Companies search for ‘star players’ at Careers in Africa Summit

Africa takes up seven of the ten places on the world’s fastest growing economies list. Conglomerate leaders at London’s Careers in Africa Summit were looking for the CEOs of tomorrow to be part of Africa’s rise.

By Belinda Liversedge



Africa may be one of the fastest growing economies, but South Africans looking to be part of the success story won’t find an easy ride to the top. That was the message at the 12th annual Careers in Africa Summit, held over a hot May weekend in London.

Opportunities for ambitious South Africans lay within the country’s borders and beyond, to East and West Africa where strong consumer demand is fuelling business opportunity and expansion.

Cement manufacturer giant Lafarge is ramping up production in South Africa where a R4 million state spending plan is in place to improve rail, roads, energy and water infrastructure. Lafarge’s ready-mix concrete is needed to support it, but the company needs more than just workers at its fifty plus plants. "We are looking for engineers, finance experts and supply chain experts who will become leaders," said Lanre Opakunle, general manager for Industrial Performance. "I have a mandate to find minimum two people to do my job and that’s why I’m hunting every year."

Plant manager for Ashaka in Nigeria, Graham Bright, agreed. Speaking fresh from the site that has just announced a four-fold increase in yearly production, he said: "You’re going from division three to the premier league of football. You are looking for the star players."



Insurance and investment company Old Mutual was there to find the skills and personalities to drive strategic expansion. Firmly established in South Africa, the company is looking to capitalise on opportunities East and West, where it has reported a 27 per cent increase in sales. "We need people who are passionate about the continent," said Johannes Gawaxab CEO for African business. In real terms this means breaking new ground, such as negotiating culturally complex attitudes to death in order to promote life insurance. "In banking and insurance the penetration is very low [across Africa], so we’re creating market share. We are looking for people who can build," he said. The company has set aside $US 600 million to fund operations across East and West Africa and wants to boost Africa’s contribution to business from 10 to 20 percent by 2020.

Children or adults of the ‘80s may remember LC Waikiki and its cartoon-print and surfer inspired T-shirts. The French incorporated company was bought out by the Turkish group Taha in 1991 and its African growth story was one of the Summit’s more leftfield ones. LC Waikiki wants to rival Primark with a low price and product strategy, beginning first in Europe. "We are not in South Africa yet," said recruitment manager, Canan Hotanoğlu. "But we are working on [it], starting with Nigeria and Angola in 2015."



With the majority of companies looking for talent to join projects in western and eastern Africa, opportunities for new recruits were mainly for the UK-based Africans from those countries. Queues for Coca Cola were about an hour long for opportunities in sales and marketing in Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria, for example. But for South Africans looking for the challenge of Africa’s bigger growth story, CEOs should apply now.


Careers in Africa Summit, held by the Global Career Company, will be in Johannesburg from 21-23 November.
Source thesouthafrican.com