Pieter de Wit urges people to focus on the positive

Covid-19 and 2020 as a whole posed significant challenges to businesses, but many of them were able to weather the storm and make the most of the crisis, and emerge successfully. One of these companies was Afrimat.

According to CFO Pieter de Wit, this success was the result of an amazing entrepreneurial and team culture as well as a strong balance sheet.

He explains that in 2020 the biggest lesson he learnt was that the business environment has changed and continues to change. “As a business we therefore need to be agile and nimble in order to adapt quickly to these changes and to manage through the uncertainties,” he says.

Pieter says he looks forward to the many opportunities in 2021 that the lockdown and resultant economic crisis gave rise to during 2020. “Our successful execution of these opportunities will stand us in good stead now and even more so once the economy improves,” he says.

He adds that he would like to continue with the growth path of Afrimat in 2021 and capitalise on the many opportunities currently arising.

“We are all aware of the difficult economic environment and many people have put their lives on hold in order to remain safe,” Pieter says. “We do, however, have to look through all the negatives and focus more on the positives.”

He explains that there are still a lot of business opportunities out there and many businesses have accepted the changing environment and adapted their business models. “It also goes without saying that the high standard of safety we applied to our human capital across the business was and will continue to be a top priority.”

On a personal note, he urges people to continue with their lives, albeit in a different way.

Pieter says his top takeaway from 2020 was the opportunity that lockdown provided him to spend more time with his family, which was precious to him. In 2021, he would like to spend further quality time with his family, which working from home has taught him, “can be done”.