Having had an established presence in the country since 1968, Total Namibia first opened its doors in 1977. Today the subsidiary of the continent’s leading petroleum marketer has a total of 28 service stations across Namibia, 77 commercial sites, five sites located within its national parks and four depots, which are found in Windhoek, Otavi, Gobabis and Walvis Bay.
While Total has always been a well-established player in the retail fuel market, supplying individual vehicle owners, small business enterprises, government vehicles and the agricultural sector, the organisation has made particularly strong strides in Namibia to tap into its evolving commercial sector, particularly the mining industry.
It goes without saying that in the mining sector, machinery and equipment utilises all requires specialised lubricants, greases and oils, all products that Total has a long track record of supplying across Africa. In engaging the market, Total Namibia has worked hard to secure OEM contracts on the back of such supply contracts that it already held, with the likes of Toyota for example.
In pushing forward with securing OEM contracts, Total Namibia’s game plan has been to regularly engage companies and expose people and perspective clients to the standards and best practices that the Total name has become synonymous with.
Namibia has declared Vision 2030—the date by which it wants to be considered as a developed economy. To achieve that, its infrastructure, particularly its port at Walvis Bay and its railways, will require significant investment. For its part Total will play a crucial role in helping Namibia to achieve its long term target, specifically where it relates to its own infrastructure in the country.
In addition, Total Namibia also supports the government’s skills development programme, offering on-going training to staff, contractors and emerging entrepreneurs. Furthermore, it continues to sponsor bursaries and offers an in-house internship programme.
In this regard Total Namibia continues to work diligently to upgrade all of its facilities to bring them into line, and subsequently above, its own Total Group safety and environmental standards. Such has been the collective effort of the company that it will not be very long at all now before all of its facilities and infrastructure comply with not just its own internal requirements, but with the very highest of European standards.
In late February of this year the company held a special event to two significant milestone events. The first was in recognition of the inauguration of its N$10 million Ondangwa “Kings” Total Service Station. The opening of the station marked the launch of a new environmentally friendly look for the business, one that will ultimately see it revamping each and every one of its filling stations in Namibia.
This strategy embraced the T-Air global concept that first arose in April 2012. T-Air is an abbreviation of “Total Amelioration de l’image reseau” which means “Total Improvement of the Network’s Image’. From an aesthetic point of view T-Air utilises natural colours, environmentally friendly materials, low energy buildings, underground fuel storage facilities and water that is being harvested and recycled to reduce their carbon footprint. This roll-out of Total’s new look service stations is being executed through the world. Its aim is to provide the network with a well-defined identity, one that is based on a more modern brand image, with service stations that are better integrated into their landscape.
The event in February also acted as a farewell for the man who oversaw the opening of the “Kings” Service Station and the start of the T-Air rollout, outgoing Managing Director Seggy Kistasamy. Having led Total Namibia into an exciting new period in its development as a business, Kistasamy has since handed over the reins to the new Managing Director, Chris Hoffmann. Having previously headed up Total’s operations in Lesotho, Hoffmann is now taking the company forward into a new era, one driven by his own ambitious objectives and plans for Total Namibia.
Written by Will Daynes, research by Candice Nice
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