Kewberg Cables, Transcentury’s Entry into SA ranscentury is one of the most respected organisations in East Africa given the immense success of the group in various industries in the region. The most well known subsidiary of Transcentury is leading cable manufacturer East African Cables (EAC). Hence it was not surprising that when they sort to widen their investment portfolio, the result was the acquisition of Kewberg Cables in South Africa among other initiatives on the continent. The manufacturing entity in Alberton in the south of Johannesburg was acquired in late 2007. In the beginning of 2008, Kenyan James Kaguchia took over as CEO and recently he took time off a busy schedule to discuss the enterprise with us.
Transcentury, particularly the transition to heading Kewberg Cables? When I arrived, the corporate environment struck me as different to what I was used to. It was a very mixed group of employees with a largely white management which we retained. I experienced a bit of culture shock in the work environment as there appeared to
floor. You can always tell how things are progressing by going down to the floor rather than looking at the paperwork so I make a point of going there about three times a day. What are the core products of Kewberg and who are your key clients? Kewberg has certification from the South African Bureau of Standards
Tell us about yourself and your personal experience with
be a serious lack of urgency here. On a personal level, I was far away from the shareholders and my family who only joined me six months later. I was also in a remote area of a new city and not accustomed to getting around. However, I am more settled now having befriended a number of people. I have also become accustomed to my position. My management style varies seeing as I pay attention to detail when it comes to administration and finance but I am willing to just look at the big picture when I am on the factory
for the manufacture of specialised cables. Contractors and engineers discuss what type of solution the client is looking for and we then design the cable according to their requirements. Our main product lines are cables for instrumentation and control used by mining and petrochemical entities such as the National Refinery, Sasol, Anglo platinum and Anglo gold. These relate to different products such as pull key cables for deep mine communication and the miners helmet cables. We are actually market leaders in this
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