Broll Namibia gears for major growth

AFTER 18 months of bedding down the Namibian operation, Broll Namibia says it is set to increase the assets under its management by 80 per cent this year.

Broll entered the Namibian market in 2003 through a strategic partnership with Ohlthaver & List. Broll Namibia MD, Malcolm Horne, this week said Ohlthaver & List contacted Broll to help them find tenants for a new development.”We assisted them to lease the entire development, so it made sense to enter a long term strategic partnership,” says Horne.The fact that the majority shareholding in Broll Namibia is Namibian, has been the key to its success.Horne says one of the major challenges of doing businesses in Namibia has been the effective transfer of South African skills and knowledge base to local employees.”This is an extremely important aspect of doing business in Namibia, although we may bring new ideas and new ways of doing things we must not be seen as dominating the market, we must create a common culture”.Horne says transferring skills is a high priority for Namibia and Broll has focused on increasing the local content of the business.”At first we brought South African staff in to put the systems in place so that they mirrored the South African operations, but now the staff is made up of locals including the Chief Operating Officer,” he said.Although the day-to-day operations are handled by the Namibian team, much of the strategy and broking business is still done in South Africa.”One of our major areas of focus is assisting South African retailers to move into Namibia and many of those relationships are based in South Africa”.However Horne says that the Namibian team now has a broking division and will start to form relationships with Namibian based companies.The long standing cultural and trade ties between the two countries has made entering the market a bit easier.Horne also said 2005 has been a busy year with the Wernhil Shopping Centre in Windhoek being fully re-furbished at a cost of N$200 million and Broll would be taking over the management of two strategic centres.Looking forward, Horne said Broll Namibia would be expanding into facilities and utilities management.The company is also considering extending its facilities management into the residential market.The tourism industry also presents an opportunity for growth, particularly in refurbishing and developing hotels, said Horne.Broll Namibia MD, Malcolm Horne, this week said Ohlthaver & List contacted Broll to help them find tenants for a new development.”We assisted them to lease the entire development, so it made sense to enter a long term strategic partnership,” says Horne.The fact that the majority shareholding in Broll Namibia is Namibian, has been the key to its success.Horne says one of the major challenges of doing businesses in Namibia has been the effective transfer of South African skills and knowledge base to local employees.”This is an extremely important aspect of doing business in Namibia, although we may bring new ideas and new ways of doing things we must not be seen as dominating the market, we must create a common culture”.Horne says transferring skills is a high priority for Namibia and Broll has focused on increasing the local content of the business.”At first we brought South African staff in to put the systems in place so that they mirrored the South African operations, but now the staff is made up of locals including the Chief Operating Officer,” he said.Although the day-to-day operations are handled by the Namibian team, much of the strategy and broking business is still done in South Africa.”One of our major areas of focus is assisting South African retailers to move into Namibia and many of those relationships are based in South Africa”.However Horne says that the Namibian team now has a broking division and will start to form relationships with Namibian based companies.The long standing cultural and trade ties between the two countries has made entering the market a bit easier.Horne also said 2005 has been a busy year with the Wernhil Shopping Centre in Windhoek being fully re-furbished at a cost of N$200 million and Broll would be taking over the management of two strategic centres.Looking forward, Horne said Broll Namibia would be expanding into facilities and utilities management.The company is also considering extending its facilities management into the residential market.The tourism industry also presents an opportunity for growth, particularly in refurbishing and developing hotels, said Horne.