CIMENFORT:
Cementing Angola’s RECONSTRUCTION
S
ince the end of its long, destructive civil war in 2002, Angola has been working to rebuild itself, with a national development plan based on three pillars: Stability, growth, and jobs, all contributing to sustainable development. The new government developed oil and diamond industries, built new infrastructure, and invited countries all over the world to help. In 2005 UNICIF, after discovering that 60% of
Between 2001-2010 Angola’s GDP rose an average of 12% per year. All of this reconstruction aided development of a new middle class with additional requirements for infrastructure. Foreign companies looking for ways to benefit from the growing economy started a number of subsidiaries there, one of which was Brazil’s Genea Angola Group, which brought its real estate expertise fairly early on.
“Based On Principles Such As Ethics, Respect And Transparency, And A Result-Driven Philosophy Our Group Brings To Angola A Better Place To Live,” Genea Angola States On Its Website.
Angola’s population were now children, started a “Schools for Angola” initiative to repair or build 1500 schools. In 2006 Angola rehabilitated 105 national roads and several bridges to the tune of $162 million. That year workers and companies from China started building new housing, hospitals, shops, and a utilities infrastructure. In 2012 Angola rebuilt the railroads, at a cost of $3.3 billion.
“Based on principles such as ethics, respect and transparency, and a result-driven philosophy our group brings to Angola a better place to live,” Genea Angola states on its website. To ease the flow and reliability of materials in Angola’s new economy, Genea Angola made a substantial investment in 2005 by designing their own cement plant.
Cimenfort Industrial Lda. was inaugurated on August 22, 2012 in Catumbela, Benguela Province outside of Luanda. It was especially positioned to meet the growing cement needs of Angola and its eastern neighbour, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which was also showing a growing need for infrastructure. The company was built right next to the country’s main transportation rail line. (Benguela Railroad connects the west coast’s Lobito Harbour with the DRC’s border in the east, more than 1200 kilometers away.)
Project Manager, Guilherme Paiva, stated in an interview in February that, “Cimenfort was created to meet the market demand and help on the country’s reconstruction effort.” Angola’s demand for cement is estimated to be 6 million tons per year (2013) and growing at around 8% per year, according to Its Minister of Geology, Mining, and Industry, Joaquim David. In order to meet the demand, Cimenfort needs supplies and workers with the right kind of expertise to help it function well. With the entire construction
ANGOLA’S demand for cement
is estimated to be 6 million tons per year (2013) and growing at around 8% per year
Cimenfort’s managers are aware they are not just there to make and sell cement. They see themselves as contributing to the building of a better Angola, which includes providing jobs, training skilled workers, and increasing the quality of construction in the region.
industry still new, Cimenfort keeps an eye out for the emergence of high quality, dependable local suppliers and good workers. It currently uses two local companies: Nova Sotecma for tools, and Estpor for electrical services.
The rest of Cimenfort’s supplies and expertise come mainly from two other countries. To acquire bulk materials that allow operations to remain steady day to day, Cimenfort uses a company in South Africa - IMI Europe. For specialised engineering services and machinery, Cimenfort goes to Germany, with companies like Siemens
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and KHG (Humbolt Wedag) that are known world leaders in the cement industry. For steady, reliable production, it’s also important for Cimenfort to have skilled workers, who can keep the machines functioning and output flowing. Currently 85% of Cimenfort’s workers are hired locally, but its most skilled workers and managers come from other countries. This is not unique to Cimenfort. Palva says that local building construction companies “. . . so far have to rely almost entirely on expensive foreign manpower to be able to deliver the required service for the industry sector.”
Cimenfort, however, wants to decrease reliance on foreign staffing, so the company started training its own workers in specialised skills internally. In addition, it teamed up with local technical schools to hire their best students as soon as they graduate. The company’s goal is to decrease its foreign staff from 15% to 10% by 2020. The company is also contributing to Angola’s long term sustainability by aiming to produce enough cement in quantity to meet the country’s needs (so it doesn’t have to import), and by raising the quality standards of typical African building materials, so structures last longer.
CIMENFORT, however, wants to decrease reliance on foreign staffing, so the company started training its own workers in specialised skills internally. In addition, it teamed up with local technical schools to hire their best students as soon as they graduate. The company’s goal is to decrease its foreign staff from 15% to 10% by 2020.
As the country’s needs grow, new opportunities allow Cimenfort to grow. Whereas Its first focus was to get itself operational - to organise well, train workers, establish a supply chain, and recruit initial buyers - the next stage is expansion. Cimenfort started out two years ago (2012) hiring 150 workers and using two ball mills to produce about 700,000 tons of cement per year for local construction. The company contracted at that time with German KHD (Humbolt Wedag) to supply a roller press for pre-grinding, which is planned for installation in June, 2015. This will double the plant’s production capacity to 1,400,000 tons per year, helping to satisfy Angola’s annual demand of 6 million tons. To meet the increasing demand in quality, Cimenfort developed a specialty cement called Slag Cement. This cement complies with the specialized ASTM and EN standards required for two of the projects the company supplies - the new Lobito refinery project and the upgrade of Cambambe Dam. Thanks to companies like Cimenfort, in 2014 the country recorded a 42% drop in cement imports. In 2014, also, the country enacted a new customs tariff to further discourage imports and support domestic production. In 2015 Angola signed a $13.2 million contract to build a glass processing plant, which will join an existing ceramic tile processing plant, limestone production, and Cimenfort’s own cement production in the country’s budding construction industry, further enabling Angola to meet its growing infrastructure demands.
Where will
CIMENFORT GO NEXT? Palva Says, “Cimenfort Is Not Only Committed To The Angola Reconstruction, But With African Development. We Have Plans Ongoing For Another Grinding Station In Angola And Two In Other Neighbour Countries Over The Next Four Years.”
“International Materials Inc. (IMI) works closely with suppliers and customers to uniquely develop high-value, custommade supply solutions that best fit our customers’ needs. IMI always commits to service excellence, thereby becoming the supply partner of choice to support our customer in their growth.”
Cimenfort Estrada Nacional 100, km 27, Bairro da Thaka, Catumbella, Benguella, Angola. (+244) 943 099 172 www.cimenfort.com
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