Hitachi's Morocco deal

European 233 Hitachi Construction Machinery dealer Moviter is expanding into Africa. The Portuguese company is venturing into Angola and other countries on the continent with historical and linguistic links to its native land. Leiria-based Moviter, part of the Movicortes Group, linked up with Hitachi in 1993, cashing in on a huge and prolonged investment in Portugal’s infrastructure which saw building companies keen to use high performance construction machinery. Now that domestic demand for construction machinery has waned, Moviter is looking to new underdeveloped markets to for its Hitachi fleet. The company already has customers with machines in more than 14 African countries, all requiring the Hitachi Support Chain after-sales programme. As Hitachi’s preferred dealer for the Angolan market, Moviter hopes to use its status in the country to build a more significant commercial presence across the entire African continent. Movicortes Manager and Board Member, Arnaldo Sapinho, said Angola was an obvious choice for its ambitious expansion plans. He said: “It is a Portuguese-speaking country and it was a colony until 1975. This means that the language and similar culture are two of the main advantages that Moviter - and other Portuguese companies - have in trading with this huge African country.” In 2009, Angola suffered a financial crisis when the price of oil bottomed out. With 95% of the country's revenue coming from the natural resource, it had a major negative impact on an already stagnating construction industry. However Sapinho believes the signs for recovery are encouraging, as projects recommence and existing and potential Moviter customers are looking to subcontractors to complete the work on their behalf. Sapinho added: “The big issue is trust, so we need to continue to build relations and then develop the network.”