Africa

Zimbabwe-based Meikles has spent three years rebuilding its retail, hotel and tea growing business in the aftermath of devastating hyperinflation. Executive director Mark Wood talks to Gay Sutton about new business opportunities and plans for growth.

Meikles is a household name in Zimbabwe: 17 Meikles-branded department stores and a luxury five-star Harare hotel form the face of a company that has extensive experience in retail, hospitality and agriculture dating back to 1892.

IPP Resources of Tanzania has a double distinction: not only is the company Tanzania’s largest diversified resources group, but also Tanzania’s only wholly indigenous mining and exploration entity.

A restructure in 2008 has transformed the fortunes and profile of one South African organisation completely, as Alan Swaby reports.

The name is the same. Many of the business sectors and activities are the same. But the profile and vision of Imperial Holdings has undoubtedly changed from what it was five years ago.

After cleaning and greening South Africa, Judy Nankervis, managing director of Blendwell Chemicals, talks to Jayne Alverca about extending the company’s reach across the African sub-continent and beyond.

In a host of industrial, commercial and manufacturing settings, cleanliness has vital implications for employee and customer safety and satisfaction. Grease and dirt is not only unsightly, it can harbour all manner of unpleasant micro-organisms and easily lead to litigation, especially in food handling industries.

As 2012 begins, Jannie Viljoen, manufacturing director of the new Mount Edgecombe site of Altech UEC South Africa, is presiding over the African continent’s most advanced facility of its type. Jayne Alverca reports.

London, UK-based Bisichi Mining has announced that its principal South African coal mining subsidiary, Black Wattle Colliery, has been approved an allocation of 87,500 tonnes of export tonnage at Richards Bay Coal Terminal.

The allocation falls under the four million tonnes per annum Quattro Programme, which allows junior black economic empowerment (BEE) coal producers—typically with annual export volumes below 250,000 tonnes per annum—access to the coal export market.

The allocation is provided on an annual basis.

Kenya Meat Commission is determined to resume its leading position in East Africa as a producer of top quality meat cuts and processed products. Julia Smith reports.

 British American Tobacco’s Nigerian subsidiary has a near-monopoly, commanding 80 per cent of the market—but this position has not been achieved without hard work and a positive strategy towards health and economic development.

The Coca-Cola Company’s 300 worldwide bottling partners are the powerhouse behind the global brand, as Becky Done finds out in discussion with Coca-Cola Bottling Egypt.