CA reaches for new heights at Kgale hill

| Friday October 15, 2010 00:00

Their business of 22 years, CA Sales & Distribution, is less based on tenders from the government and more on fast moving consumer goods in the retail and wholesale trade. Their 120 trucks criss-cross the length and breadth of Botswana, from Gaborone to Kasane distributing commodities.

The suppliers and distributors of items from sweets, rice, sugar, beer to bathing and hair products, among others, have since 1988 seen their business transform from a double garage operation in Tlokweng, with only six people to the current P1.5 billion annual turnover operation, employing over 1,200 Batswana.

The company has an impressive headquarters and two spacious warehouses in Gaborone and Francistown. The investors put it all down to hard work and investing in their business growth, instead of shipping money out of the country. Indeed they have been investing their money in the acquisition of similar businesses, achieving a total of five takeovers and mergers to date. As Botswana celebrates its 44th independence and stable economy, the CA Sales group of companies is about to walk into their newly built P150 million sprawling headquarters at the foot of Kgale Hill. The facility comprises 35,000 square metres for warehouses and 4,500 square metres of office space, all this achieved in the midst of the economic recession last year.

Shah and Thomson say investing in the multi-million Pula facility was a big statement that they are not here just to make bucks and go back home.

When Shah talks about the state-of-the-art headquarters, he mentions its advanced fire fighting technology as if it were the only splendour there.

But for a man who lost his brother-in-law when their CA Sales warehouse at Gaborone West Industrial was razed down by an inferno, emanating from an electric fault in May 2005, it is not surprising that the fire fighting technology should be pre-eminent in his discussion of the new headquarters whose official opening will be some time next month. 'My brother-in-law died in 2005 trying to save lives when our warehouse caught fire,' he says.

'He could have escaped, but he went back into the burning building to look for anyone who might be trapped in there. We were speaking to him on the phone at the time, but the effects of the inferno proved too much for his lungs,'

His partner, Thomson, says though they were compensated, the insurance claims could not cover the losses they incurred in that horrific accident. 'But we stood that test and progressed into what we are today,' he says. 'For the last 18 months, our new headquarters created 350 new jobs at the construction site.'

Shah says they worked so hard that they were back in business within three days of the 2005 inferno. 'None of our staff members was retrenched as a result of the fire. None went without a salary in spite of the 2005 incident.We value our workers as a vital asset.'  Today, Shah and Thomson's operation ranks as the country's largest distribution business.

It comprises CA Sales, Kalahari Sales and Dafin Sales, the sales and distribution arm of the group. In addition, there are warehousing services and immovable properties owned through a company called Winchester Properties.By contrast, back in 1988 when the company started as CA Enterprises, it acted purely as a sales agency.According to the directors, transformation began in 1993 when CA started a distribution business.

In 1995, the company completed a merger with Indian Ocean and Capricorn Agencies, distributors of Lucky Star pilchards and bakery product distributors respectively. The company's three divisions at the time were fast moving consumer goods, white goods and appliances, bakery and liquor.

Its changing face has seen the company now providing warehousing, distribution, sales, merchandising and a debtors function for their principals, all based in South Africa. In 2004, the company acquired Dafin Sales & Distribution, which was a competitor to CA Sales. In 2006, it acquired Kalahari Sales, a sales agency representing Levers HPC and Warehousing Services, a logistics company handling goods from South Africa to Botswana from various principals.

The following year saw the two men acquire new premises at the Gaborone West Industrial Estate which were consolidated with adjoining premises bought from Volvo Trucks. Says Thompson: 'We have a philosophy to serve and support our customers. We want to reach new heights in the distribution business.'