Nicolas Dumont, district sales manager for Africa comments: “The compact industry is still rather marginal compared to heavy construction equipment in Africa. This is mostly because of the established mentality and the availability of cheap labour. But the potential growth is enormous as Africa will continue to develop. This is reflected in the past few years, when we have launched new products such as our backhoe loader, new mini excavators and light compaction equipment and they are perfect for our existing customer base.

“We are being so active in the dealer network, strengthening existing dealers in certain countries and appointing strong new dealers. As a whole the compact industry in Africa has not yet returned to the level of 2019. At the end of 2021, the industry was still 12% under the pre Covid demand. But if we consider the trend at country level, the reality is extremely different. For example, market conditions have been very difficult in Algeria owing to a range of factors. But when Algeria is excluded, the data shows that the industry in Africa has returned to its pre Covid level. The most significant growth is in the mini excavator segment which exceeded pre Covid levels and is showing a year to date growth of 32%.”

Three of the newest Bobcat dealers, Sodim TP in Gabon, Machinery Exchange in Zimbabwe and Albadri Power Co. Ltd in Sudan, echoed Dumont’s and other dealers in the Bobcat network by expressing increased optimism in their respective markets.