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GABORONE – Discovery Drilling Contractors, Africa’s humble establishment has substantially paid dividends, with the Botswana establishment; the company hopes to swiftly expand its footprint across the continent within the next decade.

Located in the Southern part of Botswana, in a small mining town of Selibe Phikwe, the company has a portfolio in excess of 27 million pula and has portrayed buoyancy despite challenges on the economic playfield.

“In this bad economic situation, we will show our big difference as we try to work as a team,” said Hendrick Herbst referring to the current global economic downturn.

“We are very successful at this moment,” he assured.

The company also prides itself for skills transfer through in-house training for employees. Herbst said the training enables the company to embrace a sense of safety and danger awareness in a much better way.

“We believe in training a lot,” he said, citing that Discovery Drilling Contractor Africa takes some of its employees for safety training in South Africa annually.

“Training is very important and the workers must be happy, it is more important for us to work with happy people,” he added.

Discovery Drilling Contractors started operations with BCL as their sole major client and have since increased its clientele base. It now contracts rigging machines to more than ten mining companies in the country, which include African Energy, Mopane Gold Mine, Africa Queen Mine, Analytika Mine, Mount Burgess, Rockover Botswana, Daheng Group, Tati nickel and Calisto Resources.

Commenting on the company’s success Herbst said Discovery Drilling Contractor Africa has done exceptionally well starting with one rig to more than nine rigs contracted to different companies.

Despite the much hyped impending demise of mining activities in Selibe Phikwe, Herbst vowed the company is in the mining town to stay.

“We will grow up but won’t go away, this place is quite central to mining activities in the country and Selibe Phikwe won’t go dead,” said Herbst confidently challenging government to assist in the diversification of the town.

“I will keep the business here running but next year, the company is moving into Zimbabwe and in Namibia we are planning big,” he added.

He warned that the expansion plan for his company will not be done hurriedly as the company will grow steadily and keep a hand on operations.

Herbst advised that in future the company will set up a factory for drilling rigs whose services will also include building trailers and steel construction products.

Apart from dealing with the mines, Discovery Drilling Contractor Africa has also moved to do water drilling where the company is dealing with Water Affairs department, private companies and offering farmers sponsored by Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) a 5% discount.