The South African arm of international satellite navigation firm Garmin has added a new division as the company sets out to expand its reach on the African continent.
Garmin Sub-Saharan Africa, established this month, will be headed by the former sales and marketing director of Garmin SA, Walter Mech, who was inaugurated as CEO of the new division on Friday.
According to the company, the move to expand its global positioning system (GPS) footprint and associated infrastructure on the African continent follows the acquisition of then Garmin Distribution Africa (GDA) by Garmin's international operation in September last year.
GDA, subsequently renamed Garmin Southern Africa, continues to operate from its local headquarters and warehouse facility in Johannesburg. At the time, chairman and CEO, Min Kao, said the deal would “strengthen Garmin's presence in this rapidly growing region”.
Navigating Africa
Amid the unexplored terrain and rapidly growing transport infrastructure and associated challenges the African continent presents, Garmin says it intends to play a significant role in helping to create a formal infrastructure for Africa.
He says Garmin will look to partner with companies that previously distributed and sold Garmin equipment in the territory, with some of the resellers set to be integrated under the Sub-Saharan umbrella in October.
Consumers in SA, and Africa at large, says Mech, can expect a range of new tools and technology from the GPS lifestyle company going forward. “Satellite navigation in the rest of Africa is an emerging market, and our intention is to begin delivering products more suited to that particular geography.”
He says South Africans, on the other hand, are further ahead - having adopted the latest lifestyle technologies using GPS. “We will continue to deliver new solutions across the marine, fitness, automotive, outdoor and aviation market.”
Uncharted territory
Mech says the challenge within Africa is that the transport infrastructure is growing and large areas of land and water are being surveyed and mapped out. “Roads, farm boundaries, ports, oil fields and city layouts all require GPS technology.”
He says Garmin sells more outdoor handheld units in Africa than any other device - but marine, aviation and automotive products will be more widely used in future.
As for the challenge of consumer economy, Mech says Garmin intends to make all technologies available at the most reasonable cost by working with local partners at country level.
Mech says, as with many multinationals looking to expand, coping with the challenges that accompany diversity of language, African economies and government regulations will play a major role in determining the success of Garmin's African endeavour. “Ultimately, it is up to us to forge strong relationships in-country that will help us guide the correct implementation.” Technology is what will drive the requirements, he adds.
Exec exodus
While a chunk of GDA's management team left the 14-year-old company post-acquisition, Mech - with Garmin since 2009 - stayed on to steer the sales and marketing division. As part of his newly assigned portfolio, he will take on the responsibilities of the South African subsidiary's former CEO, Richard Fearon.
Fearon is the most recent executive to leave Garmin SA, following the earlier exit of executives Chris Crozier (CTO) and Juliet Botha (CFO).
According to Crozier, who now works in the waste management field, he left the company amicably, and it was “always clear” that his tenure would be short-term. “This is just all part of the process of the acquisition by an international company. Management becomes top-heavy when a company's structure is changed.”
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