Bigen Africa, a leading infrastructure development company with a strong base in southern Africa, and offices in the rest of Africa, has received a Bronze Arrow award from PMR.Africa, a highly acclaimed market researcher in the construction business sector. This award numbers Bigen Africa amongst an elite few rated in the top of the various engineering sectors, as determined annually by PMR.Africa in its independent survey of consulting engineering firms in South Africa and the SADC countries.

“Bigen Africa is delighted to be honoured with this award,” says Dr Snowy Khoza, Chief Executive Officer. “The company has poured its efforts into achieving high levels of client satisfaction through its expertise, reliability and excellence in project management, and most of all, its understanding of clients’ specific needs. The PMR.Africa award is an enormous encouragement to the Bigen Africa team and we will certainly continue to maintain the highest standards of client service.”

The PMR.Africa awards are a direct reflection of the recipients’ levels of competence, as perceived by their clients, measured in terms of competitiveness, effectiveness, excellence, leadership and resilience.

The specific attributes which PMR.Africa focuses on in its survey of engineering firms are:

• Black economic empowerment;
• Capacity to understand projects;
• Competitive pricing;
• Expertise and knowledge;
• Problem solving;
• Quality management system;
• Reliability;
• Reputation (perception of the company’s brand, integrity and corporate social investment);
• Resources;
• Responsiveness;
• Skills and qualifications of employees;
• Technical competence;
• Timeous completion of projects; and
• Understanding of and commitment to clients’ interests.

“PMR.Africa is setting an invaluable and reliable benchmark with its awards by focusing on client needs,” says Dr Khoza. “Bigen Africa has developed its offering to African clients around their need for improvement of their quality of life through the development of sustainable infrastructure development solutions. Bigen Africa has positioned itself to integrate the entire value chain in the infrastructure process – from feasibility studies through project preparation, management and implementation to development finance and ongoing asset management. This comprehensive approach ensures successful project completion on time and within budget.”

Bigen Africa has developed an in-depth understanding of the African continent’s unique challenges and expectations, in particular its need for socio-economic development. The company applies the principle of “doing good while doing business” through the Intuthuko Foundation, its instrument for addressing socio-economic development imperatives in Africa. Strategies include assisting local authorities with development programmes to drive job creation, poverty relief and community upliftment initiatives. Having set these business and socio-economic goals for itself, Bigen Africa is steadily expanding its African footprint and has already established several offices in southern and West Africa, besides its 16 offices throughout South Africa.