Construction World May 2017

NAMIBIAN DISTRIBUTOR Goscor Cleaning Equipment (GCE) is extending its footprint in the mining and retail sectors in Namibia with the appointment of Elso Holdings as its official distributor, with effect from the beginning of the year.

During his time with the firm, Goosen exceeded financial targets despite the challenging market, and he made significant contributions to increasing the business’s market share and improving customer relations. “Goosen has an excellent understanding of our Osborn appoints new MD Johan Goosen joins Osborn from Atlas Copco, where he managed Drilling Solutions and, in his most recent role of regional business line manager, was responsible for Mining and Rock Excavation Services. “We were on the lookout for a partner hungry enough to grow its own business. Elso Holdings has an ambitious growth plan, and was looking for a reputable equipment supplier to take it to that next level. Its footprint in the Namibian region is critical, and it operates in a market segment complementary to us. We look forward to building on this important relationship,” Venter concludes.  In addition, certain specialised product ranges such as GCE’s Makro and Elgin road-sweeper range will also be available from Elso Holdings. Commenting on the decision to partner with the company, Venter points out it is a well-established and highly-respected Namibian company, and shares the family-orientated business values and ethics that underpin GCE’s continued success in South Africa. Esterhuizen reveals that Elso Holdings is in the process of establishing its own workshop facility to allow its fully-trained technicians to offer complete customer service and aftermarket support. In addition, the company will have a full stockholding of consumables and critical spares for the GCE machine population already operating in Namibia, in addition to expanding its equip- ment footprint. “We do aim to offer a refurbishment service in the future, but the main focus at the moment is to get the technical team up and running so that it is able to maintain and repair the GCE equipment,” Esterhuizen elaborates. GCE’s national technical support manager has already paid a visit to Elso Holdings to assist with training requirements, while the sales staff paid a visit to the Johannesburg head office in February for specific product training.

Rene Rusch, CEO of ELSO Holdings cc, with Rondhir Haripersad, Goscor GM for Africa.

One of the oldest, most environmentally-aware cleaning-product manufacturers in Namibia, Elso Holdings was established in 1956 under the leadership of founder Rene Rusch. The latest addition of GCE equipment to the company’s product portfolio represents the next stage in its ambitious growth strategy for the Namibian region. The main brands to be distributed across Elso Holdings’ seven locations in the region are Ghibli, a leading manufacturer of wet and dry commercial vacuum cleaners and scrubbers. Delfin industrial manufactures vacuum cleaners and suction units for solving particular material cleaning and recycling problems. However, the flagship product range to be distributed by Elso Holdings is GCE’s Tennant range. “Namibia as a market is definitely picking up, especially with the recent discovery of large platinum deposits in the Swakopmund area. Then there is the Husab uranium mine, one of the largest in the world,” GCE General Manager Greg Venter comments. He also highlights Namibia’s NAD86-million Walvis Bay port expansion project, which is on target to be completed by May 2017 by developer China Harbour and Engineering Company (CHEC). The ambitious project will create a new island from reclaimed land, and almost double container capacity from the current 375 000 TEU a year to 650 000 upon completion. Covering 40 ha, the new terminal will have a quay length of 2 100 m. Apart from mining and infrastructure development, the Namibian retail sector is also booming, with two new shopping malls in Swakopmund alone, and one in Walvis Bay. “It is an important growth market for us, and in tandem with Elso Holdings, we will be ideally positioned to take advantage of all of these opportunities,” GCE national sales manager Peter Esterhuizen explains. With its array of chemicals and other consumable product for the cleaning industry, it is a natural fit to add the GCE product range. “There are natural synergies between us, and it will empower Elso Holdings to be able to offer a total solution to its customers.”

industry and its challenges,” comments Richard Patek, group president of Astec Aggregate & Mining, of which Osborn is a subsidiary. “He believes in an entrepreneurial approach to business that is founded on a customer focused philosophy. This is supported by strong leadership skills and interpersonal attributes. We are delighted to welcome him to the Osborn family.” 

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD MAY 2017