ACTOM: Engineering Strength for Africa’s Next Growth Wave

There are many companies claiming to shaping Africa’s energy, infrastructure and industrial backbone, but ACTOM is one that genuinely delivers. For more than a century, the group has evolved from a modest electrical manufacturer into the largest electro-mechanical equipment and services provider across Southern Africa — a true one-stop partner in energy, infrastructure, mining and industrial electrification.

At the helm is Mervyn Naidoo, who has led the group since 2017. Under his stewardship, ACTOM has embraced diversification, innovation and local industrial empowerment, while positioning itself to capture growth opportunities across a rapidly transforming Africa.

A BROAD PORTFOLIO

ACTOM’s reach is vast. It offers what it describes as ‘a winning and balanced combination of manufacturing, service, repairs, maintenance, projects and distribution of electro-mechanical equipment through its 33 outlets throughout sub-Saharan Africa’. The group operates 35 business units, runs 52 production, service and repair facilities, and maintains 33 distribution outlets. It employs around 8000 people and typically reports an annual order intake in excess of R11 billion.

Its product and service mix spans heavy-duty medium-voltage motors (up to 18 MW), transformers (both distribution and power-class), switchgear, protection and control systems, auxiliary power systems, and a full balance-of-plant offering tailored to renewable-energy, industrial and infrastructure projects.

Moreover, ACTOM does more than just manufacture: it provides aftermarket repairs and maintenance, full installation and commissioning services, ongoing condition monitoring and lifecycle support. As Naidoo summarises: “ACTOM is a company that manufactures a range of electrical and mechanical products, and providing the aftermarket repairs and services of those products, as well as the integration into EPC projects.”

Beyond products and services, ACTOM also places emphasis on skills development and sustaining local jobs. “It’s a very diverse business and with that, we have the ability to create jobs extensively, in a country where jobs are desperately needed,” says Naidoo. He adds that ACTOM is “actively looking at succession planning from a medium- and long-term perspective, and we are developing and nurturing talent.”

Under Naidoo’s leadership, ACTOM has also aligned itself at “the forefront of technologies that are used in renewable energy to ultimately ensure longer-term relevance.” This combination of legacy capabilities and forward-looking strategy gives ACTOM a unique position in South Africa and across Africa.

ENGINEERING LEGACY AND RECENT PUSH

ACTOM is not a newcomer to power engineering. Its Power Transformers division recently celebrated more than 60 years of engineering excellence. As part of this milestone, the company completed a major factory expansion which delivered a 35% boost in production capacity — adding new winding machines, assembly stations and a second vapour-phase drying oven.

Just as significant, the firm secured accreditation from the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) for its in-house transformer test laboratory — the only SANAS-certified facility of its kind in Africa. This certification means that ACTOM’s testing procedures for power transformers — including full IEC 60076 test regimes, impulse testing up to 2.4 million volts, partial discharge diagnostics and full factory acceptance tests — meet internationally recognised standards.

This international recognition is important as ACTOM shares its IP through African expansion. Naidoo highlights the enormous energy gap and infrastructure deficit across the continent — and the demand surge that will naturally follow as economies industrialise and populations grow. “When you look at Africa with its population, China and India have similar populations. But when you compare the generating capacity of Africa against China, it is less than 10% of China’s generating capacity,” he told CNN. “What that tells us is that given the population size and the age profile of the population, the demand for energy will be there in the future, and that creates major opportunities in terms of growth in power generation and transmission and distribution.”

With rising electrification rates, the growth of renewable-energy projects, infrastructure upgrades, expansion of mining and industrial output there is a natural increase in demand for robust transformers, motors, switchgear and balance-of-plant supply. ACTOM is ready with both legacy products and newly tailored solutions.

A good example of the latter is the company’s 2025 unveiling of a new localised inverter-integrated transformer solution at Enlit Africa 2025. The system bundles a power transformer, inverter, ring-main unit and low-voltage combiner box into a single plug-and-play skid-based unit, designed specifically for utility-scale solar PV farms.

By offering a factory-tested, integrated solution — blending international inverter technology with local manufacturing — ACTOM aims to reduce on-site complexity, accelerate deployment, and lower lifecycle costs.

Such innovations, combined with ACTOM’s full-service offering from design through to installation, commissioning, maintenance and monitoring, give the company a powerful value proposition for the continent’s energy-infrastructure evolution.

To further satisfy demand, ACTOM recently took a bold step: the group has acquired the assets of transformer manufacturer SGB-SMIT Power Matla (SSPM), adding capacity to build large-scale, high-voltage Class 3 transformers up to 500 MVA / 500 kV — a capability not previously held by any African company. 

This acquisition transforms ACTOM into Africa’s largest transformer manufacturer, giving it the means to meet demand for heavy-duty power transformers essential for the continental expansion of transmission lines and substations. 

The decision to invest was driven by Africa’s growing energy and infrastructure needs. Naidoo has noted that many global OEMs have avoided setting up major manufacturing operations on the continent, resulting in limited domestic transformer-making capacity — and that gap was a key motivation behind the acquisition. 

By bringing SSPM’s Pretoria and Cape Town facilities back into operation — restoring the Pretoria plant that had been inactive after fire damage and funding issues — ACTOM aims not only to return to previous production levels but to exceed them. The company’s restoration plan and additional capital expenditure underline its ambition to serve as a regional hub for transformer manufacturing. 

This expansion is well-timed. South Africa’s national Transmission Development Plan and Integrated Transmission Plan outline extensive network build-out over the next decade, including new high-voltage corridors, substations and major grid upgrades. At the same time, growth in renewable energy, mining, industrial development and urbanisation across the continent continues to fuel demand for heavy-duty, reliable transformer supply. 

In effect, the SGB-SMIT acquisition gives ACTOM the capacity to respond directly to these macro trends — population growth, electrification, grid expansion — with locally manufactured, high-voltage power infrastructure. It positions the company not just as a supplier but as an essential enabler of Africa’s energy and industrial future. 

CONFIDENCE IN CHANGE 

Operating in Africa inevitably means dealing with complexity — shifting regulatory frameworks, financing constraints, supply-chain volatility, and geopolitical uncertainty. Naidoo reflects: “We operate in an environment where the only certainty is change. However, it is imperative that we navigate through this chaos by focusing on what matters and what is within our control.” 

That discipline appears to be bearing fruit. By March 2025, ACTOM closed its financial year with “an outstanding income statement performance,” he says. The business has “successfully deleveraged,” and significantly improved its debt covenant ratios. The stronger balance sheet, enabled by effective working-capital management, supports a steady flow of orders — giving the group a solid basis for sustainability. 

This demonstration of financial prudence — even as the broader economic climate remains turbulent — underscores what makes ACTOM more than a classic manufacturing company: it is a resilient industrial partner with a long-term view. 

This lasting vision promotes the ‘Africa first’ narrative, agreed by several public and private sector partners across the continent, that seeks to drive trade away from imports of both products and knowledge. With governments and private-sector actors investing across generation, transmission, renewables, mining, infrastructure and industrial expansion, the demand for reliable power systems is surging. 

ACTOM’s pan-African footprint — through its distribution outlets, service and repair facilities, and project-capable business units — offers a ready-made platform to meet that demand. The group’s blend of legacy heavy-duty manufacturing, modern renewable-energy systems, and turnkey project and maintenance capability, gives it flexibility across markets and geographies. 

In addition, ACTOM’s emphasis on manufacturing locally, nurturing talent, and delivering end-to-end solutions resonates with rising calls across Africa for localisation, job creation, skills development and sustainable industrialisation. 

NEW CHAPTER 

In May 2025, ACTOM signalled a new chapter of industrial intensity with the launch of a R32 million industrial-fan production facility under its LH Marthinusen division. The plant, based in Germiston, is built to produce large-scale fans for energy, mining, water and other heavy industrial applications. It strengthens local manufacturing capacity, reduces reliance on imported equipment, and reinforces ACTOM’s position in South Africa’s industrial ecosystem. 

For Naidoo, the facility represents more than a new production line — it is a visible commitment to skills, localisation and long-term industrial growth. At the launch, he highlighted how ACTOM has shown a dedication to education through its investment into training centres. He added that the new factory already houses apprentices. 

The decision to invest in this facility aligns with national industrial policy and the wider push to strengthen South Africa’s manufacturing base. Government representatives described the plant as a milestone for localisation and a catalyst for the metals and engineering value chain — a project that supports sovereign capability at a time when infrastructure demand is rising. 

Crucially, the factory is also a statement of ambition. By bringing production, training, R&D and maintenance into one cohesive environment, ACTOM is positioning itself to deliver fully integrated value: from raw steel to advanced industrial fans engineered for the continent’s toughest projects. It represents the kind of long-term, ecosystem-building investment that African industry has been calling for. 

As ACTOM continues expanding across transformers, switchgear, renewable-energy solutions and now specialised fan technologies, the LH Marthinusen development shows that the company isn’t simply responding to Africa’s energy and industrial challenges — it is helping to shape the solutions.