Construction World April 2019

Okavango River bridge: Reinforcement being carefully lowered into the cased pile hole.

African cities stretching from Cape Town to Nairobi, from Accra to Mauritius and many places in between.” Braithwaite says that another important competitive advantage of being part of the Keller group is that Franki has been able to bring world-class technology to the African market: the rigid inclusion ground improvement technique to the Clairwood Logistics Park in Durban, large diameter cluster hammers to the Hass Towers project in Nairobi and deep cased augers socketed into bedrock to the Okavango River Bridge in Botswana, which is discussed alongside. “Indeed, there is much more that will help us to continue providing our customers with the appropriate solutions at the right price,” says Braithwaite. “This includes simplified, standardised business processes, LEAN construction and data analytics, which, along with an obsession with skills development, will underpin our continued success on this continent. Franki’s values Franki has always been a values driven company and its successful integration into the Keller organisation is undoubtedly, in large part, a result of the shared value system of both companies which can be summarised as follows: Integrity: Consistently acting with honesty, fairness and positive intent; Collaboration: There is a huge amount of collaboration required to take a job to fruition, both internally and with our customers, suppliers and counterparts. Good relationships and mutual respect are foundational; Excellence: Excellence is the application of skill and diligence in the delivery of every project. It is the mindset of: We can and must continue to get better. We can never be satisfied with the status quo. Summary Franki Africa has a long history of success

Integrity, collaboration and excellence Meanwhile Errol Braithwaite, Franki MD, says that he is proud of the quality projects that Franki is currently involved in, especially in this very challenging economic climate. “There is no doubt that the construction industry in Southern Africa is facing one of the most pressured periods in its history – many companies are having to reinvent their business models, some will close, foreign companies are entering the market, skills are exiting the market and confidence is down. “In spite of this, however, I remain confident about the future. In our own organisation we are still experiencing a buoyant order book and, importantly, we are seeing excellent young talent emerging which is more representative of our diverse nation than ever before. Through our parent company, Keller Group plc – the largest independent geotechnical construction company in the world – we have unprecedented access to international expertise and technologies and, with Keller, Franki has a local presence in

on the African continent and its experience and expertise have been greatly bolstered by being part of Keller with which it shares all the values that will enable Franki to continue giving its clients a world class service. “We are fortunate to have some of the best people, technologies and equipment on the continent and it is our responsibility to continue delivering excellence across the board to all our customers,” Braithwaite says. He adds that perhaps Franki’s most important attribute is the quality of customers it has attracted over the years. “This has been a privilege of the highest order and I am pleased to be able to express our gratitude to them out loud and in public,” he concludes. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION Franki Africa +27 11 531 2700

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD APRIL 2019