Grundfos expands in Africa

People in Africa increasingly call for solutions, which offer easier access to water for an affordable price. In order to get ahead of this tendency, Grundfos recently expanded its presence in Africa with the opening of new facilities in Nairobi, Kenya, to streangthen its East Africa activities, and in Cape Town in South Africa to complement its existing five star Industrial Green building already situated in Johannesburg.

“If we are really going to grow the market, it is important for us to come closer to the customers and offer them better opportunities of seeing, touching and feeling our products. This will now be possible in our Kenyan center’s new premises in Nairobi and our new branch office in Cape Town, 1,400 kilometers away from our South African HQ in Johannesburg. In both facilities we can now demonstrate what Grundfos is able to offer the local markets by doing for example training and presentations to key stakeholders in our market segments,” Lee Carlin, Area Managing Director, explains.

Innovative solutions
Energy conservation has never been high on the agenda in South Africa, as energy has always been relatively cheap and available, but energy prices are now starting to increase. According to Lee Carlin, this makes demand for energy efficient Grundfos technologies increase and promotes interest in renewables solutions.

“In the new Cape Town branch office we can really show our customers, how our innovative solutions can help them save energy, and it will help make us known as the company to go to, if they want renewable water systems and solutions,” Lee Carlin says.

Centre for engagement
The new South African branch office will not only lead to even stronger partnerships and relations to the local customers. It will also be centers of engagement with other stakeholders in a country, plagued by severe drought.

“South Africa is currently experiencing its worst drought in over 130 years, and water scarcity as well as energy scarcity are now issues in South Africa. The new facilities offer better opportunities of bringing this discussion to the table, and we plan for example to collaborate very closely with the local government, the Danish Embassy and universities on finding answers to these challenges. We draw inspiration from the success our colleagues have had around the world, in order to provide sustainable solutions in an ever-changing world,” Lee Carlin says.