AFRICA IN BUSINESS
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Africa and the Middle East - a growth region for KHS
If you deal with the Africa and Middle East sales region, you know that you are dealing with opposites and extremes: wealth and poverty, political instability, wars, terrorism, hunger. Serving the market primarily requires flexibility. Markus Auinger, Executive Vice President Market Zone Middle East / Africa, and Jörg Thomas, Managing Director KHS South Africa give an insight into what it means to adapt to extremes:
What significance does the market zone of Africa and the Middle East hold for KHS? Auinger: This market zone makes up 15% of KHS’ total sales. The region is the most important market for us as regards PET lines in particular thanks to the strong growth in this segment. Unlike empty cans, PET is readily available throughout the whole of Africa – and PET systems require much less capital than glass lines as the sum of investment is lower. Small and medium-sized startups thus focus on PET, allowing them to generate turnover very quickly. The glass segment is firmly in the hands of our financially strong global key accounts, among them AB InBev, Heineken, Coca-Cola, Diageo, Pepsi and Groupe Castel, that have been
present and established in Africa and the Middle East for decades.
Which particular challenges does the region pose?
How has KHS’ business in Africa and the Middle East developed over the years? Thomas: KHS enjoys an excellent reputation here for good reason. After all, we were the first engineering company to sell filling systems on this continent. We opened our own branch office in South Africa as early as in 1971. Some machines have been in operation for over 30 years – and are still running round the clock six days a week. On average our installed base is about 17 years old. The machines are serviced by KHS engineers and we can supply the necessary spare parts, regardless of how old the machines are.
Auinger: In order to understand the challenges presented by our market zone, you have to bear in mind that on the one hand – take the Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Mauritius, for instance – it includes some of the richest countries in the world. On the other, it also has most of the world’s poor and poorest nations. There’s thus a big economic divide. There’re a lot of underlying problems that have to be dealt with here, too. These include incalculable climatic, economic and political risks, wars, terrorism and famine but also import restrictions and the sugar tax, to name but a few examples. We have to constantly adapt to changing situations and come up with new ideas.
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