After a decade-long expansion of its manufacturing capabilities in South Africa, Zest WEG, the South African subsidiary of Brazil’s WEG Group, is well placed to extend its already extensive footprint in the African market.
“We now have six manufacturing facilities in Gauteng and Cape Town, producing a wide range of equipment including gensets, transformers, electrical panels, E-Houses, MCCs and mini sub-stations,” said Zest WEG’s outgoing CEO, Juliano Vargas. “This ability to manufacture locally gives us a huge advantage in the African market, as we can produce economically and deliver promptly to countries throughout the sub-Saharan region.”
According to Vargas, who is taking up an appointment at another operation of WEG Group, Zest WEG’s drive on local manufacture and local sourcing is consistent with WEG’s global approach of maximising local content and procurement wherever possible. It has also contributed to Zest WEG earning coveted Level 1 B-BBEE status. “WEG now manufactures in 12 countries outside of Brazil, with these facilities accounting for more than a third of the Group’s global production,” he stated, adding that Zest WEG is amongst the largest WEG operations outside of Brazil, including USA, Germany and China
Vargas’s successor as CEO of Zest WEG is Eduardo Werninghaus, who has been with WEG for more than 15 years and who comes to South Africa from WEG’s USA subsidiary. “I’ve been briefed to build on the very firm base created by Juliano and his predecessors,” he says. “WEG is not a company that is fixated on next-quarter results only. It thinks and acts long term and considers Zest WEG as being crucial to its future, given Africa’s enormous growth prospects which include a need for massive investments in energy infrastructure.”
Zest WEG is responsible for the entire sub-Saharan region and works through an extensive network of branches and value-added resellers (VARs) throughout the continent. “Being local in Africa is a key part of our strategy,” said Werninghaus. “We need to be close to the countries and communities we serve. There is a perception that all African countries are the same. This is not so. Each has its own unique culture, its own challenges and its own strengths. Having a presence on the ground in so many countries across the continent allows us to address this diversity.”
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