Integrated solutions are key in Africa

Plan, plan and plan some more. That is the advice for anyone wanting to mine in Africa. According to Gregg Smith, CEO of Frontier Services Group, the unpredictability of the African landscape makes it a difficult operating environment. “The importance of planning is essential to successful operations. Many locations are remote and difficult to access and being aware of what can happen is crucial,” he said. “Do not wait until the crisis is upon you to then try and find a solution. We have had requests from companies operating in environments such as Burkina Faso or Libya for logistics solutions when they are in the midst of a crisis. Finding solutions then is not only expensive but very difficult.” He said integrated logistical solutions were imperative in Africa. “You cannot look at any one aspect on its own. It all has to be part of a greater wellthought- out plan or strategy that in turn has a back-up plan.” He said it was not unusual to find people using a host of suppliers in Africa as they tried to move cargo across the continent famous for its lack of infrastructure. “Recently I spoke to a company moving iron ore 15km from the mine to the port. They had more than 27 trucking companies on their books moving the commodity,” he said. “Not only is this an expensive and difficult to control solution but it comes back to planning. No real thought was given as to how the iron ore was going to be moved until it had to be moved and so they came up with solutions as they moved forward. This has resulted in the situation they now have.” Smith said nothing was impossible in Africa and it was more about finding the right solution in any particular situation. “In Africa there is no one size fits all solution or answer to challenges. Each situation has to be looked at individually and addressed from that perspective. It can be done, but it requires careful planning.”