Engineering and project implementation firm Hatch Goba is pursuing two major development themes, aimed at both public sector and industrial sector clients.
“The themes will be the driving force behind the business going forward, particularly into Africa,” says Hatch Goba infrastructure for the Africa, Europe, Middle East and North Africa (AEM) region regional director Craig Simmer.
Simmer indicates that developed countries focus their spending on protecting and improving established infrastructure and assets. “In contrast, developing countries are still in the process of setting up and establishing infrastructure to create capacity to enable economic growth,” he adds.
Further, research carried out in this area shows that improving the productivity of existing and new infrastructure can result in substantial capital expenditure savings.
Social and environmental factors are playing an increasingly prominent role in the way projects are conceptualised, funded and delivered on the continent, while technical considerations remain an important factor, highlights Simmer.
Noting the reduction of project delivery capability within client bodies, owing to various factors, the company is ensuring that its total suite of service offerings is packaged according to clients needs, to create a complete infrastructure delivery solution for each particular client.
Simmer says Hatch Goba enjoys a unique positioning within the Hatch global organisation, as the AEM region is able to offer the full suite of Hatch’s global service offerings at competitive rates, without any compromise in technical excellence, owing to highly skilled personnel in this region.
“This unique positioning, coupled with our access to a global skills base, means we can bring the best of Hatch to our clients on the continent,” he adds.
Future growth
The need for infrastructure in South Africa is strong, with programmes being established to drive further growth and development. Simmer notes that government is increasingly turning to the private sector to assist with infrastructure delivery needs.
“These increasingly large infrastructure delivery programmes will drive further growth in this sector both in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent. “Procurement and finance-related issues still appear to be a significant challenge in rolling out these large infrastructure development programmes,” he adds.
“There is little doubt that once these challenges have been addressed, the industry will be ready to take up the delivery mantle in conjunction with their key clients,” says Simmer.