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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
MARCH
2016
This was announced by Thierry
Bernard, Global CEO of Chryso
based in France, during a recent
visit to South Africa where he met
with the Chryso executive vice-president,
Norman Seymore, who is also CEO of Chryso
Southern Africa, which will next year celebrate
its 20
th
year of operations in South Africa.
Bernard says although Chryso is an inter-
national company doing business in more
than 70 countries with subsidiaries in 20, it
regards Africa as one of its most important
markets. “A total of about 25% of Chryso total
sales are to African countries, with South
Africa and Morocco by far our major markets
on the continent. We have made substantial
capital investments in our operations in South
Africa in recent years and in future want to
use South Africa to drive further investments
in Africa, some of which are imminent.
“But we also realise that our South
African operations need to maintain and
improve the service it offers to customers.
There has been a growing need to develop
The new building came about as a result
of a distribution fire in 2013 which nearly
completely destroyed the original lodge.
“It was very important for us to retain as
many of the elements of the original building
and keep the same footprint. We wanted a hard
wearing, large and natural looking stone tile that
matched the natural organic feel of the lodge”,
says Dwain Elliott, director Maliba Lodge.
“Tile Africa Commercial specifiers match the
product with the specification while keeping
the technical aspects in mind, ensuring that the
tiles supplied are suited in terms of traffic and
durability”, explains Vaughn Dyssel, Tile Africa
Commercial sales manager.
The Urbis Genova Porcelain tiles that were
supplied, provided not only a cost effective and
sustainable design but also blended in with the
SUPPLYING LESOTHO LODGE
Tile Africa Commercial supplied a natural look and feel of 400 m
2
of
Urbis Genova Porcelain Floor Tile to Lesotho based Maliba Lodge.
>
specific products for the African market,
and for more efficient and prompt testing
services for Chryso customers in sub-Saharan
Africa. The new R&D facility in Jet Park will be
equipped with the most modern, high-tech
facilities and will include, to a significant
extent, the R&D equipment we operate in
France, Turkey and India,” Bernard said.
“The construction industry today
demands innovation and new solutions to 21
st
Century building philosophies and techniques
– and that is an important motivation for
opening the new South African R&D Centre.
Local demand in the field of construction
chemicals has to be catered for – from the
industry's doorstep, not from another conti-
nent,” he added. “It will be unique in its field
in Southern Africa in the services it offers.”
Bernard said Chryso planned to expand
its African presence even further than the
recent opening of production facilities in both
Kenya and Algeria. “Future African penetra-
tion will be either through acquisitions or
greenfield developments. There are three
RESEARCH
and
Leading construction chemicals producer, The Chryso
Group plans to use South Africa as the springboard for
increased penetration into the African continent will
be boosted by the establishment of a new Research &
Development facility at the Chryso Southern Africa head
offices in Jet Park in early 2016.
Thierry Bernard, Global CEO of Chryso, based
in France, who announced the opening of a new
R&D Centre at the Chryso head offices in Jet Park
during a recent visit to South Africa.
>
areas, in particular, that we are currently
targeting. The first is Egypt. Then there is West
Africa, particularly the French-speaking coun-
tries such as the Ivory Coast and Senegal,
where we are already doing business; and
finally, there is Nigeria, which has a strong
economy and substantial business prospects.
The Chryso entry into these countries will be
carried out in phases over the next two
to three years.”
Global future expansion plans for Chryso
included increasing its operations in Sweden
where a production facility to serve the Scan-
dinavian market is on the cards, as well as in
a Middle East Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
country where the establishment of Chryso
operations has virtually been finalised, with
an announcement in this regard due before
the end of the year. “Chryso also needs to
be more active in South-East Asia, so that's
another region where we are planning to
increase our presence.”
He said Chryso's expansion globally, and
in Africa's emerging markets, hinged on being
flexible and selective. “We are not ‘putting
all our eggs in one basket’. The economies of
African countries, in particular, are volatile
and subject to unexpected slowdowns, so
expansion plans have to be very selective in
the first instance and avoid relying too much
on one particular country,” Bernard added.
Chryso, originally part of the Materis
Group of companies, was acquired by
leading European equity firm, LBO France,
last year and now operates as a stand-alone
entity with enhanced credit resources for
global expansion.
DEVELOPMENT
centre
remaining infrastructure on site. Natural building
materials of stone and thatch were also used to
incorporate the original look.
“The new building design allows a lot more
light and flexible spaces and is a lot easier to
heat in winter. The new floor surface not only
looks good, but is safe, durable and easy to
maintain”, adds Elliot.
Tile Africa Commercial offers an extensive
range of technical and aesthetic products
that cover every requirement and applica-
tion. Due to its strategic distribution centres,
centralised co-ordination for national projects
as well as specialised advice from its experi-
enced consultants and specifiers, Tile Africa
Commercial provides customers with a profes-
sional service and peace of mind from concept
to completion.