Capital Equipment News October 2017

The company also has plans to set up a branch in Solwezi before the end of 2017, to strategically provide services to a key mining destination in the country, boasting some of the largest mines such as Kansanshi, Lumwana and the new Kalumbila mine. Lumwana mine is one of the largest copper mines in the world, and is said to have one of the largest mills in the world, the largest crane in Africa and has the largest trucks in southern Africa, with some of them running on Cummins engines. Kalumbila mines, also known as Sentinel Mines, was opened by First Quantum Minerals by the end of 2014 and has the capacity to produce 300 000 tonnes of copper a year. “We see a lot of investments by mining companies in Zambia as they seek to expand their operations, amid improving copper prices. As a key supporting company to the mining industry, we have seen the need to invest in improving our capabilities to meet the demand ahead of us,” says Kwegyir- Aggrey. “We are investing in the training of our people to equip them with the necessary skills to be able to support our customers. We are also investing in greater spare parts inventory to support the growing population of our engines. This is also one of the reasons we moved to Kitwe because we felt that Chingola was a bit remote from where our key mining customers are based.” Cummins Zambia’s business into the mining sector is largely driven by the support of its engines used in various OEMs’ pieces of equipment. Cummins has key partnerships with several OEMs such as Komatsu, Liebherr, Sandvik, Atlas Copco and Hitachi, to mention a few, using its engines in some of their equipment such as shovels, excavators, loaders and trucks. Towards diversification Having largely depended on the cyclical mining sector, Kwegyir-Aggrey reiterates that Cummins Zambia is on a drive to diversify its business. “We are looking at diversifying our business activities in Zambia with a specific immediate target to venture into three other sectors, namely: automotive, filtration and power generation,” he says. While power generation, which is handled by an authorised dealer, is already a key business area, Kwegyir-Aggrey says Cummins will further make some sizeable investments into this sector, especially to increase backup power capacity to help businesses get the better of Zambia’s power deficit. Zambia’s maximum national power demand currently stands at 2 030 MW, against a total national installed capacity of just under 2 400 MW, according to power utility Zesco. Zambia’s electricity deficit rose to 1 000 MW in 2016 as the nation cut hydropower generation

KEY TALKING POINTS

Mining constitutes up to 90% of Cummins Zambia’s business

Cummins Zambia is on a drive to diversify its business into automotive, filtration and power generation

The company is investing in the training of its people to equip them with the necessary skills to be able to support its customers

Cummins Zambia invests over US$1 million in the relocation of its office from Chingola to Kitwe

assume sufficient electricity will be available to increase copper production. On the back of these positive economic indicators, Cummins Southern Africa is optimistic about the growth of its Cummins Zambia business. As part of its strategy to make the most of Zambian opportunity, the company recently appointed a new general manager, Meshach Kwegyir-Aggrey, a proven strategy executor with vast experience across power generation and mining industries. Backed by a proven track record in his previous senior management roles, he is undoubtedly the ideal candidate to drive Cummins Zambia’s ambitious growth plans in the country. Kwegyir-Aggrey has previously held several senior management positions at Cummins Ghana where he grew the market by over 50%, ultimately winning the Best Africa Power Generation Distributor award in 2011, before doubling sales again in a record-breaking year in 2012. In his first major task since taking the reins at Cummins Zambia, Kwegyir-Aggrey has successfully overseen the company’s relocation from its previous Zambian head office in Chingola to Kitwe at the end of August. As part of the plans to accelerate business growth in the country, Cummins invested in excess of US$1 million in the relocation of the office to Kitwe, the second- biggest city in Zambia after the capital,

Lusaka. The move places the company right at the centre of the Copperbelt, which is the mining hub of Zambia. “We are strategically positioning ourselves to support mining activities in the Copperbelt,” Kwegyir-Aggrey tells Capital Equipment News . Mining matters Historically, Cummins operated in Zambia for many years before ceasing its business activities in the country in 2008 at the height of the global economic crisis at the time. Cummins Zambia reopened its doors again in 2010. “For the past seven years we have seen improved business activity, largely through our support of the mining industry in the country,” says Kwegyir-Aggrey. The relocation to Kitwe was a decision largely driven by the need to be closer to mining customers operating in the Copperbelt. “We realised that Chingola was far from the bulk of our mining customers operating in the Copperbelt, and we needed to locate ourselves closer to our core mining customers to be able to improve service turnaround times,” says Kwegyir-Aggrey. Cummins Zambia’s operations are predominantly focused on mining at this stage, although Kwegyir-Aggrey reiterates the need to diversify the business moving forward. The mining sector constitutes about 90% of Cummins Zambia’s revenues.

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