Unlocking Africa’s growth potential

Dr. James Wakiru Lubezine Magazine | Editor-in-Chief

W elcome to the 51st edition of Lubezine Magazine, marking the final issue for 2024. This year has been a pivotal one for the lubricants industry, with notable events in Kenya. Highlights include Azelis debuting the L&MWF segment in East Africa and IMCD hosting a lubricants additives conference in Nairobi. Additionally, for Lubezine Magazine, 2024 marks the milestone of publishing our 50th edition.

Our cover feature takes you back in history to understand lubricants’ central role in World War II. Steven Lumley, the Technical manager for WearCheck, explains the development of lubricants during the war, from mineral lubricants to advanced synthetic lubricants. This fascinating read emphasizes the importance of lubricants in machines, boosting efficiency and reliability with limited downtime. During the war, highly refined mineral oils were initially used in early jet engines. However, these oils struggled to withstand the high operating temperatures, resulting in severe oxidation and viscosity problems. This limitation highlighted the need for more advanced chemistry to improve performance and reliability in such demanding conditions. Polyalphaolefins (PAOs) and ester-based synthetic oils soon emerged as solutions, offering better thermal stability and resistance to oxidation.

Still in Africa, ICIS recently held its 9th African Base Oils and Lubricants Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, on November 7-8, 2024. This event brought together different industry players and professionals within Africa and beyond, with a broad representation of major companies in the industry. One key insight from the conference is that, while many parts of the world are experiencing a decline in lubricants demand, Africa still holds significant growth potential. Africa’s lubricant market growth is driven by economic development, rising vehicle ownership, and a shift towards higher-viscosity and high-quality lubricants, particularly in industrial and heavy-duty applications. Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa dominate Africa’s lubricant demand while emerging markets like Algeria, Morocco, Kenya, and Angola offer new growth potential driven by industrial expansion and infrastructure development.

In the ‘10 Questions for Lubricant Professionals’ segment, we feature one of the most seasoned experts in South Africa’s lubricants industry: Boston Moonsamy, the Managing Director of Azelis South Africa. Boston has over 34 years of experience in the Southern African lubricants industry. Boston notes that the mining industry is one of the largest consumers of petroleum products in Southern Africa and that the power generation sector is projected to be the fastest-growing end-user industry, driven by the rising demand for energy and the increasing installation of wind turbines.

This is just a snippet of what this edition has in store. We invite you to indulge in and interact with the insightful articles we have sourced for you.

As the year ends, we want to thank all our stakeholders who have supported us throughout 2024—our in-house team, advertisers, article contributors, interviewees for the professional interview segment, and, most importantly, you, our readers. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to seeing you in 2025.

Happy holidays!