18
ASSOCIATIONS
Changes at the
Copper Development
Association Africa
By Eamonn Ryan
The Copper Development Association Africa (CDAA) held its
quarterly members’ meeting in South Johannesburg on
21 November, where it was announced by executive director
Evert Swanepoel that the CDAA was undergoing a restructure.
Swanepoel unpacked the changes in an exclusive interview
with Plumbing Africa.
The move was prompted by the fact that
the International Copper Association (ICA)’s
annual budget had been cut by a third and
consequently it, in turn, was compelled to pull
the bulk of its financial support to affiliated
national copper development agencies around
the globe, including the CDAA in South Africa.
The major function of the CDAA (as with the ICA and
all affiliated agencies) is to promote consumption of
copper worldwide. It is widely anticipated that with
renewable energy systems requiring more copper, that
demand for copper will naturally and automatically
increase, negating any need to artificially stimulate
it. What is more likely is that there may be a global
copper shortage.
Swanepoel says that on the one hand the CDAA’s
revenue has fallen considerably, but on the other hand
it is a saving because the organisation is no longer
obligated to pursue the international programmes
sponsored by the ICA – some of which had scant
relevance to Africa. “We were compelled to spend
a fixed percentage of our funding from the ICA on
specific projects, which we did, and were sometimes
in the awkward position of promoting a certain product
which was actually unavailable in South Africa.
The Copper Development Association Africa (CDAA) non-executive chairman,
Evert Swanepoel.
www.plumbingafrica.co.za
@plumbingonline
@plumbingonline
“That situation no longer exists, and a further
advantage of the new arrangement is that while the
financial ties are severed, the close relationship is not.
We still have access to all ICA’s considerable research
and knowledge. In fact, it will continue some of its
projects in Africa remotely, and will commission CDAA
@PlumbingAfricaOnline
January 2020 Volume 25 I Number 11