Construction World June 2017

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD JUNE 2017
Salani Sithole, managing director at Royal
HaskoningDHV South Africa states, “The
EIS uses accessible, interactive visuals to
revolutionise the way the results of an Envi-
ronmental Impact Assessment are interpret-
ed and shared between all project partners;
saving time, accelerating decision-making
and advancing stakeholder engagement”.
Environmental Impact Assessment is
required to ensure that the environmental
effects of major projects and development
proposals are fully investigated and taken
into account before decisions are made on
whether they should proceed. These results
must be outlined in an EIS.
Previously an EIS used text to explain
the nature of the issue and what the future
situation will look like, It is now replaced by
easily understood visuals and videos that
clearly outline the assessment’s findings.
Paul Eijssen, strategic advisor for
Driving Afrox’s strategy is a new 8 600 m2
headquarters hub which will be the
backbone of operations with a sales centre,
storage facilities for cylinders and hard
goods, filling facilities for oxygen, and ample
secure parking.
The new headquarters hub will open
in the Machava Industrial Area in Matola,
Maputo Province, on 4 May 2017 and will
provide full sales service, stock, equipment
and technical support for Afrox’s branches
in Beira and Tete.
“As the leading gases and welding
company in Africa, the new hub in Maputo
Province reflects our commitment to
fostering long-term relationships with our
customers in Mozambique,” says Prince
Tsuro, managing director for
Afrox Mozambique.
“There are further plans to expand
services to include a workshop for cylinder
inspection, maintenance and painting, as
well as filling services for argon in the
near future.”
Expanding into Mozambique
Afrox, sub-Saharan Africa’s leading
industrial gases and welding
company, is expanding existing
operations in Mozambique to support
current customer demand and to
position itself to service the country’s
fledgling gas resources sector.
The new Afrox headquarters hub also
includes plans for a demo centre which
will be used to showcase product usage
or applications, and while bulk and
compressed gases and hard goods are
imported from South Africa, the site includes
sufficient space for future expansion.
“Our headquarters hub will benefit a wide
spectrum of sectors in Mozambique ranging
from mining, agriculture, sugar mills and
transport through to manufacturing and
fabrication, the hospitality, medical sectors
and the future needs of the LNG industry
and its spin-off industries.”
The Afrox headquarters hub in Machava
employs 20 people and expects to enhance
customer experience right across the board,
from the sales centre through to collection
of hard goods and loading of cylinders.
The upgraded hub will offer all of the
same comprehensive services available
from other Afrox branches in southern
Africa, including a full range of large-
volume on-site installations and bulk
gases, cylinder gases, scientific gases,
refrigerants, packaged chemicals and
helium, CO2, medical gases and medical
products, hospitality gases, gas equipment,
welding products and ancillary
safety products.
Afrox, which celebrates 90 years
in business in 2017, is dedicated to
capitalising on expansion opportunities
in other sub-Saharan African countries, with
indicators suggesting these economies
will far outperform South Africa in terms of
growth and inward foreign investment.
Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a
resurgence in oil and gas and mining
investment, and consequently Afrox is
growing its existing footprint in support of
these sectors.
“Afrox has been investing in the sub-
Saharan African region and Africa’s
infrastructure and industry for 90 years and
this latest investment in our headquarters
hub in Matola is a clear demonstration
that Afrox’s business is still going strong,
growing and expanding where profitable and
will do so for many more decades to come,”
says Tsuro.
Afrox’s business needs and customer
demands had outgrown its former rented
site which it has now closed as part of
its investment in the headquarters hub in
Maputo Province. 
Prince Tsuro, managing director for
Afrox Mozambique.
New Digital Environmental Impact Statement launched
Royal HaskoningDHV has pioneered the way environmental effects of projects
are understood by launching the world’s first digital interactive Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS).
environmental impact assessment
and a creator of the digital EIS at Royal
HaskoningDHV said, “Responding to
the increasing demand for digitisation
and transparency, Royal HaskoningDHV
is leading the way in which all data
surrounding the impact of a project on the
environment is interpreted. The traditional
manner of reporting an Environmental
Impact Assessment was outdated and I
knew we needed to innovate and change
to ensure that the EIS will continue to have
relevance and impact in our collective
decision making processes.”
“The new digital Environmental Impact
Statement is visualised via clickable maps
and simple to understand tables and its
unique interactive capability gives users
the opportunity to walk through the virtual
landscape and experience how the project
will look once it is finished.
This will accelerate decision making,
enhance transparency and create greater
stakeholder engagement.”
Developed in collaboration with the Dutch
Ministry of Infrastructure & Environment, the
digital EIS has also received positive advice
from the Netherlands Commission for
Environmental Assessment, in recognition
of the major step this presents in making
impact statements more accessible,
thereby creating opportunities for greater
stakeholder engagement. 