CEF is owned by the South African government and housed in its department of minerals and energy affairs while Karebo Systems is a privately owned South African company specialising in demand management side of the lighting and energy sectors.

Ian Murdoch, the chief executive officer of Philips South Africa said the new venture, in which his company holds a 40% stake and CEF and Karebo hold 30% each will manufacture 15 million CFLi lamps when it comes on stream in September this year.

The factory is expected to create between 400 and 500 jobs in Lesotho and about two to three times work load activities in South Africa, which will be the primary export market.
Murdoch said the new plant will also see Philips South Africa cease all imports of CFLi lamps from its facilities in China.

“This joint venture is the result of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s mission to seek new business activities that will fuel economic growth in the region,” Murdoch said.

“With this joint venture Philips will be able to help stimulate economic growth while accelerating the uptake of energy-efficient light bulbs in general.”

CEF said the joint venture (JV) will help southern Africa overcome energy shortages and contribute towards fighting global warning.

“This JV will help us secure sufficient supply of CFLi lamps to meet the country’s ambitious targets in the reduction of electricity consumption,” Mputumi Damane, group executive officer of CEF said.

Karebo said switching to energy efficient lighting was the quickest and easiest way to reduce energy consumption in South Africa.

“With Philips’ expertise in the field we will bring the high quality energy saving bulbs the country desperately needs,” Peter Kgame, the managing director of Karebo Systems said.

Philips South Africa is a subsidiary New York Stock Exchange listed Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands headquartered in the Netherlands. The multinational employs nearly 123 800 workers in more than 60 countries and posted a revenue of EUR 27 billion in 2007.

Keywords: lesotho south_africa energy business