Africa

ArcelorMittal South Africa has offered to pay R800 million for Imperial Crown Trading (ICT), which holds rights to a 21.4 per cent prospecting stake in Kumba Iron Ore's Sishen Mine.

ArcelorMittal used to own the ICT stake, but lost it last April when it failed to convert it in line with new legislation.

Anglo American subsidiary Kumba owns the remaining mining rights to the Sishen project, which supplies ore to ArcelorMittal at a preferential rate, following an agreement made in 2001.

South Africa is continuing to embrace the need for change through its Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) initiative. Gavin Davids tells Andrew Pelis how management restructuring in line with BEE means the sky is now the limit for Ruwacon.

Perhaps the biggest industrial change in South Africa in recent times has been the introduction of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), a tool that encourages businesses to hire, train and give ownership to the country’s black community.

Warehousing and distribution in South Africa faces many challenges, from high maintenance costs through to the lack of a skilled workforce. Managing director David Leisegang discusses with Andrew Pelis how Rennies Distribution Services has continued to hold its own.

The Port of Durban, catering for all cargo sectors and especially containers, automotive and bulk liquids, continues with its infrastructure investment programme in order to meet the needs of shippers and the South African industries they serve. Dave Ward, project manager for Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), told John O’Hanlon how the Durban Harbour Entrance Widening & Deepening (DHEW) project is taking the port into the era of the big ships.

Providing a retail foodservice to a largely poor population throws up its own challenges, as Alan Swaby learns.

There won’t be many national chains of retailers anywhere in the world that have outlets measuring from just 100 square metres, but that’s the reality of doing business in Malawi.

One of South Africa’s foremost research institutes is still going strong after 76 years—and has plenty of innovations on the horizon too, as Alan Swaby learns.

For an organisation dedicated to scientific and industrial change, Mintek has seen its fair share of structural, political and commercial changes over the years.

An architect of Africa’s improved infrastructure, Civicon puts its success down to its entrepreneurial spirit, as Andrew Pelis finds out.

Through the eyes of David Horsey, Eastern Africa represents a proven world of opportunity through a series of emerging countries that kick the term ‘Third World’ firmly to the road side. And the chances are that the road side in question may have been built by the company that David, and his brother Horace founded back in 1975.

Two years after acquiring its first mineral properties in Mali, Toronto-based Avion Gold Corporation has gone some way towards its goal of producing half a million ounces of gold a year. COO Andrew Bradfield talks to Gay Sutton about progress so far.

KZN’s Grid Group believes in using today’s ideas to solve today’s challenges in construction—and it is already working out tomorrow’s solutions as well, as Ruari McCallion discovers.

Sometimes, taking the next step in a company’s growth means giving up total independence, as Alan Swaby learns.

South Africa has a history of engineering contractors growing to the point where they implode and disappear. Over the years, most of the world’s biggest contractors have been attracted by the vast amount of work generated by the country’s mining industry; but you’d hardly know that now. Compare today’s crop of contractors with those of 30 years ago and only a few remain.