Ebru Ozdemir, chair of Limak Investment — an investment arm of Limak Group Companies — said the firm would like to be part of Africa’s development process. “We have been doing business in Africa for six years and Limak currently has operations in five different African countries. We are very eager to work in Africa and hope to grow our business in other countries,” Ozdemir added.
Limak is the second biggest cement producer in Turkey, and the company needs to grow and expand.
The company has started two new investments, one in Ivory Coast and the other in Mozambique, worth $40 million.
“What [Africa] needs of course is cement, infrastructure, ports, airports and energy. Whatever you do in Africa, even a small investment, is going to make a big change,” said Ozdemir.
“We would like to really be part of African development by showing them our best practices in businesses, in PPP [public-private sector partnership] contracts, in everything that we have done in Turkey successfully,” she added.
Ozdemir said Limak differentiates itself from other international companies by also investing in education to increase the number of qualified African staff.
Limak Investment’s head also stressed that establishing local partnerships was essential to perform successful business anywhere, and said: “If the country doesn’t host you well, if the government, the bureaucracy, the local people don’t help you, it is impossible for you to be successful.”
