With a presence across South Africa and elsewhere on the continent, the Africa division of Babcock International Group is a leading supplier of engineering support services to the energy, process, mining and construction industries. It is also the exclusive distributor for many international brands and products in Southern Africa.

The 3 500-employee company’s activities include the hiring of mobile cranes, welding plant and mechanical construction equipment; the selling, maintenance and supply of spares for on- and off-highway vehicles and construction and lifting equipment; the fabrication and assembly of high-integrity pressure tubular components and associated workings for steam generation, process and water-cooling plant; the manufacture, supply, installation and maintenance of transmission networks on the African continent; and the turnkey erection of high-voltage transmission lines in Southern Africa. The company also provides aftermarket support for industrial diesel engines for the domestic and industrial markets.

The Africa division, of which Sphere Holdings is a minority shareholder, has its head office in Bedfordview and fabrication and manufacturing facilities in Jet Park and Nigel – all on Gauteng’s East Rand. Volvo Construction Equipment and DAF Truck flagship dealerships are also located on the East Rand. Babcock has a significant dealer footprint in the region, with branches throughout South Africa and in Zambia, while independent dealerships can be found in Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa.

The company’s most recent contracts included the order that the Ntuthuko Generation business received from power utility Eskom for the main steam piping replacement at the Matimba power station, in Limpopo.

Further, Babcock’s Equipment business recently completed the fast-track delivery of 20 Volvo G930 graders and 11 Volvo BL61B backhoe loaders to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport. Babcock is also Basil Read’s preferred supplier of the construction equipment used on the airport project on St Helena Island.