It pays to be persistent

Africa offers more opportunities than risks, something MAN ­Energy ­Solutions 
has long been aware of.

Patience is the most important prerequisite if you want to do business successfully in Africa.” So says Ghassan Saab, Head of Sales Africa in SBU-P. He coordinates business activities on the African continent and has work aplenty just now. Thirty projects, many of them power plants, are currently in the pipeline or already in progress. As well as public and private energy producers, MAN Energy Solutions’ customers include mining firms, utilities, fertilizer manufacturers, and oil and gas companies. “In Africa, it’s not always possible to predict how a project will develop. The timetable is frequently delayed as a result of contracts having to be renegotiated, sometimes for no apparent reason. It nevertheless pays to be persistent, as Africa is an emergent market with great potential and a wealth of opportunities,” says Ghassan Saab, summing up his impressions. For the rich continents in the North, Africa was for a long time just a group of countries in search of an identity. That perception has now changed. Today, many African states are attractive to investors because they both possess huge mineral resources and have a lot of catching-up to do when it comes to technological infrastructure. Luckily, MAN Energy Solutions is already very well placed in this market. “We’ve been a key player in Africa for decades, but we’re not yet where we want to be,” says Ghassan Saab, giving his assessment. “We’ve already defined our strategy and are right in the middle of implementing it. The plan is to further consolidate our position in the near future and open up new areas of business.”