SERVICING ISOLATED OPERATIONS Many of the new mining projects in Africa are in remote locations and require management platforms that can be accessed from a central hub
Project management software and consulting company SSG Consulting was bullish about its 2014 prospects and intended to at least double its customer base this year, SSG Consulting CEO Steven Golding told Mining Weekly at this year’s Investing in African Mining Indaba.
The company’s business development GM Mark Shoesmith noted that most global mining industry stakeholders that he had spoken with at the event were struggling to cope with the various challenges facing the industry. He added that the general consensus among the stakeholders was that recovery was only expected to take place in 2016.
“These types of forecasts are placing mining companies under a significant amount of pressure. “However, these conditions have created meaningful opportunities for us to assist them in overcoming their difficulties, as we can provide companies with cost-effective and efficient project management solutions,” he stated.
Shoesmith noted that, in January, SSG consulted with new clients on rail and port upgrade projects in Namibia.
“We are also close to concluding an agreement to start work on a project in Lesotho,” added Golding.
He further pointed out that many of SSG’s South African clients are undertaking work in several countries outside South Africa, such as Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Zambia, which has, in turn, gained SSG international exposure.
“SSG is also establishing a local presence in these countries, which we hope will come to fruition by the end of this year. “We believe it is critical to have active operations in these developing mining nations so that we can offer SSG’s full range of software solutions, business development and consulting services,” Golding emphasised.
He further explained that establishing a presence in these countries would benefit local communities through not only job creation but also the skills that SSG would help develop and transfer, thereby upskilling the local workforce in the various countries.
Product and Service Demand
Golding told Mining Weekly there was a major demand for SSG’s project consulting services and product offering in Africa, including its KEY360 management platform.
“This demand is as a result of many new mining projects in remote locations across Africa. Mining companies therefore require management platforms that can be accessed from a central hub and that can relay vital information back to the platform from these remote areas,” he stated.
Moreover, Shoesmith noted that companies with operations in Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo, showed a significant amount of interest in the company’s KEY360 management platform for these reasons.
“In the two-and-a-half years that the KEY360 management platform has been commercially available, our clients have collectively carried out more than
55-million transactions on the system. “This is a clear indication that the KEY360 platform is stable and effectively assisting our clients in running their businesses seamlessly from the cloud,” highlighted Golding.
Additionally, Shoesmith noted that SSG’s virtual project management control and remote procurement service, which the company facilitated through KEY360 from its head office in Pretoria, Gauteng, operated anywhere in the world, regardless of the location of the project.
“Our cloud-based systems give us and our clients access to the remotest locations anywhere in the world,” he concluded.