East African expansion on the cards

Container World Offshore has established a joint venture with logistical support company ES-KO International in Angola to service the growing demand for containers for the drilling and catering industries. “Both companies use the same Chinese manufacturer and it made sense for us to pool our resources and have a presence on the ground to serve a rapidly expanding market,” said Pascal Vidal, Container World divisional manager for oil and gas. He told FTW that Angola offered a lot of investment opportunities for the oil and gas sector, as do Kenya and Tanzania. “We are also eyeing Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria for opportunities and expansion,” said Vidal. He was appointed in March 2009 to launch the company’s oil and gas division and while he concedes that oil and gas is not a “huge part” of the business, the division is growing every year. “We initially invested a lot in marketing to get our name out there but these days we rely largely on word-ofmouth,” he said. The company’s objectives for the next year are to become fully operational in Angola and to expand its operations in East Africa. “To achieve this, and stay competitive in all the markets we serve, we strive to build an intelligence network in the regions so we can become aware of the opportunities in time to take full advantage of them,” he said. “We also believe in sharing information and expertise with the industry. As an industry, we increase growth together better than if we focus on individual growth.” His advice to anyone wanting to invest in Africa is to “be very cautious”. “Always double-check and triplecheck information and play a very diplomatic game by not getting too involved in politics,” he added. Container World offers a wide range of containers for sale or for hire. “We always keep a range of stock so our customers know that if they urgently need containers, they only have to wait two weeks or so. We can also manufacture containers according to unique client specifications but these will take 16 weeks or more to deliver,” he said. INSERT & CAPTION To stay competitive in all the markets we serve, we strive to build an intelligence network in the regions. – Pascal Vidal CAPTION One of the storage containers offered for sale by Container World.