As demand for innovative concrete solutions has grown around Africa, CHRYSO Southern Africa has extended its footprint to get closer to customers with the products and services they need.

According to Armand van Vuuren, commercial manager exports at CHRYSO Southern Africa, the company’s expansion strategy has been pursued for almost a dozen years – with great results. There are now distributors in a range of key markets including Angola, Botswana, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

“We also have an established office in Nairobi, Kenya and are expanding into Tanzania,” explains van Vuuren. “Through our extensive presence across Southern, Central, East and West Africa, we supply not just the readymix and precast sectors, but also specific construction and infrastructure projects.”

The expertise and resources of CHRYSO Southern Africa’s distributors in these countries is supported by the technical team in Johannesburg, who can step in whenever necessary with the required specialised input. He emphasises that these partners are carefully chosen to act essentially as extensions of the company – delivering the same high level of service wherever their clients work.

“Africa is an exciting continent, and this is where future economic growth is going to come from,” he says. According to the African Development Bank, the expected growth rates in West and Central Africa are expected to be 4,2% and 4,6% respectively in 2023, while East Africa will reach 5,5% in growth terms.

Van Vuuren highlights the extent to which many countries have invested heavily in infrastructure in recent years – demanding large volumes of concrete for civil engineering projects. The construction work involved in the Decongestion Project for Zambia’s capital Lusaka, for instance, has changed the face of that city in a matter of years.

“CHRYSO Southern Africa and our distributors have been working with a range of contractors and other businesses to ensure that their concrete meets the exacting specifications of the contract,” says van Vuuren. “Whether the application is bridges, dams, mining infrastructure or precast manufacturing, we continue to play a vital and growing role in Africa’s development.”

An important element of CHRYSO’s presence is the stock that is held by distributors in their respective regions – giving customers easy access to product as and when it is required. End-customers are provided with full site support from a technical perspective, including access to the specialist team in South Africa.

“With our current momentum, we are planning to set up more of our own offices and production facilities in key regions, paving the way to serve larger and more complex requirements,” he says. “Africa’s leading countries have their plans in place for future development and, despite the occasional setbacks, they are on track for long term growth. CHRYSO Southern Africa is working with the concrete and construction industries of Africa to help make this happen.”

This strategy is bolstered by recent acquisitions by its parent company, Saint-Gobain, of companies such as GCP Applied Technologies that will offer access to innovations and new products. Firmly committed to customer centricity and proximity, the organisation has local operations in 45 countries and this footprint provides its service offering to more than 100 countries.