Essential Business Magazine

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Nov-Dec 2014 Weatherford

Unveiling theSouth AfricanRegional Aircraft

Denel Aerostructures

VOL 1 ED 3

AFRICA

ACWAACWA Power Solarfrica Bokport CSP Power Plant

Intertek

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Kayen AlexanderCreative Director

Sam WrightEditor-in-Chief

Editors Letter

Production Manager

Lily BradicAssociate Editor

Project Director

Sales Director

Sales Executive

Financial Manager

Chief Operations Ofcer

Well, time is ying. This is already the

third issue of Essential Business, and

what a way to round off 2014.

For December, our lead feature is the hugely

successful Denel Aerostructures, a company that is

leading the groundbreaking South Africa Regional

Aircraft (SARA) project.

This month, there's a denite focus on the

continent's oil and gas industry too , with several of

our proles coming from members of the South

African Oil and Gas Alliance (SAOGA). This group

does signicant work in promoting South African

rms and representing their interests both at home

and abroad. To nd out more, take a look at page 5.

Elsewhere, there are great interviews with

companies as diverse as Container World, a leading

name in South Africa's container industry, and the

innovative oil and gas services rm Weatherford. At

the same time, there's some great insight from

multinational testing and services giant Intertek on

the future plans for its African businesses, as well as

proles of the fascinating ACWA Power Bokport

CSP facility and the Gauteng Freeway Improvement

Project.

Next year is already promising to be an exciting one

for Essential Business. We'll be expanding our

scope considerably, both in the nature and quantity

of companies that we feature. We'll have more news

in January, but until then, have a great Christmas

and New Year!

Sam WrightEditor-in-chief

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07 News Round-Up

05 SAOGASouth African Oil & GasAlliance

13 Denel Aerostructures (Lead Feature)Unveiling The South African RegionalAircraft

21 Weatherford

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. . .essent ia l ly your bus iness

29 ACWAACWA Power Solafrica Bokpoort CSP Power Plant

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Intertek

SANRAL GFIP

Netcare

Guateng Freeway ImprovementProject

59 Container World

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South African Oil and Gas Alliance

Operating as a partnership between

the public and private sectors, the

South African Oil & Gas Alliance

(SAOGA) dedicates itself to promoting the

upstream and midstream sectors of the oil

& gas value chain in South Africa.

South Africa's potential for gas energy

could make significant changes to the

region's energy mix. The resulting

transformation for the economies of South

Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa make

exploring this potential something that

SAOGA is very much behind. While current

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government policy is in place to regulate and

control this relatively young industry, it is

vital that exploration is encouraged in order

to attract the investment required to confirm

South Africa's onshore and offshore oil and

gas potential. Current storage and pipeline

projects are experiencing potential delays

due to a lack of clarity and stability on the

tariff structures that would allow them to

acquire the funding and investment they

need.

SAOGA envisions itself as the primary

facilitator for the upstream and mid-stream

oil & gas industry, and aims to stimulate

investment and development for the

benefit of stakeholders, members, and all

involved in the oil & gas industry.

The organisation focuses primarily on

promoting growth in four areas: marketing

and business development, creating an

attractive business environment, industry

capability development, and investment

promotion. Each of these activities plays a

key part in SAOGA's mission of driving

growth and promoting skills development

in Sub-Saharan Africa. By maximising

resources for governments, institutions and

private businesses in the area, SAOGA is able

to nurture the growth and development of

the region's oil & gas industry.

The Sub-Saharan region currently accounts

for 6.52% of the world's oil production and

3.19% of the world's gas production. While

this is, at present, only a small percentage of

the world's oil & gas production, these

numbers are expected to grow significantly

over the next few years. Spurred by the

technical services that have been improving

since the development of the South Coast

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offshore infrastructure in the late 1980s, as

well as local interest in the growth of the

East and West African fields, this growth is

predicted to continue as the upstream

exploration companies continue to

develop.

SAOGA's membership comprises of global

operators, consulting firms, field service

companies, engineering and procurement

organisations, and other local

organisations invested in the region's

industrial growth. By organising interaction

with key industry players and engaging

regularly at industry events, SAOGA is

working hard to grow its established

presence in the region's oil & gas industry.

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Round-UpNEWS

This month kicked off with the news that a

Chinese-funded seaport is to be constructed in

Bagamoyo, Tunisia. Work on the Indian Ocean

port will begin in July 2015, and deals have

already been signed with China Merchant

Holding International and Oman's State General

Reserve Fund. While 90% of Tunisia's imports

and exports are currently handled by Dar es

Salaam, container traffic is growing at a rate of

10% a year, making this expansion a timely and

necessary one.

"We will do whatever is possible to ensure the

project is carried out and completed, because

of its great economic benefits for the entire

country," said Tanzanian president Jakaya

Kikwete.

In other news, Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia

have come to an agreement on the

construction of a new multipurpose dam and

hydro power station on River Dawa in Mandera

County, Kenya. The process will be undertaken

by the Intergovernmental Authority on

Development (IGAD) and is aimed at harnessing

sustainable use of the natural resource.

“Harnessing the water from the river can solve

the persistent drought that the region has been

experiencing. We are optimistic that the process

will be successful since each of the States is very

positive about the proposal," said Mandera

Country governor Ali Roba.

Jakaya KikwetePresident of Tanzania

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The announcement of preferred bidders for the

fourth round of South Africa's Renewable

Energy Independent Power Producer

Procurement Programme (REIPPP) has been

postponed, it was announced last week. The

delay is not entirely unexpected, and comes

after financial closing of the third round was

pushed back. These delays are primarily due

to grid connection problems that became

apparent when attempting to connect various

round-three projects to the grid.

In other news, Sudan announced this week

thatgold production from January through to

October was 64 tons, compared to 34 tons in

2013. The Ministry of Mining predicted last year

that 70 tons would be produced before 2015.

Minister for minerals, Ahmed Mohammed Sadiq

al-Karu, expects the sector to lead “to the next

boom in the future”.

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Last week, BMG announced the new additions

to its food-grade belts range: Silicone and PTFE

coated process and conveyor belts and folder

gluer belts.

“There are many applications in the food

processing sector where standard process or

conveyor belts cannot be used,” said Ryan

Forsyth, manager of BMG's light materials

handling division. “AmmeraalBeltech's new

Food Grade Peak process and conveyor belts

and Rapplon FDA approved folder gluer belts

for contact with dry foodstuffs, enhance BMG's

portfolio of products suitable for the food

industry.”

Meanwhile, Pioneer Food, the company behind

Ceres fruit drinks and many other food and

beverage brands, has announced plans to drop

its bottling deal with PepsiCo in South Africa. The

deal was first signed in 2006, after PepsiCo

cancelled their agreement with New Age

Beverages. Pioneer Food will take 34 million rand

write-down in order to get out of their contract.

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This week, Nigeria's leading cable manufacturing

company, Coleman Wires and Cables, announced

plans to commit over N10 billion to Nigeria's cable

market. CEO George Onafowokan claimed that the

mega high voltage XLPE factory is the irst of its

kind in the West Africa region.

"This is a project that has cost us over N3billion,

though the overall expectation is about

N10billion. It is a Nigerian focus and it is in line

with the local content law. As the pioneer wires

and cables manufacturers, we expect to meet the

requirements and capacity of customers at all

times,” he said.

Meanwhile, South Africa's Trade and Industry

Minister Dr Rob Davies approved the new Medium

and Heavy Commercial Vehicles – Automotive

Investment Scheme (MHCV-AIS) guidelines earlier

this week. As a sub-component of the Automotive

Investment Scheme, the MHCV-AIS is designed to

stimulate investment in the production of vehicles

and grow the automotive sector in South Africa.

"The medium and heavy commercial vehicles

sector value chains are highly under-developed,”

said Davies on Sunday, “and there are

opportunities to deepen their value addition and

potential for employment creation.”

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Make planswith an essentially committed business partner

Denel AerostructuresAt the African Aerospace and Defence Exhibition in September, Denel Aerostructures unveiled their newest project: the South African Regional Aircraft. We spoke to CEO Ismail Dockrat to find out more about this exciting endeavour.

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www.denelaerostructures.com

Situated at the heart of the Ekurhuleni

Aerotropolis in the Gauteng Province,

Denel Aerostructures is a recognised

leader in the African aerospace industry.

The company was established in 1964, and was

the first on the continent to be NADCAP-

accredited across multiple technology

disciplines. After two years of debating what to

do with its extensive design and development

capabilities, Denel decided to deviate from its

military theme and instead identified a national

need for an efficient aircraft carrier for low-

density routes.

As the economy of the continent improves, the

demand for air travel has continued to grow. While

some of this air travel is serviced by larger, long-

haul aircraft, there is still a gap for an aircraft

capable of linking the less-populated regional

centres. “For smaller towns and cities with lower

population density there has been a great demand

for regional air travel, and for much smaller aircraft

in areas where the volumes wouldn't justify a larger

aircraft,” says CEO Ismail Dockrat.

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The solution Denel proposes is the South

African Regional Aircraft (SARA). The

project is to be led by Denel, and has

received significant support from the South

African aerospace community, including

industry associations, government

departments and academics. While the

project is still in its pre-development

stage, a prototype is expected within the

next ten years.

“The evidence suggests that there are lots

of these kinds of locations on the continent

that would have a need for such an aircraft.

For example, in the South African context,

it's places like Pietermaritzburg, Polokwane

and Nelspruit, specifically those kind of

municipalities, that we'd be looking at for

this kind of aircraft,” explains Dockrat. “We

believe that we have a contribution to

make towards connecting communities and

making it easier for people in urban

centres to be able to travel point-to-point.”

Using twenty-year-old technology, the

current aircraft on the market are no longer

economical or fuel-efficient. Very few of

them are pressurised, meaning they are

unable to fly above weather. The proposed

SARA is to be pressurised, seat fifteen to

twenty-four passengers in a four-abreast

seating solution, and serve low-density

routes.

For smaller towns and cities with lower population density there has been a great demand for regional air travel, and for much smaller aircraft in areas where the volumes wouldn't justify a larger aircraft”

“

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As of yet, no considerations have been

made for possible military uses. While it

may seem problematic to design such a

small passenger aircraft that is able to take

off and land on the short airfields that

currently exist in smaller regional centres,

Denel seem confident that they are up for

the challenge.

“We've done quite phenomenal things in

the past,” says Dockrat, speaking of Denel

Aerostructures' involvement in the military

side of the aerospace industry and the

success of the Rooivalk helicopter, “but we

haven't done something new in the last few

years. It's important for us to have an

exciting visionary programme to mobilise

the engineering design and artisanal skills

in our industry, one that will develop

excitement for young engineers in the

aerospace industry.”

Stimulating the country's young aerospace

engineers and technicians is a big focus for

Denel, and arguably plays a significant role

in their prominence in the African

aerospace field industry. While many

companies operating in South Africa have

struggled with the skills shortage, Denel

has its own solution.

“We do a lot of things,” explains Dockrat.

“We have a very strong engineering

academy. We have the dedicated Denel

Technical Academy, which brings aircraft

technicians. I think we've shown we can

make a contribution towards having the

right skills.” Denel Technical Academy — an

Aviation and Engineering apprenticeship

training institute — is located in Gauteng,

and was established over four decades ago

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to close the skills shortage within the

aviation industry.

“Sometimes it's a bit of a predicament. If

you don't have exciting things going on,

and you're lamenting the lack of skills,

sometimes it's because you're not doing

exciting things that you can create a

passion for,” says Dockrat. “When you talk

to young people about aviation, it's

something that they can become

passionate about, and it's something that

can inspire them to want to be better at

maths, better at science, and it gives

young people the kind of insight that they

need to pursue careers like engineering

and technical engineering.”

While SARA is expected to keep Denel

Aerostructures busy for the next few years,

the company will also be manufacturing

ISO locks — a combination of cross-tracks

and aluminium rails to be fitted into the

cargo holds of the giant aircraft that will be delivered

to international clients over the next six years.

Considering Denel's dedication to encouraging and

educating young technicians and engineers, this

high-activity period is unlikely to be anything but

positive for the leading company in the African

aerospace industry.

Using twenty-year-old technology, the current aircraft on the market are no longer economical or fuel-efficient. Very few of them are pressurised, meaning they are unable to fly above weather.

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Weatherford Thanks to its groundbreaking technology, oil services giant Weatherford has found itself at the forefront of Africa's ultra-deep drilling boom.

Back in 2007, Brazil's Petrobras uncovered

vast reserves of crude oil hidden under a

thick layer of salt off the country's

coastline. Buried at depths of 20,000 feet,

the two largest basins have now been

estimated to hold 50 billion barrels of

recoverable oil.

These are no small numbers. These reser-

ves are twice that of the largest offshore

field in the Gulf of Mexico, while the salt

crust can itself be up to 6,500 feet thick. At

the same time, this has helped spark a

wave of interest around offshore Angola,

where the pre-salt plays appear to be

analogous to Brazil's giant Santos and

Campos Basins.

Given the challenges of operating in these

conditions, innovative solutions are required. The

consistency of the salt layer, together with the fact

that it is constantly moving, means that holes often

fill in on themselves after drilling. At the same time,

both temperature and pressure are hugely

changeable.

To solve these issues, Weatherford has looked to

closed-loop drilling (CLD) technology. They add

additional equipment to the rig that enables the

rig's circulating system to be pressurizable, allowing

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www.weatherford.com

for increased safety, much greater control

of the well while drilling, and the ability to

detect and deal with well-kicks instantly.

CLD also enables Weatherford to deal with

the “Total loss of returns” by means of

their ability to switch to pressurized mud-

cap Drilling (PMCD) instantly.

Speaking to Essential Business, Huub Gans,

Weatherford's vice president for sales and

marketing for Sub-Saharan Africa, said that

now,“there's significant interest from

operators for the closed-loop drilling (CLD)

variant of managed pressure drilling (MPD)

in the sub-salt prospects offshore West

Africa, we have three projects going in

Angola as we speak”.

While this market is undoubtedly huge, the

company is also looking to other areas for

the technology, with onshore projects also

becoming a focus.

“We will be looking at CLD in order to avoid

nuisance gas in depleted fields and to

manage the pore-pressure/frac-gradient

uncertainties” Huub continues, referring to

the increased stability and safety by

reducing mud-losses and kicks using MPD.

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However, despite the success of CLD in US

shale plays such as the Eagle Ford, as it

stands Huub says that unconventional

projects, for CLD deployment in South-

Africa, are so far not on the cards.

Much of this is down to the opportunities

instead of the technology. South Africa,

which is thought to hold 485 trillion feet of

shale gas resources, the eighth largest in

the world, lifted an 18 month long

moratorium on the issuing of shale

licenses a year ago, but since then, no

permits have been granted.

Given that the country represents the

continent's best bet for shale-gas

production, the outlook — in the short-

term at least — is mixed. At the same time,

there are further challenges involved. The

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vast majority of reserves lie in the semi-

arid Karoo region, which is largely

uninhabited.

“It's initially all about the likelihood that

South Africa is able to monetize the gas,”

says Huub.“This requires pipeline

infrastructure and LNG facilities which are

super-costly. Unlike the USA too, you'll

need an abundance of heavy drilling rigs

because the Karoo shale gas horizon is at a

great depth. The local consumption market

in the Karoo is negligible due to its sparse

population.”

Moving forward, the company is looking to

improve its workforce even further – by

means of tapping into the local skill-sets in

order to contribute to the sustainable

development of the countries we operate

in.

“Building up our local talent pool is a key

challenge,” says Huub. “We need to be able

to bring more African talent to the table

and we are continuously recruiting to

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achieve this.”

At the same time, the recent drastic fall in

oil prices is certain to make for a more

testing environment. As the market

adjusts to the new price levels – and so

far, it is not yet clear what this may be –

some turbulence should be expected.

“The African oil industry will be affected

by the current low oil prices too,” says

Gans. “Some governments have based

their National-budgets on prices above

$80 per barrel. They will be adjusting

their figures as we speak.”

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ACWA Power Solafrica Bokpoort CSP Power Plant

ACWA Power Solafrica Bokpoort CSP Power Plant

The result of a joint venture between

ACWA Power and Solafrica, the

Bokpoort development won the

second CSP bidding window of South

Africa's Renewable Energy Independent

Power Producer Programme (REIPPP). With a

projected commercial operation date of 6

December 2015, work has progressed

rapidly, with construction now having past

the peak.

As an emerging market utility company

with more than 16,000MW in operation or

construction, ACWA Power develops, owns

and operates a range of power and water

assets around the globe, with the Southern

Cone of Africa being a key strategic growth

market. At the forefront of this is the

Bokpoort facility, which is set to be the

only storable renewable energy facility with

utility-scale “load-following” capability,

due to its 9.3 hours thermal energy storage

capacity, in the region.

“It's been fantastic so far. We had some

issues with regards to the national metal

industry strike that has caused some

delays, but apart from that we've been

doing reasonably well with the progress,”

says Nandu D Bhula, CEO of ACWA Power

Solafrica Bokpoort CSP.

“I think, the biggest challenge we have had

to overcome, was the ability to get local

skills to the level that is expected in order

to be productively employed and meet our

socio-economic development objectives.

We do have tough economic development

obligations, and the initial hurdle was to

get around that,” he continues. “But we

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successfully did, and we are doing

reasonably well in terms of getting a very

large proportion of our workforce from the

local community, the !Kheis Municipality.”

The skills shortage in South Africa has,

unsurprisingly, presented some issues

during the construction phases of the

project. “On the one hand, you're trying to

fulfil an economic development obligation

and have a large proportion of the local

community involved, but on the other

hand, they don't necessarily have the skill

sets at this stage for this type of

construction and subsequent operations.

It's a very rural community,” explains

Bhula. “Difficulties finding the necessary

skill sets nearby meant greater effort in

on-the-job training and focus in upskilling

through sponsoring technical training

courses at the existing local training

center.”

“The language barrier was also challenge.

The EPC contractor and their supervision

staff speak mainly Spanish, so it's difficult

to communicate and develop the staff that

is largely Afrikaans speaking. From a health

and safety supervision perspective, it has

been a challenge for us,” he explains.

“We've put effort into having multilingual

presentations done, and bringing in local

health and safety individuals who

understand the local legislations and then

we've shared that from a management level

down to the supervision. We've had to use

different types of media to spread health

and safety messages,” he continues. “That

includes setting up things like animated

story books that have specific site safety

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messages in it. So we've complemented our

multilingual communication efforts with

pictorial tutoring; and that has aided us in our

efforts.”

Once completed, the plant will have the largest

amount of thermal energy storage in the world

in its class. “We've got heat transfer fluid

travelling around 180 loops of solar field with

658,000m2 of reflective surface or mirrors,

with a large quantity of molten salt storage

which is new for this country in terms

technology. So, from that perspective, I think it

is very important that we have really well-

trained operators to mitigate the risks in terms

of managing the operation and maintenance of

the plant,” explains Bhula.

“The rest of the power block is stock-standard

steam power generation, and South Africa has

sufficient power plants in this area for us to be

able to get experienced operators and

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maintainers. It is just the thermal energy

storage and solar field heat transfer that

requires us to put a little more effort into

getting people trained up so that we are

confident that we can manage those going

forward safely.”

The Project's major shareholder is ACWA

Power from Saudi Arabia, and the group

values are aligned towards dealing with

socio-economic issues in the areas they

are investing in, aimed at addressing

poverty and contributing to social

upliftment. “The ACWA Power model is not

one where the owner comes in and builds a

project and then runs away with the

profits,” says Bhula. “Furthermore, projects

of this nature, typically start injecting

funds into communities as part of their CSI

commitments after revenues start coming

in but not in our case, we have started

investing in our community from the onset

and plan to contribute for the long-term.”

ACWA Power's attention in this respect has

been primarily on boosting skills —

providing computers to schools, training

the local communities, and giving out

bursaries to start technical training in the

area. Furthermore, given the rural nature of

the communities, there were many families

in the local areas without water or

electricity, a matter of high importance that

ACWA Power naturally addressed when

they first focused their attention on the

area.

“We've done a full analysis on the socio-

economic challenges in the area. There

were kids who could not study because

they had no lights, and essentially their

whole lifestyle were constrained as a result.

So, with the donation of PV panels to a

local Duineveldt community, we've brought

light into their homes, people's lifestyles

have changed, kids can study at night

without needing candlelight, they are doing

better in school and already have

possibilities of improving their livelihoods.

Aside from this, our topline water

reticulation project has delivered potable

water for the first time to the homes of

over 77 residence in the area. This is ACWA

Power's mission through projects like

Bokpoort and others to follow. It's not just

about solar development, it's about a long-

term commitment to the community.”

Looking to the future, ACWA Power has a

well-developed strategy towards building a

multi-fuel, multi-technology generation

portfolio of around 4,000 MW in the

Southern African region. For scale, South

Africa's generation target for the entire

REIPPP scheme is 3,725 MW.

“It is ambitious, but I don't think that it's

seriously out of our reach because we have

a very aggressive stance in that respect.

Furthermore, if you ask me if 4,000 MW of

solar energy development alone, in the

Northern Cape and surrounds is ambitious,

I say no. There is nothing stopping South

Africa from doing so. We have a huge

abundant solar resource, a hunger for

renewable energy and the technology itself

has high localisation potential and will only

get cheaper and cheaper. This will bring

I think, the biggest challenge we have had to overcome, was the ability to get local skills to the level that is expected in order to be productively employed and meet our socio-economic development objectives

“

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increased knowledge and competency in

the industry and more importantly, jobs.

We expect to spend over R1.6 billion in

local content through the Bokpoort project

alone,” says Bhula.

Chris Ehlers, business director for ACWA

Power Southern Africa further highlights

ACWA Power's strategy going forward:

“ACWA Power's focus countries are

Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia and

South Africa. We are fully committed as a

private utility company with a very long-

term approach. This includes the required

capital as well”. He continues, “South Africa

is seen as a hub for us to develop

economically and expand our footprint. We

have already committed to multiple

projects in this region.”

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IntertekAs a leading inspection and testing services provider, Intertek has been establishing its presence in South Africa for more than forty years. We spoke to sales and marketing manager Thomas Andrews to find out more about their operations.

With a global network of 1,000

laboratories and offices, and over

36,000 people in more than 120

countries, Intertek is the leading quality

solutions provider to a huge range of

industries worldwide. The company is

present in 24 African countries, and is

considered the market leader within South

Africa, in particular for petrochemical

testing and inspection solutions.

“We're a global company with global

structures in place,” explains Andrews.

“What we like to highlight is that Intertek

sells value quality delivered. It doesn't

matter if you're in South Africa, the UK, or

Australia – the level of service you get is

the same.”

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discharge facilities, to carrying out

environmental testing, to monitoring the

quality and volume of cargo.

Intertek is an ISO 9001:2008 certified

company with eight laboratories and ten

offices in South Africa, their flagship

laboratories having received accreditation

to ISO 17025. Accreditation for

laboratories, in addition to being an

industry requirement, serves as a means

for the company to measure its own

performance, and allow them to remain

experts in conformity assessment solutions

and provide clients with the confidence to

conduct their business in a global

marketplace.

“You don't just have a buyer and a seller

and a transaction. You have suppliers, you

have transporters, you have warehousers,

Currently, in Africa, the focus is particu-

larly strong on development of new energy

sources, from the development of liquefied

natural gas (LNG) to the up-and-coming

industries of innovative biofuels. Intertek is

assisting companies with working in these

challenging environments each step of the

way.

Speeding up

“What's important to remember is that the

energy industry is based around time”, says

Andrews. “Invariably we work with clients

who are operating on a just-in-time model

and we therefore assisting them with speed

to market.”

Intertek steps in to provide qualitative and

quantitative assessment whenever goods

change hands. These assessments take

many forms, from inspecting loading and

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you have freight forwarders, you have

clearing agents. All of these are involved in

the transaction,” Andrews continues. “At

various points, the custody of the cargo is

transferred over to them. And whenever it

is transferred from one party to another,

there is always a risk. So we act as the

impartial third party to evaluate the form,

the condition, and the integrity of the

consignment. In essence, we try to assist

with reducing the risk.”

This need for regulation and risk

management is present in any industry in

which commodities are traded. When it

comes to agriculture in South Africa,

biofuels are currently the source of a lot of

interest, in particular the vegetable and

palm oil being used as feedstock. Intertek

works throughout the value chain, from

early development and identifying which

feedstock to use, through to production,

What's important to remember is that the energy industry is based around time”, says Andrews. “Invariably we work with clients who are operating on a just-in-time model and we therefore assisting them with speed to market.

“

From developing biofuels to evaluating your environmental impact, Intertek is at the forefront assisting client with evaluating both products and systems compliance

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As a growing business globally, biofuels

are used alongside tradition fuels as

feedstock for a variety of processes for

both heavy industries and the generation

of electricity. As the world becomes more

environmentally sensitive, governments are

becoming increasingly aggressive with

their legislations in respect to

environmental issues.

“From developing biofuels to evaluating

your environmental impact, Intertek is at

the forefront assisting client with

evaluating both products and systems

compliance,” explains Andrews.

“One of the challenges with biofuel is that

it's a new product and in some part it

metamorphoses constantly. It's constantly

evolving. People are learning more about

what feedstock to use, and the advantages

and disadvantages of each — so it's

coming out, and we have to be there at the

forefront. It's a constant learning exercise

because new feedstocks are being used —

in aviation fuel, in other types of fuels —

and you see positive impacts from that,

and then in other areas you see

challenges,” he continues.

“Again, what we have to do is stay current,

look at what's happening globally and what

the trends are, and try to replicate where

there are success stories in respect of

testing, and try and introduce those

solutions here locally.”

Over the next year, Intertek is looking not

only to continue with its existing services,

but also to improve systems to ensure their

services remain at the forefront of quality

solutions. Intertek's newly established

Pressures

laboratory in Johannesburg will allow their

agricultural clients to enjoy the same

professional quality experience as is

currently enjoyed by the company's

petrochemical and petroleum customers.

This comes as part of the Intertek Group's

recent pushtowards a “One Intertek”

strategy, providing a much broader range

of services to clients worldwide. With the

scope on offer, the potential here is huge.

One of the challenges with biofuel is that it's a new product and in some part it metamorphoses constantly. It's constantly evolving. People are learning more about what feedstock to use, and the advantages and disadvantages of each — so it's coming out, and we have to be there at the forefront.

“

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Awhisper

can travelfar.

we arelistening,

the world is waiting!

Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project

The Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) is the single largest road project to be undertaken by the South African government in over 20 years, and was launched by South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) in 2006 to create a better road and freeway network in Gauteng.

As the economic heart of South

Africa, Gauteng has seen a boom of

housing, commercial, and industrial

property development over the last ten

years. The resulting increase in traffic

means that existing infrastructures are

now over capacity, and the road and

freeway networks no longer sufficient to

meet Gauteng's traffic demands. This has

consequences — from greater travel times,

to increased fuel consumption, to higher

vehicle emissions, to a lower level of

profitability for developments in the

province.

The Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project

(GFIP) was conceived by South African

National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) in

order to provide a solution to these

problems. The project is currently

underway, and aims to upgrade the

infrastructural network in Gauteng and

implement new freeways towards an

ultimate goal of a 560km network,

reducing traffic jams and travel times in the

province. Set to inject around 29 billion

rand into the South African economy, and

create around 30,000 direct jobs over the

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course of the project, GFIP will be

contributing to widened economic and

social development opportunities in

Gauteng.

While planning GFIP, SANRAL took several

alternative transport methods into

consideration, and strived to create links

with the Gautrain, Metrorail and Bus Rapid

Transport to provide the population with

more choice in term of public transport

and car-pooling. The aim of this is to

alleviate congestion, reduce emissions, and

improve motorists' road experience by

taking a more streamlined approach to

transportation. The roads and freeways

affected by the project will also enjoy

intelligent transport systems (ITS),

including variable management signs

(VMS), incident management services (IMS),

and CCTV cameras. The VMS provide

innovative traffic management services and

allow for safer, coordinated transport

networks, and have already been installed

during the first phase of the project. IMS

and CCTV allow SANRAL to optimise road

capacity, dispatch emergency services

more efficiently, and warn motorists of

congestion more effectively. Traffic

information is updated live on SANRAL's

traffic website, giving road users access to

incident alerts, construction updates,

traffic speeds, and other travel information.

Phase one of GFIP was planned before

South Africa received confirmation that

their 2010 World Cup soccer bid had been

successful, and while the phase was not

completed in time for the event, significant

effort was made to ensure that most of the

road widening and construction work was

completed in time to help Gauteng cope

with the additional tourism and resulting

traffic.

“There are about one million vehicles using

Gauteng's freeways every day and we

needed to ensure that traffic flowed safely

and contractors were not in harm's way,”

explained GFIP manager Alex Van Niekerk,

speaking to Engineering News. This led to

the bulk of the manual work being carried

out overnight, when traffic was less dense.

The phase was toll-funded, and resulted in

185km of freeway being upgraded or

constructed to connect inner and outer ring

roads as well as improving access to

southern and western Gauteng settlements.

Among the 34 interchanges that saw

considerable upgrades were the Allendale,

Rivonia, William Nicol, Gilloolys and Elands

interchanges.

Of course, there are large costs associated

with such a large project. Through SANRAL,

the South African Department of Transport

(DoT) will be investing a total of around 55

billion rand into GFIP — 12 billion rand for

the first phase, 20 billion rand for the

second, and 23 billion and for the third and

final phase.

Despite this investment, the project still

requires funding from e-tolls in order to

run. The DoT believes SANRAL were

thorough in their investigation of

alternative funding options, and is in

accordance with their conclusion that e-

tolling was the only realistic way to

Phase one of GFIP was planned before South Africa received confirmation that their 2010 World Cup soccer bid had been successful, and while the phase was not completed in time for the event, significant effort was made to ensure that most of the road widening and construction work was completed in time to help Gauteng cope with the additional tourism and resulting traffic.

“

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proceed. Despite this, the e-tolling mechanism

used to fund the project has still been the subject

of a lot of dispute. Phase two of GFIP, also to be

toll-funded, is currently on hold due to this, and

contracts will not be awarded until the

government has reached a decision on how to

proceed with the implementation of the e-tolls.

There are concerns that the tolling system has

caused suburbs and by-roads to be congested by

road users attempting to avoid paying, as well as

fears that businesses will pass on the additional

expenses to customers, pushing up the cost of

groceries and causing additional financial struggles

for the poor. The burden this could place on other

government sectors means that much discussion is

required before involved parties can come to a fair

compromise.

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Send your success story to

[email protected]


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Take advantage of an essentially committed business partner

NetcareCares

Netcare operates the largest private hospital network in South Africa.

South Africa's healthcare system is

divided along state and private

lines. The private sector consumes

60% of total health spending yet caters

to only about 20% of the population.

Public healthcare struggles to meet the

needs of the other 80% (some 42.5

million South Africans), with often

overcrowded facilities, poor equipment

and shortages of drugs.

In 2012, Netcare, one of the country's

major medical groups, entered into a

ground-breaking social compact with

the Department of Health and 22 other

private healthcare companies, which

recognised that neither the public nor

private sector can individually or

successfully confront the immense

health challenges facing South Africa.

Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi called

its formation “another important chapter in

the history of our country.”

“This partnership between government and

the private health sector conveys a simple

message that together we care about a

long and healthy life for all South Africans,”

he said.

“It is a timely occasion that is clearly

communicating the most pressing message

on the minds of both policymakers and

market participants that rebuilding

confidence in the public health sector for

the full successful implementation of the

NHI system is of utmost importance for our

country.”

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netcare.co.za

www.netcare.co.za

Unfortunately “the pace of collaboration

has been slow”, to quote Netcare's

chairman Jerry Vilakazi, who says that “as

the South African middle class expands,

more people can self-fund healthcare,”

alleviating the pressures on the public

health system and helping to “release more

of the public health resources required to

enhance quality and access for those most

in need.”

CEO Richard Friedland believes Netcare has

a “responsibility to advance the cause of

universal access to quality healthcare”

explaining that “the reality facing too many

South Africans is limited access to even the

most basic quality healthcare. We know

that this is unacceptable and that we

cannot build a successful and sustainable

nation unless it is a healthy one.”

Netcare, which strives for “best-quality

patient care” and treats “patients with

utmost dignity and respect”, has 55

hospitals, 9,052 registered beds, 338

operating theatres and manage operating

theatres and 87 retail and hospital

pharmacies. Its wholly-owned subsidiary,

Netcare 911, operates the largest private

emergency medical service in the country

with over 6.9 million insured lives and a

fleet of over 180 response vehicles and

ambulances, and three helicopter and two

fixed-wing air ambulances. “Netcare 911 is

widely acknowledged as a leader in the

field of emergency medical services in

South Africa,” Craig Grindell, chief

operating officer of Netcare 911, said in a

recent press release.

The future for both - and its other divisions

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that include the primary care division

(Medicross)- is bright. “The demand for

private healthcare within South Africa is

expected to remain strong,” Netcare said,

announcing its interim results, adding it

“will continue work on improving

occupancies, along with the focused

expansion of Netcare's facilities and

geographic footprint.”

The group has committed to commission

379 beds in 2015 and two sizeable

hospitals are currently under construction

in South Africa, a 100-bed hospital in

Pinehaven near Johannesburg, and a new

109-bed hospital in Polokwane. The cost

of building the new hospital in Polowane is

estimated at R540 million and would

eventually be the first phase of a much

bigger hospital, according to Netcare's

Annual Integrated Report for 2013.

“Netcare continues to evaluate growth

opportunities and identify areas where we

can expand our national footprint. We are

commencing the construction of a 109-

bed hospital in Polokwane, Limpopo, and a

100-bed hospital in Pinehaven, Gauteng.

Both hospitals are expected to be

This partnership between government and the private health sector conveys a simple message that together we care about a long and healthy life for all South Africans

“

commissioned in 2015. Construction work has

started on the 254-bed Netcare Christiaan

Barnard Memorial Hospital in Cape Town that

will be relocated from its current premises to a

custom-built, state-of-the- art new facility on

the foreshore in 2016. We also continue to

invest in maintaining and upgrading our

existing infrastructure to meet increased

demand and provide the best quality facilities

for our patients and doctors. We monitor

occupancy levels on an ongoing basis to

determine where capital expenditure will have

the greatest impact,” it says.

Netcare, which also runs one of Britain's largest

private hospital networks, was recently ranked

first in the healthcare sector and 15th overall,

in the Mail & Guardian's Most Empowered

Companies Awards. The group's commitment to

transformation also resulted in it being the only

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healthcare group to feature in the top 20

of South Africa's most empowered

companies.

The awards provide a platform for JSE-

listed companies – Netcare has been listed

on the JSE since 1996 – to showcase their

progress in delivering on black economic

empowerment and transformation in South

Africa. Empowerment rating and research

agency, Empowerdex, analyses South

Africa's top performing companies and,

along with a team of financial journalists,

then determines which companies have

done best in each sector and overall in

terms of empowerment, transformation,

ownership and enterprise development.

Commenting on the group's achievement,

Peter Warrener, Netcare's human resources

director, said organisational transformation

has long been a strategic priority for the

company. “The awards recognise South

African companies that have embraced

transformation in its totality in order to

positively contribute to South Africa's

business environment and to the

normalisation of our society. We are

encouraged that Netcare has been

acknowledged in this recognised

benchmarking survey,” he explained.

Netcare achieved a Level 2 B-BBEE rating

with an improved score of 87.82 in 2013,

compared to the previous year's 82.11. The

group also attained a Level 2 contributor

certification by the Department of Trade

and Industry.

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According to Warrener, “concerted efforts”

to “accelerate transformation across all

areas of their business and to redress the

historic socio-economic imbalances that

still prevail in South Africa” also helped

Netcare land the Diversity Award at the

13th annual Oliver Empowerment Awards.

“The awards highlight Netcare's continued

efforts to create a truly equitable society in

South Africa by implementing a

transformation strategy that is aligned to

the broad-based black economic

empowerment (B-BBEE) framework,” he

said. “Netcare's rating in The Mail &

Guardian's Most Empowered Companies

Award stands as testament to our group's

commitment to redressing the deep-seated

inequalities in South Africa. Netcare has

made substantive progress in realising its

transformation goals over the years and the

company's board, management and

employees will continue contributing

positively towards the ultimate aim of

achieving a just and equitable society in

South Africa.”

To learn more visit netcare.co.za.

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[email protected]


ContainerWorldContainer World is already the leading name in Africa's container industry. But as the oil and gas market throughout the continent continues to expand, the company is set to enjoy even more rapid growth.

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Established in 1983,Container World

has proved itself as a dependable

and flexible firm specializing in the

sale, rental and conversions of new and

pre-owned marine containers. With a

turnover of more than 400 million rand,

this has placed it at the forefront of a

sector that remains a crucial part of the

continent's shipping industry.

Unsurprisingly, this has taken the company

far away from its roots in South Africa.

Operating across the east and south,

Pascal Vidal, the head of its oil and gas-

focused offshore division, says that

Container World is now “doing a lot of

business on the west coast as well”.

“Of course,” he continues, “we are very well

known in South Africa – we have been

around for 31 years now. And we have a

very good reputation across Southern

Africa as a whole.”

The formula for this, he adds, is

simple.“It's down to being active for over

three decades, providing quality equipment

and keeping our word. That's good

enough. We're always improving our

services too.”

A key part of these offerings are containers built

specifically for offshore oil rigs. Along with the standard

shipping and supply ship units, Container World also

offers accommodation, offices and workshops, along

with boat-shaped floating skips for the lifting and

transportation of non-hazardous waste to and from

offshore platforms.

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Branching out

This has led to opportunities in some of

Africa's key oil and gas producers. The firm

is currently close to beginning operations

through a project in Angola that Vidal

describes as “more than a joint venture”.

“The company has been created and is

already registered,” he continues.“One of

our directors has been named on the board

and we will be fully operational early next

year. We're just completing the

administrative tasks now, such as bank

accounts and finalising the investment.

We're required to put money in the country

but it's only a million dollars.”

“The company will not be called Container

World but will provide the same type of

services – the sale and conversions of

containers, pre-fabricated containers and

offshore equipment. All the support will be

coming from South Africa.”

This seems like a wise decision. Angola is

Africa's second largest oil producer, having

recently been overtaken by Nigeria. Yet the

two countries have been vying for the title

for some time now and while Nigeria is

facing numerous challenges in the form of

instability, oil theft and an uncertain

environment for investors due to the long-

delayed Petroleum Industry Bill, Angola's

It's down to being active for over three decades, providing quality equipment and keeping our word. That's good enough. We're always improving our services too.

“

61

output is rising fast.

“Angola has a lot of potential, especially

with the new pre-salt discoveries in the

South, says Vidal.“They are on track to

double production over the next five years.

“We've been in the Angolan market for

more than 12 years now,” he adds.“It's a

neighbouring country, but it can be very

difficult to collect payment from

customers. When we are there, our clients

can pay in their local currency, the Kwanza.

But with us being investors our dividends

will be very easy to expatriate back to

South Africa.”

Angola has a lot of potential, especially with the new pre-saltdiscoveries in the South. They are on track to double production over the next five years.”

“

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Opportunities

Moving forward, there are even more

opportunities on the horizon too. “In the

future, we're looking to work in

Madagascar,” Vidal says.“That may start

quite soon. Also, there's a major new

development that will be a focus for us in

Uganda. Even though it is inland, the

activity on Lake Albert means that

containers are still required.”

Huge reserves of oil were discovered in the

Albertine basin in 2006, and the bulk of

commercial production in the country is

now expected to begin in 2017, once a new

export pipeline and refinery are built.

At the same time, Vidal states that the

company will soon be very active in Chad –

another country that it is pushing forward

its nascent oil sector. This could see it

double output to 260,000 bpd by 2016 – a

figure that could have a significant impact

on one of the poorest nations in the world.

“We're looking to a new project in Senegal

too, which will become an oil producer

within three to four years,” he adds.“There's 63

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Pascal Vidal

Miguel dos Santos

Goretti Teixeira

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Mauritania too, and all the time we'll carry on

servicing our existing markets as we do.”

This, he admits, will not be without its

challenges. “We know that as this activity

increases, so does the competition. For us we

don't see it as a fight, it mean us adapting our

approach, knowing that there won't just be two

or three companies on the market, but six or

seven. Our method may be slightly different,

but that won't affect product quality.”

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