AfriSam CEO Stephan Olivier says “the health of the company has been restored.”
“We’re a very stable organisation — the empowerment-related debt challenges are behind us and we are focused on defending our South African business and growing the business faster in the rest of Africa,” he said.
AfriSam was created in a BEE deal whereby Swiss firm Holcim sold most of its stake to a local consortium in 2007. Major shareholders are now the Public Investment Corporation and Pembani Group.
AfriSam and PPC are evaluating a merger to counter the effect of multinational producers entering the local market, and to bolster their expansion into Africa.
Excluding Mamba Cement, SA’s installed cement capacity is ±20-million tonnes before imports. Demand of around 13-million tpa, leaves the industry with 7-million tonnes of unutilised capacity, some in AfriSam’s plants.
PPC and AfriSam are working to expand into Africa.
PPC has projects under way in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and the DRC, but said financial constraints could limit further growth.
AfriSam has a 68% stake in a Tanzanian company, at which it is adding a second kiln line to grow capacity, and from which it exports to Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and the Congo.
Olivier said AfriSam’s main focus was on Central to East Africa, but said competition for “suitable and fairly priced” deals across Africa was fierce.
