Modern Quarrying October-November 2015

ON THE COVER

Afrimat – building strength beyond borders

approach that it would not enter the market unless it had been awarded a fairly substantial contract. “We bid primarily to Portuguese companies as well as other international companies. We had a busi- ness plan and had found a source but we had no presence. At that stage, our presence was flights into Mozambique and handing out business cards. This low-risk approach didn’t work for us and forced us to revisit our strategy.” Afrimat believes that Africa is its most natural move, and considered Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, and Mozambique again.“We walked away from Nigeria and Ghana for various geographical and other challenges; Zambia had options but we couldn’t find the right partnership agreement and the eco- nomics didn’t work for Afrimat. “We returned to Mozambique having identified the Tete-Ncala railway line as a viable opportunity; not in Ncala itself but in the hinterland where work is required and where the offerings are not that many. We have been successful in our bid for a con- tract, and this was our first step into Mozambique. “At the same time, the Cabo Delgada Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) project, spearheaded by two international companies, Anadarko and ENI, came to the fore,” he says. The project is advancing an onshore LNG park

JSE-listed company Afrimat has extended its reach into Mozam- bique, supporting the rapidly developing region with high quality aggregate products for civil and mining projects, as well as drilling and blasting services. It has established quarries in Pemba and Cuamba in the northern region with another quarry planned for Palma. Dale Kelly chats to Gerhard Odendaal, MD Afrimat Con- tracting International about the reasons behind this move.

N ew business development is a key component of the group’s growth strategy. Under the leadership of Carl Malan, the dedicated business devel- opment team is focused on identify- ing and pursuing opportunities in existing markets, as well as in anticipated new high growth areas. “With our diversification policy at Afrimat, we made a clear decision to start investigating and procuring an international income stream in addi- tion to our South African base. This is a broader Afrimat strategy and we targeted specific areas in Africa with Carl, myself and other team members travelling into Africa,” Odendaal explains. The senior management team visited Mozambique some four years ago, with the

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MODERN QUARRYING October - November 2015