The emerging gas market is one of the main factors driving gases and welding products supplier African Oxygen’s (Afrox’s) decision to expand its existing Mozambique operations.

The company’s Mozambique strategy is being driven from its new 8 600 m2 headquarters, which will feature a sales centre, storage facilities for cylinders and hard goods, filling facilities for oxygen, and ample secure parking.

Construction started in the fourth quarter of 2016 and the hub was completed by the second quarter of this year.

It is located in the Machava industrial area in Matola, just west of the capital of Maputo, in Maputo province. The official opening, which took place last month, was attended by Afrox MD Schalk Venter, Afrox Mozambique MD Prince Tsuro, as well as Afrox customers, Mozambique government officials and other trade, industrial and mining stakeholders.

Afrox notes that the hub will provide full sales service, stock, equipment and technical support for its branches in Beira and Tete, also in Mozambique.

Afrox, a subsidiary of global industrial gases supplier Linde Group, entered the Mozambique market in 2000 as part of its plans to extend the company’s sub-Saharan African footprint, triggered by “a growing customer base as well as the new markets emerging in Mozambique, including the gas resources sector”.

The expansion is also in line with the company’s strategy to invest in profitable sectors and markets “capable of providing sustainable returns in light of the uncertain global economic climate”.

Afrox says its dedication to capitalise on expansion opportunities in sub-Saharan African countries has been vindicated by market indicators, suggesting that these economies will outperform South Africa in terms of growth and inward foreign investment by a substantial margin.

Citing media reports and the recent upturn in the price of commodities on the global market, the company points out that there is a resurgence in oil, gas and mining investment in sub-Saharan Africa and, consequently, Afrox is growing its existing footprint in support of these sectors.

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“As the leading gases and welding company in Africa, the new hub in Maputo . . . reflects our commitment to fostering long-term relationships with our customers in Mozambique,” says Tsuro.

There are plans to expand services to include a workshop for cylinder inspection, maintenance and painting, as well as filling services for argon, he adds.

The hub also includes plans for a demonstration centre that will be used to demonstrate products and showcase their applications. Additionally, while the company’s bulk and compressed gases and hard goods are imported from South Africa, the site has sufficient space for future expansion.

The hub will benefit a spectrum of sectors in Mozambique, ranging from mining, agriculture, sugar mills, transport, manufacturing and fabrication, the hospitality and medical sectors, to the future needs of the liquefied natural gas industry and its spin-off industries, Tsuro explains.

The Afrox headquarters hub employs 20 people and expects to enhance customer experience overall, from sales to the collection of hard goods and loading of cylinders.

The hub will offer the same services available from other Afrox branches in Southern Africa, including a range of large-volume on-site installations, bulk, cylinder, scientific and hospitality gases; refrigerants; packaged chemicals and helium; carbon dioxide, medical gases and medical products; gas equipment; welding products; and ancillary safety products.

In terms of supporting the oil, gas and mining sectors, the company affirms that it will be able to fulfil all the needs for industrial, calibration and special gases, welding products and self-rescue units for underground miners. “Afrox Mozambique will . . . offer a total solutions package tailored to the needs of individual mines, with access to expertise and technologies available from Afrox South Africa.”

Tsuro comments that the company has been investing in the sub-Saharan African region and Africa’s infrastructure and industry for 90 years and that this latest investment 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”.

Aside from Mozambique and South Africa, Afrox operates in nine other African countries and manages operations in five more on behalf of its parent company. The company is listed on the JSE and the Namibian Stock Exchange, and employs more than 3 000 staff.