BW 10 Year Anniversary

In 2011/12, Andre’ Zietsman (now Bitumen World, C.E.O) believed there was room for another construction company in Zimbabwe. Having sold his businesses, he pursued this idea of his. He approached Duncan Smith and asked him to join him in this venture.

Passion Drives Perfection

Bitumen World (Pvt) Ltd. opened for business at the beginning of September 2012 with Duncan Smith as the first employee. A small team was put together- it consisted of industry experienced personnel. The first plant to be purchased were a bitumen distributer, a self-propelled chip spreader, and a tractor and broom.

The new company, started by hiring out plant to the Department of Roads as well as subcontracting for contractors, surfacing detours to the Norton and Rusape Toll Gates.

Bitumen World as subcontractor to J.R. Goddard Contracting, was responsible for surfacing the access road to the Midlands Conference Centre, venue for the annual congress in December. Any additional and necessary plant, such as rollers and loaders were hired from third parties.

In the begining the jobs were small but by the end of 2012, the fledgling company had been able to complete work to the value of about US$40,000.00

The first good sized contract came along early in 2013. MADZ Contractors were subcontracted to Group Five to patch and reseal sections of road between Macheke and Nyazura, however, they needed assistance to complete the works on time. Bitumen World resealed 34km of a section on their behalf and Group Five took notice of the excellent standard of the finished product. This led to much work being passed on to the newly formed Bitumen World.

The first job as the main contractor came when Hwange Local Board awarded Bitumen World the contract to reseal several of roads in the district. There was approximately 9km of surfacing and worth a notable US$139,000. 00.

Once again, the quality of the completed job was of a high standard- the Hwange Local Board were quick to compliment Bitumen World and glowing references from them were profuse.

Towards the end of 2013 Zinara, the national roads authority, invited Bitumen World to tender on roadworks in Chinhoyi, these had to be completed by the end of November.

A youthful Bitumen World, tendered, won the contract, and delivered the project on time. Once again, a quality product was completed.

Because of this, Bitumen World were given a lot more work to do in Chinhoyi.

By the end of 2013, the company had come to the attention of Group Five. The following two years were extremely busy, engaging and completing works for both clients.

2016 however, was not a great year! There was not much work around and some serious austerity measures were put in place to ensure the company’s survival.

But survive, it did!

In early 2017, the road infrastructure and roads were declared a national disaster, allowing the government to allocate funds for the repair and reconstruction of roads.

Bitumen World won many of the contracts for this work.

Additional plant were purchased, and Bitumen World transformed from being “Blacktop Surfacing Specialists” to fully fledged civil engineering contractors.

Bitumen World no longer relied on other contractors to build the road for surfacing. The company was now able to do an entire contract without the need for third party inputs.

Through development and growth, Bitumen World, has repaired and/or reconstructed roads all over the country: - Gwanda, Zvishavane, Bulawayo, Gweru, Kadoma, Chegutu, Chinhoyi, Harare, Marondera and Mutare.

The company continued to grow, from 2017 to 2019 the future looked excellent.

In 2021, Bitumen World achieved, one million safe man hours. An incredible achievement made possible by attention to detail and attention to “family”.

Despite the limitations and devastation caused by the Covid 19 outbreak, projects continued. The Rehabilitation of the main Harare Beitbridge highway has been the biggest contract to date with over 200 other contracts being undertaken.

In 2022, Bitumen World, through its Plant and Equipment Division, manages and maintains an extensive fleet of construction machinery and vehicles. In addition to both fleets, the company also possesses manufacturing plants; both for the manufacture of asphalt and crushing of aggregates. Bitumen World prides itself in part on the diversity and quality of its’ equipment; giving the company confidence to meet contracted expectations, both as productivity and quality of finished product.

The Finance team now has its own premise- Pevensey, allowing staff at the Head Office in Msasa to spread out a little.

The company has three ISO (International Standards Organisation) accreditations, and through its integrated management system has been able to continue to produce supreme, quality products. This in turn has seen the company receive many awards in Zimbabwe. These include humanitarian, ethical, social responsibility, quality, investment charitable and construction awards.

In 2022 Bitumen World’s Jerusalema took social media by storm, to be followed by a heart wrenching production of its own song- Take the Road Home. Many a tear was shed by Zimbabweans all over the country and indeed the world!

Through his inspiration, extremely hard work and feet on the ground Mr Zietsman is getting ready to launch Bitumen World into the future, with thoughts of spreading its influence on other parts of the southern African region. The introduction of the Special Projects office means that Bitumen World will never stop growing.