Construction World December 2019

COVER STORY

STILL CREATING POSSIBILITIES AFTER 85 YEARS

This year AfriSam is celebrating 85 years as a leading diversified construction materials supplier. The company has endured various industry cycles and has withstood many tough times. Construction World spoke to four of its executives about the importance it has always placed on quality, having energised and motivated people to serve customers, and how this becomes the bedrock for success, particularly in tough times.

A tough cycle ̸7R XQGHUVWDQG WKH ORFDO FRQGLWLRQV̹ VD\V $FWLQJ &(2 5RE :HVVHOV ̸RQH KDV WR XQGHUVWDQG WKH JOREDO FRQWH[W &HPHQW SURGXFWLRQ LV KLJKO\ FRPSHWLWLYH DFURVV WKH ZRUOG ZLWK D JHQHUDO RYHUVXSSO\ &KLQD experienced a rapid industrialisation phase and therefore had a huge FDSDFLW\ $V GHYHORSPHQW WKHUH VORZHG GRZQ WKH IRFXV VKLIWHG IURP LQGXVWULDO WR FRQVXPHU OHG JURZWK ZLWK KXJH FOLQNHU DQG FHPHQW RYHUFDSDFLW\ DV D UHVXOW ̹ Most markets in Africa have greater supply than demand – H[DFHUEDWHG E\ LPSRUWV PDLQO\ IURP 9LHWQDP ,UDQ DQG &KLQD ̸7KHUH DUH QRZ PRUH VXSSOLHUV WKDQ ZH DUH KLVWRULFDOO\ XVHG WR̹ VD\V 5LFKDUG 7RPHV ̰ 6DOHV DQG 0DUNHWLQJ ([HFXWLYH ̸/RZ GHPDQG LQFUHDVHG FRPSHWLWLRQ DQG WRXJK FHPHQW FRQGLWLRQV KDYH OHG WR PDUJLQ VTXHH]H DQG D QHHG IRU EXVLQHVVHV WR EH FOHYHUO\ UXQ ̹ +DQQHV 0H\HU $IULVDP̵V &HPHQWLWLRXV ([HFXWLYH VD\V WKDW HYHQ WKRXJK WKHUH DUH JURZWK QRGHV VXFK DV LQ 3HUX DQG %UD]LO WKHVH DUH VWLOO GRZQ IURP ZKHUH WKH\ ZHUH “Cement is still the preferred product for infrastructure development but the local industry is faced with cheap imports IURP $VLD̹ VD\V :HVVHOV ̸7KURXJK 7KH &RQFUHWH ,QVWLWXWH LQGXVWU\ LV ORRNLQJ WR HQJDJH ZLWK JRYHUQPHQW DQG ,7$& WR OHYHO WKH SOD\LQJ ͤHOG :H DUH QRW RSSRVHG WR FRPSHWLWLRQ LW MXVW QHHGV WR IDLU FRPSHWLWLRQ ,I ZH DUH JRLQJ WR DGYDQFH LQFOXVLYHQHVV DQG transformation and pay carbon taxes the local industry has to be YLDEOH 2WKHUZLVH ZH KDYH QR PHDQV WR LPSOHPHQW RXU VRFLDO DQG ODERXU SODQV IRU FRPPXQLWLHV DURXQG RXU TXDUULHV ZKLFK DUH UHTXLUHG WR UHWDLQ RXU PLQLQJ ULJKWV ̹ The situation locally “Spend by the government on infrastructure is a driver that has been WDNHQ RXW RI WKH SLFWXUH IRU VRPH WLPH QRZ 7KHUH DUH VOLJKW VLJQV RI KRSH EXW QRWKLQJ VXEVWDQWLDO 7KH EXLOGLQJ LQGXVWU\ PDLQWDLQHG OHYHOV ZHOO XQWLO 7KLV LV GULYHQ E\ WKH SULYDWH VHFWRU +RZHYHU the building sector has experienced drops of almost 20% in two

FRQVHFXWLYH \HDUV GXH WR ORZ FRQͤGHQFH OHYHOV ZKLFK KDV UHVXOWHG LQ VLJQLͤFDQW GHFOLQH LQ UHVLGHQWLDO DQG QRQ UHVLGHQWLDO EXLOGLQJ VSHQG̹ VD\V :HVVHOV $YL %KRRUD &RQVWUXFWLRQ 0DWHULDOV ([HFXWLYH VD\V WKDW 6RXWK Africa witnessed this decline with the demise of big construction FRPSDQLHV ZKLFK ZDV GXH WR WKH ODFN RI LQIUDVWUXFWXUH EXLOGLQJ ̹ AfriSam’s maintains its resilience in 2019 ,Q WKH PLGVW RI WKLV GHSUHVVHG VWDWH RI FRQVWUXFWLRQ ̰ JOREDOO\ DQG ORFDOO\ ̰ $IUL6DP FHOHEUDWHG \HDUV DV D FRPSDQ\ LQ ̸7KH FRPSDQ\ KDV ZLWKVWRRG PDQ\ F\FOHV DQG WRXJK WLPHV̹ VD\V 7RPHV ̸$V D EXVLQHVV $IUL6DP LV LQ D JRRG VSDFH 7KLV \HDU ZH DFKLHYHG high Voice of Customer VFRUHV ̹ 7KLV EL DQQXDO UHVHDUFK FRQGXFWHG E\ &RQVXOWD VXUYH\V D VDPSOH RI FXVWRPHUV ,W WHVWV WKH FRQWDFW FHQWUH WKH TXDOLW\ RI SURGXFWV DGPLQLVWUDWLRQ TXDOLW\ FRQWURO GHOLYHULHV RYHUDOO VHQWLPHQW DQG FXVWRPHUV̵ UHSXUFKDVH LQWHQW ̸&RPSDUHG WR FRPSHWLWRUV $IUL6DP̵V VFRUHV ZHUH WKH KLJKHVW̹ DGGV 7RPHV “The research was done at a time when sentiment in the country ZDV ORZ VR WKH VFRUHV ZH DFKLHYHG DUH HQFRXUDJLQJ :H PD\ QRW EH WKH ELJJHVW SOD\HU EXW ZH DUH JHWWLQJ JRRG VXSSRUW IURP RXU YDOXHG FXVWRPHUV DQG OR\DOW\ OHYHOV DUH KLJK̹ VD\V :HVVHOV Meyer says what stands out from an operational point of view is WKH IRFXV RQ RSHUDWLRQDO HͦFLHQFLHV ZLWK ORZHU OHYHO HPSOR\HHV DOVR EX\LQJ LQWR LW ̸:H IRFXV KHDYLO\ RQ WKH UHOLDELOLW\ RI RXU HTXLSPHQW 7KH PDLQ HTXLSPHQW DW RXU 'XGͤHOG SODQW LV UXQQLQJ DW 2YHUDOO (TXLSPHQW (IIHFWLYHQHVV 2(( 7KH LQGXVWU\ EHQFKPDUN LV EHWZHHQ DQG IRU 2(( 2YHUDOO $IUL6DP H[FHHGV D FRPELQHG VFRUH RI ZKLFK LV D QHZ UHFRUG IRU XV ̹ “Our approach to people and our key stakeholders makes us UHVLOLHQW̹ VD\V :HVVHOV ̸,W LV YLWDO WR LQYHVW LQ RXU HPSOR\HHV DQG WR PDLQWDLQ SRVLWLYLW\ GHVSLWH WKH WRXJK HQYLURQPHQW ,Q DGGLWLRQ RXU approach to our customers has been a core part of our business for GHFDGHV :H VWD\ FORVH WR WKHP HQVXUH ZH GHOLYHU TXDOLW\ SURGXFWV

B E S T P R O J E C T S 2019

4