Inside Silafrica’s Mozambique Operations: CEO Gavin Dehning of Silafrica Talks Expansion and Innovation

In this interview, Gavin Dehning, Group CEO of Silafrica, discusses the company’s expansion into the African market, focusing on sustainable packaging and local manufacturing. Silafrica has recently launched operations in Mozambique, aiming to reduce the country’s reliance on imports by establishing a self-sustaining manufacturing ecosystem. Dehning highlights how Silafrica’s partnerships with multinational brands like Coca-Cola are instrumental in advancing the company’s growth across the continent, while also benefiting local economies through job creation and supply chain development.

Dehning further explains Silafrica’s commitment to environmental sustainability, detailing innovative projects such as using recycled materials in their packaging solutions and developing “bubble board,” a sustainable alternative to traditional cardboard. Silafrica’s focus on energy efficiency, including solar energy investments, underscores its dedication to reducing costs and promoting green business practices. As the company expands its footprint into Tanzania, Kenya, and Ethiopia, Dehning envisions Silafrica as a leader in eco-friendly packaging, driving a circular economy and setting new standards for sustainable manufacturing across Africa.

When asked about an insight into Silafrica’s plans for expansion, he had this to say ” We have a couple of things that are going on simultaneously. One is the conversion from paper to crate. We have an idea of where the paper cotton manufacturers are today, so we are looking at the paper manufacturers and saying, this is what they do, these are the customers they serve, and these are the markets they are in. What is it that we could do, as a packaging company producing plastic, to get into that space? And why would it be feasible for us as a plastic manufacturer to even consider getting into paper manufacturing and what would be the benefits for us?

We will be doing a pilot study in November, because we believe there is an opportunity for even better results coming from returnable plastics than using one-way paper cartons. This is because, with one-way paper cartons, 160,000 tonnes of paper waste gets sent to landfills every year. We believe returnable plastic plays a big role in alleviating this environmental problem.

We have been analysing the role we could play in converting paper cartons to returnable plastic cartons. For example, Unilever shampoo bottles come in a box of 48. Why would that box have to be thrown away after it has been shipped to the customer? We would simply want to return that box back to the customer or to the supplier, and be able to ship another 48 shampoo bottles. That is the purpose of the pilot study that we will be doing in November”.

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