UWP Consulting among Angola-bound firms for trade and investment mission
Gauteng-based infrastructure and engineering consultancy UWP Consulting has become one of 20 companies to receive financial support from the South African Department of Trade & Industry to participate in a trade and investment mission in Angola later this month, with hopes to increase integration between the two economies.
Many economies in Africa struggle with a lack of infrastructure, which was made evident by a BCG report last year when it revealed that the infrastructure funding gap in Sub-Saharan Africa amounts to as much as $100 billion. As the region becomes increasingly prosperous, the number of infrastructure projects has registered a significant increase in recent years.
One set of direct beneficiaries of such a scenario are consulting engineering companies, which swoop in with their depth of expertise to support these new projects. UWP Consulting is a Gauteng-based firm of precisely this nature, and it has now been given an opportunity to build a business profile in Angola.
Between the 16th and 21st of July, the Deputy Minister of Trade & Industry Bulelani Magwanishe will lead a delegation of 20 companies – including UWP Consulting – on a mission to Angola, where the team will participate in seminars, plan targeted business meetings, and visit project-sites relating to their sector.
UWP is a B-BBEE compliant consulting firm with special expertise in civil and structural engineering, offering end-to-end support from the conceptualisation and design stage to project management, and subsequent operation and maintenance. The firm’s services extend across the transportation, water, and general infrastructure domains.
Since its establishment in 1972, UWP has grown substantially to not only operate across all of South Africa, but a number of other countries on the continent such as Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Madagascar, and a number of others. The consulting firm’s South African operations amount to nearly 250 employees in 13 offices, and the headcount across other countries is approximately 60 professionals.
Other firms on the team also hail from similar market segments such as aerospace & defence, built environment, mining, and infrastructure. The participants will not only gain a valuable business network in Angola, but will also obtain an insight into the National Development Strategy of South Africa in the infrastructure sector, alongside crucial connections with government officials in the segment.
Commenting on the selection, Tender Manager of UWP Consulting Humbulani Mulaudzi said, “We are particularly excited about the business-to-business meetings that are being arranged for us. On our own we would not have been able to arrange such meetings, considering the language barrier. We are optimistic that this mission will yield positive results in a form of partnerships with local companies and cooperation.”
