ALAF Grows At Par With Nation in Five Decades

The origins of Aluminium Africa Limited (ALAF) dates back to 1960s. It's history reflects the five decades of existence since independence from Britain in 1961.

For over 50 years, ALAF has seen through the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar which led to formation of United Republic of Tanzania, political change multi to single party and then reinstatement of multiparty democracy in 1992.

ALAF also served the country when the Arusha Declaration came in 1967 followed by the merging of Tanganyika African National Union and Afro-Shirazi Party to form Chama Cha Mapinduzi in 1977 and trade liberalization of 1990s.

The company stood all those period to become the country's leading manufacturer of roofing sheets and other building materials of high quality and standards. Since its inception ALAF has made a number of strides in boosting the construction sector with its quality and credible sheets and other related building material.

Its customers' respect enables the company to win the President's Best Manufacturer of the Year Award (in the large industries category) instituted by the Confederation of Tanzania Industries, for the last four years in a row. To shows that it cares about quality, ALAF became the first and is still the only company in its category in Tanzania to be accredited with ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2005 based on international standards relating to environmental care.

Last year, the company celebrated its golden anniversary and announced a huge investment of 35 million US dollar in a new metal coating plant with a capacity of 70,000 tonnes per annum which will produce Zincal metal, which is an alloy of zinc, aluminium and silicon. ALAF Chief Executive Officer, Sharad Salgar said then that the alloy dubbed Simba Dumu, was developed after extensive research on the traditional galvanized zinc coated steel called Simba Mabati, aimed at improving its performance.

The leading manufacturer of roofing sheets and other construction materials managed to post an outstanding performance despite increasing administrative expenses. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Quarterly Gross Domestic Product report indicated that construction activity grew at a rate of 25.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2011 compared to a growth rate of 24.0 per cent in the similar period last year.

The growth rate is attributed to increase in the construction of residential and non-residential buildings, roads, bridges and land improvement activities during the referenced period, said the NBS report. The prolonged power blackouts that crippled the country's industrial base including ALAF, made them to miss on delivery targets to both local and foreign customers.

Available statistics show that ALAF's annual production could shoot up to 70,000 tonnes of aluminium and zinc coated coils which meet international standards but only when at full capacity. ALAF activities do not stop at roofing the nation it has undertaken extensive social responsibility obligations.

The company does this by sharing some of its profit with the community. ALAF exports its products to Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Burundi, Rwanda, DRC Congo and Angola. The government still holds a stake in the company. ALAF is part of the Safal Group of Companies, a leading manufacturer and supplier of roofing, flat and long products in more than 15 countries in Africa.