Loading page...

Romanian Business News - ACTMedia :: Services|About us|Contact|RSS RSS

Subscribe|Login

Ovidiu Tender expands business in Africa

Ovidiu Tender, the owner of a group of firms specialized in different sectors, has expended his activities in Africa, where he has in view to explore and exploit resources as well as ser vices for the extractive industry and building.“Africa is the future”, said the businessman, who brought as main arguments the resource deficit at world level and the insufficient explorations made on that continent, as well as the high growth potential of the local population and of the number of consumers.
The main operations are carried out in Senegal, but the businessman is also interested in other African states such as Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde Republic, Ghana and Burkina Faso.
“In Senegal we have four mines, leased by the state for 42 years, a total of 10,000 square kilometers,” Tender said.

The project is managed by a consortium including Tender SA, Prospectiuni and Tender Africa.
The leased areas are for heavy metals, rare metals, gold and associate minerals and copper. The first data about the exploitation proper will be available next year.Tender said that he set up a company together with Frank Timis for 20,000 square km of oil leases in the Atlantic Ocean. “We concluded negotiations with the Senegalese government, but the document has not been signed yet,” he said.
At the same time a third Senegal project has in view growing plants for the production of bio-fuel.
“We took the first 1000 ha within a program estimates at 1 million ha to grow a plant which produces the oil needed to produce bio-fuel,” the businessman said.

For that project the investment is estimates at 300 million dollars for ten years, but the businessman said the operation is safer than the first two projects , which allows him to attract financing.
“It is not complicated for this activity as we have the land and we prove we can do it and find the money. Traditional fuel producers in Romania have to combine it with 5% bio-fuel. This percentage is estimated to grow in the next 5 years to 20%. At world level resources and possibilities to obtain bio-fuel become more and more limited. In Europe restrictions have been made on areas growing plants for bio-fuel,” Tender said.

As for concessions Tender added that he had assumed some investments for the contracts concluded and benefits are hard to estimate at present. Infrastructure is another field in which activities can be initiated in Senegal.“Senegal has provisions of 2.5 billion dollars to be invested in infrastructure in the next three years. We [resented our world potential with SIRD Timisoara at the Infrastructure Ministry. It seems we will be able to do it and we will sign a partnership protocol between SIRD and the national road company for the rehabilitation of roads and the construction of new road communication ways,” Tender pointed out.

The group owned by Tender intends to maintain activities carried out in Romania and other European states and the development of activities in Africa, in the field of resources, services for the extractive industry and constructions.Tender says the activity of the group maintained at 2009 level and investments in Romania had in view the purchase of the majority package of shares of CODECS the company for professional training and development and the construction of an industrial production unit in Brasov for the manufacture of airplane parts.

The Brasov investment was for 12 million euro and will grow in 2011 by 304 million euro. The businessman is the majority shareholder of a group of firms specialized in industry (oil, power), geological prospects, road construction and repairs, real estate, agriculture, IT, tourism or transports. The group is also present in other European countries like Serbia with business in telecommunication, pharmacy, tourism and tobacco, Slovenia with an equipment factory, Greece, Austria and Spain, as well as Africa.

More