Manufacturer set to seal the deal in Zambia

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.