African governments are demanding greater levels of compliance from businesses, which has resulted in a noticeable increase in red tape and bureaucracy owing to poor execution by officials, says consulting engineering and scientist firm SRK Consulting South Africa MD Vis Reddy.
Among its projects, SRK Consulting has assisted African governments and implementing agents such as Southern African Development Community (SADC) bodies to plan and develop more efficient and effective systems to drive economic development.
Strong commodity prices have boosted activity in most regions, and workers have gradually returned to many sites after the easing of Covid-19 travel restrictions, he says.
“We value the opportunity to have an in-country presence wherever conditions allow so that we can engage local expertise and be closer to clients.”
Reddy notes, however, that in many situations, the cost of compliance can undermine the viability of having an in-country presence.
“Our business model encourages the employment of local staff and majority local ownership. In this model, we would look to governments to incentivise companies, such as ours, to establish a local base.”
Read the full article in Engineering News
