August 2013
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
46
Howvibrant is the shoppingmall andoffice
development market in South Africa?
Atthemomentitisveryvibrant,Murray&Rob-
erts Construction has a number of projects
that have kicked off since December 2012.
Our Buildings business is constructing the
Wonderpark Shopping Mall (for Eris) in
Pretoria and has just commenced with the
Baywest Mall, an 87 500 m² mall – located
on thewestern side of Port Elizabeth – a joint
development between the BillionGroup and
Abacus Asset Management.
T h e Ma t l o s a n a Ma l l d e v e l o p -
ment in Klerksdorp has also started – a
65 000 m
2
mall being managed by Abacus
Asset Management on behalf of Redefine
Properties also recently commenced. In ad-
dition we are involved in various other retail
projects under construction. In Gauteng
there are also several other retail develop-
ments about to start that we are not involved
in, includingMall of the South, and the Steyn
City development and other big refurbish-
ments of existing malls are on the cards.
So retail is very buoyant. Office devel-
opment on the other hand has been slow;
however this is showing very positive signs
of a big return in the coming financial year.
And the rest of Africa?
In the rest of Africa there is also a big drive
towards centralised shopping and shopping
malls, aided by amongst others, the likes
of Shoprite Checkers expansion plans and
this is, in turn, driven by the urbanisation of
communities, especially around areas where
there are big infrastructure developments.
Big populations are needed to service the
mega industrial developments we are seeing
in Africa (such as those for the oil and gas
industry) – andwith this serving as a catalyst
to create the need for regional malls and strip
malls. This is especially the case in the West
Africa coastal regions (Nigeria, Ghana, and
Ivory Coast) where the population is over
200 million and growing.
How are you involved?
In terms of our involvement we want to
work in countries where we can set up an
operation similar to the existing operations
we have in Botswana andNamibia.This is the
model that we aspire to – we have a sustain-
able business model that we can transpose
into a specific country.
There is a growing need for skills transfer-
ence and for companies to become part of
the fabric of society. We are an African com-
pany andwe should operate in a sustainable
Gavin Taylor, chief operating officer – Buildings and Construction
Africa for Murray & Roberts Construction talks to
Wilhelm du Plessis
about how this division plans to move further into Africa by
creating sustainable operations.
shopping malls & office development
way to help Africa develop. This we see as a
USP – we have a model that has worked for
us: we have been operating in Botswana and
Namibia for over 45 years. Those businesses
are operated and managed by the nationals
of those countries. We want to replicate this
model in other African countries.
There is also a growing backlash against
the ‘raid and pillage’ type operations that
one often finds in Africa whereby just mega-
projects are serviced – and once these are
completed companies retract and do not
leave behind any tangible local benefit. This
type of engagement certainly does not find
favour with the host governments and the
people in those countries.
What trends are emerging for office space
and shopping malls?
There is a move towards nodal and mixed
use development. Accra (Ghana) and Lagos
(Nigeria), for instance, have over the years
developed almost by default, initiated by
largely unplanned and rapid urbanisation.
These cities’infrastructures have generally
not caught up as society has been largely
based on the informal trader type of devel-
opment. In the wake of new found wealth a
more holistic development arrangement is
emerging that combines commercial, resi-
dential and retail developments – essentially
mixed use developments.This is in reverse to
what has happened inDubai, but in Africawe
have obviously started from a very low base
as the mineral wealth discoveries have been
largely post urbanisation and not as in Dubai
a driver of urbanisation.
How has Murray & Roberts Construction
changed operationally in the SADC coun-
tries since you were appointed chief opera-
tions officer?
We have become a far more customer and
solutions focused business. This started in
South Africa: when dealing with contrac-
tors, our customers want to have the same
experience regardless of the area or province
in which they choose to develop. This is
only possible to achieve when you ensure
that your workforce is flexible and it takes a
real commitment and investment in career
development of our people.We have ensured
that the business units in these regions are
controlled and managed by individuals that
understand their local markets.
We are, for example, working closely
with Eris on a number of projects in Cape
Town, Gauteng, Namibia and Botswana. Our
aspiration is to give them the same or better
experiencewith our company as our relation-
ship grows – it becomes a relationship driven
business. As a consequence this model will
be better suited to improve and de-risk their
experience in the SADC region and further
afield as we will have a real understanding
of their businesses and by taking individuals
that have been through the learning curve
and transporting themonto the newprojects,
Creating sustainable operations
“We have been operating
in Botswana and Namibia
for over 45 years. These
businesses are operated and
managed by the nationals of
those countries. We want to
replicate this model in other
African countries.”
iTowers One. Murray & Roberts has just been
awarded iTowers Two, a commercial and
residential development which at 30 stories will
take over the bragging rights of the first tower
as the tallest in Gaborone.
Gavin Taylor, chief operating officer
– Buildings and Construction Africa for
Murray & Roberts Construction.
