MyManInAfrica spoke to Mr. D.S.A. Amerasinghe, OPCO Ltd Financial Controller. He gives an insight on how step by step the company became one of Malawi’s top construction companies since its establishment in 1998 and how the brand is making an impact and solving some of the challenges in Malawi’s construction industry.

Opco Ltd is one of the top and leading construction contractors in Malawi. The company was established in 1998 and got incorporated in 2006 as a building, civil engineering contractors and plant hiring company, serving the Corporate, Non Governmental Organizations, and Government sectors of the market.

Currently Opco is one of the few companies registered in the Unlimited Category with the National Construction Industry Council, which is a regulatory institution in Malawi. We pride ourselves in having unrivalled capacity that ensures to serve the customers in a way that satisfies their construction needs.

The company achieves its corporate objectives through a capable diverse team, and that, over the years, we have made a mark on the market; constructing quality multi-storey buildings, offices, apartments, health centers, schools, commercial warehouses, markets, laboratories, staff houses and various refurbishments and rehabilitation works have been undertaken. We believe, we have served the market well and that our strength lies in our unrivalled ability to service a wide and varying market within the construction industry.

That aside, Opco has a large fleet of construction equipment, vehicles for in-house use and hiring out at reasonable rates. Machinery available for hire include; Excavators , Forklifts (7 Ton, 3 Ton), Front-end Loaders, Backhoe & Loader, Grader, Mobile Crane-30 Ton, Vibrating Rollers, Hand Bomag Rollers, Concrete Mixers, Water Pumps, Water Bowser, Low-bed Trailer, Trucks, Tippers  and other essential equipment.

To sum it up, Opco Ltd has a great management team with hands-on management approach to business, coupled with committed work force that includes construction experts. This combination ensures optimum performance and that service delivery to valued clients is top notch.

CONSTRUCTION IS A DIVERSE FIELD. WHAT TYPE OF PROJECTS ARE YOU SPECIALIZED IN?

You may recall that I said Opco Ltd was established in Malawi in the year 1998. This is about 24 years ago and it just tells you that we have good experience in what we do. As a construction company, our expertise is in the following areas;

1. Residential buildings such as town houses and apartments.
2. Commercial buildings such as offices, warehouses and factories.
3. Institutional buildings such as schools, colleges, hostels, staff houses and health facilities.
4. Civil engineering works such as irrigation schemes, roads and bridges, water supply systems and sewer systems.

WHAT MAKES YOUR COMPANY STAND-OUT FROM THE REST?

This is an interesting question. Our directors have built this company in Malawi from the bottom to where it is today. From inception, the directors ensured that whatever projects the company was engaged in, were done strictly within the stipulated period by the client.

Furthermore, when we get any job how big or small it may be, we move fast in planning and providing necessary resources such as equipment (engineering vehicles and tools) and services necessary for the execution of the project. Our experienced construction experts that include; engineers and quantity surveyors deliver good designs advisory, construction, maintenance works among other responsibilities.

We make the construction process very transparent for the client and a lot of expertise is put in at execution stage to deliver the work within contractual period, required quality and within budget.

Opco is a one stop construction contractor. Instead of looking for equipment to hire, we have a plant hiring section that ensures that all required machinery is available for the task at hand. Further, we have branches that cover Malawi; Blantyre covering the Southern and Eastern region while Lilongwe covering the Central and Northern regions. As a company, we are capable of carrying out any complex project since we have all the needed resources; equipment and technical personnel and at any time, we are ready to take any challenges in delivering the project successfully to the satisfaction of the clients with acceptable best practices in construction industry.

YOUR COMPANY IS ONE OF THE FEW COMPANIES LISTED IN THE UNLIMITED CATEGORY BY THE NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY COUNCIL, PLEASE SHARE WHAT THIS MEANS?

Following the incorporation of Opco Ltd in 2006, management took a deliberate decision to strive for best practice in delivery of service. This entails that we needed to work hard as a team from day one. By the way, to attain Unlimited Category those days, it required a step by step process to achieve the status and it took years for the regulatory authority to certify.  I am happy to say that we attained the Unlimited Category status some years back and Opco Ltd is capable of executing any project in Malawi without restriction in terms of complexity and value.

WHERE IS YOUR COMPANY LOCATED?

Firstly, let me say that we’re represented well in the Southern, Eastern, Central and Northern regions. Our head office is in Blantyre at Ginnery Corner at the tip of Johnstone Road, Old WICO Complex, next to Escom Power Station.

Our Lilongwe branch is in Area 4, opposite PG Industries, behind TATA Zambia Ltd., The phone number for Head Office in Blantyre is; +265 212 940 070 and Lilongwe Office is; +265 211 838 428

ANY WORDS OF WISDOM YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS?

I can safely say that motivation and commitment to the mission are the most important traits to succeed in entrepreneurship. That said, you need to be honest, creative and ensure timely completion of projects. Of course, you can’t leave out hard work which is necessary to deliver service that meets client expectations.

DO YOU HAVE ANY MORE NEWS YOU WANT TO SHARE, AND WHAT IS NEXT IN YOUR PLANS AS OPCO LTD?

For the past one year, we have added new product lines; Concrete Block Production and Supply of Steel and Construction materials. We have introduced these products to add value to client needs. We are also in the process of expanding our foot print into the SADC market; we are looking at countries like Zambia and Tanzania.