Kenya’s Economy Grows Due to Cement Business

When people think of Kenya, they may think of vast grasslands populated by zebras, elephants, and wildebeest, but what they may not know is that this developing nation is the largest, most advanced economy in East and Central Africa…

Despite a challenging socioeconomic environment, The Republic of Kenya has experienced continued growth since 2012.  In 2013, economic growth measured 5.7%, surpassing the expected growth rate of 4% (World Bank).   Kenya’s GDP is heavy in services (53.3%), agriculture (29.3%), and manufacturing/industry (17.4%) (cia.gov).

Concrete is a Competitive Business

Savannah Cement Limited, headquartered in Nairobi, competes in one of the most competitive markets in Kenya. Concrete is the most used man-made material in the world with about three tons used annually for each man, woman, and child.  Twice as much concrete is utilized around the world than the total number of all other building materials, including wood, steel, plastic, and aluminum. It’s energy efficient to produce, affordable, low-maintenance, fire-resistant, strong, and versatile (wbsdcement.org).

Savannah Cement Cools the Competition

As a fairly young company with already 13% market share, Savannah Cement’s 250-employee-business is extremely ambitious. This state-of-the-art, eco-friendly cement grinding plant has capacity of 1.5 million tons a year, and it has set high goals for the future.  To build a competitive edge over competing companies, Savannah Cement is doing what many successful companies do: innovate.

To keep pace with future trends, Savannah Cement partnered with SAP and was the first company in Africa to deploy SAP ERP powered by SAP HANA.

Already the company is vastly improving its database handling and functionality. The result is lower administrative costs, fewer operational meetings (down from three to just one per day), and faster end-of-period reporting (down from eight to ten days to just two days).

“SAP HANA has changed our view of database management and greatly simplified tasks, giving our business a cutting-edge advantage and incomparable agility.  Clearly to us, SAP HANA was built to keep the business running better,” –Brian Wamwenje, Savannah Cement Limited.

Business Value

With its new solution, Savannah Cement increased accuracy in operational reporting and is better capable at managing high business volumes. In addition, staff efficiency has increased and customers are happier than ever.  In turn, the company will not only increase revenue, but will also drive more growth for Kenya’s economy and more benefits for Kenya’s society—all while continuing to operate in a way that minimalizes damage to  environment.

For more on this story, watch the full video interview and click here to learn how real time analytics can affect your business.

You can also read:

Savannah Cement Success Profile

Savannah Cement Reference Slide

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