Jumia
Africa’s Leading Ecommerce PlatformWriter: Emily JarvisProject Manager: Donovan SmithFounded in May 2012 as an ecommerce platform designed to bring unrivalled, quality commodity choices to the emerging middle-class African consumer, Jumia has combined blue-sky thinking with considerable market research in order to bring better convenience and reliability to the African retail scene.Initially launching in Nigeria and Morocco three years ago, Co-CEO, Nicolas Martin says that he was driven by the idea to bring ecommerce to Africa “in a big way”, starting with two of the largest economies in North and West Africa.“The growth of access to data and consequently, access to the internet, in combination with the prospering Nigerian economy, provided the perfect platform for our ecommerce offering,” he highlights.“Jumia brings competitive pricings, choice, convenience and a flexible supply chain for reliable delivery of goods. We feel all of these dimensions can be of benefit to the African consumer.”Part of Africa Internet Group (AIG), which has a presence in more than 30 African countries via 10 other online service companies, Jumia shares the Group’s mission for the rollout of a successful internet business model. Today, the Company is the largest online retail store in Nigeria - with 2,000 staff in this country alone - and is well on its way to achieving the same leading status in 11 other countries across Africa.Value propositionDeploying Jumia’s ecommerce platform in Nigeria’s most populous city, Lagos – reported to have a population of 21 million in 2014 – showcased the true potential and demand for this retail service, further leapfrogging the physical retail…
Hyspec Mining Services
Seizing Opportunity in AfricaWriter: Emily JarvisProject Manager: Arron Rampling Growing from a single container Company in Ghana in 1996 into one that operates more than 65 hydraulic hose workshops on mines across 15 countries, Hyspec Mining Services (Hyspec) is considered the premier supplier of hydraulic parts and service equipment to the mining industry in Africa. Incorporated in Perth, Western Australia, Hyspec is part of the Fluiconnecto by Manuli Group, a division of Manuli Rubber Industries, known as a world leader in the manufacture of steel reinforced hydraulic hoses and fittings.With more than 250 employees distributed across registered offices in nine African countries – namely Guinea, Ghana, Mali, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, DRC, Zambia, Tanzania and Cote d’Ivoire; as well as Botswana and South Africa if Fluiconnecto by Manuli’s operations are included – Hyspec is contributing to the sustained development of the continent’s mining industry, supporting local mines in spite of the substantial price decrease of commodities that has hit the resources sector in the past two years.“As a result of this, mines had to find ways of reducing their operating costs, and this is where Hyspec’s value proposition comes in. By providing best-in-class quality products and implementing a number of preventative maintenance solutions that minimise the mining equipment’s downtime caused by hydraulic failures, we have been able to help mines increase production and also reduce total cost of ownership of machinery,” says Alan Wood, Managing Director of Hyspec Mining Services.Designed to withstandWorking hand-in-hand with Manuli Hydraulics’ research and development teams, Hyspec has benefitted from an enhanced product range which…
Redpath Mining SA Pty Ltd
Committed to Mechanical EfficiencyWriter: Emily JarvisProject Manager: Arron Rampling Redpath Mining remains led by its Founder’s philosophy to rise up in the face of challenge in order to succeed in a competitive mining environment. In line with these guiding words, the Company recently made the fundamental decision to move away from traditional handheld drilling and blasting methods, embracing world-class industry practices, in a move towards mechanising all projects within its portfolio to create the desire in the industry for its continued and valuable service offering.“Substantial capital investment has been put towards trackless mobile machinery to safely execute projects within a faster time frame and reduce total cost of ownership commitments,” highlights Bennie Burger, General Manager of Mining for Redpath Mining South Africa (Pty) Ltd.Established in 1962 by Jim Redpath, the Company has a rich history focused on calculated growth in order to maintain a high calibre reputation of executing mining projects all over the globe. The Group’s steadfast footprint around the world comprises operations on six continents in 19 countries with eight different spoken languages; spanning some of the most remote and extreme environments including arctic, high altitudes, deserts and tropical conditions.Determined to provide an unrivalled level of service to the mining industry which exceeds accepted standards, Redpath Mining has a controlled growth plan involving both internal and external improvement initiatives to embrace industry trends while staying at the cutting-edge of innovation, safety and mining practices.“Jim Redpath’s vision for the Company is much the same as it was in the beginning; offering a high level of service to the…
M Cubed Group
Retirement Supported by Tomorrow’s TechnologyWriter: Emily JarvisProject Manager: Callum Philp According to Statistics South Africa, there are currently more than 4.15 million South Africans aged over 60 in the country, and with quality of life tipped to improve in line with the growing middle-class trend, more and more young people are turning to life-assurance companies to take out a pension.As a 13B administrator operating in South Africa, M Cubed, also known as M3, is at the forefront of implementing employee benefit solutions to improve the retirement planning landscape, including the implementation of efficient, effective and relevant pensions and specialised retirement solutions. Through its innovative administration system, M Cubed is a prominent frontrunner in this niche – but growing – market segment of small to medium enterprises, exacting its proven ability to provide highly flexible, comprehensive and cost-effective benefits for the client.Comprising several key business areas including M Cubed Employee Benefits, Risk Solutions, Asset Solutions, Payroll and its foray into the cleaning services industry via M Cubed Hygiene, the M Cubed Group is able to provide value-enhancing products by maintaining open communication and trust with its partners and members. Given the rapid evolution of technology and the importance of its utilisation in the average business today, M Cubed’s administrative system allows clients to access an online services platform that provides customised financial solutions tailored to individual client needs. “We promote total independence through the quality, depth and diverse nature of our services. Our focus is to leave a legacy through our value-enhancing products by maintaining open communication and trust with…
EY Namibia
Responding to the Needs of the MarketWriter: Emily JarvisProject Manager: Callum Philp After benefitting from a successful global rebrand in 2013, EY Namibia is aligning with the wider, internationally renowned financial Group’s Vision 2020 in a bid to become the most integrated assurance and advisory Company in the world.Starting business in Namibia in 1956 and adopting a variety of names in the past seven decades - most recently known as Ernst & Young - EY has grown from a small practice offering limited assurance services, into a fully-fledged division of EY Group; with more than 80 employees and five partners. The first to introduce a dedicated tax service line in the country in 1996, EY Namibia quickly expanded its service offering in line with the increasing demand for tax advisory and compliance services.“Namibia’s economic growth began to dictate the need to address more sub-service focus areas, so we created several value-add offerings to add to our repertoire, including fraud investigation and dispute services (FIDS), internal auditing and transaction advisory services,” comments Cameron Kotze, Managing Partner of EY Namibia.Global alignmentWith a newly rejuvenated brand and Vision 2020 approach, EY Namibia has ambitious growth plans to develop its people and better position itself to replicate the same high standards offered by EY globally; partially driven by a series of recent acquisitions in the local market along with other continuous improvement goals.“One of our distinguishing factors is our ability to align with the multinational companies (MNCs) that operate in various markets around the world, strategically setting up our operations in the best…
Microensure
Unprecedented InsuranceWriter: Matthew StaffProject Manager: Callum Philp MicroEnsure has enjoyed an unprecedented rise in registered customers over the past 12 months as a result of its innovative product and distribution approaches, and is already setting its stall for the next 12 months in the low-income insurance bracket across the continent.The increase to seven million customers served in Africa, from the one million accounted for at the beginning of 2014, provides the answer to a question the Company asked itself prior to inception in 2002: “Is it possible to insure the low-income mass market?”A resounding “yes” has been the response from Ghana and Kenya initially, and now from a further eight markets across Africa, through its partner Group model comprising telecoms, banks and other aggregators.With a global headquarters in the UK, MicroEnsure provides a turnkey solution portfolio from its regional headquarters in Nairobi - in partnership with its distributors - for brands looking to use insurance to drive their business: its offering including innovative product design; customised, customer-facing mobile technology; back-office operations; risk management; policy and claims administration; customer engagement; and ongoing product performance management. Marketing Director, Peter Gross adds: “Low-income customers can’t afford to pay the same premium as typical insurance customers, and yet they face greater risk. We found that we could serve this market sustainably by lowering administrative costs, reaching scale quickly, building great products, and preserving trust through fast claims payment. “In the process we uncovered dozens of new ways to provide insurance and we’ve become the fastest-growing provider in Africa by outreach.”An additional four million customers around…
Laurus Development Partners
West Africa’s Sustainable PioneerWriter: Matthew StaffProject Manager: Stuart Parker Laurus Development Partners is realising its ambitions of introducing international standard, sustainable projects to Ghana and Nigeria, just five years into its exciting tenure in the region.The property development Company is a brainchild of private equity Group, Actis and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Carlo Matta, set up in 2009 to address the lack of execution capabilities on the ground, as well as to support the former’s investment strategy across the two countries.Less than six years on and Laurus is already close to managing $400 million developments on Actis’ behalf, having completed its first office project, and beginning work on a further two moving into late 2015 and beyond.Matta recalls: “Laurus is the result of a meeting of minds and alignment of goals and vision between Actis, me and a handful of property professionals who are part of my team.“I was fascinated by the changes and transformations West Africa had been going through since 2000; urbanisation, the emergence of middle-class, political stability and growth. I wanted to be part of it. I thought that the partnership with a strong player like Actis would give us the opportunity to make a difference and to work on exceptional projects, and this has been the case. In 2010 I moved to Ghana and started building the team.” Pulling together repatriates and expatriates among both local and overseas markets, the “exciting ride” that has subsequently ensued has proved every bit as successful as Matta hoped, not only in creating a diverse and extensive service proposition, but…
Samani Construction
Quality and Ethical WorkmanshipWriter: Matthew StaffProject Manager: Stuart Parker For the best part of 18 years, Samani Construction has built a strong reputation in Kenya for its sustainable projects and ethical workmanship, as the focus now turns towards replicating its success across a wider footprint.Opening in 1997 as a small joinery workshop, a series of expansions, investments and organic growth opportunities has led the business towards a more turnkey approach in recent years, encompassing fit-outs and small construction works.As a family run business, the Company’s growth has been facilitated by an internal flexibility and entrepreneurial flair which, in turn, has a direct knock-on effect on the quality of work carried out by each employee.Ultimately, the reputation that has manifested as a consequence has been the pulling factor for a series of significant contracts attained over Samani’s tenure in the Kenyan market, and beyond.The picturesque Sirai House in Nanyuki is just one example of the Company’s ability not only to produce state-of-the-art constructs, but to do so in-keeping with different environments, terrains and sceneries to best complement the area.Capital Club in Nairobi is further proof of this ability, with ‘East Africa’s Premier Private Business Club’ indicative of Samani’s customised approach to catering for a range of clients’ needs.A synonymous high quality finish was also applied to the entrance of Sankara Hotel in Nairobi, setting the scene for similarly high profile projects being constructed by the Company at present.Managing Director, Dinesh Sachania notes: “At the moment, we are involved in refurbishing the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Windsor Golf Resort Hotel and the…
Vijay Construction
Working Together to Deliver QualityWriter: Emily JarvisProject Manager: Stuart Parker Established in 1979, Vijay Construction has grown from a small family-owned Company handling just two hotel projects, into a multi-disciplinary organisation offering in-house construction capabilities through a team of more than 50 trained professionals and close-to 1,500 skilled tradesmen. Chief Executive Officer, V.J Patel reminisces: “I started the Company as 90 percent shareholder, with my wife and brother taking a five percent share each. To this day, I hold 80 percent shareholding and the rest is distributed among the longstanding senior members of staff and close family.“From the beginning, our clients showed confidence in the business and, given my background working as a civil engineer - and eventually a Company Director - for the famous Laxmanbhai Construction, Vijay Construction started with its best foot forward.”Despite the challenging reverse business climate in the early 1980s due to the political unrest in Seychelles, Vijay Construction weathered the storm and emerged more motivated than ever before; leveraging the reliable local team gathered over this decade to take part in the construction boom which followed in the late 1990s.“In the past 10 years alone, business has grown beyond expectation; something that is hard to imagine for a Company that started with just two employees in the late 1970s. In the last financial year, we achieved a turnover of $50 million, thanks in part to the government’s opening of the construction market to foreign investment,” he adds.However, a recent change in government ruling has called for the construction of new hotels in Seychelles to…
MTN Rwanda : All Smiles at MTN
All Smiles at MTN RwandaWriter: Matthew StaffProject Manager: Donovan Smith MTN Rwanda has overcome strong market competition in recent years to once again solidify its positioning at the top of the country’s telecom market, with a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) keen to maintain the strong momentum achieved over the past 12 months especially.Having been a part of the wider MTN Group on the continent since 2002, the new incumbent, Gunter Engling is all too familiar with the facets that have made the brand name so successful in Africa and the Middle East. With an infrastructure - both internal and external - full of potential, he is honing in on the few remaining areas in need of improvement.“When I joined in July, 2015, I found an operation that was well run and well on its way to revenue diversification,” Engling says. “When Airtel and Tigo arrived in the market a few years ago, we had to get used to having competition, but my predecessor did a wonderful job in making MTN Rwanda a lot more agile and a lot more efficient.“However, one thing that I did notice, especially among our younger staff, was that people weren’t coming to work with smiles on their faces, so we have worked hard on creating an engaged and smiling workforce.”Engraining a more positive and productive culture doesn’t require a lot of investment, rather a change of philosophy, and this has been achieved subtly and methodically since the new CEO’s arrival; subsequently having a positive knock-on effect on employee efficiency and overall productivity which…
