Bakhresa Group

This case study examines the Bakhresa Group, a conglomerate of 19 companies operating across various sectors in the SADC region, detailing the operational barriers it faces and its strategies for mitigation and advocacy.

• The Bakhresa Group is a diversified conglomerate with an annual turnover exceeding USD 300 million and a workforce of over 2,000 employees. Its operations span eight sectors, including petroleum, telecommunications, real estate, logistics and transport, plastic recycling, packaging, food products, and grain milling and storage.
• The group operates across several SADC Member States, maintaining grain milling companies in Malawi and Mozambique, a food products distribution company in Zambia, and a planned plant in the DRC. It exports fruit juices and processed wheat flour to the DRC, and juices and ice cream to Zambia and Mozambique. Its only imports from the SADC region are chemicals and flavouring from South Africa.
• Bakhresa Group identifies several critical barriers to business in the SADC region that increase costs and reduce return on investment. These include corruption, bureaucracy, regulatory uncertainty, non-tariff barriers, lack of harmonised taxation regimes, and poor infrastructure. Specific infrastructure failures include costly and inadequate electricity, a poor rail network, degraded roads in Zambia due to overloading, and congestion at the Tanzania Port, where only one berth handles bulk cargo.
• Regulatory inefficiency and a multiplicity of authorities create significant burdens for the company. Importing grain requires dealing with nine different agencies, while exporting dairy products requires at least four approvals from the Tanzanian government, separate from the requirements of the destination market.
• To mitigate these challenges, Bakhresa Group engages in direct relationship building with authorities, such as the Tanzania Revenue Authority and port authorities in Mozambique, and lobbies through the East African Business Council and the Confederation of Tanzania Industries. The group recommends that the region implement One Stop Border Posts, risk management, and authorised economic operators, and suggests public-private partnerships for bulk grain handling facilities.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2012). Bakhresa Group. https://saiia.org.za/saiia-toolkit/bakhresa-group/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Bakhresa Group. 2012. https://saiia.org.za/saiia-toolkit/bakhresa-group/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Bakhresa Group |date=25 July 2012 |url=https://saiia.org.za/saiia-toolkit/bakhresa-group/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2012bakhresa, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Bakhresa Group}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2012}, month = jul, url = {https://saiia.org.za/saiia-toolkit/bakhresa-group/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }