Commercial and infrastructural group of companies First Tech Group says this year’s Investing in African Mining Indaba was one of the best and busiest Indabas to date.

“We have attended the Indaba for the last eight years and this was the busiest we have ever seen it. The general sentiment at the event was also more positive than it has been the last two years.

“The Indaba also came at a good time for First Tech Group, following our acquisition of structural steel fabricator and erector Cosira in December,” says First Tech Con- struction CEO Marius Botes.

First Tech Group CEO Andy Bertulis tells Mining Weekly that the acquisition of Cosira is in line with the synergistic offerings that the company provides for the market through its 18 companies, and it was something the company had considered for two years.

“The First Tech Construction business unit was established specifically to offer the industry a complete construction solution. We had most of the components available, except for those used in structural steel fabri- cation and erection, which is probably the largest portion of any construction project.

“The addition of Cosira’s services and wide range of capital equipment to our portfolio enables us to offer our clients a truly complete construction solution that we feel other companies will find difficult to compete with,” says Botes, adding that Cosira also offers corrosion protection, another facet of the construction cycle that the company had not previously offered.

Bertulis adds that First Tech Group used the Indaba as an opportunity to market the expanded portfolio offering and introduce current and potential clients to the newly inte- grated First Tech Group and Cosira team.

“We received a promising response, with many companies approaching us and expressing interest in doing business with us,” he says.

Bertulis notes that the acquisition is also in line with the group’s strategy to create more employment and achieve further growth locally and across Africa.

“Cosira has a well-established footprint in sub-Saharan Africa and the intention going forward is to extend the reach of Cosira and the First Tech Construction division as a whole through the establishment of offices in Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” adds Botes.

Bertulis says the vision and business ethos shared by the two companies were important factors in the group’s decision to acquire Cosira.

“We are excited by the wealth of opportunities flowing from the acquisition and look forward to leveraging the experience and expertise that Cosira has in executing our vision to become the largest infrastructural supplier on the continent,” he says.

Going forward Bertulis says First Tech Group plans to introduce several products onto the market this year.

“Without revealing too much, [I can say] one of the products is a cable management system. We also have another product, which we feel will revolutionise our business, particularly with regard to export. It will make import and export affordable and will definitely rival the systems of our competitors.

“We are, with regard to the energy-savings side of our business, partnering with an American company to bring in a good and affordable alternative light-emitting diode light,” he says.

He notes that there are more acquisitions in the pipeline.

“We want to ensure that we consolidate the acquisition with Cosira and participate in full multidiscipline projects going forward,” concludes Botes.