established credibility have greater goodwill . In a goodwill environment , this affects the stock market and it affects decision-making authorities in boardrooms across the country . We believe that activity will increase because decisions will flow more quickly thanks to this goodwill that President Ramaphosa has earned from the business community .”
Cummins South Africa general manager Orlando Ferrao concurred with Pimi ’ s assessment , saying : “ I ’ m very positive about the outlook for South Africa , given the recent political changes , and I ’ m looking forward to seeing what opportunities these changes will bring for Cummins . I think we will probably see an increase in development in terms of infrastructure , which will help us to get the construction business going again . And that will automatically introduce additional opportunities for us .” He added that the company has aggressive plans in place to form cohesive partnerships with its customers to ensure the best possible experience . As part of the rollout of these plans , Cummins South Africa will be increasing the availability of over-the-counter parts to improve aftermarket support of its products .
Regional outlook
South Africa is not the only southern African country that Cummins has its eye on . According to Racheal Njoroge , director of operations for Cummins Southern Africa , the company is well positioned in the southern African region and plans to push for growth and diversification in four key markets in 2018 : oil and gas ; marine ; mining ; and automotive . The regional channel strategy execution will continue into 2018 , and with the recent integration of its Angolan operations , Cummins Southern Africa will cover the entire Southern African Development Community ( SADC ). Plans are also in place to boost Cummins ’ presence in Zimbabwe , Madagascar , and Mauritius , with increased human capital , improved capability , and the availability of parts and whole goods on the ground to more effectively support customers .
“ Cummins currently covers 12 southern African countries , and we are well positioned in the region to grow our footprint across SADC countries ,” said Njoroge . “ In terms of key markets for us in 2018 and beyond , we have a lot of opportunities in the Angolan market , where we recently reconsolidated the business back into Cummins Southern Africa . We also see an opportunity for us to grow and expand our market size in Zambia from beyond our current mining customers to the power generation , filtration , and engine cell markets . Then there is Mozambique , where we see the challenges that the country is facing as opportunities for Cummins to be able to provide power , and to provide our oil and gas customers with the types of products that can help them accelerate their business opportunities . So , these are some of the key areas of focus , but we will be looking at each of the other countries individually to ensure that our customer service remains legendary .”
Njoroge also spoke about the positive business climate in Zimbabwe and the anticipated acceleration of business in the company ’ s filtration , power generation , and parts and service areas . “ While it is still early days — the change of government only happened in late 2017 — I spent early February in Zimbabwe getting a sense of what is happening on the ground . There ’ s a lot of positive sentiment , from the country in general and also from our customers and employees , which is very exciting , and we are anticipating that a lot of industries will be getting back into operation ,” she said . “ A lot of the infrastructure is already in place , and we have very solid human capital in the country , so we believe that we will be able to resuscitate and grow the Cummins Southern Africa presence and operations in Zimbabwe . We are very excited about the positive sentiment we got from inside the country , as well as from our customers and employees .”
Training
Corporate responsibility rates highly on the Cummins agenda , and the company has launched many socially responsible programmes that benefit the local communities in which they operate . “ Several strategic initiatives are currently being set in motion . With the best people , we will continue to deliver world-class service in the region and honour our promise to our customers . In 2018 , we will more aggressively drive our transformation agenda in South Africa , with some key milestones set for completion by the end of the second quarter ,” said Pimi .
Speaking of Cummins Southern Africa ’ s investment plans for the region , Ferrao pointed to human capital as being an important focus area for the company . “ Human capital is going to be our primary focus area in the region in terms of investment , especially on the technical side ,” he explained . “ We are already gearing up for this — we have the facilities and we are entering into programmes to develop that capability . Of course , ensuring that we are able to train in multiple countries and so on will bring its own challenges , but we are
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aligned on this , and I think we will be able to implement it fairly soon .”
The company ’ s first southern African TEC ( Technical Education for Communities ) programme , running in partnership with Komatsu SA , will be launched in April 2018 at the Sedibeng Technical Vocational Education and Training ( TVET ) college . South Africa will be the third country in Africa to implement the programme , following Morocco ( 2012 ) and Nigeria ( 2015 ).
The programme was conceived based on the observable gap between what technicians were being taught and what they needed to know , which Cummins found when employing newly qualified technicians . “ We noticed that in industries in particular , the curriculum does not always match exactly with what the consumer needs , and so we decided to come up with a curriculum that would bridge this gap ,” Pimi explained . “ We partnered with the TVET college in Sedibeng to design and implement this curriculum into their programme so as to equip the graduates from that programme with the full suite of skills that they need to be effective from Day 1 .”
“ Our TEC programmes offer technical education for the community and the aim is to basically augment the employability of young technicians , mostly from disadvantaged communities . We are very proud to have two fantastic partners — Komatsu South Africa , our global partner , and also the Sedibeng district education department — in this endeavour ,” he added . “ We have been really overwhelmed by how positive and welcoming the college and the department of education in Sedibeng have been . We are very excited about the April launch . The selection process for the programme has already begun , and we look forward to seeing the transformation in the lives of these young people .”
Cummins Southern Africa leadership team
Thierry Pimi is the managing director for Cummins Southern Africa , a position he has held since September 2016 . He is responsible for the leadership , operations , and strategic direction for Cummins ’ distribution business in South Africa , Angola , Swaziland , Lesotho , Namibia , Zambia , Zimbabwe , Botswana , Mozambique , Malawi , Madagascar , and Mauritius . Pimi is a professional mechanical engineer with a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Yaounde in Cameroon , an
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