Cutting through red
tape and establishing a
compliant, legitimate
business to ensure cash
flow in southern Africa is one
of the biggest challenges when
investing in the region, said
Wesley Rousseau, managing
director of Mega Fortris South
Africa.
The Malaysian company,
which manufactures tamper
evidence seals and bags,
established an office in South
Africa in November last year. It
plans to use its local presence
as a springboard to expand its
distribution footprint into Africa.
“A lot of foreign companies aren’t
aware of the various barriers
to trading and investing in the
region, particularly the long
process of becoming ‘legitimised’
by meeting the myriad
requirements and regulations
before the new company is
approved,” he told FTW, adding
that often companies only have
access to financing and the free
flow of cash once the business
is approved. “That could take
months and is often a daunting
prospect for potential investors,”
he noted.
In making the decision to
establish an office in South
Africa, Mega Fortris had the
advantage of being a global
security seal manufacturer as well
as having a strong distribution
partner for the seals, Vikela
Aluvin, in South Africa, said
Rousseau.
“Vikela has been our local SA
distributor for 12 years. Because
of that relationship we were able
to gauge the increased interest
from the rest of Africa and it
made sense for us to establish an
on-the-ground presence in the
region,” said Rousseau. Vikela will
continue to handle the national
distribution of the security seals
but Mega Fortris South Africa
will “leave no stone unturned” to
establish distribution partners
in the rest of the region – and
eventually further into the
continent, he added. Rousseau
told FTW that the company would
use its “lessons learnt” to avoid
business pitfalls as it expanded its
manufacturing and distribution
footprint on the continent.
“We believe the African
market is infinite and there
is huge potential for growth
in several commodity sectors,
including mining,” he said. He
noted that the company already
had distribution partners in
Botswana and Namibia and was
targeting Zambia, Mozambique
and Zimbabwe next. Rousseau
believes Zambia’s stable economy
and the fact that business
operates according to similar
standards
and levels of
professionalism
as South Africa
makes it the
ideal candidate
with which to
explore a new
distribution
partnership.
“The mining
developments in
the country also
offer a number
of key opportunities for our
security seal products.”
Rousseau said the advantage of
having distribution partners in
neighbouring countries was that
they understood the country’s
trade dynamics, knew how to
overcome the trade barriers and
were knowledgeable about the
market they served.
“Finding a partner with
integrity and the right business
values and standards can be tough
and we have learnt that we need
to look for companies that are
well established and have a solid
reputation,” he said. Rousseau
noted that it was also critical to
find a distribution partner who
was able to offer a comprehensive
service that included after-sales
service and product support.
Mega Fortris South Africa
products provide the proof of
whether consignments are being
tampered with, helping to secure
the supply chain. The products
include gold bullion boxes for the
mining industry, container and
tanker seals and bolt locks, as
well as tamper evidence bags for
sensitive or classified documents
or cash transfers.
“Our target market for the
products ranges from cash-intransit
operators to banks, mines
and logistics operators who want
to ensure the integrity of the endto-
end supply chain and cut down
on theft and vandalism,” said
Rousseau.
The products are currently
manufactured in Malaysia, with
the company logos and barcodes
added locally. However the
company hopes to become more
competitive by manufacturing
the “common and high-demand”
products in South Africa. “It
will further cut the costs of our
products if we don’t have to have
them freighted over – and we have
the storage and manufacturing
space at our Johannesburg
offices,” said Rousseau.
INSERT & CAPTION
We believe the African
market is infinite and there
is huge potential for growth
in several commodity
sectors, including mining.
– Wesley Rousseau
CAPTION
There are plans to manufacture some of
these tamper evidence seals locally.
