The Market in Africa For Construction Equipment & Heavy Machinery

The booming construction sector has led to rising demand for machinery and equipment for African countries...

The burgeoning construction sector in many African countries has harbingered good times for companies manufacturing construction machineries and equipment as well as those selling used and refurbished heavy equipment and machinery. The appreciable increase in real estate and construction activities in African countries has resulted in a substantial surge of demand for concrete mixers, bar-bending and cutting machines, excavators and backhoes and earth rammers.

UAE-based Arabian Jerusalem Equipment Trading Company, a prominent dealer of new and used construction machinery has registered a considerable increase in the sale of excavators and backhoes to African countries.

“All our machineries are selling really well. We have registered a 30 per cent increase in our net sales to the African continent,” said Ehab Murad, managing director of Arabian Jerusalem Equipment Trading Company.

The construction machinery industry in Africa, worth approximately US$9,00 million is undergoing a steady transformation by moving from a low volume, intensive use of equipment structure to high volume, specific use one. In the coming years, the major segments of construction machinery that are expected to grow are excavators, loaders, dozers, dumpers and cranes, say industry analysts.

“The rapid growth in the overall economy of many African countries has accentuated the need for improving infrastructure. Governments, development authorities and even companies have begun investing in infrastructure development projects in several African countries. Moreover, many African governments have invested heavily in irrigation and mining projects across the continent. All these factors have contributed immensely to the increased use of construction machinery,” says Ehab Murad.

UNRESERVED AUCTIONS
Unreserved auctions managed by internationally acliamed companies have also benefited from the flurry of activity in the construction, mining and irrigation sectors in many African countries. Many auctioneers of used and refurbished machineries are riding the boom wave with many bagging orders from African countries. Most of them have managed to bag substantial orders from Africa with many registering as high as a 20 per cent increase in sales to African nations. “Many construction majors working on African projects have really opened the markets in Africa for us,” says Keith Lupton, sales manager for World Wide Auctioneers in Dubai. “We are getting steady orders from these companies to supply machinery and equipment for their projects in Africa. In recent times, we have supplied contruction machinery to Zambia, tower cranes to Mauritania, general contruction equipment to Djibouti (worth over $400,000) and general agriculture and contruction machinery to Equitorial Guinea,” he says.

“We have also been getting regular enquiries from real estate contractors and construction companies in many East African countries like Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. Not to mention the steady increase of demand from South Africa,” says Keith Lupton. “Demand for later model caterpillars and rough terrian cranes has been specially strong from Africa,” he says.

RIPPLING EFFECT
The boom has started a rippling effect touching various other spheres of activity that are not directly related to the construction industry. Manufacturers of ancillary products such as crane ropes, cables, pulleys and buckles too are benefited from the boom.

“We do not cater to the construction industry directly, but that does not limit us to supply crane ropes and shackles to many construction companies. A lion’s share of our orders these days come from construction companies,” sums up a leading manufacturer of crane cables and pulleys in the UAE.