Announcement of the Appointment of George Loate & Gideon van Zyl to Encha Tech

Encha Tech, the technology investment arm of Encha Group, recently appointed two executives to augment its management team: George Loate and Gideon van Zyl.

George entered the ICT industry as an entrepreneur when he started a low cost PC business during the Y2K timeframe.  Subsequently he was part of successful sales teams at various major companies in the industry.  Most notable of these was his role in leading the Public Sector Business Development team at Business Connexion (Pty) Limited (BCX).  He went on to manage international OEM relationships for BCX, as the Managing Executive of Persetel Q Vector.  As an entrepreneur he has carved a niche in the payments space, wherein he represents several international organisations that operate in the micro-payments space. At Encha, George’s primary responsibility is to oversee New Business, both at the Encha Tech level and in the underlying portfolio businesses.

Gideon has been in the ICT industry since 1987, having started in software development.  Over the years he has successfully held various roles in technology companies, ranging from technical, financial, management to entrepreneurial management.  He has demonstrated a passion for operational optimisation and innovation. At Encha, Gideon’s primary role is Operations, with the important responsibility to achieve operational excellence and optimised profitability in the businesses in which Encha is invested.

 Commenting on the appointments Gontse Moseneke, CEO of Encha Tech, said:

“Encha Group wants to grow its active investment exposure in the technology sector.  Encha Tech is created with the primary objective of implementing this strategic decision. 

George and Gideon add to Encha Tech the industry-specific knowledge and experience that is complementary to Encha Group’s investment know-how and track record.  With the expanded management team Encha Tech is now poised to build a substantial technology business in earnest.”

Tiego Moseneke had this to say about the appointment of George and Gideon.

“George and Gideon will add much needed technology heavyweight- lifting capacity to our technology team. We intend to build on this and recruit a growing team of highly experienced technology and sales people, thus enabling us to actively grow the technology business in which we are invested.”

Encha's NewOil Partners Reliance

16 November 2011

Encha’s Oil trading firm, New Oil Trading Limited (“NewOil”) is proud to announce a supply partnership with Reliance Industries Limited’s (“RIL”) Petroleum Refining and Marketing division in Mumbai, India.

RIL refinery in Jamnagar, India is the largest refinery on globe, with a production capacity of 1.2 MM barrels per day. This also makes Jamnagar, the largest refining center at any single location in the world.

Cholo Logabane, NewOil’s MD said: “NewOil’s goal is to become a leading independent supplier of crude and refined product in the Sub-Saharan region, with a particular focus on South Africa. South Africa’s economy has the greatest demand for crude oil and refined product on the African continent. South Africa also has the largest refining capacity in Africa.

However, as a result of the economic growth experienced in recent periods and a lack of investment in the upgrade of the local refineries, South Africa has become a net importer of refined product. This requires the South African economy to secure fuel supplies from the international markets.”

Tiego Moseneke said: “We are proud that a globally significant player like Reliance has chosen to partner us in this market.”

The partnership with between NewOil and RIL strengthens NewOils capacity to meet its downstream strategy and the demands of the South African economy by securing supplies from a reliable source for the Sub-Saharan market. RIL is also able to meet growth aspirations in the downstream sector on the African continent.