The competition is organised by financial journalist and entrepreneur Marc Ashton and supported by highly respected marketer and author Scott Cundill from Majestic Interactive.

“Locally there has been a lot of focus on start-ups – particularly in the technology sector – but start-ups are initially low impact employing a handful of skilled people and run very high failure rates,” says Ashton.

“What about the businesses that have already done the legwork, made their mistakes and are now looking to scale up? That is where a competition like Punk Your SME comes in,” he adds.

Based on the “Pimp your ride” reality TV concept, the competition will every three months see the team giving away advertising, marketing material, technology to make small businesses run better as well as a round table mentoring and strategy session with top South African entrepreneurs to provide suggestions for scaling the business up.

The competition also provides an opportunity for the organisers to collect data toward their Entrepreneur Confidence Index which will provide relevant information on entrepreneurial activity in South Africa as well as try identify pains that the small business sector may be experiencing.

How to get involved:
Entrepreneurs looking to get involved with the competition can send an e-mail to marc@rival.co.za with the subject line: “I Want To Punky My SME”.

Alternatively entrepreneurs can join the “Punk Your SME” Facebook group to be kept up to date with industry happenings.

One of the key strategies for the organisers is to leverage the “social lending” spirit which is becoming increasingly prominent in South Africa. Those looking to contribute skills, services, mentoring, products or make cash donations which can be put toward each quarters’ prize can contact Marc Ashton on 082-561-1585 or e-mail to discuss further.

The deal is designed to offer a more complete solution to their respective clients’ needs in the OHADA region and further develop their regional law practices. 

OHADA – the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa – is an international organisation created in 1993 and currently comprising 16 member states.

Both firms have collaborated on projects and transactions in West Africa for a number of years.

Roddy McKean head of Webber Wentzel’s Africa Practice said that Webber Wentzel’s work in Africa now represents a significant and growing part of the firm’s practice. 

“Being able to draw on the recognised expertise and know-how of one of Africa’s leading law firms is a boon for us. Webber Wentzel gains access to Bile-Aka, Brizoua-Bi & Associés’ capability, knowledge and expertise under OHADA business law and its on-the-ground experience throughout West-Africa
 
“By combining our expertise with the insight of local partners, we provide our clients with a competitive advantage when operating in Africa. “

The firms will also share business and legal intelligence and set in place a secondment programme amongst other strategies to service clients.

Michel Brizoua-Bi, Head of the International Department at Bile-Aka, Brizoua-Bi & Associés commented: “Webber Wentzel has strong industry experience in key sectors in Africa.  The association of the two firms’ strengths and knowledge of African business environment reinforces our ability to provide legal advice of an international standard. 

“We have worked extensively with Webber Wentzel and have found that we share a similar vision about the need for more collaboration and integration between leading African firms”.

In a move to service better its clients in Francophone Africa, Webber Wentzel also recently appointed Steven De Backer as a director in the Africa Practice. Steven, who grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo and was previously with Freshfields in Brussels and Mkono & Co in Burundi and Dar-es-Salaam, has brought extensive on-the-ground experience of leading transactions in Francophone Africa. 

Steven is backed by a team of French speaking and civil law qualified lawyers who are able to assist clients in relation to their transactions and operations in Francophone Africa.

Webber Wentzel is currently acting for Vale SA, the world’s largest iron-ore producer, in relation to its investment in Guinea and its implementation of the multi-billion dollar Zogota project. 

The firm is also currently advising clients on a variety of matters in Francophone countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Burundi and Senegal.

Dear Shareholder,

At the company’s Annual General Meeting held in Melbourne a few weeks ago, there was considerable discussion of the Government’s proposed Resource Super Profits Tax. Your board has serious concerns about the impact of this proposed new tax, not only for Rio Tinto and the mining industry, but indeed for the whole of Australia’s future economic prosperity. During the course of the meeting, it became apparent that your board’s concerns were widely shared by shareholders, as a result of which I have decided to write to you to express our misgivings in clear and simple terms.

When the Henry Tax Review was first announced by the Government two years ago, Rio Tinto indicated clearly that we wanted to be positively engaged in the process. We have been long time supporters of genuine tax reform that enhances the efficiency and competiveness of the Australian economy. The proposed super tax does not deliver either of these goals. In fact, the Government’s proposal will penalise efficiency, discourage competitiveness, curtail investment and limit jobs growth.

Rio Tinto, like the rest of the mining industry, has grave concerns about the fundamentals of the new tax. It has been developed in a vacuum and is divorced from the day-to-day realities of business. 

We are particularly concerned by the application of the tax to existing projects. The mining industry invests billions of dollars a year in new projects and most of these projects take years, even decades, to pay back that investment. Companies like Rio Tinto are naturally only prepared to make such major long term commitments in stable legal, tax and regulatory environments. The Government’s current proposals, arrived at without consultation, have now significantly destabilised that investment framework. As a result, there has been a considerable increase in the perceived risk of investing in Australia, threatening to make Australia a much less attractive place in which to invest.

The risk that unexpected and unforeseen government action will negatively impact on the value of investments is often referred to as “sovereign risk” and, with almost half our Group’s assets invested in Australia, I am sure you will understand why our Chief executive, Tom Albanese, recently referred to Australia as now being his number one sovereign risk concern.

Under the proposed super tax, the industry will be taxed at a rate approaching 57 per cent, which means that Australia will have the highest taxed mining industry in the world. With such a high tax rate, the attractiveness of investing in mining in Australia will be further reduced. Other countries will benefit as investment shifts from Australia to more attractive tax regimes.

We are currently reviewing all our projects in Australia under the worst-case tax scenario to assess the impact the proposed super tax will have on our future growth plans. However, what is abundantly clear to us, is that had this tax been in place ten years ago, we would not have invested as much as we have in the Pilbara, and Rio Tinto would have been a much smaller producer of iron ore today.

The mining industry has assumed a critical role in the ongoing economic success of Australia. We played a major part in ensuring that Australia did not suffer as harshly as the rest of the world from the effects of the Global Financial Crisis. It is crucial that any tax reform does not undermine Australia’s strongest industry. 

We are particularly concerned that the Government announced the super tax proposals without any prior consultation with the industry. Since that announcement, we have continued to emphasise our desire to enter into constructive engagement with the Government, on the basis that genuine consultation would require that all aspects of the proposed tax are open for discussion. We are keen to work positively with the Government on tax reform that would not damage Australia’s competitiveness, its mining industry or the superannuation funds of millions of Australians.

Rio Tinto’s contribution to Australia
I have been deeply concerned about the misrepresentations that have been made about Rio Tinto during the course of this debate. In particular, there has been speculation around the actual amount of taxation that we have been paying in Australia. Rio Tinto has always paid its fair share of tax. We recently released data independently verified by our auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers, which confirmed that we have paid tax at an effective rate of 35 per cent on our Australian profits over the past decade.  From 2000 to 2009 our corporate tax and royalties paid amounted to A$20 billion.

The ten-year analysis also underlined how Rio Tinto has reinvested its Australian profits back into Australia.  From 2000 to 2009 we generated net profit after tax of about A$37 billion in Australia and re-invested about A$38 billion back into Australia – A$26 billion in capital expenditure and A$12 billion in acquisitions.

We are also proud of the wider contribution we make directly to the Australian community. In 2009, we employed more than 19,000 people across 36 operating sites, and we continue to be the largest private sector employer of Indigenous Australians. We supported more than 1,000 socio-economic programmes in Australia across health, education, business development and environmental protection, at a cost of some A$35 million. We also contributed a similar amount in direct payments via trusts and impact benefit agreements with host communities, taking our total direct community contributions in 2009 to more than A$70 million. I believe this clearly reflects our commitment and desire to actively engage in helping to build a better Australia.

What are we doing?
Rio Tinto has sought a genuine consultation process with the Government on the proposed super tax and has assured it that we remain willing and able to engage in constructive discussions.

We continue to work with our industry colleagues and the Minerals Council of Australia to ensure that our position on the super tax proposals is effectively communicated, not only to the Government, but also to the Australian community.

What can you do about the new mining tax?
If you want more information about this important issue and to make your voice heard,     I would encourage you to visit the Keep Mining Strong website at keepminingstrong.com. At this website you will find regular updates and it will also provide guidance about how you can actively participate in this debate.  For further information regarding Rio Tinto’s contribution to the debate please visit www.riotinto.com.

Rio Tinto has been contributing to Australia’s development more than 100 years and Australia has always played an important role in Rio Tinto’s success.  We believe we are part of an industry that has contributed hugely to the wealth, success and development of Australia.  We do not want that to change.  

Yours sincerely

Jan du Plessis
Chairman

Leading international fund managers have confirmed their attendance at the event in Harare on June 7 and 8, says Sean Gammon, MD of Harare-based Imara Capital Zimbabwe.

Imara expects investment professionals from the USA, UK, Europe and South Africa. Last year the Pan-African financial services group created history by successfully staging Zimbabwe’s first in-country international investment conference since the formation of an inclusive government.

“The follow-up indaba has a ‘let’s get down to business’ feel about it,” says Gammon. “The accent this time around will be on assessing the reality of corporate Zimbabwe, rather than just the undoubted blue-sky potential.

“The major signal sent on the run-in to the conference is that solid support is forthcoming from fund managers, despite concerns about the final form that Zimbabwe’s indigenisation legislation may take.

“It is no longer a novelty for African ‘frontier markets’ to be represented in the portfolios of major fund managers. Investment risk is different in Africa, but we’ve seen that developed economies also carry risk. All in all, the risk-and-return proposition within African markets has growing appeal. A follow-up investment indaba here in Harare confirms it.”

The conference format is designed to facilitate serious investment. After macro scene-setting, senior executives from major listed Zimbabwean companies will make individual presentations to fund managers.

One-on-one sessions will give prospective investors an in-depth look at the performance of market leaders that have achieved sustained growth with little reliance on debt.

Says Gammon: “Dollarisation has helped to resuscitate Zimbabwe’s economy and enabled many companies to step up production. The timing of the conference is important as it gives fund managers a chance to assess corporate performance post-dollarisation.

“Some investors may have taken a position soon after dollarisation and will be checking corporate performance one year on. Those who took a wait-and-see approach will be just as keen to assess dollarisation’s impact.

“In either scenario, the Imara conference fulfils a vital role.”

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Key provisions in the new Act will raise directors’ accountability to shareholders and increase the likelihood of shareholders participating in legal action, particularly if the company and its officers caused shareholders to suffer significant financial loss.

“The scope of persons able to bring an action as well as the basis for liability is now much wider,” says Philip Hobson, Financial Lines Manager at Chartis South Africa. 

“This means that anyone, including shareholders and staff members, can sue directors and officers directly, which will heighten their personal liability.”

Currently, a shareholder’s relationship with the company means that they can’t, generally speaking, bring an action against officers directly. They have to request the company to bring a law suit against an officer who committed a wrongful act.

However, directors and company officers are unlikely to bring an action against their colleagues, and therefore shareholders have limited recourse to recover damages from wrongful acts committed by company officers. 

“Under the new Act, shareholders will have direct recourse against directors and officers in a personal capacity as long as they can prove they have suffered damages,” says Hobson.

This recourse will now be available to a wider range of persons, not just shareholders. Directors will be personally liable for breaches of their fiduciary duties and may be sued for loss and damages caused to creditors, employees, customers, competitors, shareholders or other stakeholders of a company.   

For example, if a director makes a bad decision or acts negligently, causing his company to suffer financially, and this results in retrenchment of an employee, that staff member will be able to bring an action against the company officers directly.

Another significant change in the Act is that it specifically provides for class actions by extending liability to a class of persons. Class actions increase the amount of damages claimed exponentially.

Increased shareholder activism and the extension of  liability to a wider class of persons means that South Africa is likely to follow the trend in countries like the US, UK and Australia which all have experienced increased litigation against companies, company officers, and directors.

Australia, for example, which has gone through a similar corporate law evolution, has seen claims against directors and officers double in the last 4 years. In the UK, the D&O insurance market is forecast to grow by 27% to £596 million by 2013.

Directors and officers need to be prepared for the changes in the Act and the wider basis for liability, as their own assets will be in the firing line should an action be bought against them. This means they could face very large monetary damages.

Hobson warns that management should make sure they are properly insured for any eventuality.

“Companies, directors and their insurance advisors aren’t well prepared for the risks that could arise from increased shareholder activism and class actions. Considering the Act provides for personal liability, which could cost directors financially, they need to ensure they are adequately covered.”

CEO Andries van Heerden says he is satisfied with the purchase consideration in light of the underlying net asset value and absence of debt in the acquired business.  The price will be settled fully in cash from available funding facilities.  The acquisition remains subject to statutory and regulatory approvals.   

With an annual output of approximately 1,2 million tonnes the Glen Douglas quarry south of Johannesburg will become the largest in Afrimat’s portfolio.  The mine was opened in 1954 and today holds dolomite reserves for the next 30 to 40 years.  Van Heerden is confident the acquisition will yield significant benefits for the group once Afrimat’s turnaround strategy optimises the mine’s efficiencies.  He realistically sees a two-to-three year horizon for realising its profit potential.  “The intention is to take advantage of the high volume output at Glen Douglas while reducing cost bases to equate more on a par with the group’s profitable quarries currently.”

He continues: “The metallurgical product from the Glen Douglas mine has a strong, loyal client base in the industrial minerals industry to the future benefit of our bottom line.”  Metallurgical dolomite is currently supplied to the steel industry.  Further, agricultural lime is provided to the agricultural industry in the vicinity.

However van Heerden points out that the acquisition is complementary to, and not divergent from the group’s current offering.  “The acquisition does not expose Afrimat only to new markets as around 50% of the product sales still falls into our traditional market,” he says referring to the mine’s commercial aggregates for surrounding construction projects.  Glen Douglas further holds a new order mining licence.

He highlights that the quarry entrenches Afrimat’s footprint in Gauteng and is ideally positioned for maximum growth with a highly competitive position over a wide radius.  “Glen Douglas will complement existing Afrimat quarries on the West Rand in serving the rapidly developing Western, South Western and Southern parts of Gauteng.”

Van Heerden concludes that the acquisition reflects the focused attempts of Afrimat’s management team to predict economic trends and pre-empt any negative impact with proactive growth strategies.  “Our management team’s ability to anticipate the direction of the market is a major competitive advantage.  It enables Afrimat to devise early innovative and creative solutions to counter tough trading challenges.”  In this vein he says other expansion initiatives of a similar nature may be on the cards and will be announced to shareholders when appropriate.

Sooner than many policy-makers anticipate, emerging water supply problems will impact on the whole spectrum of South Africa’s development challenges.

This is the sobering reality that has emerged in a report released this week, based on round table discussions convened by Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) and the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE).

The aim was to examine the state of the water sector in South Africa, probe the reasons for its problems, and explore some solutions. Participants included government officials, representatives of business and civil society, academics, consultants, and other experts.

“Water security is a critical issue,” said Ann Bernstein, executive director of CDE. “To improve the country’s outlook, political leadership at the highest levels must recognise the severity of the current situation.

“They need to pay urgent attention to putting appropriate policies and institutional capabilities in place to address threats to water security and quality.”

South Africans may one day have to make do with significantly less water per capita. For a country already using almost all its existing water resources, this would be a dramatic change, with far-reaching implications for households, businesses, communities and government.

South Africa is in this position for a number of reasons: it is a very dry country and 98% of its existing water resources are already fully developed. Its largest economic centres are not situated near the major sources of water and acid mine drainage is affecting the quality of available water. Added to these issues, the water the country does have is being managed badly.

A highly ambitious policy agenda has been pursued with scant regard for the vital role of skills and experience in water management. The desire to meet targets of demographic representivity, along with the all too frequent practice of securing jobs for friends and political allies, has trumped almost all other priorities in the process of staffing both existing and newly established entities.

“Water supply has come under growing strain,” said Bernstein. “It has become clear that the deterioration in water management is largely due to a failure of government at all levels.”

None of the catchment management agencies, established by law in the late 1990s to sit at the heart of the country’s water resource management, is functioning. Some 90 municipalities do not have a single professional water engineer, and very few have written operating procedures. Ninety percent of municipalities cannot meet water standards for discharge from their waste water treatment plants.

“We are losing up to a third of our water in some areas because of ageing infrastructure. In Gauteng, for instance, the infrastructure was designed 40 or 50 years ago and does not cater for the current population.

 “In order to avoid the worst outcomes of present trends, we need urgently to focus on factors over which we have some control.”

Some of the vital steps identified during the round table include:

·         Political leadership is vital

·         Institutions responsible for managing water must be strengthened. This requires improving structures of governance and ensuring that all appointees have the skills and experience to manage the sector. Political deployments and jobs-for-pals must not be tolerated

·         Maintenance of existing infrastructure must be prioritised, especially in growing urban areas

·         The impact of acid mine drainage needs to be addressed, with government and industry working together to minimise the impact of this threat to water quality, especially in Gauteng and increasingly Mpumalanga

·         Waste needs to be minimised, with consumers, businesses and government playing their part. As the country’s experience with electricity has shown, this requires getting prices and incentives right

“Though not yet as visible a crisis as electricity provision, water supply is already impeding the country’s socio-economic development in some localities,” said Bernstein.

“Water is not the only scarce resource that is running out. So is time.”

Xstrata plc notes the Australian government’s plan to impose a structural change to the taxation of the Australian resources sector which will result in significant and disproportionate additional taxation on the industry and could well curb the large scale, long term investments required to develop Australia’s natural resources for the benefit of all Australians.

Mick Davis, Xstrata plc Chief Executive commented: “It is very disappointing that the Australian government is planning to impose additional taxation that will see Australia levying the highest taxes on its minerals sector of any country in the world.  The Australian mining industry already makes an appropriate and proportionate contribution to the tax base of Federal and State Governments in addition to investment in infrastructure, substantial direct and indirect job creation and support for the communities associated with our operations. These proposed taxes reduce the very cash flows that are reinvested in maintaining or expanding existing Australian mines and in developing new operations, protecting existing jobs and creating new ones.

“Mineral investments require long-term certainty over fiscal arrangements.  The government’s intention to change the basis on which existing mining investments were entered into sends a particularly worrying signal and undermines Australia’s reputation as a stable investment destination, hampering the ability of mining companies and other investors to assess the basis for, or to commit to, future long-term investment. 

“It is highly regrettable that the Australian government intends to single out one of the country’s most important and competitive industries for punitive tax treatment, potentially damaging the entire nation’s global competitiveness. 

“The development of a nation’s mineral resources requires a collaborative partnership between industry and government, which must acknowledge that global diversified mining companies and their investors have multiple investment opportunities across the world.  We will engage constructively with government to discuss the full implications of the proposed regime on the mining industry and to clarify a number of outstanding issues in respect of the tax proposal.”

Securing local supply of resources for the local population

In 2009 countries sought to secure their supply of natural resources by investing and buying off-shore assets. For instance, although China’s overseas direct investment was down 60% year-on-year as of October 2009, Chinese investors still completed 30 outbound mining deals for the year with a total disclosed deal value of US$ 5.2 billion.

Some experts believe that this drove up short-term demand artificially and that this stockpiling may not be sustainable in 2010. Others point to the deep inherent demand of China, India and other emerging economy nations to modernise and industrialise. Mining companies need the strategic feasibility to adapt to either one, as well as the range of other potential outcomes they may face this year.

Continuing fluctuation of commodity prices, currencies and costs

This rollercoaster ride continues as commodity prices drop and rebound again. The base metals, copper, gold and silver have demonstrated buoyancy after their drop. Industry stakeholders are watching with bated breath to determine if mining companies have learnt their lesson from this rollercoaster. As demand fundamentals pick up, organisations must take heed to expand with caution. Rather than reigniting a cycle of spiralling costs, companies will need to manage their risks more effectively.

The need for flexible long-term planning and back-up strategies

The trouble with reacting to commodity price fluctuations is the need to always look over your shoulder instead of facing ahead. In 2009 the mining sector fell prey to this mentality as they shut down locations, put exploration on hold and froze new projects. “Mining companies need to  understand what’s driving demand, to be able to think ahead of the curve, planning exploration and development investments and differentiating themselves in the global commodities marketplace”, says Tony Zoghby, Global Mining Leader at Deloitte South Africa.

Embracing sustainability

Corporate Social Responsibility is not new to the mining sector, but is often relegated to the communications office and not seen as integral to their business operations. In the face of heightened regulations and an increase in vocal investor activism and consumer expectations, this is no longer a feasible stance. Mining companies, for instance those with limited access to energy, infrastructure and water, will need to collaborate more effectively with communities and NGOs to protect corporate and local citizen interests. This can be seen as earning a social license to operate if an integrated approach is undertaken.

Funding from the credit markets still difficult to access

Mining is a very capital-intensive industry regardless of how much you cut it. When the debt markets shut down and equity deals started falling through last year, many companies were forced to put a hard stop to operations and junior companies. Even major companies and state-owned enterprises had greater difficulty in accessing capital, although they were sufficiently cash-rich to continue financing existing production from internal cash-flow. Mining companies now turn to private equity players and alternative options, but either way they must remain laser-focused on capital efficiency if they hope to weather the current downturn and position themselves for sustainable growth in the future.

Contending with a changing climate

Climate change moves to the mainstream operational agenda as a changing climate could potentially hamper productivity due to unpredictable droughts or flooding. The climate change issue poses hindrances to the mining industry in general. These include regulatory risks; physical operations risks; financial risks; market risks; strategic risks; supply chain risks and litigation risks. Heavy carbon-emitters will need to take steps to reduce their emissions, to better measure and report their output and to engage in carbon offset trading

Exploring extreme mining- the next big thing

The pace of exploration has slowed due to a tough economic climate but as the demand begins to pick up mining companies will face an endemic industry challenge of finding quality assets. Now that mining companies have picked the easy to access deposits they have to now consider exploring the extreme and harsher mining locations.

Endless mergers

The need to merge still exists in mining but the desire to merge does not. Many companies are taking advantage to get their financial houses in order in advance of the next wave of mergers. Organisations that have prepared for alternative scenarios (as both buyers and sellers) will be better placed to act decisively in the face of built-up pressure for consolidation in the sector.

No end to government intervention

Tensions between mining industry and national governments are commonplace. There is nevertheless the need for improved collaboration between national governments and the mining industry. With many mining companies looking into extreme mining, with the associated risks companies can expect strict regulations, more permits and complex tax issues. This is bound to result in more government interventions and companies will need to learn how to walk a tough political high wire.

Infrastructure to remain the biggest stumbling block

The mining sector has long relied on access to adequate infrastructure for production and distribution – from power generators and transmission lines to ports and railways. As they move into more remote regions however, the lack of infrastructure threatens to endanger operations. Companies are forced to bear the costs of infrastructure development and enter into public-private partnerships. If this trend continues, mining companies may find themselves investing in and managing an entirely new class of assets.

With budget cuts across the industry, mining companies need to find ways to streamline their projects with the few resources they have to their disposal. Unfortunately, the scarcity of engineers makes this even more challenging.

An IPMCO has been identified as one of the several workable solutions to making better use of existing resources, by getting work to flow horizontally as well as vertically within a company. It is a single communication portal with key information for an entire organisation to understand the strategic context, project focus, individual project health and progress made on the project within portfolios.

IPMO is a business solution that brings together all the elements of typical projects including project communication; project progress and overall tracking. It also provides strategic planning; tactical operational decision-making; document management; cost monitoring and tracking; scope management; risk management and mitigation; issue management and workflow; resource capacity management; and detailed project reporting.

UMT Consulting CEO Pieter Meyer and two of his mining IPMCO subject matter experts, Peter Gerber and Leon de Kock stress that without an IPMCO business solution, projects are rarely completed on time and within acceptable cost – this is especially true of large projects.

“Improving delivery and reducing spend, especially during the current competitive business climate, can be determined by an organisation’s ability to efficiently align resources and business activities with strategic objectives and could mean the difference between success and failure,” they explain.

They say IPMCOs can save organisations money by enabling better resource management and reduce project failures. “They can either outsource the IPMCO, or part thereof, or manage it in-house. The benefit of keeping it in-house is that one has full control over the project and the budget. However, managing it in-house means one is dependent on limited skills.”

There are two basic models of IPMCO business solutions, one that acts in as a outsource model by providing consulting services to assist mining and engineering companies to build capacity, build the IPMCO, providing internal project manager, assist with training, mentorship and skills transfers, provide strategic project guidance by using best practices.

Meyer says the advantage of this model is to assist companies to build their own excellence and capacity in the IPMCO space. “The other model is to outsource all work to an Engineering Procurement Consult and Management (EPCM) company. This means the EPCM will retain control of delivery and at the same time, build capacity and skills for within the EPCM future projects. This model does suit some mining organisation because their strategy in not necessary to build capacity but to get the job done through contractor management.”

Furthermore, Earned Value Management is a proven systematic approach to objectively measure project progress and performance measurement, whilst integrating technical scope, schedule, cost and risk. It forms a crucial part of Project, Programme and Portfolio Management when establishing the true status of a project and can be applied to any Life Cycle of a project, to any phase of a project, or, as soon as a scope, budget, schedule and the appropriate milestones have been agreed upon. It is also internationally recommended as a best practice in the latest Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) including engineering and construction best practices.

Ideally, the IPMCO should be the focal point for project management improvement and enhancement. This mission is met by establishing best practices and by providing training in all project management knowledge areas. It becomes the responsibility of the IPMCO to focus on areas such as development of lessons learned and standardised methodologies.

UMT Consulting SA focuses on ”Project Intelligence” by collecting and consolidating relevant data and enabling processes to support management with their decision-making process through dashboard reports, practical day to day collaboration, workflow management and linking project and portfolio management to strategic business value.

Project Intelligence assists executives, middle management and programme managers to consolidate initiatives to make sound business decisions that will save money and deliver maximum value to ensure sustainability.

One of the more visible functions of an IPMCO is developing, recording, compiling, and disseminating the best practices in project management. This repository of information will be continuously evolving. The IPMCO will maintain project archives containing data on project life-cycle performance and project scope, cost, and schedule.

De Kock says companies need to ensure solid financial control. “The problem most companies face is that they control projects on cash flow rather than on cost flow. By controlling projects on cost flow allows them to be proactive rather than reactive.”

“On these facets of the project, data will highlight the original value, modifications, and the final value. Additionally, lists of issues and problems of previous projects will be available to all new projects. Thus, successive projects are able to build upon the lessons learned of previous projects,” he concludes.

UMT SA has proven successes with IPMCO at various mines across South Africa including Grootegeluk.

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