WRITTEN BY COLIN GIBSON

Earthmoving equipment requires specialist tyres, and in the growing West African mining sector, a specialist supplier is expanding to fulfil these needs.

WHEN THE EARTH

MOVES

More recently, however, as

Ghana has evolved from its early

dependency on timber and co-

coa to a mining-dominated eco-

nomy, Rana Motors has used its

Goodyear connections to good

effect and has evolved itself into

a high class supplier of tyres and

services for earthmoving equip-

ment.

“About ten years ago we decided

to get into mining tyres in a big

way,” says Vibi Chandra, regional

manager for West Africa. “We

already had the distributorship

for Goodyear, and Goodyear is

one of the world’s top three in

tyres for earthmoving equip-

ment, so we decided we should

try to build something very pro-

fessional in this market.

“Until we came onto the scene,

the entire earthmoving tyre sec-

tor in West Africa consisted of

one UK-based supplier and ser-

vice provider who took care of

the whole business. So we inves-

ted quite heavily into the whole

range of tyres that are used

within the mining sector and in

parallel to support the field we

invested in service provision,

too. We started off in a small way,

supplying just one mine, but now

we have reached a stage where

we are supplying most of the

mining companies within West

Africa.”

The company now supplies tyres

and services from Ghana all the

way up to Mauritania, with es-

tablished offices in Burkina Faso

and Mali and another about to

open in Sierra Leone in the next

two or three months. But al-

though the name Rana is well

known in Ghana it is not known

in other countries in West Africa.

“So we decided to rename the

West African operations of Rana

Motors as West Africa Tire Ser-

vices,” explains Chandra. “So

today West Africa Tire Services

is the general distributor for

WEST AFRICA TIRE SERVICES LTD

Established in 1985, Rana Motors & Metal Works has become a household name in Ghana as the country’s Kia distributorship and also the distributor of Goodyear Tyres. The company is also an authorized distributor for Ashok Leyland Gensets from India as well as being a supplier of industrial products, cranes and heavy machinery.

Goodyear earthmoving tyres all over West Africa.”

Investment in tyres for earthmoving equipment is not for the faint-

hearted, however. As a composite tyre distributor West Africa Tire

Services will carry stock all the way from forklift tyres to those fitted

to the biggest mining trucks. “On average we would stock roughly 70

to 80 lines of tyre sizes, and each of those sizes may have two or three

different types of tyres, so effectively we would have something like

200 or 300 different tyres in stock.” At an average cost of $20,000 to

$30,000 per tyre, that’s a sizeable investment in anyone’s book.

“We are now considered to be one of the top suppliers of earthmov-

ing tyres in West Africa and now we want to raise our game to world

class standards,” says Chandra, “so we’re now looking at how we can

get better in the field of tyre management, etc.

“In order to give a complete package to a client we try and work from a

solution providing angle,” he explains. The original model in the mining

industry was for the mining companies to fit their own tyres, but it

takes special knowledge and expertise to fit and maintain these kinds

of tyres, and that’s how the company got into the business of tyre

management services. “It’s essential that these tyres are looked after

from the time they are fitted until they are ready for the scrapyard.

We undertake this responsibility through our tyre management units.

They fit the tyres, keep the rims clean, maintain the right inflation

pressures, monitor the tyres for pressure fluctuations and check for

abnormalities, so the tyre management units take care of the tyre

from the cradle to the grave.”

Finding skilled employees has been one of the company’s major chal-

lenges, and it still depends on expatriate staff for technical expertise.

“It’s difficult to get local people with experience so we recruit young

people and teach them how to do the job properly from the begin-

ning,” says Chandra.

Africa is full of challenges and another one is logistics. Sometimes

there are delays getting goods moving out of the ports, and that has

a knock-on effect on the level of stock that has to be kept. Supplying

tyres from Ghana to other countries in West Africa is not always

straightforward either. “There’s no standardisation of customs form-

alities between countries in West Africa,” says Chandra, “and that

causes problems too.”

In terms of the company’s future development, however, Chandra is

in no doubt that earthmoving tyres are the way forward. “We believe

that economies in West Africa are going to continue to be mining in-

tensive for the foreseeable future,” he says. “Countries in West Africa

are blessed with huge reserves of gold, iron ore, bauxite and uranium

and we don’t see any slowdown in the sector.

“The multinational mining companies who are operating in West

Africa expect world class standards from their local suppliers and ser-

vice providers, so we see plenty of opportunities for us to expand. Our

target is to be recognised as a world class service provider, to bring

ourselves up to the standard expected by the multinational mining

companies in other parts of the world.”

WEST AFRICA TIRE SERVICES LTD

00233 277 311 266

WWW.RAMAMOTORS.COM

www.littlegatepublishing.com