Kraft plans eye Africa

Johannesburg - Kraft Foods SA on Monday said it had invested R160m in a pilot skills programme in its sub-Saharan African operations as it positioned itself to double its revenue in five years in an increasingly competitive fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market.

Kraft Foods SA is part of US-listed Kraft Foods.

The programme has already started at its Cadbury Botswana sugar-free gum manufacturing plant in Gabarone, which has increased its competency level from 9% to 52% over nine months, and hiked output by 40%.

Johan van Zyl, manufacturing director for the Kraft Foods sub-Saharan African region, told journalists on Monday that employee competency and capability must complement modernised infrastructure.

"We're marrying the hardware and software - that is, the physical assets with the people and skills - to create a sustainable operation," he said.

"This has proved that there is a strong correlation between competence and capability development and operational performance," said Van Zyl.

The group's sub-Saharan African region comprises nine wholly-owned operations.

The "people development" concept at Cadbury Botswana utilises internal assessors to evaluate competence against job standards through formally defined job outputs, roles and responsibilities, as well as learning aids and objectives.

"It's a move from acquired competence to applied competence," said Van Zyl.

The training programme has brought about a 40% increase in plant output through a 25% improvement in productivity and a 30% reduction in cost.

The Botswana model, which typifies the growth potential that Kraft Foods projects in the sub-Saharan network of operations, is to be rolled out at other plants where significant investment is being made in transformation programmes.

They include the company's Port Elizabeth chocolate manufacturing plant, the site of a R750m investment in capacity and capability technology, and Cadbury Nigeria, where a new Bournvita manufacturing facility is being built at a cost of R350m at Ikeja, near Lagos.