Trade and the Canadian Economy
Large Number of Companies to take part in Trade Mission to Sub-Saharan Africa
Stories of the Week - November 13, 2002:
"Canadian companies can play a key role in propelling Africa's economic development." This statement was made by International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew last September when he announced that he would lead a trade mission to Sub-Saharan Africa from November 15 to 26, 2002. "By bringing a business delegation to Sub-Saharan Africa, I believe we can open doors for Canadian businesses and develop strong trade and investment partnerships with African countries."
More than 70 Canadian companies have decided to take part in this mission, seeing Sub-Saharan Africa not only as a developing area, but also as an area rich in opportunities for Canadian goods and services.
In 2001, bilateral trade in merchandise between Canada and Sub-Saharan Africa totalled $1.69 billion. Merchandise exports to that region grew to $690 million, while imports totalled $1 billion. Sub-Saharan Africa ranked as the 19th-largest market worldwide for Canadian goods in 2001. For 2000, sales of services to Sub-Saharan Africa added approximately $630 million to Canadian exports.
This week, Stories of the Week highlights Canadian companies that have been doing business in Sub-Saharan Africa for some time now, along with others that will be joining the trade mission, confident that Sub-Saharan Africa holds opportunities for them.
For more information about the trade mission to Sub-Saharan Africa,
log onto http://www.tcm-mec.gc.ca/africa/menu-en.asp.
Stories of the Week - November 13, 2002
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Biotechnology Fighting AIDS and Cancer
Canadian Breast Cancer Laboratories
(Canbreal Therodiagnostics International Inc.), Ottawa, Ontario
Canbreal Therodiagnostics International Inc. develops treatments and therapies that can cut mortality rates for people all over the world who are suffering from cancer (particularly breast cancer), AIDS and neurodegenerative diseases. That in itself is a challenge. But the CEO of the Ottawa biotech company, Dr. Gabriel Pulido-Cejudo, says that the hardest part of developing markets in other countries is convincing governments to be leaders in public health. That is why he is travelling to Africa as a member of the Canada Trade Mission - his fourth such trip in two years.
"You won't have public health without government support," says Pulido-Cejudo. "These missions allow us to effectively evaluate the interest of governments in other countries, as part of a high-profile delegation." The Team Canada 2002 trade mission to Russia and Germany was particularly successful for Canbreal, which signed three agreements worth $3 million each to develop strategic programs based on its products and technologies. Pulido-Cejudo is currently following up on initiatives undertaken during last June's Canada trade mission to Mexico. He also participated in the Team Canada trip to China in 2001; this, he says, "had a dramatic impact in streamlining who we can work with." Canbreal is now strongly interested in establishing a presence in Africa, says Pulido-Cejudo: "We want to introduce our technology in a number of regions, starting in Senegal."
Canbreal was founded in 1998 by Pulido-Cejudo to commercialize a revolutionary low-cost blood test for breast cancer that he developed while at Health Canada. Today, the firm has 20 people on staff and conducts collaborative research with organizations in Mexico, France, Denmark, England, Chile, Italy, Spain and Greece. The aim is to establish and promote applied research programs centred on the development of biotechnology-based products, bio-systems and non-invasive therapies.
LaSalle College Group to Explore A New Market
LaSalle College Group, Montreal, Quebec
For LaSalle College Group, the Canada Trade Mission to Africa is basically a scouting trip. "These missions present an ideal framework for exploring new markets," says Jacques Lefebvre, President of the Group, who will be looking into opportunities for extending LaSalle's international activities to South Africa.
In 1996 LaSalle College Group took part in the Team Canada trade mission to South and Southeast Asia; shortly afterward the Group opened a design school in Indonesia. Since then, the Group's activities in Asia have steadily expanded, as has enrolment of students from the region in LaSalle's schools in Canada: LaSalle College (the Group's main division and Canada's largest private bilingual career training institute) and Inter-Dec College, both in Montreal; and two campuses operating under LaSalle College International auspices in Toronto and Vancouver.
"By showcasing the best of Canadian entrepreneurs and companies in various sectors from across the country, the Team Canada initiative serves as a stepping-stone not only for Canadian participants but for business communities in the host countries as well," says Lefebvre. "It also provides a highly effective forum for networking and information exchange."
In 1987, LaSalle College Group became the first Canadian educational institution to successfully implement a North American-based French-language educational system in Africa, with the opening of its International School of Fashion and Design and its International School of Management in Casablanca and Rabat. Since then, schools have been launched under the LaSalle banner in Singapore, Malaysia, Turkey, Colombia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Tunisia and China (with seven institutions). Soon to join the list is Egypt.
LaSalle College specializes in fashion, tourism, hotel/restaurant management, business administration and office systems technology, along with e-learning. Inter-Dec College offers courses in the applied arts: interior design, commercial layout design, computer graphics, multimedia/animation, professional beauty care, hairdressing and artistic make-up. LaSalle College Group also runs the Montreal International Language Centre, a technology transfer company, a software development company for the clothing sector and ilasalle Campus, alongside LaSalle and Inter-Dec Colleges.
Committed to Improving Transportation Infrastructure in Africa
CPCS Transcom Ltd., Ottawa, Ontario
CPCS Transcom Ltd. specializes in the restructuring and privatization of roads, railways and ports, particularly in Africa. Company president Peter Kieran is joining the Canada Trade Mission to further develop relationships with transportation organizations in Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa. "We are committed to fostering more dynamic infrastructure throughout the continent," says Kieran.
The Ottawa-based firm recently won a high-profile contract in South Africa to develop a strategy for improving the efficiency of the five major ports of Durban, Richard's Bay, East London, Mossel Bay and Cape Town by expanding private-sector participation. This project is financed by Britain's Department for International Development and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Another action plan was recently developed by CPCS to revitalize the operations and management of Nigeria Railways Corporation through the introduction of a public-private partnership. Further west, the company is providing lead technical and financial advisory services to assist the government of Ghana in the selection of a concessionaire for Ghana Railway Company Limited through an international tender to be issued in 2003. "We are pleased to participate in this important project because it is an integral part of the government's goal of making Ghana a trade and investment gateway into the Western African Sub-region," says Kieran.
CPCS is also helping Mali and Senegal reshape the national railway of each country into a commercially viable transnational enterprise. In 1999, the World Bank presented its President's Award for Excellence to the company for its participation in this project.
Made-in-Quebec Houses for Nigeria
Digigraph Systems Inc., Boucherville, Quebec
Whether in Latin America, Africa or certain Asian countries, the demand for low-cost housing is urgent. Responding to this enormous worldwide market, Digigraph Systems Inc. has designed and patented a prefabricated housing system that can be assembled on site without specialized personnel and then filled with locally produced concrete, allowing projects to be completed at low cost and in record time. Buildings constructed using the Digigraph system are resistant to earthquakes, vandals, termites and corrosion. Using PVC extrusions and concrete, this unique construction system was developed in cooperation with another Boucherville-based company, Soniplastics.
Digigraph Systems currently exports 100 percent of its production, worth about $2.7 million a year. Since 2001, the company has been working on a major housing project in Benin City, Nigeria. Scheduled for completion this winter, the project involves manufacturing 100 houses of 190 square metres each for the local market. Digigraph is currently producing the components for the second phase of 30 housing units, and is also providing the wall and roof components as well as doors and windows. "We are joining the Canada Trade Mission to South Africa, Nigeria and Senegal in order to strength our business relationships in these countries," says Bernard McNamara, President of Digigraph.
In recent years, Digigraph has also carried out projects in the West Indies, the Bahamas, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Ghana, the Philippines and Portugal. In recognition of its international success, the company was nominated for the 2002 Technology Export Award of the Association de la recherche industrielle du Québec.
Niche Solutions for the Mining Industry
MacLean Engineering and Marketing Co. Limited, Collingwood, Ontario
With a strong customer base in the metalliferous and precious metal mines of the Canadian Shield, MacLean Engineering and Marketing - a designer and manufacturer of niche solutions for the mining industry - is expanding its sales in export markets in the United States, South America, Europe, South Africa and Australia.
Established in 1973, MacLean entered the market in South Africa five years ago and has established a branch office there. One of its projects is the Palabora block-cave mine, which is located next to Kruger National Park in Limpopo Province. Palabora is equipped with some of MacLean's latest specialty equipment, such as its High Reach Rig - a machine designed to operate entirely under radio remote control to safely bring down large, unstable rock masses in dangerous locations. "We are participating in the Canada Trade Mission primarily to meet other Canadian companies with whom we can discuss potential alliances for expanding business opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa," says MacLean's International Business Manager, Curtis Clarke.
MacLean Engineering and Marketing produces specialty mobile drilling, ground support and secondary reduction equipment at its plant in Collingwood, Ontario. A complete in-house design team ensures that this manufacturing facility uses the latest techniques and technology. MacLean also develops shaft-sinking jumbos, special-purpose vehicles, emulsion systems, boom trucks, personnel carriers, and bulk carriers for shotcrete and explosives. With a work force of 120, the company has a regional sales and service office in Sudbury, Ontario, and international offices in Australia and South America.
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Updated on November 13th, 2002
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