SEGEN SOLAR

POWERING

THE INDUSTRY

Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Sales Manager Jacolien Richards and Chief Sales Officer Thabo Makhanya about SegenSolar (Pty) Ltd’s unique offering to the solar industry across sub-Saharan Africa.

SegenSolar supplies photovoltaic solar systems and accessories to clients in South Africa and beyond. It is a subsidiary of the UK-based international solar energy equipment supplier Segen and has grown from strength to strength in the six years since its establishment. SegenSolar has achieved this by positioning itself as a crucial link in the supply chain, providing expertise to clients across the African continent.

PROVIDING SUPPORT

Nowhere has SegenSolar’s success been more evident than in its participation in The Solar Show, which took place in Johannesburg in August 2022. The event is one of the most important in the African solar industry’s calendar, bringing manufacturers and installers together to display their products and services. However, SegenSolar chose a more auxiliary position at the show.

‘We didn’t have a stand at The Solar Show because our suppliers were presenting and we wanted to give the opportunity to really promote their brand’, explains Jacolien Richards, Sales Manager at SegenSolar. ‘What we did do, though, is support our suppliers through making ourselves and our resources available to help with their own stands. It’s all about brand awareness for our suppliers at the show, and we want to support them in that as best we can. It has been very, very successful, and we’ve seen a lot of business come from that — by being present in that way’.

SegenSolar also presented its partners with another opportunity off the back of The Solar Show as Thabo Makhanya, Chief Sales Officer at SegenSolar, explains:

‘The highlight of the event for us, which happened on the first day, was a VIP event we hosted. Our suppliers and key customers took part. It was a less formal environment than The Solar Show, where we could connect with our customers and suppliers in a relaxed environment and talk about things outside of normal business with some food and wine. It was very well attended, filled to capacity, and ran from about 6 PM to 12 PM’.

Evidently, SegenSolar sees its strength as being the value-added distributor of choice in the supply chain, providing support and expert knowledge where needed.

NETWORKING ACROSS AFRICA

Support and expertise are at the heart of SegenSolar’s offering. That is why one of its most important services is the training pro-

grammes it offers to partners, particularly for new technologies in the market.

‘We host many face-to-face meetings with our customers to help get them up to date on the latest offerings’, comments Mr Makhanya. ‘For example, we will take a new product introduced into the market and then train the industry on these products, mainly focusing on how they complement existing technologies. We bring the actual products to the event so that our customers can touch and feel the items. Our aim is to ensure they leave understanding that, for example, if you buy a certain new type of inverter, it is compatible with a range of batteries. That’s why our customers love us: we are open in terms of what products they can buy from us and what they’re compatible with.

‘At the end of the face-to-face sessions, we host a Q&A. These Q&As are helpful not just for our clients but also for us. Should a customer ask something we have never thought about, we bring the question back to our technical department and look at how we can internalise this type of answer in the future. We also have SegenSolar managers noting down the questions asked. This gives us an idea of the typical questions that the industry has. It’s free information! We don’t pay somebody for that research; we listen to what our customers want to know’.

It is not just face-to-face training that the company provides, though. SegenSolar is part of the African Solar Industry Association (AFSIA). AFSIA is a network of producers, suppliers, installers and end users across the continent aiming to uplift all its members. AFSIA provides SegenSolar with an opportunity to share its expertise through online sessions.

‘One of our sales managers recently took part in a webinar hosted by AFSIA’, Mr Makhanya says. ‘The subject was how Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine are impacting Africa’s solar industry, both with uncertainty and opportunity. We were proud to offer our insights into this because it can help not just us and our clients but the industry as a whole’.

‘If we look at what our vision is as a company, it’s for a brighter future for the world by enabling clean technology for all’, Ms Richards expands. ‘We really try to live that message and enable our customers across Africa to realise that

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vision. AFSIA is a vital part of that. We also collaborate with industry bodies to see how we can not just supply products but also offer support with training sessions, helping grow smaller businesses by training them with our products and installation standards. Our responsibility as a distributor is not just moving boxes, but developing solar into Africa’.

INTELLIGENT SUPPLY

SegenSolar is not just a training company, as Ms Richards points out. It supplies and distributes products to installation firms across the continent. These include everything from solar panels and batteries to mounting systems and inverters. The company uses an intelligent automated ordering system that helps ensure it always has the right amount of stock for its clients, as Mr Makhanya explains:

‘We use a system called auto-ordering. It looks at the history and forecast and determines how much stock we will need for the coming weeks. Obviously, there is also human intervention to ensure outside factors are accounted for. We can’t place our orders based on run rates, so there we have somebody look at the auto-ordering system and adjust quantities according to the longer-term needs of the market. It is essential to think on your feet and work in conjunction with certain partners so that we understand the country’s challenges’.

As Mr Makhanya highlights, the automated ordering system also has advantages for SegenSolar’s customers.

‘The ordering system uses a portal that gives our customers an overview of the supply chain for their order. They have a line of sight in terms of their order’s ETA and can check on their product at every

“WE HAVE SET OUR BUSINESS PLANS IN TERMS OF

HOW WE’D LIKE TO DEVELOP, AND I’M VERY PLEASED TO SAY THAT WE’VE REACHED OUR TARGETS FOR

GROWTH EVERY YEAR”

stage through to the cargo ship arriving in South Africa. That means our customers can plan their projects accurately with upto-date information’.

Not everything always runs smoothly, though. A lot of SegenSolar’s products are produced in China. The pandemic has, therefore, presented a huge problem, particularly with China’s ongoing lockdowns disrupting manufacturing across the country. Nonetheless, SegenSolar mitigates such issues through its intelligent ordering system.

‘Shanghai was closed for about two or three months due to Covid’, Mr Makhanya says. ‘That had a huge impact on all our products and, subsequently, on the work of our customers. But if the line of sight is accurate, our customers are able to see the problems going on and plan ahead. Our customers usually understand. They also follow the news; they know Shanghai is closed, so they don’t think we’re just pulling something out of thin air. They may then go and source their needs from elsewhere, from another supplier, but our customers usually come back to us once we have the stock. We foster open communication because it builds trust between our customers and us, and we can ensure long-term relationships’.

GROWING TOGETHER

SegenSolar was set up just six years ago, but in that time has come to play an important role in South Africa and Africa’s solar industry. From the outset, it set ambitious but realistic growth goals, which have been a key factor in its success

‘We have set our business plans in terms of how we’d like to develop, and I’m very pleased to say that we’ve reached our targets for growth every year’, Ms Richards says. ‘This is a result of really listening to our customers — heeding the feedback they give us regarding the product mix they require, the kind of applications they need and the services they need to grow their business. By working together, we grow together.

‘SegenSolar has also benefited from being part of an international network. We are extremely lucky that our partners in the UK have been doing this for many years and have experienced similar challenges and growth. The team also look at the rapid growth of our sister company in Germany to learn from them. Plus, it’s easy to call on the additional joint resources within the network if we do need someone to assist us’.

With a solid foundation already in place, SegenSolar is looking to a bright and solar-powered future. ‘We continuously look at feedback from our customers to ensure that we’re agile in terms of what the market needs and what the supply is’, Ms Richards continues. ‘Combined with a well-qualified and experienced product development team, we’re able to stay ahead of a rapidly changing young industry. It’s all very exciting. SegenSolar is a rewarding journey to be part of’. c