ECIAfrica Now Doing Business as DAI

November 07, 2012

Johannesburg, South Africa—Effective November 14th, 2012, ECI_Africa_ Consulting (Pty) Ltd will do business under the name of its majority owner, DAI.

The name change reflects tighter integration between Johannesburg and DAI’s corporate offices worldwide. “ECI_Africa_ has been an integral part of the DAI network since 1994 and a crucial part of its mission to shape a more livable world, particularly in our own region of Southern Africa,” said Johannesburg-based Managing Director Claudia Manning. “In taking on the DAI name, we are reflecting the fact that now more than ever, clients who access DAI services through the Johannesburg office are tapping the full spectrum of DAI’s global resources: knowledge, systems, networks, and human capital.”

Dr. Manning and Executive Director Sagay Moodliar remain at the helm of the Johannesburg office, responsible for developing local markets across the region. Sydney Zharare and Leida Schuman—among others—remain the cornerstones of a vibrant and growing African technical team.

DAI continues to make a substantial investment in South Africa, as evidenced in DAI’s move to new office space in Woodmead, which offers an expanded and improved location more conducive to client engagement.

“These are exciting times for a Southern Africa increasingly open to innovative, cost-effective development services,” said DAI President and CEO James Boomgard. “Our South Africa team will bring to bear the full capabilities of the DAI organization in designing and delivering those solutions.”

Current DAI assignments executed out of Johannesburg and a satellite office in Maputo, Mozambique include:

• Designing and implementing a community development fund for Sishen Iron Ore Co.;
• Reducing poverty in northern Mozambique by engaging the poor in agricultural value chains on behalf of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation;
• Honing the competitiveness of Zimbabwe’s private sector agriculture on behalf of the U.S. Agency for International Development; and
• Helping Bank ABC build profitable small enterprise banking operations in Botswana, Mozambique, and Zambia.