4
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
OCTOBER
2014
>
MARKETPLACE
This is according to Jaco Cronje,
operations
director
for
EES
Africa, an ISO 9001:2008 certified
company providing management,
engineering and auditing services to a
range of industries throughout Africa.
It specialises in the integration of multiple
system infrastructure including ICT, data
centres, audio visual, life safety, security and
building automation systems.
Cronje discusses the issues involved in
doing business in Africa, and outlines the
most appropriate steps industry players in
the continent should take going forward.
Upbeat prospects
With regard to facts and figures, he refers
to the African Economic Outlook (AOE)
Report 2014, which states: “Africa’s growth
is projected to accelerate to 4,8% in 2014
and 5 to 6% in 2015, levels which have not
been seen since the global economic crisis
of 2009. Africa has weathered internal and
external shocks and is poised to achieve
healthy economic growth rates.”
Pervasive challenges
Against this encouraging backdrop are
however
pervasive
challenges.
“The
numerous challenges include under-devel-
oped financial sectors, poor infrastructure,
lack of first world technology and trends,
bureaucracy, issues pertaining to public/
private co-operation, corruption and political
instability, to name but a few,” says Cronje.
“Pertaining to all these factors is a more
general issue, this being lack of under-
standing of Africa’s culture. It is vital to
gain an understanding of the local culture,
context, facilities and means, take these
factors into consideration and adapt accord-
ingly. This ranges from cultures as diverse
as language barriers to means of transport
which are completely different from those in
first world countries.”
Cronje emphasises however that it
is necessary to adopt a different strategy
to each individual country, as there is a
tendency to group all African countries into
the same category.
“While there are indeed similarities,
The challenges
of doing
BUSINESS
in
AFRICA
“Recently released facts and
figures regarding industrial,
business and economic
growth in Africa paint an
optimistic and encouraging
outlook. However, to see
only a buoyant picture would
be exceedingly one-sided.
Reality and challenges need
to be faced and a balanced
perspective reached.”
there are also significant differences from
country to country and region to region,
and it is essential for any executive doing
business in Africa to understand how these
similarities and differences will impact on
their business.”
Technical challenges
Turning more specifically to technical
challenges, Cronje cites the following as
key issues:
• Locally supported technology solutions
are not linked to global trends.
• There is a lack of Infrastructure and
technology. However many countries
in Africa are able to leapfrog earlier
development in other countries through
the intelligent application of new
technologies.
• Environmentally sustainable engineering
lags behind as a result of the additional
costs to achieve such measures.
• African political rallying focuses
on power struggles missing out
on a combined endeavour to
improve infrastructure and
technological advancements.
• Procurement processes are
conducted differently.
“Technology companies spend money on
training, trade shows and proof of concepts
in the West while not supporting the devel-
oping countries. As a result, the under-
standing of latest technologies and imple-
mentation thereof lags behind the rest of the
world,” Cronje adds.
Appropriate steps
To make a success of the potentially upbeat
scenario, industry and business players
should take into account and welcome the
current opportunities. From here on out
they should be totally committed to gaining
Jaco Cronje, operations director for EES Africa.
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