Ghana’s economy growing – Aksa CEO

The Group CEO of Aksa Power Generation Mr. Alper Peker has described the economy of Ghana as “promising” and growing “consistently.”

Speaking ahead of this year’s PowerElec expo in Accra, he said it is against this background that they have decided to invest more in Africa.

“Ghana is an interesting market. Ghana economy is growing consistently and we expect this momentum will increase,” the Aksa CEO noted. “Ghana has promising potential and seems that the potential will be realized soon.
Considering these factors, we decide to be part of this journey. Oil – Gas section and mining section our main target market in Africa. We have planned our entire business plan to be a part of this market and we believe we will be with it while it develops.”

Below is the full interview:

What is your perspective of Africa and its potential in the Power Market?

We believe that African economy is promising and we would like to be a part of it. African countries are growing rapidly and they will need much more energy in future like all other big economies. Because of the fact that, Aksa considers African countries economic growing statistics and investments in Africa is one of Aksa Power Generation’s priorities.

How long have you been doing business in Africa and what are some of your success stories?

Aksa Power Generation has sales activities on Africa for over 20 years.

After that period, we have also had high market shares on many countries like Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Etiopia and Angola. But we believe Africa has much more potential. Therefore we continue to improve and develop our operations. We opened offices in Algeria in 2004 and in 2015 our South Africa and Ghana branches started its operation. Also our Dubai branches operate to sales activities in Africa.

Africa is aiming for renewable & sustainable energy sources. How is AKSA placed facilitating the achievement of this vision?

Our R&D work is based on renewable energy sources. As it is in global sense, sustainability is a priority issue for us to consider. We sale and export our environment-friendly generators with lower fuel consumption all around the world. And we continue to invest and develop our R&D works. Recently, we have launched our hybrid generators which are revealed the integration of the electricity generator of renewable energy sources.

What are your major strengths and how does it translate to helping the growth of Africa in relation to Power

Aksa Power Generation has a bond with African power market and we saw this market’s potential many years ago. After that process, Aksa Power Generation has too many experiences in Africa market and with official branches and local sales point, Aksa Power Generation ready to respond growing energy needs in Ghana.

What are your expectations in doing business in Ghana?

Ghana economy is one of the biggest economies in Africa. With its workforce and natural resources and production capacities, Ghana has wonderful potential. Aksa Power Generation got lots of experience in working in Africa and we have worked for part of a growing process of Ghana.

What are some of the challenges you envisage to encounter whiles doing business in Africa or are there some specific trade barriers or challenges you think can hinder your business in the African sub-region?

Sometimes we encounter some problems about letters of credits. Some national banks in Africa have complex process about this and letters of credits are important for world trade operations. However this kind of troubles can be happened all over the world.

Are there special projects you want to execute in Africa?
Oil – Gas section and mining sections are our main target market in Africa. We planned our entire business plan to be a part of this market and we believe we will be with it while it develops.

What’s your level of confidence in the Ghanaian economy and what were your major factors of considering investing here

Ghana is an interesting market. Ghana economy is growing consistently and we expect this momentum will increase. Ghana has promising potential and seems that the potential will be realized soon. Considering these factors, we decide to be part of this journey. Oil – Gas section and mining section our main target market in Africa. We have planned our entire business plan to be a part of this market and we believe we will be with it while it develops.

How do you adapt to changing trends in power generation since the African market dependency on your products is a given but what about the western world and other regions

What is the vision of AKSA in the next 10years and where or how does Africa play a role in this vision?

Aksa Generators increases its investments continuously in technology to remain the pioneer of change by the manufacturing of more soundproof, environment-friendly generators with lower fuel consumption.

Apart from our operation in Algeria, with operations of our new offices in South Africa and Ghana, we expect to continue to grow and increase our efficiency in the African market.

As Aksa Power Generation, we are among the top 5 manufacturers in the world while being leading manufacturer in Turkey. In 2015 we have opened new domestic and international sales offices; we want to keep this success in 2016, as well.

We closely follow the dynamics of world energy markets, and we continue our investment in this line. Our goal is to bring the figure to $ 600 million in 2019; by capturing the turnover of $ 1 billion in 2025 we are planning to be the top three in the world.