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Recently, on a whim, I went around the office, stopping by desks, asking one question: What’s our vision? The silence was often deafening, like footsteps in a steel mill at midnight. Some murmured halting responses. Truth is, most people didn’t have a clue what our vision was. Who could blame them? It’s easy to punch in and out, get your job done, and not think about the bigger picture.
You see, vision isn’t just a word we hang on walls like otivational posters. It’s the spark that ignites the engine of this juggernaut. We want an Africa built with pride. That’s our vision.
We are builders. We build things. As the largest steel manufacturer in Kenya, we’ve been building things since 1962. And we do it with pride. Our pride doesn’t just come from being the largest steel company, but from the fact that our building solutions are trusted, made with pride and care, and provide superior customer value. Every piece of steel we shape carries a story. Our story dates back to the birth of this nation.
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To reach this critical point of quality and awareness, we need to have shared values. Our values are centered on customer focus; everything we do is focused on the customer. Our value is excellence. I like to say that we don’t cut corners—we cut steel. The biggest barrier to excellence is thinking that something is good enough. We never think something is good enough at Mabati Rolling Mills. Because nothing is. We strive to give the best we can. And we do this together, with partnerships—colleagues, other companies, suppliers, customers.Lastly, and this is critical, we care. We care for our employees, our community, and our environment. It’s not just corporate responsibility—it’s a human necessity. It’s our core ethos.
Once we understand how critical all these are, we roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty. We build and open market channels—showrooms, retail outlets, e-commerce. We have acceleration projects, key among them our expansion in South Africa. We have a color line in Tanzania that drives color sales. We have export teams shipping to Sudan, South Africa, Somalia, and Congo.
When you’re operating at this scale, you’ll encounter many others stepping into your territory, wanting to take a piece of your pie. That’s a lot of pressure, which requires us to do things differently, drive volume, and have aggressive marketing to help customers understand our value and product.
We have overcapacity just in Eastern Africa, with new players entering the market, around 150,000 tonnes. That’s pressure on us. So we can’t afford problems like what we recently experienced—the stoppage of factories due to a lack of sufficient materials. The supply chain can’t be disrupted. It should flow like the Congo River. We move forward.
You might have heard of the Product Heartbeat project, which measures the net promoter score in every single entity. It shows us that we need to focus on two main things: delivering the right product at the right place for customers at the right time. The other is service. We have good quality materials, we have great products overall, and we are good people as well. This isn’t about metrics and numbers—it’s the pulse of our promise to Africa. Right product, right place, right time. Simple as a heartbeat, vital as one too.
In the end, all of this boils down to the quality of employees we have. Our strength isn’t in our factories. It’s in our people. If we have good people—passionate, capable, motivated, and committed—we can achieve anything. So let’s keep building, not just with steel and stone, but with dreams and determination. Let’s forge an Africa that stands tall, shines bright, and builds with pride. Because we’re not just in the steel manufacturing business. We’re in the business of building tomorrow.
On behalf of myself and the group, I thank you for your efforts this year. Let’s continue building Africa with pride.
Anders Lindgren.
CEO of the Safal Group.