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Nov-Dec 2014 Weatherford
Unveiling theSouth AfricanRegional Aircraft
Denel Aerostructures
VOL 1 ED 3
AFRICA
ACWAACWA Power Solarfrica Bokport CSP Power Plant
Intertek
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Kayen AlexanderCreative Director
Sam WrightEditor-in-Chief
Editors Letter
Production Manager
Lily BradicAssociate Editor
Project Director
Sales Director
Sales Executive
Financial Manager
Chief Operations Ofcer
Well, time is ying. This is already the
third issue of Essential Business, and
what a way to round off 2014.
For December, our lead feature is the hugely
successful Denel Aerostructures, a company that is
leading the groundbreaking South Africa Regional
Aircraft (SARA) project.
This month, there's a denite focus on the
continent's oil and gas industry too , with several of
our proles coming from members of the South
African Oil and Gas Alliance (SAOGA). This group
does signicant work in promoting South African
rms and representing their interests both at home
and abroad. To nd out more, take a look at page 5.
Elsewhere, there are great interviews with
companies as diverse as Container World, a leading
name in South Africa's container industry, and the
innovative oil and gas services rm Weatherford. At
the same time, there's some great insight from
multinational testing and services giant Intertek on
the future plans for its African businesses, as well as
proles of the fascinating ACWA Power Bokport
CSP facility and the Gauteng Freeway Improvement
Project.
Next year is already promising to be an exciting one
for Essential Business. We'll be expanding our
scope considerably, both in the nature and quantity
of companies that we feature. We'll have more news
in January, but until then, have a great Christmas
and New Year!
Sam WrightEditor-in-chief
59
35
07 News Round-Up
05 SAOGASouth African Oil & GasAlliance
13 Denel Aerostructures (Lead Feature)Unveiling The South African RegionalAircraft
21 Weatherford
3
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29 ACWAACWA Power Solafrica Bokpoort CSP Power Plant
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45
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Intertek
SANRAL GFIP
Netcare
Guateng Freeway ImprovementProject
59 Container World
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21
51
59
05
45
4
South African Oil and Gas Alliance
Operating as a partnership between
the public and private sectors, the
South African Oil & Gas Alliance
(SAOGA) dedicates itself to promoting the
upstream and midstream sectors of the oil
& gas value chain in South Africa.
South Africa's potential for gas energy
could make significant changes to the
region's energy mix. The resulting
transformation for the economies of South
Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa make
exploring this potential something that
SAOGA is very much behind. While current
5
government policy is in place to regulate and
control this relatively young industry, it is
vital that exploration is encouraged in order
to attract the investment required to confirm
South Africa's onshore and offshore oil and
gas potential. Current storage and pipeline
projects are experiencing potential delays
due to a lack of clarity and stability on the
tariff structures that would allow them to
acquire the funding and investment they
need.
SAOGA envisions itself as the primary
facilitator for the upstream and mid-stream
oil & gas industry, and aims to stimulate
investment and development for the
benefit of stakeholders, members, and all
involved in the oil & gas industry.
The organisation focuses primarily on
promoting growth in four areas: marketing
and business development, creating an
attractive business environment, industry
capability development, and investment
promotion. Each of these activities plays a
key part in SAOGA's mission of driving
growth and promoting skills development
in Sub-Saharan Africa. By maximising
resources for governments, institutions and
private businesses in the area, SAOGA is able
to nurture the growth and development of
the region's oil & gas industry.
The Sub-Saharan region currently accounts
for 6.52% of the world's oil production and
3.19% of the world's gas production. While
this is, at present, only a small percentage of
the world's oil & gas production, these
numbers are expected to grow significantly
over the next few years. Spurred by the
technical services that have been improving
since the development of the South Coast
6
offshore infrastructure in the late 1980s, as
well as local interest in the growth of the
East and West African fields, this growth is
predicted to continue as the upstream
exploration companies continue to
develop.
SAOGA's membership comprises of global
operators, consulting firms, field service
companies, engineering and procurement
organisations, and other local
organisations invested in the region's
industrial growth. By organising interaction
with key industry players and engaging
regularly at industry events, SAOGA is
working hard to grow its established
presence in the region's oil & gas industry.
7
Round-UpNEWS
This month kicked off with the news that a
Chinese-funded seaport is to be constructed in
Bagamoyo, Tunisia. Work on the Indian Ocean
port will begin in July 2015, and deals have
already been signed with China Merchant
Holding International and Oman's State General
Reserve Fund. While 90% of Tunisia's imports
and exports are currently handled by Dar es
Salaam, container traffic is growing at a rate of
10% a year, making this expansion a timely and
necessary one.
"We will do whatever is possible to ensure the
project is carried out and completed, because
of its great economic benefits for the entire
country," said Tanzanian president Jakaya
Kikwete.
In other news, Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia
have come to an agreement on the
construction of a new multipurpose dam and
hydro power station on River Dawa in Mandera
County, Kenya. The process will be undertaken
by the Intergovernmental Authority on
Development (IGAD) and is aimed at harnessing
sustainable use of the natural resource.
“Harnessing the water from the river can solve
the persistent drought that the region has been
experiencing. We are optimistic that the process
will be successful since each of the States is very
positive about the proposal," said Mandera
Country governor Ali Roba.
Jakaya KikwetePresident of Tanzania
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The announcement of preferred bidders for the
fourth round of South Africa's Renewable
Energy Independent Power Producer
Procurement Programme (REIPPP) has been
postponed, it was announced last week. The
delay is not entirely unexpected, and comes
after financial closing of the third round was
pushed back. These delays are primarily due
to grid connection problems that became
apparent when attempting to connect various
round-three projects to the grid.
In other news, Sudan announced this week
thatgold production from January through to
October was 64 tons, compared to 34 tons in
2013. The Ministry of Mining predicted last year
that 70 tons would be produced before 2015.
Minister for minerals, Ahmed Mohammed Sadiq
al-Karu, expects the sector to lead “to the next
boom in the future”.
9
Last week, BMG announced the new additions
to its food-grade belts range: Silicone and PTFE
coated process and conveyor belts and folder
gluer belts.
“There are many applications in the food
processing sector where standard process or
conveyor belts cannot be used,” said Ryan
Forsyth, manager of BMG's light materials
handling division. “AmmeraalBeltech's new
Food Grade Peak process and conveyor belts
and Rapplon FDA approved folder gluer belts
for contact with dry foodstuffs, enhance BMG's
portfolio of products suitable for the food
industry.”
Meanwhile, Pioneer Food, the company behind
Ceres fruit drinks and many other food and
beverage brands, has announced plans to drop
its bottling deal with PepsiCo in South Africa. The
deal was first signed in 2006, after PepsiCo
cancelled their agreement with New Age
Beverages. Pioneer Food will take 34 million rand
write-down in order to get out of their contract.
10
This week, Nigeria's leading cable manufacturing
company, Coleman Wires and Cables, announced
plans to commit over N10 billion to Nigeria's cable
market. CEO George Onafowokan claimed that the
mega high voltage XLPE factory is the irst of its
kind in the West Africa region.
"This is a project that has cost us over N3billion,
though the overall expectation is about
N10billion. It is a Nigerian focus and it is in line
with the local content law. As the pioneer wires
and cables manufacturers, we expect to meet the
requirements and capacity of customers at all
times,” he said.
Meanwhile, South Africa's Trade and Industry
Minister Dr Rob Davies approved the new Medium
and Heavy Commercial Vehicles – Automotive
Investment Scheme (MHCV-AIS) guidelines earlier
this week. As a sub-component of the Automotive
Investment Scheme, the MHCV-AIS is designed to
stimulate investment in the production of vehicles
and grow the automotive sector in South Africa.
"The medium and heavy commercial vehicles
sector value chains are highly under-developed,”
said Davies on Sunday, “and there are
opportunities to deepen their value addition and
potential for employment creation.”
11
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Denel AerostructuresAt the African Aerospace and Defence Exhibition in September, Denel Aerostructures unveiled their newest project: the South African Regional Aircraft. We spoke to CEO Ismail Dockrat to find out more about this exciting endeavour.
13
www.denelaerostructures.com
Situated at the heart of the Ekurhuleni
Aerotropolis in the Gauteng Province,
Denel Aerostructures is a recognised
leader in the African aerospace industry.
The company was established in 1964, and was
the first on the continent to be NADCAP-
accredited across multiple technology
disciplines. After two years of debating what to
do with its extensive design and development
capabilities, Denel decided to deviate from its
military theme and instead identified a national
need for an efficient aircraft carrier for low-
density routes.
As the economy of the continent improves, the
demand for air travel has continued to grow. While
some of this air travel is serviced by larger, long-
haul aircraft, there is still a gap for an aircraft
capable of linking the less-populated regional
centres. “For smaller towns and cities with lower
population density there has been a great demand
for regional air travel, and for much smaller aircraft
in areas where the volumes wouldn't justify a larger
aircraft,” says CEO Ismail Dockrat.
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The solution Denel proposes is the South
African Regional Aircraft (SARA). The
project is to be led by Denel, and has
received significant support from the South
African aerospace community, including
industry associations, government
departments and academics. While the
project is still in its pre-development
stage, a prototype is expected within the
next ten years.
“The evidence suggests that there are lots
of these kinds of locations on the continent
that would have a need for such an aircraft.
For example, in the South African context,
it's places like Pietermaritzburg, Polokwane
and Nelspruit, specifically those kind of
municipalities, that we'd be looking at for
this kind of aircraft,” explains Dockrat. “We
believe that we have a contribution to
make towards connecting communities and
making it easier for people in urban
centres to be able to travel point-to-point.”
Using twenty-year-old technology, the
current aircraft on the market are no longer
economical or fuel-efficient. Very few of
them are pressurised, meaning they are
unable to fly above weather. The proposed
SARA is to be pressurised, seat fifteen to
twenty-four passengers in a four-abreast
seating solution, and serve low-density
routes.
For smaller towns and cities with lower population density there has been a great demand for regional air travel, and for much smaller aircraft in areas where the volumes wouldn't justify a larger aircraft”
“
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As of yet, no considerations have been
made for possible military uses. While it
may seem problematic to design such a
small passenger aircraft that is able to take
off and land on the short airfields that
currently exist in smaller regional centres,
Denel seem confident that they are up for
the challenge.
“We've done quite phenomenal things in
the past,” says Dockrat, speaking of Denel
Aerostructures' involvement in the military
side of the aerospace industry and the
success of the Rooivalk helicopter, “but we
haven't done something new in the last few
years. It's important for us to have an
exciting visionary programme to mobilise
the engineering design and artisanal skills
in our industry, one that will develop
excitement for young engineers in the
aerospace industry.”
Stimulating the country's young aerospace
engineers and technicians is a big focus for
Denel, and arguably plays a significant role
in their prominence in the African
aerospace field industry. While many
companies operating in South Africa have
struggled with the skills shortage, Denel
has its own solution.
“We do a lot of things,” explains Dockrat.
“We have a very strong engineering
academy. We have the dedicated Denel
Technical Academy, which brings aircraft
technicians. I think we've shown we can
make a contribution towards having the
right skills.” Denel Technical Academy — an
Aviation and Engineering apprenticeship
training institute — is located in Gauteng,
and was established over four decades ago
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to close the skills shortage within the
aviation industry.
“Sometimes it's a bit of a predicament. If
you don't have exciting things going on,
and you're lamenting the lack of skills,
sometimes it's because you're not doing
exciting things that you can create a
passion for,” says Dockrat. “When you talk
to young people about aviation, it's
something that they can become
passionate about, and it's something that
can inspire them to want to be better at
maths, better at science, and it gives
young people the kind of insight that they
need to pursue careers like engineering
and technical engineering.”
While SARA is expected to keep Denel
Aerostructures busy for the next few years,
the company will also be manufacturing
ISO locks — a combination of cross-tracks
and aluminium rails to be fitted into the
cargo holds of the giant aircraft that will be delivered
to international clients over the next six years.
Considering Denel's dedication to encouraging and
educating young technicians and engineers, this
high-activity period is unlikely to be anything but
positive for the leading company in the African
aerospace industry.
Using twenty-year-old technology, the current aircraft on the market are no longer economical or fuel-efficient. Very few of them are pressurised, meaning they are unable to fly above weather.
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Weatherford Thanks to its groundbreaking technology, oil services giant Weatherford has found itself at the forefront of Africa's ultra-deep drilling boom.
Back in 2007, Brazil's Petrobras uncovered
vast reserves of crude oil hidden under a
thick layer of salt off the country's
coastline. Buried at depths of 20,000 feet,
the two largest basins have now been
estimated to hold 50 billion barrels of
recoverable oil.
These are no small numbers. These reser-
ves are twice that of the largest offshore
field in the Gulf of Mexico, while the salt
crust can itself be up to 6,500 feet thick. At
the same time, this has helped spark a
wave of interest around offshore Angola,
where the pre-salt plays appear to be
analogous to Brazil's giant Santos and
Campos Basins.
Given the challenges of operating in these
conditions, innovative solutions are required. The
consistency of the salt layer, together with the fact
that it is constantly moving, means that holes often
fill in on themselves after drilling. At the same time,
both temperature and pressure are hugely
changeable.
To solve these issues, Weatherford has looked to
closed-loop drilling (CLD) technology. They add
additional equipment to the rig that enables the
rig's circulating system to be pressurizable, allowing
23
www.weatherford.com
for increased safety, much greater control
of the well while drilling, and the ability to
detect and deal with well-kicks instantly.
CLD also enables Weatherford to deal with
the “Total loss of returns” by means of
their ability to switch to pressurized mud-
cap Drilling (PMCD) instantly.
Speaking to Essential Business, Huub Gans,
Weatherford's vice president for sales and
marketing for Sub-Saharan Africa, said that
now,“there's significant interest from
operators for the closed-loop drilling (CLD)
variant of managed pressure drilling (MPD)
in the sub-salt prospects offshore West
Africa, we have three projects going in
Angola as we speak”.
While this market is undoubtedly huge, the
company is also looking to other areas for
the technology, with onshore projects also
becoming a focus.
“We will be looking at CLD in order to avoid
nuisance gas in depleted fields and to
manage the pore-pressure/frac-gradient
uncertainties” Huub continues, referring to
the increased stability and safety by
reducing mud-losses and kicks using MPD.
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However, despite the success of CLD in US
shale plays such as the Eagle Ford, as it
stands Huub says that unconventional
projects, for CLD deployment in South-
Africa, are so far not on the cards.
Much of this is down to the opportunities
instead of the technology. South Africa,
which is thought to hold 485 trillion feet of
shale gas resources, the eighth largest in
the world, lifted an 18 month long
moratorium on the issuing of shale
licenses a year ago, but since then, no
permits have been granted.
Given that the country represents the
continent's best bet for shale-gas
production, the outlook — in the short-
term at least — is mixed. At the same time,
there are further challenges involved. The
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vast majority of reserves lie in the semi-
arid Karoo region, which is largely
uninhabited.
“It's initially all about the likelihood that
South Africa is able to monetize the gas,”
says Huub.“This requires pipeline
infrastructure and LNG facilities which are
super-costly. Unlike the USA too, you'll
need an abundance of heavy drilling rigs
because the Karoo shale gas horizon is at a
great depth. The local consumption market
in the Karoo is negligible due to its sparse
population.”
Moving forward, the company is looking to
improve its workforce even further – by
means of tapping into the local skill-sets in
order to contribute to the sustainable
development of the countries we operate
in.
“Building up our local talent pool is a key
challenge,” says Huub. “We need to be able
to bring more African talent to the table
and we are continuously recruiting to
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achieve this.”
At the same time, the recent drastic fall in
oil prices is certain to make for a more
testing environment. As the market
adjusts to the new price levels – and so
far, it is not yet clear what this may be –
some turbulence should be expected.
“The African oil industry will be affected
by the current low oil prices too,” says
Gans. “Some governments have based
their National-budgets on prices above
$80 per barrel. They will be adjusting
their figures as we speak.”
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ACWA Power Solafrica Bokpoort CSP Power Plant
ACWA Power Solafrica Bokpoort CSP Power Plant
The result of a joint venture between
ACWA Power and Solafrica, the
Bokpoort development won the
second CSP bidding window of South
Africa's Renewable Energy Independent
Power Producer Programme (REIPPP). With a
projected commercial operation date of 6
December 2015, work has progressed
rapidly, with construction now having past
the peak.
As an emerging market utility company
with more than 16,000MW in operation or
construction, ACWA Power develops, owns
and operates a range of power and water
assets around the globe, with the Southern
Cone of Africa being a key strategic growth
market. At the forefront of this is the
Bokpoort facility, which is set to be the
only storable renewable energy facility with
utility-scale “load-following” capability,
due to its 9.3 hours thermal energy storage
capacity, in the region.
“It's been fantastic so far. We had some
issues with regards to the national metal
industry strike that has caused some
delays, but apart from that we've been
doing reasonably well with the progress,”
says Nandu D Bhula, CEO of ACWA Power
Solafrica Bokpoort CSP.
“I think, the biggest challenge we have had
to overcome, was the ability to get local
skills to the level that is expected in order
to be productively employed and meet our
socio-economic development objectives.
We do have tough economic development
obligations, and the initial hurdle was to
get around that,” he continues. “But we
31
successfully did, and we are doing
reasonably well in terms of getting a very
large proportion of our workforce from the
local community, the !Kheis Municipality.”
The skills shortage in South Africa has,
unsurprisingly, presented some issues
during the construction phases of the
project. “On the one hand, you're trying to
fulfil an economic development obligation
and have a large proportion of the local
community involved, but on the other
hand, they don't necessarily have the skill
sets at this stage for this type of
construction and subsequent operations.
It's a very rural community,” explains
Bhula. “Difficulties finding the necessary
skill sets nearby meant greater effort in
on-the-job training and focus in upskilling
through sponsoring technical training
courses at the existing local training
center.”
“The language barrier was also challenge.
The EPC contractor and their supervision
staff speak mainly Spanish, so it's difficult
to communicate and develop the staff that
is largely Afrikaans speaking. From a health
and safety supervision perspective, it has
been a challenge for us,” he explains.
“We've put effort into having multilingual
presentations done, and bringing in local
health and safety individuals who
understand the local legislations and then
we've shared that from a management level
down to the supervision. We've had to use
different types of media to spread health
and safety messages,” he continues. “That
includes setting up things like animated
story books that have specific site safety
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32
messages in it. So we've complemented our
multilingual communication efforts with
pictorial tutoring; and that has aided us in our
efforts.”
Once completed, the plant will have the largest
amount of thermal energy storage in the world
in its class. “We've got heat transfer fluid
travelling around 180 loops of solar field with
658,000m2 of reflective surface or mirrors,
with a large quantity of molten salt storage
which is new for this country in terms
technology. So, from that perspective, I think it
is very important that we have really well-
trained operators to mitigate the risks in terms
of managing the operation and maintenance of
the plant,” explains Bhula.
“The rest of the power block is stock-standard
steam power generation, and South Africa has
sufficient power plants in this area for us to be
able to get experienced operators and
33
maintainers. It is just the thermal energy
storage and solar field heat transfer that
requires us to put a little more effort into
getting people trained up so that we are
confident that we can manage those going
forward safely.”
The Project's major shareholder is ACWA
Power from Saudi Arabia, and the group
values are aligned towards dealing with
socio-economic issues in the areas they
are investing in, aimed at addressing
poverty and contributing to social
upliftment. “The ACWA Power model is not
one where the owner comes in and builds a
project and then runs away with the
profits,” says Bhula. “Furthermore, projects
of this nature, typically start injecting
funds into communities as part of their CSI
commitments after revenues start coming
in but not in our case, we have started
investing in our community from the onset
and plan to contribute for the long-term.”
ACWA Power's attention in this respect has
been primarily on boosting skills —
providing computers to schools, training
the local communities, and giving out
bursaries to start technical training in the
area. Furthermore, given the rural nature of
the communities, there were many families
in the local areas without water or
electricity, a matter of high importance that
ACWA Power naturally addressed when
they first focused their attention on the
area.
“We've done a full analysis on the socio-
economic challenges in the area. There
were kids who could not study because
they had no lights, and essentially their
whole lifestyle were constrained as a result.
So, with the donation of PV panels to a
local Duineveldt community, we've brought
light into their homes, people's lifestyles
have changed, kids can study at night
without needing candlelight, they are doing
better in school and already have
possibilities of improving their livelihoods.
Aside from this, our topline water
reticulation project has delivered potable
water for the first time to the homes of
over 77 residence in the area. This is ACWA
Power's mission through projects like
Bokpoort and others to follow. It's not just
about solar development, it's about a long-
term commitment to the community.”
Looking to the future, ACWA Power has a
well-developed strategy towards building a
multi-fuel, multi-technology generation
portfolio of around 4,000 MW in the
Southern African region. For scale, South
Africa's generation target for the entire
REIPPP scheme is 3,725 MW.
“It is ambitious, but I don't think that it's
seriously out of our reach because we have
a very aggressive stance in that respect.
Furthermore, if you ask me if 4,000 MW of
solar energy development alone, in the
Northern Cape and surrounds is ambitious,
I say no. There is nothing stopping South
Africa from doing so. We have a huge
abundant solar resource, a hunger for
renewable energy and the technology itself
has high localisation potential and will only
get cheaper and cheaper. This will bring
I think, the biggest challenge we have had to overcome, was the ability to get local skills to the level that is expected in order to be productively employed and meet our socio-economic development objectives
“
35
increased knowledge and competency in
the industry and more importantly, jobs.
We expect to spend over R1.6 billion in
local content through the Bokpoort project
alone,” says Bhula.
Chris Ehlers, business director for ACWA
Power Southern Africa further highlights
ACWA Power's strategy going forward:
“ACWA Power's focus countries are
Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia and
South Africa. We are fully committed as a
private utility company with a very long-
term approach. This includes the required
capital as well”. He continues, “South Africa
is seen as a hub for us to develop
economically and expand our footprint. We
have already committed to multiple
projects in this region.”
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IntertekAs a leading inspection and testing services provider, Intertek has been establishing its presence in South Africa for more than forty years. We spoke to sales and marketing manager Thomas Andrews to find out more about their operations.
With a global network of 1,000
laboratories and offices, and over
36,000 people in more than 120
countries, Intertek is the leading quality
solutions provider to a huge range of
industries worldwide. The company is
present in 24 African countries, and is
considered the market leader within South
Africa, in particular for petrochemical
testing and inspection solutions.
“We're a global company with global
structures in place,” explains Andrews.
“What we like to highlight is that Intertek
sells value quality delivered. It doesn't
matter if you're in South Africa, the UK, or
Australia – the level of service you get is
the same.”
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discharge facilities, to carrying out
environmental testing, to monitoring the
quality and volume of cargo.
Intertek is an ISO 9001:2008 certified
company with eight laboratories and ten
offices in South Africa, their flagship
laboratories having received accreditation
to ISO 17025. Accreditation for
laboratories, in addition to being an
industry requirement, serves as a means
for the company to measure its own
performance, and allow them to remain
experts in conformity assessment solutions
and provide clients with the confidence to
conduct their business in a global
marketplace.
“You don't just have a buyer and a seller
and a transaction. You have suppliers, you
have transporters, you have warehousers,
Currently, in Africa, the focus is particu-
larly strong on development of new energy
sources, from the development of liquefied
natural gas (LNG) to the up-and-coming
industries of innovative biofuels. Intertek is
assisting companies with working in these
challenging environments each step of the
way.
Speeding up
“What's important to remember is that the
energy industry is based around time”, says
Andrews. “Invariably we work with clients
who are operating on a just-in-time model
and we therefore assisting them with speed
to market.”
Intertek steps in to provide qualitative and
quantitative assessment whenever goods
change hands. These assessments take
many forms, from inspecting loading and
39
you have freight forwarders, you have
clearing agents. All of these are involved in
the transaction,” Andrews continues. “At
various points, the custody of the cargo is
transferred over to them. And whenever it
is transferred from one party to another,
there is always a risk. So we act as the
impartial third party to evaluate the form,
the condition, and the integrity of the
consignment. In essence, we try to assist
with reducing the risk.”
This need for regulation and risk
management is present in any industry in
which commodities are traded. When it
comes to agriculture in South Africa,
biofuels are currently the source of a lot of
interest, in particular the vegetable and
palm oil being used as feedstock. Intertek
works throughout the value chain, from
early development and identifying which
feedstock to use, through to production,
What's important to remember is that the energy industry is based around time”, says Andrews. “Invariably we work with clients who are operating on a just-in-time model and we therefore assisting them with speed to market.
“
From developing biofuels to evaluating your environmental impact, Intertek is at the forefront assisting client with evaluating both products and systems compliance
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As a growing business globally, biofuels
are used alongside tradition fuels as
feedstock for a variety of processes for
both heavy industries and the generation
of electricity. As the world becomes more
environmentally sensitive, governments are
becoming increasingly aggressive with
their legislations in respect to
environmental issues.
“From developing biofuels to evaluating
your environmental impact, Intertek is at
the forefront assisting client with
evaluating both products and systems
compliance,” explains Andrews.
“One of the challenges with biofuel is that
it's a new product and in some part it
metamorphoses constantly. It's constantly
evolving. People are learning more about
what feedstock to use, and the advantages
and disadvantages of each — so it's
coming out, and we have to be there at the
forefront. It's a constant learning exercise
because new feedstocks are being used —
in aviation fuel, in other types of fuels —
and you see positive impacts from that,
and then in other areas you see
challenges,” he continues.
“Again, what we have to do is stay current,
look at what's happening globally and what
the trends are, and try to replicate where
there are success stories in respect of
testing, and try and introduce those
solutions here locally.”
Over the next year, Intertek is looking not
only to continue with its existing services,
but also to improve systems to ensure their
services remain at the forefront of quality
solutions. Intertek's newly established
Pressures
laboratory in Johannesburg will allow their
agricultural clients to enjoy the same
professional quality experience as is
currently enjoyed by the company's
petrochemical and petroleum customers.
This comes as part of the Intertek Group's
recent pushtowards a “One Intertek”
strategy, providing a much broader range
of services to clients worldwide. With the
scope on offer, the potential here is huge.
One of the challenges with biofuel is that it's a new product and in some part it metamorphoses constantly. It's constantly evolving. People are learning more about what feedstock to use, and the advantages and disadvantages of each — so it's coming out, and we have to be there at the forefront.
“
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the world is waiting!
Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project
The Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) is the single largest road project to be undertaken by the South African government in over 20 years, and was launched by South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) in 2006 to create a better road and freeway network in Gauteng.
As the economic heart of South
Africa, Gauteng has seen a boom of
housing, commercial, and industrial
property development over the last ten
years. The resulting increase in traffic
means that existing infrastructures are
now over capacity, and the road and
freeway networks no longer sufficient to
meet Gauteng's traffic demands. This has
consequences — from greater travel times,
to increased fuel consumption, to higher
vehicle emissions, to a lower level of
profitability for developments in the
province.
The Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project
(GFIP) was conceived by South African
National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) in
order to provide a solution to these
problems. The project is currently
underway, and aims to upgrade the
infrastructural network in Gauteng and
implement new freeways towards an
ultimate goal of a 560km network,
reducing traffic jams and travel times in the
province. Set to inject around 29 billion
rand into the South African economy, and
create around 30,000 direct jobs over the
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course of the project, GFIP will be
contributing to widened economic and
social development opportunities in
Gauteng.
While planning GFIP, SANRAL took several
alternative transport methods into
consideration, and strived to create links
with the Gautrain, Metrorail and Bus Rapid
Transport to provide the population with
more choice in term of public transport
and car-pooling. The aim of this is to
alleviate congestion, reduce emissions, and
improve motorists' road experience by
taking a more streamlined approach to
transportation. The roads and freeways
affected by the project will also enjoy
intelligent transport systems (ITS),
including variable management signs
(VMS), incident management services (IMS),
and CCTV cameras. The VMS provide
innovative traffic management services and
allow for safer, coordinated transport
networks, and have already been installed
during the first phase of the project. IMS
and CCTV allow SANRAL to optimise road
capacity, dispatch emergency services
more efficiently, and warn motorists of
congestion more effectively. Traffic
information is updated live on SANRAL's
traffic website, giving road users access to
incident alerts, construction updates,
traffic speeds, and other travel information.
Phase one of GFIP was planned before
South Africa received confirmation that
their 2010 World Cup soccer bid had been
successful, and while the phase was not
completed in time for the event, significant
effort was made to ensure that most of the
road widening and construction work was
completed in time to help Gauteng cope
with the additional tourism and resulting
traffic.
“There are about one million vehicles using
Gauteng's freeways every day and we
needed to ensure that traffic flowed safely
and contractors were not in harm's way,”
explained GFIP manager Alex Van Niekerk,
speaking to Engineering News. This led to
the bulk of the manual work being carried
out overnight, when traffic was less dense.
The phase was toll-funded, and resulted in
185km of freeway being upgraded or
constructed to connect inner and outer ring
roads as well as improving access to
southern and western Gauteng settlements.
Among the 34 interchanges that saw
considerable upgrades were the Allendale,
Rivonia, William Nicol, Gilloolys and Elands
interchanges.
Of course, there are large costs associated
with such a large project. Through SANRAL,
the South African Department of Transport
(DoT) will be investing a total of around 55
billion rand into GFIP — 12 billion rand for
the first phase, 20 billion rand for the
second, and 23 billion and for the third and
final phase.
Despite this investment, the project still
requires funding from e-tolls in order to
run. The DoT believes SANRAL were
thorough in their investigation of
alternative funding options, and is in
accordance with their conclusion that e-
tolling was the only realistic way to
Phase one of GFIP was planned before South Africa received confirmation that their 2010 World Cup soccer bid had been successful, and while the phase was not completed in time for the event, significant effort was made to ensure that most of the road widening and construction work was completed in time to help Gauteng cope with the additional tourism and resulting traffic.
“
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proceed. Despite this, the e-tolling mechanism
used to fund the project has still been the subject
of a lot of dispute. Phase two of GFIP, also to be
toll-funded, is currently on hold due to this, and
contracts will not be awarded until the
government has reached a decision on how to
proceed with the implementation of the e-tolls.
There are concerns that the tolling system has
caused suburbs and by-roads to be congested by
road users attempting to avoid paying, as well as
fears that businesses will pass on the additional
expenses to customers, pushing up the cost of
groceries and causing additional financial struggles
for the poor. The burden this could place on other
government sectors means that much discussion is
required before involved parties can come to a fair
compromise.
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. . .essent ia l ly your bus iness
Take advantage of an essentially committed business partner
NetcareCares
Netcare operates the largest private hospital network in South Africa.
South Africa's healthcare system is
divided along state and private
lines. The private sector consumes
60% of total health spending yet caters
to only about 20% of the population.
Public healthcare struggles to meet the
needs of the other 80% (some 42.5
million South Africans), with often
overcrowded facilities, poor equipment
and shortages of drugs.
In 2012, Netcare, one of the country's
major medical groups, entered into a
ground-breaking social compact with
the Department of Health and 22 other
private healthcare companies, which
recognised that neither the public nor
private sector can individually or
successfully confront the immense
health challenges facing South Africa.
Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi called
its formation “another important chapter in
the history of our country.”
“This partnership between government and
the private health sector conveys a simple
message that together we care about a
long and healthy life for all South Africans,”
he said.
“It is a timely occasion that is clearly
communicating the most pressing message
on the minds of both policymakers and
market participants that rebuilding
confidence in the public health sector for
the full successful implementation of the
NHI system is of utmost importance for our
country.”
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netcare.co.za
www.netcare.co.za
Unfortunately “the pace of collaboration
has been slow”, to quote Netcare's
chairman Jerry Vilakazi, who says that “as
the South African middle class expands,
more people can self-fund healthcare,”
alleviating the pressures on the public
health system and helping to “release more
of the public health resources required to
enhance quality and access for those most
in need.”
CEO Richard Friedland believes Netcare has
a “responsibility to advance the cause of
universal access to quality healthcare”
explaining that “the reality facing too many
South Africans is limited access to even the
most basic quality healthcare. We know
that this is unacceptable and that we
cannot build a successful and sustainable
nation unless it is a healthy one.”
Netcare, which strives for “best-quality
patient care” and treats “patients with
utmost dignity and respect”, has 55
hospitals, 9,052 registered beds, 338
operating theatres and manage operating
theatres and 87 retail and hospital
pharmacies. Its wholly-owned subsidiary,
Netcare 911, operates the largest private
emergency medical service in the country
with over 6.9 million insured lives and a
fleet of over 180 response vehicles and
ambulances, and three helicopter and two
fixed-wing air ambulances. “Netcare 911 is
widely acknowledged as a leader in the
field of emergency medical services in
South Africa,” Craig Grindell, chief
operating officer of Netcare 911, said in a
recent press release.
The future for both - and its other divisions
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that include the primary care division
(Medicross)- is bright. “The demand for
private healthcare within South Africa is
expected to remain strong,” Netcare said,
announcing its interim results, adding it
“will continue work on improving
occupancies, along with the focused
expansion of Netcare's facilities and
geographic footprint.”
The group has committed to commission
379 beds in 2015 and two sizeable
hospitals are currently under construction
in South Africa, a 100-bed hospital in
Pinehaven near Johannesburg, and a new
109-bed hospital in Polokwane. The cost
of building the new hospital in Polowane is
estimated at R540 million and would
eventually be the first phase of a much
bigger hospital, according to Netcare's
Annual Integrated Report for 2013.
“Netcare continues to evaluate growth
opportunities and identify areas where we
can expand our national footprint. We are
commencing the construction of a 109-
bed hospital in Polokwane, Limpopo, and a
100-bed hospital in Pinehaven, Gauteng.
Both hospitals are expected to be
This partnership between government and the private health sector conveys a simple message that together we care about a long and healthy life for all South Africans
“
commissioned in 2015. Construction work has
started on the 254-bed Netcare Christiaan
Barnard Memorial Hospital in Cape Town that
will be relocated from its current premises to a
custom-built, state-of-the- art new facility on
the foreshore in 2016. We also continue to
invest in maintaining and upgrading our
existing infrastructure to meet increased
demand and provide the best quality facilities
for our patients and doctors. We monitor
occupancy levels on an ongoing basis to
determine where capital expenditure will have
the greatest impact,” it says.
Netcare, which also runs one of Britain's largest
private hospital networks, was recently ranked
first in the healthcare sector and 15th overall,
in the Mail & Guardian's Most Empowered
Companies Awards. The group's commitment to
transformation also resulted in it being the only
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healthcare group to feature in the top 20
of South Africa's most empowered
companies.
The awards provide a platform for JSE-
listed companies – Netcare has been listed
on the JSE since 1996 – to showcase their
progress in delivering on black economic
empowerment and transformation in South
Africa. Empowerment rating and research
agency, Empowerdex, analyses South
Africa's top performing companies and,
along with a team of financial journalists,
then determines which companies have
done best in each sector and overall in
terms of empowerment, transformation,
ownership and enterprise development.
Commenting on the group's achievement,
Peter Warrener, Netcare's human resources
director, said organisational transformation
has long been a strategic priority for the
company. “The awards recognise South
African companies that have embraced
transformation in its totality in order to
positively contribute to South Africa's
business environment and to the
normalisation of our society. We are
encouraged that Netcare has been
acknowledged in this recognised
benchmarking survey,” he explained.
Netcare achieved a Level 2 B-BBEE rating
with an improved score of 87.82 in 2013,
compared to the previous year's 82.11. The
group also attained a Level 2 contributor
certification by the Department of Trade
and Industry.
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According to Warrener, “concerted efforts”
to “accelerate transformation across all
areas of their business and to redress the
historic socio-economic imbalances that
still prevail in South Africa” also helped
Netcare land the Diversity Award at the
13th annual Oliver Empowerment Awards.
“The awards highlight Netcare's continued
efforts to create a truly equitable society in
South Africa by implementing a
transformation strategy that is aligned to
the broad-based black economic
empowerment (B-BBEE) framework,” he
said. “Netcare's rating in The Mail &
Guardian's Most Empowered Companies
Award stands as testament to our group's
commitment to redressing the deep-seated
inequalities in South Africa. Netcare has
made substantive progress in realising its
transformation goals over the years and the
company's board, management and
employees will continue contributing
positively towards the ultimate aim of
achieving a just and equitable society in
South Africa.”
To learn more visit netcare.co.za.
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Send your success story to:
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Send your success story to:
ContainerWorldContainer World is already the leading name in Africa's container industry. But as the oil and gas market throughout the continent continues to expand, the company is set to enjoy even more rapid growth.
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Established in 1983,Container World
has proved itself as a dependable
and flexible firm specializing in the
sale, rental and conversions of new and
pre-owned marine containers. With a
turnover of more than 400 million rand,
this has placed it at the forefront of a
sector that remains a crucial part of the
continent's shipping industry.
Unsurprisingly, this has taken the company
far away from its roots in South Africa.
Operating across the east and south,
Pascal Vidal, the head of its oil and gas-
focused offshore division, says that
Container World is now “doing a lot of
business on the west coast as well”.
“Of course,” he continues, “we are very well
known in South Africa – we have been
around for 31 years now. And we have a
very good reputation across Southern
Africa as a whole.”
The formula for this, he adds, is
simple.“It's down to being active for over
three decades, providing quality equipment
and keeping our word. That's good
enough. We're always improving our
services too.”
A key part of these offerings are containers built
specifically for offshore oil rigs. Along with the standard
shipping and supply ship units, Container World also
offers accommodation, offices and workshops, along
with boat-shaped floating skips for the lifting and
transportation of non-hazardous waste to and from
offshore platforms.
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Branching out
This has led to opportunities in some of
Africa's key oil and gas producers. The firm
is currently close to beginning operations
through a project in Angola that Vidal
describes as “more than a joint venture”.
“The company has been created and is
already registered,” he continues.“One of
our directors has been named on the board
and we will be fully operational early next
year. We're just completing the
administrative tasks now, such as bank
accounts and finalising the investment.
We're required to put money in the country
but it's only a million dollars.”
“The company will not be called Container
World but will provide the same type of
services – the sale and conversions of
containers, pre-fabricated containers and
offshore equipment. All the support will be
coming from South Africa.”
This seems like a wise decision. Angola is
Africa's second largest oil producer, having
recently been overtaken by Nigeria. Yet the
two countries have been vying for the title
for some time now and while Nigeria is
facing numerous challenges in the form of
instability, oil theft and an uncertain
environment for investors due to the long-
delayed Petroleum Industry Bill, Angola's
It's down to being active for over three decades, providing quality equipment and keeping our word. That's good enough. We're always improving our services too.
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output is rising fast.
“Angola has a lot of potential, especially
with the new pre-salt discoveries in the
South, says Vidal.“They are on track to
double production over the next five years.
“We've been in the Angolan market for
more than 12 years now,” he adds.“It's a
neighbouring country, but it can be very
difficult to collect payment from
customers. When we are there, our clients
can pay in their local currency, the Kwanza.
But with us being investors our dividends
will be very easy to expatriate back to
South Africa.”
Angola has a lot of potential, especially with the new pre-saltdiscoveries in the South. They are on track to double production over the next five years.”
“
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Opportunities
Moving forward, there are even more
opportunities on the horizon too. “In the
future, we're looking to work in
Madagascar,” Vidal says.“That may start
quite soon. Also, there's a major new
development that will be a focus for us in
Uganda. Even though it is inland, the
activity on Lake Albert means that
containers are still required.”
Huge reserves of oil were discovered in the
Albertine basin in 2006, and the bulk of
commercial production in the country is
now expected to begin in 2017, once a new
export pipeline and refinery are built.
At the same time, Vidal states that the
company will soon be very active in Chad –
another country that it is pushing forward
its nascent oil sector. This could see it
double output to 260,000 bpd by 2016 – a
figure that could have a significant impact
on one of the poorest nations in the world.
“We're looking to a new project in Senegal
too, which will become an oil producer
within three to four years,” he adds.“There's 63
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Pascal Vidal
Miguel dos Santos
Goretti Teixeira
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Mauritania too, and all the time we'll carry on
servicing our existing markets as we do.”
This, he admits, will not be without its
challenges. “We know that as this activity
increases, so does the competition. For us we
don't see it as a fight, it mean us adapting our
approach, knowing that there won't just be two
or three companies on the market, but six or
seven. Our method may be slightly different,
but that won't affect product quality.”
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. . .essent ia l ly your bus iness