Mr Raman Dhawan

CEO, Tata Africa Holdings

India’s Tata Group has attracted global attention with this month’s unveiling of its US$2,500 Tata Nano economy car and its bid to buy two quintessentially British car companies – Jaguar and Land Rover – from the United States’ Ford Motor Company. Tata is to launch the Nano car in South Africa and expects big sales for Jaguar and Land Rover all over Africa.

The key man in Tata’s Africa campaign is Raman Dhawan, Managing Director of Tata Africa Holdings, a subsidiary of the Tata Group. Tata’s presence in Africa dates to 1977, when Dhawan, an accountant, was dispatched to Zambia to establish an office for Telco (later Tata Motors), whose pick-up trucks were marketed there. In the face of strong competition from Japanese companies, Dhawan did not initially meet with rapid success. In the 1980s, however, he picked up some of the Zambian market share and gradually diversified into mining, agriculture and hotels.

Dhawan took Tata first to Zimbabwe, then to Johannesburg, where the company has been based since 1994. South Africa has become the springboard for Tata’s operations in ten countries throughout the continent. Tata Consultancy Services has been profitably operating in South Africa since 1995. Tata Motors has added a number of passenger cars to its line. Tata Steel operates a ferrochrome plant in Richards Bay, Kwazulu-Natal, and its automotive plant in Rosslyn is due to open this year. Future operations include vehicle sales in Nigeria and Kenya, and a (long delayed) coffee plant in Uganda.