An International company that is always on new frontiers.

MOHAMMED Abdulmohsin Al-Kharafi & Sons (M.A. Kharafi & Sons) is an international construction company with over 900 staff both technical and supporting employees world wide. The company has been offering services for over 100 years in the field of building and civil works. The company’s contribution has been an added value to the national economic development of Tanzania since its incorporation in 1994. The firm is a private Kuwait –based Group, with diversified interests and activities worldwide. It was established mainly as a trading company more than 100 years ago and has since developed into an international Grade “A” Contractor. Following World War II and the discovery of oil in Kuwait, Kharafi expanded in response to the demands of the rapidly developing nation. In 1956, the Factories Division was created with 25 employees and 200 labourers. Shortly afterwards, with the advent of the construction boom in the Gulf spurred by the continuing build-up of oil wealth in the region, Kharafi’s Construction Division quickly assumed a dominant role. It was the company’s success at home, which propelled it into foreign ventures and the establishment of permanent branches abroad. Major landmarks were Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1965), United Arab Emirates (1968), Yemen (1975, Egypt (1980) and in Kenya (1982). Other countries it has opened its branches are in Botswana (1989), the Maldives (1989), Niger (1992), Albania (1992), Lesotho (1992), Lebanon (1994), South Africa (1995), Indonesia (1996), Eritrea (1996) and in Tanzania (1994). These are the major thriving regional offices controlled by the company. Apart from establishing various branch offices in these countries, the company has or is executing several projects in Mozambique, Belize, St. Kitts & Nevis, Antigua and St. Lucia in the West Indies. Currently the company has employed over 700 technical staff, over 200 supporting staff and engages over 4000 skilled, semiskilled and unskilled labour. The company has been in operation in Tanzania since 1994 with a mission of concentrating mostly in building and civil construction works of the highest quality to three main service fields, including engineering, environmental and economics.

Kharafi headquarter building in Kuwait.

The engineering work in these chosen fields has been very positive and the company has extended its activities accordingly. This development however, involves very differing trends in the various segments of the market. The company has grown considerably and has acquired invaluable experience in the fields of road construction in the country, and can proudly proclaim to be one of the leading firms in the area of road construction works. One of the greatest challenges facing many parts of southern Tanzania, is to build up a reliable and formidable road infrastructure. In view of this, M.A Kharafi & Sons company has been working closely and in collaboration with the government to develop, rehabilitate and maintain good infrastructure. Between 2003 and 2007, the company designed and constructed a 96 km of Mbwemkulu-Mingoyo road in a contract value of US$ 52,250,000 and Ndundu – Somanga Road which is in progress. Both roads covers southern network in the country. Apart from road construction, the company has earned reputation in construction of buildings as well as rehabilitation works. In 1997, Kharafi was awarded various contracts such as the Ubungo Plaza, LAPF Millenium Tower buildings in the city of Dar es Salaam. It has also done some rehabilitation works in some of the famous buildings in the city of Dar es Salaam, these are the rehabilitation work of NBC house along Sokoine Drive and the rehabilitation of Muhimbili National Hospital also in Dar es Salaam. However efforts are being made by the company to secure more projects in Tanzania and the East African Region. The firm is wholly owned by the Kharafi family under the Chairmanship of Jassim M. A. Kharafi. The company derives its strength from its dedicated engineers and other technical staff with proven experience. These are backed up with an updated equipment and plant capability which gives the company the capacity to undertake civil engineering projects of varied nature.

In Tanzania, A.M. Kharafi & Sons company constructed a 72 Km road stretch of the southern network popularly known as Mbwemkuru-Mingoyo Road.

Another strength of Kharafi over the years has been its diversity in geographical locations – from the Middle East to Africa, Asia to Europe and the Caribbean, thus assuring the company of the Worldwide human resource input to managerial, technical and business objectives of the company. In order to maximize the use of precious time in the coordination of Worldwide activities, the principal of the firm makes company’s principals make use of the Company’s own aircraft for efficiency and flexibility. The aircraft is an 8 – seater Hawker Siddley HS 125-800. After the introduction of the Data General mainframe C-150 series in 1981, Kharafi then implemented the Prime 750 mainframe that facilitated remote access through terminals situated at site locations.
After liberation of Kuwait, The company decided to leapfrog into the advancing World of PC power. High capacity servers supporting symmetrical processing were called upon to handle multi-user network capabilities, supported by 100 user Local Area Networks running the integrated financial applications. The physical and logical connectivity of these networks were done by in-house staff. Kharafi furthered this achievement with their first ever-imaging database system supporting their payroll and personnel. In tendering and construction process, tender quotations are now electronically generated by highly qualified company’s engineering team. A total CAD environment, supplements the project management tools controlling the CPM scheduling, performance measurement, cash flow forecasting and project follow-up control concurrent management interface modules provide executive summary presentations.

Among the famous structure the company has put in the world map is the Kuwait stadium in Kuwait.

M. A. Kharafi & Sons is presently incorporating a high-end multi-processor SPARC server on which 4GL databases in Informix will be kept. Concentration is also focused on the installation of X.25 lines in order to facilitate the bridging of various diversified servers through available protocol. The company’s strength in computerization lies with its MIS resources, which handles all automation aspects unconditionally. The MAK/MIS development group, network specialists, maintenance and support personnel, debugging squad, training and coordinating staff and research team form the basis of its computerization success. The company continues to regularly formulate strategies ensuring its progress in automation, through its dedicated support of its automation team and by investing in positive futuristic goals. The company’s philosophy of management is to cultivate self-confidence, encourage decision making to foster the entrepreneurial spirit, combine it with strict business discipline with the latest technology and business methods and preserve the environment for humanity. Highlighting the main problem facing the construction industry in Tanzania, M.A Kharafi & Sons company says that Tanzania, as in other developing countries, is growing slowly due to high cost of building materials an aspect that it cannot meet the economic demands of the nation. The country’s policy of opening up for foreign investment will alleviate the problem. Kharafi, with its capability and experience in working in developing countries, will undertake construction projects, transfer skills and invest in this country in the spirit of the South – South cooperation. M. A. Kharafi & Sons is not only an International Grade A contractor but looks for other investment opportunities. Tanzania being politically stable, gives a good business atmosphere, conducive for investment. In view of this, the company is looking for the possibilities to invest in Hotels, Supermarkets, Estate Developments and Paper Industry in Tanzania.