Africa

Afripack Pty Ltd is today a leading player in South Africa’s flexible packaging market. CEO Arnold Vermaak talks to Jayne Flannery about the company’s evolution from being a simple manufacturer of paper sacks.

Like many an African mining operation, Zimplats’ Ngezi mine lies in splendid isolation, 150 kilometres south-west of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare and is surrounded by...bush! Even though there is no expat workforce to push costs up, this remote location means that Zimplats has had to put in place competitive conditions of service in order to retain the full gamut of mining, engineering, geology and metallurgical skills it needs to keep the largest platinum resource in the country running effectively.

One of the first things that South African exploration company Sekoko Resources did when it was launched in 2004 was to establish a solid foundation for long term growth through the acquisition of a significant portfolio of exploration interests in Limpopo Province.

Managing directorof Southern African Shipyards (SAS) Louis Gontier has a burning ambition. He is determined to take Africa’s leading commercial and naval shipbuilder from a regional to a global platform.

The Port of Richards Bay is run by Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), part of the state-owned transportation authority Transnet, and was opened in April 1976 to handle the export of coal from Mpumalanga Province. Beginning with a modest two berths to handle coal, it has diversified and grown at an average rate of one additional berth every two years. Today it is South Africa’s largest cargo handling port, handling around 55 per cent of the country’s seaborne cargo.

Dr Angus Hay, head of Technology with Neotel, South Africa's first converged communications network operator, talks to Jayne Flannery about the golden thread of converged connectivity that runs through the company’s service offering.

Neotel’s head of Technology Dr Angus Hay sometimes likes to use the tagline “South Africa's first converged communications network operator” to describe the company, which was launched in 2006. 

NamPower, as Namibia’s national power utility, was established in 1964, with the ambitious vision of powering Namibia to new commercial heights. The utility’s major investment projects are among some of the largest ever carried out in Namibia and serve as the backbone of dynamic growth and diversification.

Fast 'n Fresh is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Imperial Group of companies, the holding company being listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. An operating company within the Consumer Products division of Imperial Logistics, Fast ‘n Fresh has its headquarters in Cape Town. It services the entire country from there and from a large and very modern distribution and fleet maintenance facility that was commissioned in Centurion, Gauteng, early in 2007, as well as a smaller depot in Durban.

Three years ago, construction commenced on a new coal-fired power station in South Africa’s Limpopo Province, near the town of Lephalale, close to the border with Botswana. Named Medupi—which means ‘rain that soaks parched lands, giving economic relief’—the plant will consist of six 800 megawatt units which will come online progressively, with a completion date of 2015.

National Starch, a subsidiary of the former UK group ICI, was taken over by Netherlands-based AkzoNobel as part of its acquisition of ICI in January 2008, but isn't considered part of AkzoNobel's core business. AkzoNobel is the largest coatings and specialty chemicals company in the world.
In 2009 National Starch had revenue of $1.2 billion from sales of specialty starches to local and multinational customers in the food, papermaking, consumer and industrial markets. With 2,250 employees around the world, it operates 11 plants in eight countries.