Capital Equipment News January 2023

the first Ciber plant in Zimbabwe. We also sold the first asphalt pavers in nearly 15 years. Before the Beit Bridge-Harare Road project, there were only two asphalt pavers operating in the country because of lack of infrastructure development,” says Anthony Dube, national sales and rental manager at Machinery Exchange. Building Africa David Denbury, sales director at Parts Sales Botswana, has hailed the dealer conference as a critical information sharing platform for Wirtgen dealers in the region. “We have taken away with us some new ideas and experiences from other markets, which we can implement in our own market,” he says. “Because we haven’t had a dealer conference for a number of years, this year’s gathering has given us an opportunity to acquaint ourselves with new products and solutions from the different brands within the Wirtgen stable,” adds Craig Denbury, export director at Parts Sales Botswana. Commenting on the state of the market, David says Botswana enjoyed a strong infrastructure development spell some four years ago, driven by the government’s road infrastructure projects. Armed with the full range of Wirtgen products, Parts Sales Botswana enjoyed over 70% market share during the road construction boom. “However, the road construction programme has slowed down in the past three years, resulting in a drop in equipment sales. The government is now putting more focus on water infrastructure projects such as pipelines to provide water to water-stricken areas of the country. We, however, expect a turnaround in the next few years as new development funds come in,” says David. Marius Cronje of Hoffmann’s Farm Implements, the Wirtgen dealer in Namibia for the past year, says the dealer conference was critical in educating the team about the full range available and how this can benefit customers. “While the construction industry is not at its best at the moment, there is scope for growth in Namibia in the next few years. We believe that the construction industry will soon benefit from the government’s drive to boost economic growth,” says Cronje. In conclusion, Kukard says the comprehensive range of equipment in the Wirtgen Group stable is now augmented by the John Deere range of construction equipment to provide value-adding solutions to contractors’ equipment choices. b

Named the Dealer of the Year at the conference, Machinery Exchange is enjoying a buoyant market in Zimbabwe.

One of the key focus areas during the meeting was to educate dealers about the wide market reach and opportunities offered by the complementary ranges within the Wirtgen Group.

Machines from the Wirtgen Group are widely used within SADC and, as a result dealers play an important role in infrastructure development.

The group offers equipment under the Wirtgen, Hamm, Kleemann, Ciber Benninghoven and Vögele brands.

The 2022 Wirtgen South Africa dealer conference hosted dealers from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana.

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