Focus in specific areas is needed for organisations to grow. We cannot adopt a ‘shotgun’ approach and expect sustained growth. For this reason, Pragma Africa is structuring its internal divisions differently for the next financial year. I feel it is important for our clients to also understand how we think and how we do business, as this will have a knock-on effect on the way we deliver our services to industry.

For the past three years we have adopted Industry segmentation within Africa which has ensured a focused approach to the specific issues facing the relevant industries. The four divisions we have operated within are Manufacturing, Petrochemical, Utilities&Facilities, and Academy. The Pragma Academy operates across all the industries, and will continue to do so.

The first change for the new year will be to rebrand the Manufacturing division as Manufacturing and Mining. This obviously includes all Mining clients as well as the Manufacturing and Consumer Goods sectors, currently the largest division within Pragma Africa in terms of number of clients.

The second change will be to rebrand the Petrochemical division as the Facilities division. The focus for this division will continue to be on Petrochemical and will include the likes of Hospitality, Retail, Buildings, etc. The main reason for the rebranding is to ensure a focused drive to expand our services within this ever-growing sector.

The third change will be the rebranding of Utilities&Facilities as Public Sector, with the focus on the Healthcare, Electricity, Water, etc sectors. Much of the current government infrastructure-spend is in these areas, with Pragma Africa already positioned as leaders in the Electricity sector.

The fourth and final change is the addition of a new Logistics division, which will focus on the Fleet, Logistics, Rail, Air and Sea sectors. Once again, by setting up a division like this, we automatically instill the necessary focus on growth. This division has already engaged with the likes of Transnet and Imperial as initial potential clients.

One of the success factors of Pragma Africa over the past few years has been our ability to deliver consistent and standardised Asset Care Centres across various industry sectors. We have also experienced rapid growth in the past few years, yet have remained flexible through the divisional and industry focus. We see the modifications for the next few years as a natural progression and will continue to build on our solid foundation.

We look forward to continuing our successful and value-adding relationships with each and every one of you.