First Nardi and now also Tecnogas. After acquiring the Nardi company, Algerian Condor Electronics is also preparing to take over Tecnogas, the historic Emilian cooking company, owned by Antonio Merloni since 1995 and overwhelmed in 2008 by the latter's crisis. The president told us today in Milan Abderrahmane Benhamadi, in Italy to celebrate 60 of Nardi, president of what is considered the most dynamic group in North Africa in the consumer electronics and household appliances sector, Condor Electronics, a subsidiary of the Condor Group, one of the largest conglomerates in North Africa. Condor Group, as the blog reports Paula's house, with a turnover of 1 billion dollars in 2017, is part of the Benhamadi family conglomerate and also operates in the agri-food, construction, pharmaceutical, real estate and hotel sectors. And through a joint venture with Peugeot for the assembly of certain models in Algeria, it holds 15,5 percent of Peugeot Algérie.
HUNTING FOR MADE IN ITALY
Both companies, Nardi and Tecnogas, boast a prestigious past for the best cooking technologies, for design and above all for the strong propensity to export, so much so that Nardi, before the prolonged crisis that led it to close its production activities in Italy , sold beyond 700 built-in appliances in 80 countries on all continents. And Tecnogas, which had reached a turnover of over 130 million euros in its golden years, sold on the rich markets of the Middle East, Australia and throughout the Mediterranean, 90 percent of its production consisting of high-end free-standing kitchens, designed specially in large formats for the gastronomic customs of the countries of the Gulf area countries.
And it is precisely these marked characteristics of an Italian skill in the production of cooking machines and high-quality industrial Majap that have attracted Benhamadi. “We need to grow up acquire the experience, the design, and the beauty of the made in Italy- he declares - it is important for us to make use of the technological heritage that Nardi had still demonstrated to have. Research counts a lot for us, in fact we invest 2 percent of our resources in R&D and 3 percent in training”. A group strongly oriented towards digital technologies as it exports about 1 million smartphones to France as well as selling them in Africa.
THE REAL ESTATE MARKET IS DEVELOPING GREATLY
Ambitious but very cautious, Benhamadi wanted to examine Nardi's industrial assets and opportunities at length and in depth before closing the acquisition for around 700 euros. But once the operation was completed he immediately invested in a large showroom, the first of 22 showrooms in Algeria and others that will open throughout the Maghreb, under the banner of the Italian Feeling claim, the writing that accompanies and will now accompany every opening and every activity of Nardi-Condor. In this first four-floor showroom, recently inaugurated, Condor Electronics has invested around 500 euros, thus creating a space of great elegance where Nardi built-in appliances have ample prominence.
Because, behind the two operations, by Nardi and Tecnogas (which will be followed by others) there is another underlying reason: the strong attraction that the Italian cooking chain, from food to equipment, from furniture to housewares, it exercises more and more all over the world and is also very strong in Algeria. And it is on this Italian excellence that Condor Electronics intends to focus for its diversification and rapid expansion in Africa and the Middle East as well as in Europe. With the relocation of Nardi's production activities to Algeria, Nardi Electronics Italy maintains the research, design and production activities of some dedicated special lines in Italy.
Condor Electronics is present in 20 African countries through distributors but aims to establish direct presence by bringing home appliances to the high end of the market with the Nardi-Italian Feeling brand which will become the flagship and premium range brand of the Algerian group. Algeria is in a phase of socio-economic evolution that has brought it to fourth place in the GDP ranking of North Africa and Africa and, although deeply linked to France, it boasts privileged relations with Italy which has first place for the interchange. And after having won its tough battle against domestic terrorism, it must now develop different assets - starting with tourism - for its GDP, which is almost totally dependent on gas and oil.
Thanks to a decades-long social policy, they are built every year 2 million buildings social housing, half of which is given free of charge to poor families, as well as higher-end buildings. The 90 percent of the country is served by the public drinking water network, more than 90 percent of the territory is reached by the electricity network. And gas is now used by 80 percent of households. Algeria boasts decidedly low percentages of unemployment (between 9 and 15 per cent according to sources) compared to the Mediterranean countries, even if with high percentages of undeclared work.
The middle class, which makes up 40 percent of the total, is clearly growing. “This is why we intend to invest in the household appliances sector because the constantly increasing construction industry is causing a significant growth in the demand for furniture, electronics and household appliances - Benhamadi declares - And ours is a very dynamic company where for at least ten years women are increasingly present, especially in health care, in schools and also in the judiciary".
