Lubezine Magazine Vol. 9 April - June 2014 | Page 4

Turn to Tata Motors, Total Lubrifiants sign deal Designing motorcycle oils to meet OEMs and end user needs P.10 Developing effective plant lubrication programme P.24 WWW.LUBESAFRICA.COM VO L .9 • FEB RUARY-APRIL 2014 P.4 EDITOR’SDESK VOL 9 • FEBRUA RY-APRIL 2014 EDITORIAL MAIN FEATURE Africa’s geothermal energy fuels new lubes demand February-April 2014 | LUBEZINE MAGAZINE 1 PLUS: HYRAX OIL ENTERS UGANDAN MARKET P.4 Publisher: Lubes Africa Ltd Editor: Nyakundi H Nyagaka Design & Layout: Andrew Muchira Contributors: Samuel Macharia James Wakiru Joseph Ndung’u Ryan Welton Crispin Mbogo J S Evans Olaolu Olusina Hesbon Nyakundi Photography: Bettercom Media services Lubezine library Art Direction: Zeus Media Ltd [email protected] Advertising & Subscription: [email protected] www.lubesafrica.com Subscriptions: Lubezine is free to qualified subscribers who are involved in the lubricants industry as manufacturer’s end-users, marketers and suppliers to the oil industry. Lubezine is a quarterly publication of Lubes Africa Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced or transmitted in any form including photocopy or any storage and retrieval system without prior written permission from the publishers. 2 Africa’s ever-rising energy demand means growth for lubricants market W elcome to Lubezine Volume 9. As Africa’s leading lubricants magazine, we gladly continue to keep you, our reader, abreast with what is happening in the continent and in the world of lubricants, with important insights and analyses through our wide array of professional contributors and writers. In this edition, we focus on the recent developments in the energy sector that have, in one way or another, impacted on the lubricants industry. Rapid industrial development and population increase in Africa have scaled up energy demands, prompting further development and exploitation of energy alternatives. Among the energy options gaining renewed regional attention is geothermal power, whose development is gathering unprecedented pace across the continent, opening up greater lubrication solutions frontiers and marketing opportunities for both local and global players. It is in light of this that we have devoted our coverage to geothermal energy development and its implications to lubricants industry here in Africa. In our wide market report, we have highlighted recent regional developments and expanded our scope to also highlight global happenings in the lubricants market that have a bearing on the region. Among these are significant launches, besides fresh distributorship agreements and partnerships. Further, our technical contributors share such technical lubricants perspectives as the role oxidation plays in lubricant ageing and degradation. For a long time, motor cycle oil has been greatly misunderstood, something that does not bode well for such a rapidly growing market as Africa’s. Our article by Infenium’s Ryan Welton sheds light on this subject, giving insightful information particularly on motorcycle oil formulation requirements. In a bid to understand the lubricants industry from a professional’s angle, we have profiled Mr. Billy Muger, who has been working in the industry since the year 2000. We have published his views on the future of the lubricants industry. We extend our gratitude to all our loyal advertisers, professional contributors and our 3000-plus strong readership outreach, who continue to make Lubezine the unrivalled premier source of information in the region. . Welcome Josep