being absent from work without permission or being guilty of poor timekeeping.
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Nine Swakop Uranium bursary holders had the opportunity to expand their practical knowledge when they completed internship stints at the company between June and August 2014.
Community Involvement
Swakop uranium firmly believes that the company’s reputation will not only be measured on their exploration, mining activities and contribution to the economy, but will be affected by the manner in which the company conduct themselves through interaction with the broader namibian community and the environment. swakop uranium has therefore committed itself to social and empowerment aspects such as local procurement, local recruitment, involvement in social responsibility programmes, training, education and sound environmental management practices.
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The Founding President of Namibia, His Excellency Dr Sam Nujoma, unveils the solid granite road marker at the B2 turn-off to the Husab mine. The marker weighs a massive 34 tonnes.
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the swakop uranium trust has furthermore identified some key areas of involvement which include training and education, environment, infrastructure, health and entrepreneurial development. these categories adequately deal with the three sustainability pillars of social, economic and environmental focus. examples of CsI projects that are supported by the swakop uranium trust are ellie’s vegetable garden in arandis (the town nearest the husab mine site) and the tears of hope orphanage in swakopmund. the trust furthermore awards bursaries for promising namibian university students on an annual basis and is supporting an initiative to encourage namibian entrepreneurs to develop manufacturing businesses to support mine procurement. In september 2013, the swakop uranium Foundation responded to the namibian government’s call for assistance to thousands of drought victims in namibia by donating an amount of n$100,000 to the government’s drought relief fund. In november 2013, swakop uranium handed over a donation of n$100,000 to the president’s Charity Fund. this fund is a non-profit organisation established by his excellency hifikepunye pohamba in 2012 with the aim of meeting government half-way in its efforts to alleviate poverty and provide quality education, especially among orphans and vulnerable children. the company also assisted the asser kapere pre-primary school in arandis, the town nearest to the husab mine site, to build a wall around the school and fix the cracks in the classroom walls. the donation will also enable the school to buy basic educational material for the children. swakop uranium attaches great importance to its goal of localisation in namibia. “an example of our commitment to local suppliers is Ben Kahirimana of office Experts, who have grown their businesses exponentially by offering core services to swakop uranium and to the growing communities around them.” marais speaks for the entire company when he surmises that swakop uranium herald a great importance in developing the people of the namibian region in a sustainable manner: “we are very proud of our achievements within both the community and the husab mine project, and are committed to supporting the namibian economy.”
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G R A S S R I D G E
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Windsof Change FOR SOUTH AFRICA AND THE FORMER HOMELANDS
with the construction of its 60mw grassridge wind power project now well underway, Innowind now strives to decentralise the focus of renewable energy development away from existing hubs of economic activity and towards the much poorer eastern reaches of the province Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Rahim Ali
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nnowind, the lead partner of the grassridge wind Farm, is a developer who thrives off challenge in order to stand out in the growing renewable energy sector in south africa. as a developer, investor, owner and operator of wind farms, Innowind strives to bring a new chapter to the industry by taking their experience from the grassridge project near the city of port elizabeth and replicating it in some of the poorest regions of south africa’s former Bantustans (or homelands). “Few renewable energy companies have ventured into the Former homelands, where spending development capital is a risk in a
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Aggreko
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ith over 50 years’ experience, Aggreko is the world leader in
the supply of temporary power and temperature control solutions. The company provides critical power or cooling solutions for customers who either need these services very rapidly or for an indeterminate amount of time.
Aggreko supplies end-to-end, turn-key solutions which typically include the full design, commissioning, operation and demobilisation of the installations it provides to its customers. Examples
ownership stakes. A precursor to region where the concept of ‘private migrating this model to the forlorn property’ is still novel. Nevertheless rural regions of the Former Homelands. we are putting considerable effort “We had a vision of entering the more into figuring that out and hopefully decentralising the over-concentration infrastructure-rich areas of the Eastern Cape Province first, such as around Port of wind farm development activity Elizabeth and East that is currently London. Grassridge taking place in is not far from Port and around the Elizabeth; it is in a existing energy and highly developed Grassrid g e wi n d economic hubs of farm W i l l p o w e r t h e part of the Province the country,” says e q uiva l e n t e l e c tri c it y and last month it Martin Webb, CEO n e e ds o f ar o u n d saw the erection of InnoWind. of the first Vestas The Grassridge V-112 3 MW model Wind Farm, near the turbines on the city of Port Elizabeth, African continent. is a product of midd l e i n c o m e But we now want to InnoWind’s initial h o us e h o l ds move this to where forays into proving development is the sustainability sorely needed, in the of renewable eastern end of this power projects windy Province,” with significant cites Webb. community-
40,000
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would be the supply of power to an industrial site which needs to service its permanent power supply, commissioning power for a wind farm or providing a major sporting event with power and cooling systems.
Customers utilising Aggreko’s power and temperature control solutions range from the renewable sector, oil & gas, heavy industry, manufacturing, mining, major events and utilities.
For further details, contact: T: +27 (0)11 357 8900 E: rentals@aggreko.co.za W: www.aggreko.co.za
Power and Temperature Control Solutions for the Renewable Sector Aggreko provides temporary power and temperature control solutions for your renewable project. We recognise that the lifecycle of wind or solar farm construction, commissioning and maintenance is time constrained. Our rental equipment meets your temporary power requirements through every stage of your development. Whether you require it for a wind or solar farm, our considerable experience of both sectors ensures we will provide the most appropriate, innovative and cost efficient solution to meet every demand wherever and whenever you need it.
Aggreko, Power and Temperature Control Specialists for Utilities Aggreko Energy Rental SA (Pty) Ltd. T: +27 11 357 8900 E: rentals@aggreko.co.za Durban +27 31 534 6700
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Nairobi +254 707 000 888
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PPC CEMENT Grassridge Wind Farm on-track to begin electricity production in 2015
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he farm is owned by Grassridge Wind Power which comprises of InnoWind, the Industrial Development Corporation and the Grassridge Winds of Change Community Trust. This was the first wind energy project to be established at the site of a working limestone quarry, PPC’s Grassridge Quarry in Port Elizabeth. Construction of the wind farm formed part of PPC’s long-term rehabilitation plans for the mine and is the first of many steps in PPC’s undertaking to procure power from renewable sources.
www.ppc.co.za
Why Invest in the Former Homelands?
80% I n e x c e ss o f
o f staff e mp l o y e d o n sit e ar e fr o m t h e n e i g h b o uri n g c o mmu n iti e s
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The Eastern side of the Eastern Cape is empty of renewable developments, even though there is an abundance of wind, access to the electricity grid and good road networks. The Former Homelands of the Eastern Cape is an area that is overlooked and ignored by developers, largely due to its unique non-investor friendly land tenure legislation, due to a legacy of the apartheid era land Acts. Because of this, these regions remain as some of the poorest in the country, with little private sector investment in any sector, renewables included. There are various potential challenges which can put investors off the area, but Webb was keen to emphasise that both the Department of Energy as well as the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform have embraced the possibility of
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We are one of few developers investing time and money working in the Eastern end of the Eastern Cape Province because of the perceived development risks associated with land tenure here”
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renewable projects coming here: “we have proved that it elecTRIcITy PRoDUceD WIll Be is possible for wind SolD To eSKoM WITh energy to become a reality in the Former homelands by putting forward fully developed project proposals to oF The BeneFITS the Doe in transkei DIRecTeD To The and Ciskei in both MoTheRWell last year’s and this coMMUnITy year’s (august 2014) ThRoUgh The gRASSRIDge ReIppp bid windows. WInDS oF chAnge we want to change coMMUnITy TRUST the historical misperception that investment in this part of south africa is not possible,” webb continues: “we are one of the very few developers investing time and money working in the eastern end of the eastern Cape province because of the perceived development risks associated with land tenure here, and we are doing so by ensuring traditional communities receive meaningful equity participations in the projects they host on their communal land, as opposed to the merely symbolic project participations seen in newly proposed projects elsewhere in the country. If our bids were selected in this competitive process, they would truly be ‘first of a kind’ for this government procurement programme.”
26%
Building the African success story one partnership at a time.
At PPC, our transformation philosophy begins with our people and the communities in which we operate. www.ppc.co.za
Community-Owned Land Heralds Advantages private property laws are different here to the rest of sa, which can dissuade most investors as land is community-owned. Innowind, however, decided it was going to try and figure out how to accomplish this and webb says that with the help of the Department of Rural Development & land Reform (DRDlR) they have been able to make waves in the Former homelands: “there was no roadmap to guide us through this process, it took us years. But without investors like us, these areas of the eastern Cape would remain empty of investment,” he adds: “we want to demonstrate in no uncertain terms to the government that a renewable energy project can in fact be developed here, and that the roadmap we’ve developed will
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GRASSRIDGE WIND FARM PROJECT DETAILS
The Grassridge wind farm is owned by Grassridge Wind Power, a REIPPP project comprising local wind energy developer InnoWind with a 60% interest in the project, the Industrial Development Corporation with 14%, and the Grassridge Winds of Change Community Trust – representing the interests of the local Motherwell township community – with 26%.
be open to any other developer with the generalised rural poverty that similar determination.” persists; boosting general welfare and As the land is community owned, it making a difference on a local scale to brings with it advantages for the local real people through rental payments, public. “The Former Transkei and Ciskei dividends, and revenue contributions. are subsistence based regions that Support from the House of are hugely dependent on social grants Traditional Leaders from the government for survival. This means that if we are successful in our The Eastern Cape House of Traditional efforts, the land rental we would pay in Leaders (ECHTL) has played a these areas will go to the community significant role in convincing InnoWind for at least 20 years. In addition we to invest in the region by facilitating have made sure that the communities introductions with traditional own a significant equity stake in the leaders but also by educating local wind projects themselves. communities on the positive spin-offs On top of this, of a wind farm. once the wind “The ECHTL are the farm begins to decision-makers Lim e st o n e fr o m t h e generate electricity, in the area. When P r e t o ria P o rt l a n d a percentage of the conducting our C ement (P P C) company q uarr y is tur n e d turnover is set aside initial research i n t o c e m e n t us e d i n for local SMME into the Former t h e c o n c r e t e mi x t o developments and Homelands, they mak e t h e turbi n e socio-economic opened the first f o u n dati o n s development.” doors for us, It seems that the making the initial pros outweigh the introduction cons for developing to various local infrastructure in community leaders these impoverished whose land we areas as the would be seeking upliftment impact is to rent given greater than in any favourable wind,” other region given explains Webb.
LIMESTONE
Kevin Minkoff, Project Manager for GRWF
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Location eastern Cape, south africa. Built on a limestone mine owned by cement company ppC. inVestMent estimated at R1.2 billion constrUction 20 months coMMerciaL oPeration on or before June 2015, grid-linked by november 2014 Wind tUrBines vestas v112 3 mw turbines, 61.5 mw installed capacity First tUrBine UP 15th august 2014
educating rural communities on the advantages of hosting a wind farm on their land was an integral and vital part of the process for Innowind to invest its capital at risk; a process in which they also received the help of the eastern Cape Development Corporation. “we have a rigorous community consultation programme, implement several legal processes and conduct environmental impact studies in order to ensure that the community is kept informed of the wind farm and its associated impact on the environment. as you can imagine, it was a slow and arduous process to inform numerous communities and villages located over vast areas about what this opportunity could mean for them, to which they seemed extremely keen and responded positively and travelled long distances to attend.� with the construction of grassridge far to the west, and two more projects well underway, Innowind strives to decentralise the focus on renewable energy, bringing wind technology to the more impoverished areas of the eastern Cape; a feat which has never been done before and which promises to encourage other investors to explore and venture in the most eastern parts of the province.
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SERE
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sere wind Farm has the tallest turbines of any renewables project in south africa, meaning their turbines are hub and shoulders ahead of the competition Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Rahim Ali
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ere wind Farm is Eskom’s first full utility scale renewable energy project and is situated on the western Cape province of south africa, located north-west of vredendal, approximately 350km north of Cape town. It sits on a 3,700 hectare plot of land in skaapvlei near the town of koekenaap and will cost an estimated 2.5 billion rand. luchen Reddy, eskom project manager, for the wind farm, states although there were times that we thought the development of the project would not continue due to funding constraints, the project is now running on schedule: “the project started in 2006 with commissioned design ideas looking at options for the wind farm. we had early issues to deal with for funding and the project was shelved a few times until suitable funding was secured. the co-funders for this project are the world Bank, african and French Development Banks and the Clean technology Fund, who began to really get the project off the ground in 2010.” Eskom, the owners and operators of the sere wind Farm, gave their full approval and go ahead for the project in June 2012. the sere wind Farm project was a product of eskom’s Renewable energy Business unit, through which it is hoped that similar projects will be undertaken by the utility. the project created over 500 direct jobs during its construction and bring significant economic activity to the matzikama community. eskom Renewables will also train and employ full time skilled technicians from the local community to operate and maintain the facility over its life.
Building From the Ground Up project construction officially began in april 2013, with the clearing of the site. this included building large access
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roads for the heavy turbine machinery, which commenced in July. The first foundations for the wind turbines were poured in september 2013. to be able to gauge the sheer scale of wind turbines, you need to first take a look at the size of each foundation. these bases are 20m in diameter and made of reinforced steel and concrete, which must be continually poured into the cast for 9 hours straight. this equates to about 420 cubic meters of concrete per turbine. For the 46 turbine foundations to be constructed, 44 tonnes of reinforcing materials per foundation are required. “as of 1st september 2014, we have 37 of 46 turbines erected, mechanically viable, assembled and in position. It has not been easy though as wind speeds are a problem when erecting the turbines. You need those high speeds for the best power generation, but it does lead to problems and delays when erecting them. at the current rate, we should have the turbines all erected by mid october 2014, weather permitting,” remarks Reddy. the plant is planned to be grid connected before the end of 2014, with commercial power generation achieved by march 2015. successful construction of this plant will position eskom for possible future developments of wind plants. a wind farm is a mammoth project that requires specialists from various sectors to come in and work on very different parts of build, ranging from high voltage electrical wiring to fixing the blades onto the turbine hubs. the sere wind Farm construction work has been broken down into three main contracts or work areas as detailed below: Firstly, siemens wind power Denmark are constructing the main turbine foundations and all internal access roads; supplying and erecting the turbines and running the cables between turbines and the substation.
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RAUBex InFRA
standing taLLest oF aLL
sere wind Farm has the tallest turbines of any project in south africa. with the average height of an ordinary turbine coming in at 85/90metres, the 115m sere wind turbines stand hub and shoulders above the rest. TIP HEIGHT:
169m
TYPE OF WIND TURBINE: a 2.3 MW sWt – 2.3-108
DE BL A E L : G SIN ENGTH L
53m
NACELLE WEIGHT:
80 tonnes
x3
BLADES ON EACH TURBINE
BLADE DIAMETER:
108m
115m
TOWER HUB HEIGHT:
20 LIFE EXPECTANCY (years)
WEIGHT OF A SINGLE TURBINE:
470 tonnes
SERE WIND FARM POWERS A TOTAL OF
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STANDARD HOMES
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aubex Infra is based in Bloemfontein in south africa and is part of the Raubex group of Companies. the Raubex group of Companies has been at the forefront of the south african construction industry for the past 40 years. Raubex Infra has since inception followed on the core values of the Raubex group of Companies: safety, quality and customer satisfaction. Raubex Infra is an Iso 9001:2008 certified company and has the capability to carry out infrastructure development, civil works, building and concrete works of both conventional and turnkey construction projects within the mining, rail, telecommunications and energy sectors. Due to our specialisation in these sectors we provide a professional service; from pre-tendering, conceptual stage and construction to handover to the client. raubex Infra offers to every client an array of professional expertise, along with the resources to successfully complete even the most complex projects. with an extensive network of labour, material and equipment, raubex Infra always finds solutions to meet the client’s and project needs. our involvement with the seRe project along south africa’s west Coast was our first venture into Wind energy generation. our successful completion of this project verifies our capabilities to take on new challenges and to be involved in constructing a sustainable future for south africa. Tel +27 51 406 2000 Fax +27 51 406 2011 www.raubex.com
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The second contract is with Raubex Construction, who are responsible for the construction of the three main buildings on site, which are; the substation, a workshop and the visitor centre. This is a new substation that will link to the existing substation for evacuation of power to the national grid. The third contract is a joint venture between Stefanutti Stocks Power and Powertech who have completed all electrical work in the substation and have constructed a 44km 132Kv distribution line linking new substation to an existing one. The line was officially energised on the 11th July 2014. “This has been a massive undertaking for us, in particular the logistical challenges for bringing heavy equipment and parts to the site. The N7 roadway had a lot of road upgrades during our construction phase, which slowed processes down and we looked for alternative ways to bring all the components together so that we could remain on schedule,” cites Reddy.
Locally Staffed, Internationally Trained With construction already having been underway for 17 months, the level of workers on the site has grown, with Sere Wind Farm having up to 580 people on site at peak production; ranging from contractors, workers and other officials. The contractors hired to work on the buildings and power lines were made up predominantly of local labour, situated in a 50km radius from the site. The Siemens employees with international experience assisted with training of locals. “We recruited 7 people from the local community and trained them with Global Wind Services, incorporating them into the installation team,” Reddy continues: “By giving the local workers such a high level of on-the-job training from an internationally recognised company,
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the workers are able to use these skills to ensure that when the project is left in the hands of local engineers, they will already be well versed and skilled in maintaining the site and all of its components,” highlighted Reddy. The 10 operating staff that Eskom will have on site have already been appointed, including an Operation and Maintenance Manager for the Sere Wind Farm. Time during the construction phase has been used to train the operating staff. The training programme is offered by SARETC (South African Renewable Energy Training Centre) and SAWEA (South Africa Wind Energy Association), in cooperation with GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit). SARETC offers assistance and training to suitable candidates in order to become qualified as wind turbine service technicians for the upcoming wind farms in South Africa. As a member of SAWEA, Eskom was invited to send newly recruited O&M staff. This training was supplemented by training provided by Siemens under the supply and installation contract.
Not just Power Creation, but Infrastructure Creation With Sere Wind Farm edging evercloser to its commercial operation date, the opportunities for both power generation and local infrastructures are increased for a multitude of businesses. Wind farm developments mean that there are more vessels docking in local ports, in turn garnering the need for more investment in order to upgrade deep sea capacity, greater volume handling and loading/unloading capabilities. The current roadways and highways will be developed and upgraded, through direct investment from foreign and domestic sources, allowing other businesses greater access to the regions via roads that can tolerate heavy loads and cargo.
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By bringing new businesses into the country, Reddy hopes that turbine part manufacturers will look to move in-country and set up warehouses and manufacturing plants accordingly, enabling Eskom to procure their replacements with a much faster response time, meaning shortened downtime for the wind farm as a result. Eskom, as a state-owned utility, is positioned to assist with the development of local manufacturing, in order to achieve the social and developmental objectives of the country.
Local Education
Educating the local population on the premises behind wind farm construction and what the renewable energy can offer the population is something that Reddy and Eskom are very keen to emphasise. By utilising the onsite visitor centre, Sere Wind Farm will help locals understand the role wind power plays
in creating a sustainable future for power generation, and help schools to educate children on how turbines work. The visitor centre will also have regular meetings with local communities and forums with local farmers and local communities, enabling them to have a better socio-economic understanding of what the wind farm can offer. “The wind farm visitor centre really gives us a chance to show the local communities just what these huge structures are doing to help create cleaner, greener energy for the future. We get the chance to teach young school children about the turbines and how they turn wind into electricity that can directly power their homes while reducing C02 emissions. It is exciting to be able to do so while seeing the turbines in action across the site,” proclaims Reddy, who goes on to add with enthusiasm: “I think this will show the community that we are trying to make a difference for a renewable, greener South Africa.”
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IN EMEA For most enterprises, and certainly most of Oracle’s customers, a drive to simplify Information technology (IT) is becoming of ever-increasing importance. Oracle has become one of the largest technology companies in the world on the strength of its extensive portfolio of software and hardware products to facilitate this simplification. In this special feature, Africa Outlook interviews senior managers in Oracle EMEA including the Vice Presidents of Product Strategy, Product Development and Security & Identity Solutions. Plus, we take an in-depth look inside the Oracle brand, showcasing how the company sees the importance of cloud, social, mobile and critical applications in changing the way we do business today. Writers Matt Bone and Emily Jarvis Project Manager Donovan Smith
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SOCIAL What’s Oracle’s view on how social media is changing enterprise business?
Here’s a lesson CMOs and CIOs should take to heart: yesterday’s enterprise social strategy won’t work today, and today’s won’t work tomorrow. Why? Well, let’s examine a few core principles of the social environment.
Richard Beattie EMEA Applications Senior Director, Marketing Cloud & Social Cloud
Social is global. It’s important to realise that at least 75% of the traffic on Facebook and Twitter comes from outside the United States. To borrow a phrase, the world is flat. It’s a global marketplace, thanks in part to social networking, and brands are launching globally. No matter what type it is or where it’s located, a company today needs to have a presence that scales globally. That’s where social marketing can play an important role. Social takes marketing global - but only if the capability is built in. That capability includes, for example, support for multiple languages, including idioms and slang, and for multiple social platforms, such as Renren, the Chinese version of Facebook. Social is ubiquitous. At work, employees want to use the same tools, and have the same online experiences they have in their personal lives: content sharing, newsfeeds, messaging, etc. Similarly, customers want to interact with their vendors the same way they interact with their friends. Today’s consumers don’t buy products; they invest in brands. And they don’t want to interact with a department; they want to do business with a peer. In terms of enterprise strategy, social entered by way of the marketing department but is rapidly extending its reach across organisations’ various divisions. For example, human resource managers have realised that they can use social capability to help retain their best employees as well as to seek out the best new prospects.
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Social is real-time. Twitter upped the ante in terms of the time element involved in social networking. In the Twitter-sphere, conversations begin, explode and trail off in what seems like the blink of an eye. Unfortunately, the damage to a company’s reputation incurred from a negative Twitter blast can last a very long time. So, I ask organisations everywhere: How well have you kept up? If you created your enterprise social strategy more than a year ago, chances are you weren’t factoring in at least some of these trends and capabilities. For instance, is your strategy truly global? Does it extend internally across your organisation? Is Twitter a part of that strategy? And is the lesson of Twitter - listening closely and reacting in real time - a critical element?
How is social affecting modern marketing? If you’re a marketing leader, you often need to think like an artist. Using the right tone and pitch in your Facebook messages; crafting the storyboard for your 25-second YouTube video; evoking an emotional response with one simple tweet–these things require intuition, a sense of taste, and the courage to act without precedent. At the same time, marketing executives must understand hard science. If you’re looking to derive customer insights from social data and big data, you need tools that will allow you to be uncompromisingly objective. That’s why marketing technologies are increasingly appropriating methods from behavioural economics,
technology
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annai Corporation Q.S.C. is a public company headquartered in Qatar. It’s diverse range of business areas include Information and Communication Technology, automotive distribution and service, engineering services to the oil and gas sector, home appliances & electronics, travel services, logistics, geotechnical and geological services, facilities management, trading and commercial representation. Mannai Group has grown over half a century into a major commercial enterprise employing over 3500 people.
delivery of software application development, integration and maintenance services. Mannai Trading Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mannai Corporation and is responsible for all trading activities of the Group. The Computer and Office Systems (COS) Division, which is part of Mannai Trading Company, is responsible for all Software, Hardware, IT-network and office equipment related business of the Group.
Techsignia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mannai, represents Mannai in other geographies. A profitable entity in itself, Techsignia has established a large offshore development Mannai Corporation is a 64-year old global business conglomerate center in India with geography spreading across Europe, GCC, with operations spanning across Africa and India. We have a MEA and APAC geographies. pool of 200+ qualified technoOne of the key business units at Mannai is the Computer and Office functional consultants and project management personnel. Our Systems Division with Software, clientele cuts across multiple Hardware and Networking industry verticals – BFSI, Telecom, equipment as its principal Utilities, Healthcare and F&B. lines of business. This division currently operates from worldclass Onsite /Off-shore delivery Tel +974 4455 8888 centers in Qatar and Pune, India Email software@mannai.com.qa and has a global “state-of-thewww.mannai.com art” voice/data network for the
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psychology, and statistics–and eliminating unnecessary guesswork in the process. here are some of the social marketingrelated topics and questions that modern marketing leaders need to tackle:
The ScIence
It’s vital that marketers understand the technology of social networks, those that are here and those yet to come. what are their functions? what value proposition do they offer marketing? marketers must think about ways to integrate those networks into one manageable platform for efficient publishing and facilitating a comprehensive picture of your social analytics. with organic reach dropping and the importance of paid social rising, how can companies work with paid social media partners to quickly leverage top performing content and extend their reach and engagement?
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an enterprise workflow system means tasks can be assigned and managed and customer communications can be routed to the right person for the fastest response and resolution. all these tools point to an ideal: the social-enabled enterprise, in which social weaves not only through marketing functions, but connects to other enterprise systems such as CRm, sales, hr, and fulfilment for the most powerful use of big data imaginable.
The ART
tech is far from the answer to every marketing challenge. Creativity is not only still vital - it’s even more door-die as content quality separates winners from losers. as a marketing leader, what skills should you look for in identifying creative talent? Brands now have to be “liked,” so you can’t realistically proceed with no brand voice and personality. people don’t connect with entities, they connect with humans. there’s an intuitive art If you’re looking to derive to striking a chord with people and making them want to customer insights from social associate with you. data and big data, you need tools You often hear about how that will allow you to be effective it is to surprise and delight customers. Yes, tech uncompromisingly objective” can show what your audience tends to like, but creating something that truly catches them off guard and sweeps them off their feet is an art. listening to the customer has become every bit as important as social is but one part of the pushing marketing messages. Your modern marketing ecosystem. social listening tool should alert But perhaps more than any other you to the current hot topic in your component, as a result of being in space, what the public is saying the trenches of day-to-day brand/ about you, where the competition customer relationship building and is messing up so you can offer nurturing, social is where you’re better solutions, how people are likely to find the most even mix of responding to your campaigns, and the overall sentiment for your brand. art and science.
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DeloITTe Deloitte and Oracle, a powerful connection
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or more than a decade, Deloitte has been designated by oracle as Diamond partner. we are focused on effectively providing implementation-related services in support of oracle services and solutions, designed to help organisations drive revenue growth and improve operating margins. Implementing oracle products effectively requires more than just technical know-how; it requires deep understanding of industryspecific business processes in order to support a company’s business objectives. Deloitte and oracle team together to deliver services and solutions designed to help organisations solve their most pressing business challenges. In short, it’s about helping organisations leverage technology as an enabler to solving their real business challenges. we call this approach “business-led, technologyenabled” and it stands at the heart of everything we do. our network of more than 13,800 oracle professionals provides highly skilled, deeply experienced consultants to help support implementations virtually anywhere in the world. In addition we can engage professionals from our other functions like tax, risk and hR to add value to your oracle initiative. we have broad access to people who help companies address these issues every day.
For more information, go to www.deloitte.com/oracle or contact stef oud, emea oracle practice leader, Deloitte (soud@deloitte.nl)
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Deloitte & Oracle Today, everything in your business is connected. But are you prepared to use those connections to drive better results? With the combination of Deloitte’s business insights and Oracle’s deep technology capabilities, you can.
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) does not provide services to clients. Please see www.deloitte.com/about for a more detailed description of DTTL and its member firms. © 2014. For information, contact Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited.
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CLouD Briefly talk us through the core elements of cloud computing
Richard Garsthagen Director, Cloud Business Development
Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, ondemand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. this definition from the national Institute of standards has gained broad support from the industry. The nIST definition of cloud computing describes essential characteristics, service models and deployment models.
FIVe eSSenTIAl chARAcTeRISTIcS on-demand self service Resource pooling Rapid elasticity (It resources are able to scale out and in quickly and on an as-needed basis) measured service, including chargeback Broad network access
ThRee SeRVIce MoDelS software as a service (saas) – applications delivered as a service to end-users typically through a web browser.
Ian Tickle vice president, emea saas solutions
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platform as a service (paas) – an application development and deployment platform delivered as a
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J.M.T. AL-GHANIM & SONS J.m.t. al-ghanim & sons Co. (Jmt) is a kuwait-based company established in 1983 and is the distributor for oracle Corporation in kuwait. through its local staff, Jmt provides all oracle products, support, training and consultancy services to an extensive list of customers. Jmt has been a leading system integrator and implementation partner to oracle for over 20 years and the company has managed to expand into other markets successfully due to its reputation of quality delivery and project completion. over the past three decades, Jmt has maintained its reputation as a premiere solution provider in the middle eastern region, and the company’s goal is to penetrate new markets such as africa, europe, and asia. Founded with a primary focus on It solution delivery, outsourcing and managed services, today, Jmt has managed to acquire a number of major projects within the gulf region. the company has a diverse customer base including oil, banking, mRD and government. with its proven success, it is inevitable that the company will continue to flourish and maintain its strong presence in the region. the Ceo, ms. haya al ghanim, is also the Chairman of e-portal holding Co. of which Jmt is a subsidiary company. Tel +965 22442645 Email info@jmtco.com
www.jmtco.com
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service to developers who use the platform to build, deploy and manage applications. The platform typically includes database, middleware, development and management tools Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – Compute servers, storage, and networking hardware delivered as a service. This infrastructure hardware is often virtualised, so virtualisation, operating system and management software are also part of IaaS as well.
Deployment Models
Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, ondemand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources”
Private Clouds – For exclusive use by a single organisation and typically controlled, managed and hosted by the organisation’s IT department. The hosting and operation of private clouds may also be outsourced to a third party service provider, but a private cloud remains for the exclusive use of one organisation.
Public Clouds – For use by multiple organisations (tenants) on a shared basis and hosted and managed by a third party service provider. Public clouds are a form of outsourcing. The degree of resource sharing varies – shared resources can include some or all of facilities, network, storage, computing servers, databases, middleware and applications. Hybrid Clouds – When a single organisation adopts both private and public clouds for single and/or multiple applications in order to take advantage of the benefits of both. Modern cloud computing technology can help organisations see new business opportunities and innovate faster, because less it reduces risk and speeds up provision of resources. Whereas with traditional IT, organisations have to invest up front
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in resources to build the solution, not knowing if it will be successful. With most forms of cloud computing, this up front investment is replaced by a “pay as you go” model which allows organisations to grow or scale down their IT as needed. This is how Oracle Cloud Solutions – the most complete and integrated cloud offerings in the industry – are helping people at all levels of their organisations succeed in modern business: Oracle Cloud - Oracle’s broad portfolio of software as a service applications, platform as a service, and social capabilities, all on a subscription basis. Oracle Private Cloud Products - Oracle’s comprehensive portfolio of best-in-class, integrated applications, platform, and infrastructure products and solutions. Oracle Managed Cloud Services - Oracle’s enterprise-grade, end-to-end managed cloud services across its broad portfolio of business applications, middleware, database, and hardware technologies. Oracle Services provides services across the lifecycle to help you plan your path to cloud and stay optimised.
What are the main trends in Europe around cloud computing?
Cloud computing is transforming the way businesses operate, streamlining processes and creating greater cost efficiencies. Demand for cloud is exploding. Of the 150 executives interviewed in UK, France and Germany for recent research for the Financial Times, 87% say their firm is already using cloud computing. (82% UK, 84% France, 94% Germany). What’s driving cloud implementation? Cost is the overwhelming driving force behind corporate cloud implementation. When surveyed, 30% of respondents say that lower operating cost is the key driver. Reinforcing this point, a further 30% say that infrastructure costs are the major factor. Businesses clearly recognise the transformational effect that cloud can have on corporate balance sheets. By shifting services onto the cloud, the costs associated with traditional IT, such as servers, software, staffing and maintenance, are considerably reduced. This has an impact on both capital and operational expenditure. “By implementing cloud,
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we end up paying a low, predictable, flat-rate monthly fee per user for the software that we use, which means that we can scale up or down as our business needs demand,” explains one UK-based CIO. “When we take on more staff, we can switch on new licences immediately, and similarly turn off the tap if we scale down.” Improved resource allocation is also seen as important by respondents, with 19% highlighting a more efficient use of people and processes as their main reason for adopting cloud. For IT departments, this implies a transition to new value-added roles. “The IT workload is reduced because of cloud and the team is able to focus on improving the company by bringing new ideas that could enhance our processes,” says a France-based CIO.
Geographical Differences
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Sales/CRM represents the single-most prominent department for cloud deployment, with 30% of firms implementing cloud solutions in this area. Marketing is the second most popular, with an average of 19% of organisations introducing cloud, followed by operations and logistics (15%) and product development (13%). Research, human resources and accounting amount to less than 10% each.
Where is cloud computing headed what’s next? When it comes to the cloud, businesses are going to have one immediate responsibility: understanding which applications are going to increase productivity while making the business more efficient. This will involve deploying cloud solutions that will add value to the whole organisation including marketing, HR, the supply chain, customer engagement and sales, amongst others. Concurrently, the Chief Information Officer will continue to evolve into the ‘Chief Innovation Officer’ – a role that feeds directly into the business goals of the organisation. The CIO will increasingly work much more closely to the CFO and the CEO to drive business growth through cloud applications and infrastructure. All three will become much more tech-savvy.
While there are significant areas of commonality between France, Germany and the UK, there are differences among respondents regarding the drivers underpinning cloud implementation. This is clearly seen with lower infrastructure The Future of the Cloud also Lies in Openness costs: while 40% of French respondents point to this as the most important factor, only 20% of Customers want choice, and this will drive the development German respondents do so. In part, these national of interoperable cloud technologies that they can mix at will. variations can be accounted for by differences in Businesses will use both public cloud services and private cloud maturity levels. Businesses in Germany are ahead services in tandem across a unified infrastructure. Importantly, of their counterparts these services will be accessible via a range in France and the UK in of devices, many of which will be employeeterms of cloud adoption, owned. These services will also be ‘socialised’, with 94% of German firms making them easy to use and helping to increase in the survey already collaborative working. using cloud. Based on Another key issue, related to openness, our research, it seems is integration. It is essential, in a future, Modern cloud that organisations tend hybrid-cloud world, that cloud-based and oncomputing to de-emphasise the premises applications can talk to each other to technology can help importance of lower ensure an accurate and complete view of an infrastructure costs once organisation’s key data. As Larry Ellison himself organisations see new they start using cloud, put it, in a joint announcement with salesforce. business opportunities with firms shifting focus com: “When you move to the cloud, companies and innovate faster, to new areas don’t expect a multi hundred million dollar of differentiation. project to make their CRM from salesforce because less it reduces Where do firms deploy work with ERP from Oracle. We have to make risk and speeds up cloud? Cloud is seldom that implementation work out of the box.” provision of resources” implemented across an This announcement was the first in a series of entire organisation as a announcements of cloud connector capabilities single project. Instead, from Oracle, all of which go to underline the most organisations adopt importance of integration across a hybrid cloud a bespoke approach to environment for businesses as they plan their cloud adoption. future in the cloud.
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MOBILE
How is Oracle making the mobilisation of business applications more secure?
Alan Hartwell Vice President, Security & Identity Solutions, EMEA
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The emergence of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is technological trend which is set to have a massive impact on people’s business lives. From the business perspective, the savings alone in procurement and network costs can mean that BYOD more than pays for itself - and that’s before you take into account its other advantages, such as increased employee productivity, reduced hardware costs for IT and an improved ability to attract the best of today’s young talent. And for people at work, BYOD offers clear advantages of familiarity and flexibility in getting to grips with the job at hand. So why, might you ask, are businesses not universally embracing such a clearly advantageous trend? It would seem that worries about security means that many companies across Europe are hanging back. Nearly half of businesses (44%) dislike BYOD or only allow it in exceptional circumstances. Security, be it of device or of information, is the main concern expressed by the vast majority of respondents, but that 44% of “BYOD Deniers” are even more concerned, as well they might be, since around two-thirds of them are permitting unmanaged and/or unencrypted business data on employees’ personal devices. And it needn’t be so. As Alan Hartwell, Oracle EMEA’s VP of Security and Identity Solutions says, “Technologies such as containerisation, end-to-end encryption and device and application management integrated with a unified enterprise identity store can secure BYOD environments. These are all capabilities available today within Oracle’s mobile portfolio and deployed by Global
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AOT
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OT is a one-stop shop IT services provider company, serving the Gulf market since 2003, with its headquarter in Riyadh. AOT offers IT consulting, IT infrastructure management, IT security solutions, enterprise application solutions, system integration as well as outsourcing, to help companies harness IT to drive operational cost efficiency as well as business growth. AOT is the leader in e-Service applications, specializing in the e-Government sector. It offers 360 degree view and support of e-Service strategy and roadmap, utilizing very skilled and well diversified IT consultants, developers and solution architects. AOT is proud at serving key and strategic customers and government ministries. AOT supports customers’ core applications that enable the customer’s business users to run its day-to-day business. It provides the business users with tools and up-to-date data view in running its business effectively and efficiently. AOT specializes in supporting back office applications that enable the back office operations including ERP, HCM, GRC and EAM. We complement the above by supporting applications that sustains the business operations and infrastructure, such as ECM, Project Management and Network Monitoring. We also support the integration of the customers’ core applications with external applications such as external government entities, and other supporting private sector entities. AOT is proud to be a Platinum Oracle Partner. Tel +966 (11) 2910605 Fax +966 (11) 2913328
www.aot.sa
www.linkedin.com/company/advancedoperations-technology
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Fortune 100 customers. It is vital that stakeholders within the BYOD ecosystem make this clear to their businesses. This should result in a major increase in the number of European organisations gaining the benefits offered by BYOD.” Oracle itself has a compelling offering here – the Oracle Mobile Security Suite, which can securely extend identity services and policies Henrik Stahl to mobile devices through authentication, Vice President, policy enforcement, Java Product Development and single sign-on between applications. It provides a trusted and independent mobile workspace for enterprise applications, email, and data; securely extends all identity services and policies of the enterprise user to their personal mobile device; and delivers centralised management for auditing and enforcement, reducing the cost of complex mobile environments. Technology is set to have an increasingly significant impact on our business and personal lives. And these two research projects really underline and bring to life how IT is set to change our businesses and improve our lives.
JAVA
With Java being used by Smartphone developers, how is Oracle pushing Java’s use in other communication mediums?
One of the biggest technology trends in 2014 will be one that remains essentially invisible to the vast majority of people on the planet, even though its eventual impact on humankind will be dramatic. The Internet of Things (IoT) - also known as the Industrial Internet, the Internet of Everything, and the Internet of Nouns - will finally become a reality in 2014, principally due to the rapidly falling cost of manufacturing power-efficient wireless chipsets capable of sending and receiving WiFi and Bluetooth low-energy signals. The future will be significantly influenced by Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication. And Java has a key role to play in the development of the offerings. The cost of adding connectivity to a device has now fallen to less than US$5.00, and these processors, with their built-in radios, can work for more than a year on batteries.
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Ultimately, these chips may even be able to “sip” energy harvested from their ambient environment, including stray electromagnetic radiation, thermal gradients, or even the rustle of a breeze. This will make them ubiquitous in machines, devices, transportation, and even individuals. While the most ubiquitous IoT device, the smartphone - which already incorporates sensors such as accelerometer, compass, and GPS - exists in hundreds of millions of pockets, 2014 will see cheap, ubiquitous, wireless sensors invade the physical environment. Smartphones will become wireless hubs for these low-energy devices, enabling consumers and infrastructure to become hyper-connected to each other, to their environment, and potentially to any other resource on the Internet. The first applications of the Internet of Things will be in business processes such as the remote maintenance of industrial machinery, supply-chain optimisation and security, and infrastructure management. The resultant streams of data, emerging in real or near real-time, will be a boon to networking, storage, analytics, and visualisation companies. The amount of data forecast from “things” is poised to dwarf that from humans. Providing actionable intelligence from these large, noisy, incomplete, and potentially conflicting streams of data will keep statisticians, analysts, and user interface/experience designers busy for decades. Indeed, one of the biggest challenges of the IoT will be turning the data into engaging “nudges” that modify human behavior in sustainable or habit-forming ways. (Of course, for consumer companies, habit-forming may include stoking an addiction to buying their particular product or service!) There are many reasons why Oracle’s Java Embedded technologies are ideal for smart devices in M2M architectures. Java offers comprehensive functionality for resource-constrained devices, with the highest level of functionality, security, connectivity and scalability in the industry – all delivered through a massive ecosystem of more than nine million Java developers worldwide. And, as a standards-based language, Java provides code portability in M2M environments, accelerating time to market as new generations of sensor technology emerge. In addition, secure, in-market device software updates extend product lifecycles and allow new services to be provisioned remotely.
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Paul Sonderegger Oracle’s Big Data Strategist
How should organisations incorporate big data into a competitive strategy? The twin forces of digitisation and datafication seem to bring big data disruption to every industry. Long-standing music, news, and television giants are reeling. Uber has taxi companies running scared across the globe. And Google’s might compelled two of the world’s leading advertising agencies to attempt an ultimately unsuccessful merger. But digitisation and datafication are not specific technologies owned by one firm. They’re methods open to all. But getting disrupted by these methods depends not on whether you’re an incumbent or an upstart. It depends on your big data strategy. Strategy, according to Michael Porter, the world’s foremost authority on the topic, is choosing to create a unique value in a unique way. It’s not enough to offer a
product or service customers can get only from you. You also have to create and deliver those products and services in ways your competition can’t easily copy. Because every activity in a company both uses and produces information, data can make new products and services, and new ways of delivering them, possible. But how do you incorporate big data into your competitive strategy? Here are the four critical steps:
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DATAFY MORE ACTIVITIES Data comes from digitising activities. Putting vibration sensors on calibrated manufacturing equipment, providing mobile diagnostic apps to patients with chronic medical conditions, even automating additional human resource processes adds potential value to your stock of data.
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CREATE PROPRIETARY DATA ASSETS Think of interactions with customers and suppliers as territory to claim before the competition does. If you can get a mobile app into their hands first, you alone capture the data from using it. When tapping third party data like twitter feeds and facebook posts which may be equally accessible to rivals, combine it with customer or transaction data only you have. Like pouring milk into a cup of coffee, a dollop of private data mixed with public data makes the whole concoction unique.
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USE DATA TO MAKE DATA The very act of using data creates additional data for further use. A financial services firm checks person-to-person mobile payments for fraud with machinelearning algorithms. The data produced by scoring each of the transactions then becomes input to make the algorithm more effective. This big data flywheel effect is a key part of the most successful online consumer services like Google, Amazon, and Uber.
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FIND YOUR INNER PLATFORM Technology competition tends to revolve around platforms with winner-take-all network effects. This happened with PCs, and is happening again with Smartphones. As digitisation and datafication spread into more industries, platform competition follows. For many companies, this may require some bold thinking. For example, a large bank in Spain started a mobile ad-delivery service that helps retailers tailor offers to consumers based on combinations of banking and social media data, plus geographic data from ATM use. Inviting other banks to participate in this already innovative service could transform it into a true platform whose increased value would more than make up for having to give pieces of the pie to other banks. Never send to know for whom the big data bell tolls; it tolls for thee. But an effective big data strategy can turn digitisation and datafication to your advantage.
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E n g i n e e r e d S y st e ms
ENGINEERED SYSTEMS What’s the business value of Oracle’s “Engineered Systems” approach? The basic integration of hardware, virtualisation and management software into factory-assembled products has been happening for several years, largely driven by the desire to help the owners and operators of data centers to do more with less cost and risk. Oracle has taken a unique approach that reached further up the technology stack to include, and optimise, the application software that lies at the heart of the enterprise. For most enterprises, and certainly most of Oracle’s customers, it is the applications (and their enabling middleware and database software) that matter John Abel most. Oracle has become one of the largest Senior Director, technology companies in the world on the strength of our extensive portfolio of software products, Business and our strategy with Oracle Engineered Systems Development has therefore been to develop infrastructure that is both easier for data center operators to deploy and operate and which delivers unique optimisations which enhance the performance, reliability, manageability, efficiency to the owners of the applications and software that are essential to the business and Oracle has taken a unique are driving the lions share of overall IT investment. Simply approach that reached put, Oracle’s Engineered further up the technology stack to Systems are more than include, and optimise, the reference architectures or application software that lies at pre-integrated hardware infrastructure building blocks. the heart of the enterprise” Oracle’s Engineered Systems are each designed to support specific high-value, mission
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TransSys TransSys – The trusted partner for your Oracle Cloud solution initiatives
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s a multiple award-winning Platinum partner and a specialised partner in multiple streams of Fusion Applications, TransSys is an established leader when it comes to Oracle SaaS solutions delivery. We are the go-to partner for customers wanting to adopt comprehensive SaaS solutions from Oracle Corporation. Based in Dubai, TransSys is currently operational in the Middle East & Africa region and has ambitions to reach out to wider European market. TransSys’s SaaS offerings has got many firsts to its credits including first multi-pillar fusion deployment in the region, first endto-end CXM solutions on the cloud covering sales, marketing and service clouds, first full suite HCM Cloud solution deployment for a bank, first ERP & advanced procurement cloud solution deployment.
www.transsyssolutions.com
SPRY Consult Limited
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PRY Consult Limited (SPRY) is an ICT consultancy company and Oracle Gold partner providing business process re-engineering, supervision, quality assurance and audit implementation services to financial organisations, the government, production industries and corporate business communities in Zambia. Spry also works with NGO agencies and smallmedium enterprises focusing on Growth, Profitability and Investment in the future. SPRY experts model and analyse increasingly complex applications and their information that sustain today’s fast-paced business processes. Our vision is to be a leading service provider of end to end solutions by creating innovative business models that provide value, quality and execution excellence to its customers. Tel +260 955 234016 Email info@spryconsult.co.zm
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E n g i n e e r e d S y st e ms critical software workloads, from industry-specific applications and ERP to database, middleware, big data and analytics. Oracle’s unique position as the only vendor offering a complete portfolio of applications, database, middleware, storage, compute platforms, networking, virtualisation, operating systems and management has given us a huge advantage over our competitors which we are augmenting at an already rapid and accelerating pace. The benefits of Oracle’s Engineered Systems are not at all hard to characterise and are, at some level, common to all of the products in our Engineered systems portfolio: Shorter implementation time
For most enterprises, and certainly most of Oracle’s customers, it is the applications (and their enabling middleware and database software) that matter most”
Better reliability and reduced downtime Better performance and resource efficiency Lower software license and ongoing costs and higher software ROI
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n the past 28 years of using Oracle for banking software development and consulting, it is undisputable that Oracle’s products has successfully covered the length and breathe of business requirements. Olla Systems Limited has successfully combined a unique advisory approach and variety of Oracle’s cutting edge technology to become a leading partner in Nigeria. Olla Systems Limited is technologically inclined with the bestproven solutions. Our primary goal is to provide swift and dependable technical assistance, delivery and maintenance of software, data storage as well as security and fraud solutions to our customers. Tel +234 8087183222 Email olla@ollasystems.com
www.ollasystems.com
Better investment protection and business continuity Oracle customers all over Europe are making the decision to take steps now, in the right direction. Here is just a sample of the customers in Europe who have gained major business benefit from adopting Oracle Engineered Systems: Banca Transilvania Atos IT Solutions Deutsche Telekom Raiffeisen Swiss Re Immonet GmbH dunnhumby DB Schenker Rail Centrica CaixaBank Kabel Deutschland
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Oracle’s unique position as the only vendor offering a complete portfolio of applications, database, middleware, storage, compute platforms, networking, virtualisation, operating systems and management has given us a huge advantage over our competitors”
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Building bridges between requirements and technologies.
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OPN Specialized Red Stack Partner 2013 – Germany OPN Specialized Database Partner 2012 – EMEA OPN Specialized Database Partner 2012 – Germany OPN Specialized Database Partner 2011 – Germany OPN Specialized Database Partner 2010 – Germany
Direct contact Gabriele Bardelang Tel.: 089 – 944940 - 141 Gabriele.Bardelang@inforsacom.com
inforsacom Informationssysteme GmbH Martin-Behaim-Strasse 19 – 21 63263 Neu-Isenburg www.inforsacom.com
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HUMAN RESOURCES How can forward-looking HR professionals gain advantage using analytical tools?
Andy Campbell HCM, Cloud Sales Evangelist
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in high-quality, no matter what device they are viewing it on. Given that the complexity of HR data increases as a business expands The traditional business analysis tools its offerings, a tool that quickly available to most HR executives often consolidates this data to help perform limit their ability to shape company a holistic HR investigation becomes an strategy, and provide little more than indispensable analytics asset. When the ability to scrutinise backwardHR data is combined with additional looking efficiency metrics to gauge company data, the operational success. When one compares a business’ payroll costs to its overall expenses however, divides that traditionally exist within a business are broken down. With the it becomes evident that its people are, as the saying power to overcome this silo effect in a goes, its most valuable assets. With this in mind, it whole new way, companies can convert becomes critical to provide HR directors with a set what were once discrete sets of static of comprehensive analytical tools that simplify the synthesis of relevant data and promote the realisation information into powerful business intelligence. For example, a retail store of valuable business intelligence. manager who collects HR information The more complete a business’s data is, the relating to employee income, and more thorough its analytics will be. By embedding studies these in light of broader the availability of HR data into their workforce’s sales, profit, and customer footfall business processes, organisations can promote a data, will gain unique insight into his steady flow of relevant information. This ultimately or her staff’s performance means that people that will in turn enable better have access to the right workforce management. information when and The ability to anticipate where they need it, and changes in workforce behaviour can therefore perform and performance is extremely their jobs more easily constructive, and gives and more effectively. businesses an unprecedented In addition, keeping The ability to in developing and the data channel open anticipate changes head-start retaining their top talent. to employees even in workforce behaviour Predictive HR analytics provide when they are mobile businesses with the insight they will ensure that this and performance is need to make more proactive exchange remains active extremely constructive” personnel decisions. This enables at all times. Therefore, HR executives to develop an ideal HR analytics tool forward-thinking strategies should also be pervasive, aimed at ensuring that their and allow businesses present and future hires make to share relevant the most positive long-term information with their impact on their business. employees quickly and
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aiming for new
HeigHTS europe outlook is a fantastic platform to share success stories and find ways of growing your business in europe. To discuss your options contact Ben weaver ben.weaver@outlookpublishing.com
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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE How does an organisation become the brand of choice?
Brian Curran Vice President, Product Strategy
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to the brands they interact with, including immediate response via the social media channels that have The unifying thread between the brands consistently voted the world’s become so central to peoples’ lives. In addition, they expect all “best” is a high level of brand equity. communications with a brand to be These companies consistently strike a visceral and highly emotional chord seamless and efficient, especially as the shopping experience now crosses with consumers. To build exceptional brand equity, multiple platforms – online, mobile, inbusinesses must first establish what store – in the course of one purchase. their brand stands for explicitly. Brand equity The Role of Emotion in Brand Equity is built on emotion, and ultimately customers’ perceptions of a company will impact how it The way that customers think about defines its brand image. As such, the extent brands is essentially through a series to which businesses can gain insight into this of associations made up of feelings, sentiment determines in large part how well their sounds, images and understandings. brand is received. Every one of these has an impact on To tap into customers’ emotions, businesses how the brand is perceived, its equity need to anticipate their needs and intentions and ultimately whether a purchase and engage with them is made or not. As proactively based on such, brand equity is their learnings. built through eliciting For this approach to positive emotional succeed, companies must responses from ensure that every aspect customers; the goal of their business is geared of the business should towards delivering on be to shape brand their brand’s promises. associations so that To build exceptional To achieve this, they positive associations first need to fully map come to mind brand equity, peoples’ customer journey, easily and, in turn, businesses must first including how they predispose consumers establish what their brand inform themselves, how to their brands. they interact with their If businesses can stands for explicitly” products, and how their provide control and relationship with a brand ease of engagement evolves over time. to customers then Customers today are this emotional need motivated by two drivers: is largely met. If the desire for control and customers are able the desire for ease. People to contact the brand today expect 24/7 access however they want
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technology
Cust o m e rE x p e ri e n c e In practice this requires something very special. Intrapreneurs bring an entrepreneurial flair to the business. They are disruptors that take on the How can companies be successful critical task of forcing-through muchby meeting customers’ needs? needed internal innovation by legacyTraditional means of boosting customer burdened companies. A major challenge for businesses engagement are no longer enough, today is to align their internal as people today have become more structure with how their brand is discerning than ever and have begun perceived by consumers. People to impose their own terms on how the do not see the silos – marketing, brand experience is delivered to them. Businesses now need to connect with sales, service and so on – that have customers on an emotional level – a task historically divided companies. What that has become very difficult to achieve they see and interact with is one consistent brand and image. in today’s fast-shifting market. Intrapreneurs realise every Established companies have struggled department across a business must with the scale of change required to adapt in-full, and have instead opted for come together for it to start considering strategy in simpler, more unified terms, and fulfil the needs a half-way house. As a result, many of of modern customers. them are failing to make the wholesale Put plainly, those businesses that still operate transformation required to prosper in in siloes will fail. They will be supplanted by today’s consumer-driven environment. organisations that are tightly-woven, with To overcome the limitations that legacy systems place on their evolution, processes and methodologies specifically designed businesses need to turn to the customer to get the organisation working as one to deliver the very best customer experiences. The key for (CX) specialists in their company, organisations now is to and empower them ensure they have the by tapping into their right intrapreneurial “intrapreneurial” spirit. talent in place to To lighten the load, help instigate and what’srequired is drive this disruptive nothing less than a The key for transformation before fundamental change in organisations now legacy-free competitors how businesses think win the race for and work. The rule book is to ensure they have market share. For needs to be torn up the right intrapreneurial customer experience and organisations need talent in place to help professionals the onus to look afresh at what is on them to grab the the customer journey instigate and drive this challenge by the horns looks like today – how disruptive transformation and see what they can customers engage with before legacy-free do to change how their brands and how they business understands fulfil their needs in a competitors win the race and engages with its meaningful way. Based for market share” customers. They must on what they find they transform themselves then need to rebuild into intrapreneurs their entire organisation before they can transform around the new the company. customer-centric reality. and get through immediately to have their needs met with minimal fuss boosts satisfaction and the brand’s equity increases accordingly.
Steve Walker Vice President, Corporate Communications Oracle EMEA
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over the last 18 months, tigo tanzania has expanded their network coverage to bring a full range of digital services to a wider audience Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Donovan Smith
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ince 1994, tigo tanzania has been bringing a digital lifestyle that is second to none in the region. with highly competitive and affordable services including voice, data services and mobile financial services, tigo has registered over 7 million subscribers to their network. tigo is one of the largest companies in the country, employing around 650 people directly and indirectly employing approximately 15,000 people, through distribution networks offering products and airtime and direct sales centres.
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Diego Gutierrez, General Manager of Tigo Tanzania, has set his sights on helping make Tigo the number one provider of new and traditional mobile services to the region, through a combination of innovative new technologies in all handsets and a constantly expanding data network: “Every one of our subscribers has opted to use our products, whether it be for calls and texts, data services, financial services or for social interaction because we offer a stable and wide reaching network that is the most affordable on the market.”
Alliance Autos
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lliance Autos Tanzania started in 2013 and is the exclusive Tanzanian distributor in the country for the renowned brand Volkswagen. We sell a broad range of new passenger vehicles including the Tiguan and Touareg and light commercial vehicles including the Amarok, Caddy, Caravelle and Crafter.
Based in Dar es Salaam, we provide cross-country coverage and offer our customers greater responsiveness and availability.
Tigo’s Data Services Officer Augustino Garani from Kigamboni Tigo shop assists a customer to access internet on his mobile phone right after the official opening of the new branch.
Our team of skilled professionals strive for customer satisfaction through a relentless focus on quality and compliance with automakers’ and tyre manufacturers’ international standards of excellence. We also provide a complete range of before and after-sales services to meet all customer needs. Tel +255 22 2861040
www.cfaogroup.com Tigo Tanzania General Manager Diego Gutierrez.
Expanding Horizons
Over the last 18 months, Tigo Tanzania has further expanded their already national network into further towns in the Lake, Northern and Southern regions of the country to bring their range of services to a wider audience. With a third of Tanzania’s population living in isolated and rural areas, having a telecommunications provider in that area can really make a difference. The company has been investing an average of US $2 million per week in all aspects of network expansion including infrastructure, service facilities for the network and technicians to ensure the diverse landscape in the rural locations is traversable. Tigo Tanzania has been working hard to ensure that with the new network expansion plans,
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CMC Automobiles Ltd
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MC Automobiles Ltd. are the official and exclusive distributors of Ford , Land Rover and Jaguar in Tanzania, ensuring that these iconic and legendary motoring vehicles are ranged to cover all angles of individual tastes and requirements while in pristine condition and in line with the highest Ford standards. Maintaining an excellent relationship with the local finance and insurance institutions, CMC Automobiles Ltd. is able to arrange vehicle leasing and insurance packages to suit all corporate and individual desires and requests. We also provide specialized servicing and genuine parts to cover your motoring needs and to ensure your Ford vehicle is kept in the best condition possible. Tel +255 22 2113017
www.cmcautomobiles.com
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OFFICIAL AND EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTORS OF LAND ROVER AND FORD IN TANZANIA
P.O.BOX 1852 | MAKTABA ROAD | DAR ES SALAAM | TANZANIA TEL: +255 22 2113017 WWW.CMCAUTOMOBILES.COM
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son Bpo is the largest Customer lifecycle management Bpo in sub-saharan africa. with on the ground presence in 10 countries, we serve telecom, government, retail and BFsI verticals. we are a 6,000 people strong organization, of which 4,000 employees are based in africa with 97% african talent. Ison partnered with tigo tanzania in 2012 for managing their contact center operations. the substantial improvement in customer satisfaction scores and consistent recognition (“socially Devoted” on Facebook and twitter by social Bakers) has established tIgo as a Service Differentiator in the tanzania market.
Customer Engagement Specialist Jackson Jerry introduces the Experience Zone to the District Commissioner of Babati Hon. Khalid Mandia where customers can test and buy the available smartphones at the new Tigo Shop launched in Babati, Manyara.
comes the new data services in the country. with the basic eDge data service already widely accessible in the region through current towers, tigo has now brought 3g+ to the network and has upgraded most of their towers to accommodate the increased demand in data speeds. “In past years, we lagged a little in terms of coverage across the country, but with strategic investment and careful planning, we have already caught up with and overtaken some of our competitors within our coverage area. our goal is to have over 90% coverage for Tanzania over the next five years,” remarks gutierrez.
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Tigo has now brought 3G+ to the network and has upgraded most of their towers to accommodate the increased demand in data speeds”
www.isonafrica.com
Innovations and Mobile Financial Services
In February of this year, tigo tanzania launched the first crossborder mobile money transfer service, offering its customers the opportunity to send money to neighbouring countries such as Rwanda. the service features an automatic currency converter with up to date exchange rates. additionally, in april, tigo partnered with Facebook to give all their subscribers free access to the social media site with a new interface written specifically in swahili, the official language of tanzania. the partnership with Facebook allowed many subscribers the chance to use the internet for the first time. this new found freedom has been widely regarded as a trailblazing partnership in the region and won many plaudits from companies and residents alike. “By partnering with
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Our Strategic Approach for Enhanced Customer Experience in Africa
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STRATEGY AND PROCESS CONSULTING IT Strategy and Due Diligence Process Improvement and Automation Legacy Transformation Operationalising of Shared Services
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Service Quality Complaints Management Campaign Management & Welcome Calling Know Your Customer Social Media Management
www.isonafrica.com
Facebook and cooperating to launch the swahili interface, we brought the internet to millions of people for the first time. It gave many the chance to see the global social impact that the website has and from that they have had a whole new world opened up to them that they never knew existed. now these subscribers are evolving to use email, other social media sites and downloading content and media,� proclaims gutierrez. By far the biggest impacting innovation from tigo tanzania has been its mobile financial app, one of the first mobile money apps in the world, which has revolutionised the way tanzanians access and transact with their money in a simple and easy to use format using their smartphones. out of the 7 million customers currently subscribed to tigo tanzania, over 3.5 million have already signed up and are active
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Thumbs up! Tigo Tanzania General Manager Diego Gutierrez (L) and Facebook Director for International Growth and Partnerships Nicola D’ Elia during the launch of partnership between Tigo & Facebook in which all Tigo customers in the country will get free access to Facebook services in Kiswahili.
By partnering with Facebook and cooperating to launch the Swahili interface, we brought the internet to millions of people for the first time”
users of the mobile financial service and are actively using it on their phones. Tigo Pesa has become a vital source of financial inclusion for many Tanzanians. To put this into figures, a government survey in 2013 showed that only 14% of Tanzanians have a formal banking account with a financial institution, but 44% use a mobile banking service. “Mobile money has transformed the way people interact with money and financial services. For example, we have partnered with 15 major banking institutions in the country to help them utilise our mobile money platform for their own customers, which widens the ecosystem,” cites Gutierrez.
Distributing Services
Tigo Tanzania identified early on that having conventional service centres and hubs was not going to work in the country. The majority of Tanzanian shops are on the street and not in shopping centres or huddled locations. With this in mind, Tigo set up a distribution network and proceeded to send an ‘army’ of sales people
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Babati District Commissioner Hon. Khalid Mandia (C) cuts a ribbon to inaugurate Tigo’s new Tigo shop launched in Babati, Manyara. Looking on is Tigo’s Contact Centre Operations Manager Ms. Halima Nassoro (R) and Tigo’s Customer Service Centre Supervisor for the Northern Zone Ms. Lydia Sakaya (L). A section of Tigo pavilions with members of Tigo Sales force (in yellow) attend to customers while others remain alert for more walk-ins during a business expo in Lindi.
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Members of the Tigo sales force attend a training to empower them with product knowledge and customer engagement skills.
to go to the small towns and market the products and airtime on a street level. the workers were not alone, they were backed up by comprehensive training and knowledge based workshops, so that they could facilitate any customer enquiry about the products. this person to person approach has paid dividends, as subscribers have doubled in the small townships and villages. there are a few centralised hubs in the major cities and towns, who offer full product and service capabilities including handsets and a repair facility, but the majority of the sales and distribution is done on a face to face basis. “what we have found is that the sales people who go out to the townships and smaller street markets to showcase tigo’s services have been greeted very positively. a lot of these smaller rural locations would not have had access to our products if we had stuck to traditional central locations. This is what makes Tigo different. We understand the need for street level marketing,” remarks gutierrez.
new Ideas for new lives
tigo tanzania has taken CsR to a new level in recent months. the company has utilised their expansive network to create a pioneering platform that allows the mother’s of new born children to register their child’s birth
Tigo Corporate Responsibility Manager Woinde Shisael (C) in a group photo with mothers and their newborns during the launch of the Mobile Birth Registration project supported by Tigo.
using only a basic handset. the new system enables trained staff to visit rural locations with handsets to help the mothers to register their new-borns. this project has been done in coordination with the government, unicef and other entities. “this has been a massive project for tigo and one we are very proud of. By being able to give mothers in isolated locations the ability to register their child with the proper authorities, we have helped make them feel less secluded and a closer to the rest of the population,” explains gutierrez. For a company to succeed they must have a certain factor that differentiates them from their competitors, for tigo tanzania, that factor is customer understanding. By listening to customer feedback and quickly identifying areas for improvement or new innovation that could facilitate a need, tigo has quickly become one of the top operators in the region. “we believe that our customers know what they want from their operator and by listening carefully to this, we can tailor our products and a service to exactly what is wanted. this has kept us at the forefront of innovation. of course that is not our only reason for success; we also have a great team of highly motivated people who are very committed to the company,” concludes gutierrez.
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Crop protection
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Villa CP has focused on the development and registration of “unique commodity” crop protection products, primarily aimed at meeting the specific needs of farmers in South Africa Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Callum Philp
ince establishment in 1994, Villa CP has focused on the development and registration of “unique commodity” crop protection products, aimed primarily at meeting the specific needs of farmers in South Africa. The strategic direction of Villa CP is underpinned by a huge annual investment in product research and development. With a dedicated team that strive to be innovative in everything that they do, coupled with the mission to be customercentric and provide rapid response times for customers, the company “endeavour to help customers with all types of enquiries and needs,” André Schreuder, Managing Director of Villa CP proudly says. Villa CP is based in Johannesburg, with a product formulation facility (Fountain Chemicals) located approximately halfway between Johannesburg and Pretoria. The regional head office and warehousing facility is located just outside of Cape Town, in order to better serve the Cape market.
Sustainable Investments
With the establishment of their own formulation facility three years ago, Fountain Chemicals joined the Villa Crop Protection/Exportos group as a manufacturing facility for the group and other interested parties in 2011. A new additional formulation plant for fungicide and insecticides (EC, EW, SC) has since been commissioned in June 2014, as part of a major refurbishment programme to upgrade the facility to meet international ISO standards. “Our ability to develop these unique product mixes [unique mixes of two fungicide active ingredients for example] has been a key way by which Villa CP has managed to stand out in the market,” Schreuder further explains. Presently, a WP plant is also being installed in
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Head Office and Depot in Kempton Park
an ongoing multi-phase process that promises to further distinguish the company from its competitors.
Securing a Market-leading position typically, villa Cp purchases active ingredients from countries such as China and India. the company has a dedicated import logistics department that manage this intricate process. “once the active ingredients are imported, product formulation will be processed at Fountain Chemicals. From here, the ready-formulated products will be shipped to our central warehouse in Johannesburg or our warehouse in Cape town,” comments schreuder. In order to secure their position as a leading supplier of crop protection products in the local market, a phased approach has been followed. Firstly, to build a solid portfolio of product registrations and secondly, to ensure the company
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We are currently looking to expand our infield marketing and technical support infrastructure with the appointment of additional field staff”
offer customers the best service in the industry. “In line with this, we are currently looking to expand our infield marketing and technical support infrastructure with the appointment of additional field staff,” cites schreuder. what’s more is that villa Cp are evaluating expansion options into the north of southern africa, which schreuder is keen to get underway: “product registrations are being targeted in most of these countries. a partnership model is foreseen in these countries in order to ensure local market knowledge and expertise form part of the ultimate product offer.”
new Product launches
along with internal staffing and strategy changes, villa Cp introduces between 40 and 50 new products a year. “In the south african market, our focus is on the expansion of market share in key crops such as grapes,
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Villa Academy Training
citrus, potatoes and deciduous fruits,” affirms Schreuder. an analysis of the crop protection market clearly shows that in particular, the seed treatment market and the use of biological products are in a rapid growth phase. “these are trends that villa Cp will address and develop products specifically targeted for these submarkets,” he adds. accompanying this ambitious growth is the annual target to grow company turnover by at least 20 percent on the back of this portfolio expansion. “the introduction of our public health portfolio is a key project for 2014. The official launch of the new villa Fly solutions portfolio consisting of 15 products is earmarked for later this year. this will be followed by the launch of the villa turf solutions portfolio in 2015 and the villa Industrial portfolio in the latter part of 2015,” schreuder highlights. Furthermore, villa Cp intend to construct a 5,000m2 warehouse in 2015, which will be followed by another warehouse of the same size in 2016. ultimately, villa Cp foresee healthy growth and schreuder hopes to command at least a 25 percent share in the local crop protection market: “Ideally, by the time this is achieved, villa Cp will have a comprehensive range of products registered in most of the southern african countries, marketed by dedicated team of high calibre local distributors.”
Old Chemistry
Villa HQ Reception
For the crop protection industry, the key challenge stems from the dramatic decline in the number of novel new chemical molecule discoveries and subsequent products being introduced globally as schreuder elaborates: “If there are few new novel chemistry products in the industry, then it can affect the management of weed resistance given a lack of alternative
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SUZhoU eVeRFoRTUne co lTD suzhou everfortune Co ltd, formally known as sinochem Jiangsu suzhou I/e Corp, started pesticide export in 1988. with rich currency flow and full set trading approaches, the company has expanded rapidly. we take share of three plants in Jiangsu and shandong provinces; so we can maintain product high quality and low cost by ourselves. as a professional export company, our aim is to supply customer “one stop service.” Tel +86-512-68636128 Email jarychem@188.com
www.szeverfortune.com
chemistries to ‘rotate’, in order to prolong the onset of resistance. the consequence of this is that we become more reliant on ‘old’ chemistry. however, with the proper training and research into the use of crop protection products, such as correct usage patterns to prolong the onset of resistance, we can make better use of the crop protection products currently at our disposal.” In order to manage the strain on cash flow as a result of rapid growth, villa Cp are diligently managing their finances in order to ensure business is sustainable. “the key is to not to focus on the short term gains but to invest heavily in the long term welfare of the company by way of an aggressive, albeit costly, product development and registration initiative,” says schreuder. although there is ample opportunity in south africa, the lingering issue of land reform can cause issues in how to
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M a N u F a C t u r i N g
Agriculture is a huge driver for economic growth in Africa, and we want to be a big part of that growth” Dr Andre Schreuder, Managing Director of Villa Crop Protection
approach agriculture locally, and can be a costly process as many farmers seem to be hesitant to invest for the long term at present.
as well as a three year Diploma in Crop protection,” schreuder continues: “the target is to introduce the Diploma and Certificate in 2015. We can only develop agriculture in africa Villa Academy if we have well trained agriculturists to tackle this challenge. we see the the formation of the villa academy, villa academy as a way to provide a which is to provide quality training on all aspects of crop protection, was practical, hands on training facility. the highlight of 2013 for villa Cp. “It is with 28 experienced lecturers under contract, this facility should be used foreseen that the villa academy will to its fullest capacity.” ultimately present approximately 50 Further to this focus on education, two-three day courses. Furthermore, villa Cp also place considerable an application has been made with emphasis on their social welfare the south african educational projects, with 10 percent of profit authorities for the accreditation of a one year Certificate in Crop protection transferred to the purpose-built
villa Foundation Fund; which is then distributed to various entities in need. as a conducive environment to grow crops in, there is no doubt that africa will play a much bigger role in global food production in the future. “agriculture is a huge driver for economic growth in africa, and we want to be a big part of that growth,” emphasises schreuder. “as such, our ability to innovate and provide a quick response time to changing market conditions will always play a key role in villa Cp’s success. It is vital that we employ the right people and instil an entrepreneurial spirit into our staff,” he concludes.
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insuring
AFRICA’S DEvELOPMENT Zep-Re are working towards becoming a leading reinsurer in africa Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Nick Norris
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ep-Re traces its roots back to 21st november, 1990 when it was created by an agreement of heads of state and government for the Comesa (Common market for eastern and southern africa) region in mbabane, swaziland. It was mandated to promote trade in the insurance and reinsurance sector of the region and is headquartered in nairobi, kenya. the company has been in operation since 1993 and has regional offices in Douala, lusaka, harare, and a Retakaful window in khartoum, sudan. Zep-Re also provides takaful reinsurance solutions. takaful insurance is a type of Islamic insurance, where members contribute money into a pooling system in order to guarantee each other against loss or damage. takafulbranded insurance is based on sharia, Islamic
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ZSIc geneRAl InSURAnce
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sIC general Insurance limited is part of ZsIC holdings limited, which has been in existence since 1968.
with unmatched expertise in insurance and over 19 branches spread throughout Zambia, we are well positioned to provide world class insurance products and services to all our clients. ZsIC general Insurance provides: Business Insurance – for a business’ operations, assets, equipment and human resources in any sector; whether in construction, mining, production, retail, service or manufacturing. Agricultural Insurance – for crops, agricultural equipment, assets and livestock. Personal Insurance – for an individual, family, home and personal property Motor Vehicle Insurance – for any type of motor vehicle. Tel 0211 229343/57 Email info@zsicgi.co.zm
www.zsic.co.zm
religious law, and explains how it is the responsibility of individuals to cooperate and protect each other. Zep-Re’s operational activities are driven by the desire to provide excellent technical services to all their clients and to actively participate in and support the development of the region’s insurance and reinsurance industry.
Working with Partners In these times when business presents itself in increasingly complex risks, Zep-Re strives to provide its clients with more than the traditional reinsurers have offered their clients in the past. ZepRe has adopted a holistic approach to client services by striving to provide a wide range of services aimed at helping the client meet their goals with minimum fuss. the company understand that the
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We understand that each client is different and the needs of each sub-region are different. Therefore, we continuously strive to offer tailor-made solutions that are responsive to the needs of each individual client”
relationship with their clients is long term and as such strive to be partners, as opposed to developing one time relationships based on premiums and claims. to this end, Zep-Re has ensured that its clients both within and outside the region are afforded all manner of services including: product design, capacity development, risk assessment and pricing tools. “we understand that each client is different and the needs of each sub-region are different. therefore, we continuously strive to offer tailor-made solutions that are responsive to the needs of each individual client.” through continuing training publications, workshops and seminars undertaken at the company, the employees use this new knowledge to inform and educate clients in the knowledge of
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business, risk management and new practices that are being adopted by leading industry players. The company’s rich experience and skill set together with an ingrained knowledge of the region’s insurance industry allows Zep-Re to deliver unique solutions that are designed to meet its clients’ individual needs. Zep-Re’s objectives are based on the commitment to provide value through technical expertise and professional service to its clients.
20 Years and Counting
Zep-Re marked its 20th anniversary last year, and has many reasons to celebrate not just the passing of a milestone, but in its achievements in regard to its core mandate of developing the region’s insurance industry. Some of its major achievements over the years included its growth in business.
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Zep-Re marked its 20th anniversary last year, and has many reasons to celebrate not just the passing of a milestone, but in its achievements in regard to its core mandate of developing the region’s insurance industry”
Zep-Re has recorded a 1,640 percent growth in business from US$5 million at inception to US$82 million in 2012. It also recorded a 3,850 percent growth in assets, from US$4 million to US$154 million in the same period. The regional reinsurer has also enjoyed consistent growth in profits, 2012 being the most profitable year for the company, with a profit of US$11.9 million. Zep-Re is among the top security rated reinsurers in Africa whose main goal is to offer reliable security to its clients to enable them promptly pay their claims. The company is currently rated “B+” by AM Best, a US-based rating agency. Zep-Re enjoys a unique position with a diverse mix of shareholders who include countries of the region, public and private sector companies and international development and finance institutions. It also maintains
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Zep-Re’s board of directors and management team
adequate underwriting capacity and retentions that allows for growth with its dual role of being an avenue of returns for its investors, and to also promote the insurance industry within the COMESA region. One of its driving principles is: Africa must develop Africa.
A Responsible Corporate Citizen
As a regional institution, Zep-Re accepts and takes to heart its responsibility towards society as a whole. One of the core values of the company is to be a responsible corporate citizen. The company’s CSR policy has mainly focused on education, health and poverty alleviation. Among the CSR initiatives undertaken by the company has been the rehabilitation of the Ngong Forest in Nairobi, Kenya. Zep-Re partnered with the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and was given one hectare of forest land in Ngong
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We intend to partner with the local community to tend after the new forest and carry out educational programmes aimed at ensuring the message that Trees for Life is passed on to as many people and generations as possible”
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Hills on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. Ngong Hills were reclaimed by the Government of Kenya and gazetted for reforestation as part of rehabilitating a formerly large river catchment area. Zep-Re recognises the importance of reforestation and the role tress play in reducing the carbon foot prints of modern lifestyles. The company has willingly joined the worldwide reforestation initiatives and they want to be long term partners in this project. Zep-Re finalised a 3 year lease with the Kenya Forestry Service so that they can plant more trees in Ngong and maintain them. “We intend to partner with the local community to tend after the new forest and carry out educational programmes aimed at ensuring the message that Trees for Life is passed on to as many people and generations as possible.”
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Tausi Assurance Company Limited A Symbol of Trust, Security and Progress
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Tausi Court, Tausi Road, off Muthithi Road, Westlands, Nairobi P. O. Box 28889 City Sq. Nairobi 00200 Tel: 2312681/5, 2312693 • Fax: 3746618 Email: clients@tausiassurance.com Website: www.tausiassurance.com
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AITEC East Africa ICT Summit Oshwal Centre Nairobi Kenya
0 1 - 0 2 O ctober 2 0 1 4 www.aitecafrica.com
Africa Oil & Gas Expo Sandton Convention Centre Johannesburg South Africa
0 9 - 1 0 O ctober 2 0 1 4 www.africaoilexpo.com
en 4th Mining Business and Investment Conference (MBI) Safari Park Hotel Nairobi Kenya
1 6 - 1 7 O ctober 2 0 1 4 www.mbieastafrica.com
Focus Rooms Sunninghill, Sandton Gauteng Johannesburg
0 9 - 1 0 O ctober 2 0 1 4 www.tech4africa.com
21st Africa Oil Week: Africa Upstream
Cape Town International Convention Centre Cape Town South Africa
0 3 - 0 7 N o v ember 2 0 1 4 www.petro21.com/events/?id=873
Modern Airports Africa
2 8 - 3 0 O ctober 2 0 1 4
2 5 - 2 7 N o v ember 2 0 1 4
www.coalmozambique.com
www.modernairportsafrica.com
Totally Concrete East Africa
Totally Concrete West Africa
Maputo Mozambique
Hyatt Regency The Kilimanjaro Dar Es Salaam Tanzania
www.east.totally-concrete.com
eGov Kenya
Brackenhurst Conference Centre Nairobi Kenya
0 3 - 0 6 N o v ember 2 0 1 4 www.10times.com/egov-kenya
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Coal Mozambique 2014
2 8 - 3 0 O ctober 2 0 1 4
Tech4Africa
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www.aFRICAoutlookmag.com
Entebbe Uganda
Intercontinental Hotel Lagos Nigeria
0 1 - 0 3 D ecember 2 0 1 4 www.west.totally-concrete.com
Powertricity Africa
Hotel White Sands Beach Resort Tanzania
0 2 - 0 4 D ecember 2 0 1 4 www.powertricityafrica.com