Capital Equipment News June 2019

INTERVIEW

QASIM’S BACKGROUND Qasim Abrahams joined Metso in 2017 as vice-president – Sales & Service Southern Africa. He brought a wealth of knowledge of the African market from his previous engineering, sales and management roles. A mechanical engineer by profession, he started his career as a design engineer in the offshore mining sector where he was also involved in quality control and commissioning. He joined Metso from ABB. During his initial stages of his ABB career in 2009, he spent the first six months across in Africa, putting together a market approach in a bid to develop the company’s business outside South Africa at a time when only 30% was generated from markets outside the country. He went on to hold several key managerial positions, and his last role before he joined Metso was that of head of a business unit, focusing on the sub-Saharan African market.

Qasim Abrahams has been appointed senior vice- president for the Africa market area at Metso.

Metso recently declared Africa an independent market area within the Metso organisation. Africa was previously managed from the Middle East office as part of Metso’s Middle East Africa market area. Qasim Abrahams has since been appointed the senior vice-president for the Africa market area to head up the business on the continent. Munesu Shoko recently caught up with him to unpack the strategy and some of the plans to drive the business forward. Leading Metso’s Africanisation strategy

Munesu Shoko [MS]: You have taken the reins as Metso’s senior vice- president for the Africa market area, effective February this year. What does the role entail? Qasim Abrahams [QS]: It’s about taking holistic responsibility of the African market area at large, including sales and operations. It basically entails the end-to-end management of the business across the continent. In terms of scope, my responsibility extends to both the mining and aggregates segments. MS: You have been tasked with leading Metso’s development in Africa. Tell me more about the strategy. QA: For Metso, it is about making decisions closer to home. For us to truly deliver value to our customers, we need to understand their challenges. To understand the local challenges, we need to be part of the local environment. That being said, with my home country being South Africa, it doesn’t necessarily mean that I understand all the operational intricacies across the rest of the continent.

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS JUNE 2019 30